By CPT Andrew Lane, TF 118
On Monday June 13, 2005 the Commander of B Company 1-115 IN (TF 1-118), Capt. Brian Borakove, joined Major Carrie Acree from B Company 403 Civil Affairs Battalion and her soldiers for a new look at his new area of operations, Ager Quf. Borakove and his Soldiers had been patrolling Ager Quf for several days at that point with security in mind and little else.
They had stopped to talk to local villagers, but he said the subject of conversation was about insurgents operating in their area and personal safety concerns they might have.
When asked about the visit alongside Major Acree and her troops Borakove said, "Riding with Civil Affairs gave me a better understanding of the depth of how we are helping to improve the standard of living for the Iraqi people in our area."
Now with this knowledge, not only can the infantry Soldiers ask the locals about security they can also ask about some of their basic needs like the water quality and whether or not they have any.
"We are tasked with providing security but we can also gain more insight through daily interaction with the people on our patrols and the issues they are facing," Borakove said.
Borakove and Acree attended a meeting with the manager of the Ager Quf Water Center where they discussed progress of current water projects and the need for additional ones.
While there, Acree, who is currently responsible for the overall supervision and initiation of these living condition improvements for the local population, agreed to start a new project to connect a village with a new water line that had just been installed.
Acree stated that this would probably take six months and, in the meantime, the villagers would have to walk a few hundred meters round trip to carry drinkable water to their homes.
Previously, they had been walking a little bit further to take water straight out of the canal, which is not a source of clean water.
They inspected another area and saw that the Sayer Bridge Project was nearly finished. Upon completion, the bridge will connect the town of Beni Zayid to the road that connects the Majd Bridge to the Ibraham Ali Shrine.
After seeing all of these projects and talking to the local government officials, Borakove said, "Stability and support operations in all levels are being fully integrated in to our area of operations making it easier to quantify the improvements we are making to their quality of life."
| Date Taken: | 07.08.2005 |
| Date Posted: | 07.08.2005 15:30 |
| Story ID: | 2331 |
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| Web Views: | 35 |
| Downloads: | 6 |
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