Photo By Master Sgt. Lynette Hoke | Soldiers of the 851st Vertical Engineer Company along with the Croatian Army, Armored...... read more read more
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RACINOVIC, Croatia - Members of the Minnesota National Guard’s 851st Vertical Engineer Company, in conjunction with the Croatian Army and United States European Command, have partnered together to help the small village of Racinovic, Croatia.
The area was hit last year by a disastrous flooding that destroyed many homes and farms. The closest dam broke, leaving the area under many feet of water and nearly everyone stranded and forced to evacuate.
The Office of the Defense Cooperation and Humanitarian Civic Assistance Program helped provide labor, supplies and the people for communities in need all over the world. For this particular project, more than 30 Minnesota National Guardsmen have joined forces with their Croatian counterparts to rebuild the roof of the community center in less than three weeks.
“I’m proud to represent the Guard and American forces during our time in Croatia,” said Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ciesielski, operations non-commissioned officer-in-charge of the team in Croatia. “It’s great to be able to work with our allied forces, get real-time, on-the-job training for my troops and help a community that is grateful for our efforts here.”
The 851st VEC is stationed out of Camp Ripley Training Center near Little Falls, Minn. Many members of the team are experienced with construction in their careers outside of the Guard and it has been an experience working with the construction specialists of the Croatian Army.
“I like working with the Americans,” said Croatian Army 2nd Lt. Damir Grizelj, officer-in-charge of the project,. “We both have the common career of construction, so if even if the language barrier gets in the way, we eventually understand each other.”
Getting to assist the community and work with allied forces is something that is a great experience for many of the Guardsmen on the mission.
The Office of Defense Cooperation identified the project after the flooding last year. The impact of the project is huge because gives American troops a chance to help a community in need, and create relationships with their fellow allied service members.
“Watching how the project was getting started, it was such a great thing to see how the American Soldiers and Croatian Soldiers were getting along so quickly,” said Grizelj.
The project includes approximately 50 military members from Croatia and Minnesota, all experienced in a variety of construction specialties. They will work together nearly every day to complete demolition and reconstruction of the roof of the center.
| Date Taken: | 06.26.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.26.2015 12:35 |
| Story ID: | 168284 |
| Location: | RACINOVIC, HR |
| Hometown: | FORT RIPLEY, MINNESOTA, US |
| Web Views: | 528 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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