CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq - Construction is nearly complete on the chaplain's program tent to provide service members a comfortable environment for small-group worship services and other chaplain sponsored events on Contingency Operating Base Basra.
1st Lt. Michael Lotzer, DSTB chaplain, is considering naming the tent "Holy Joe's Coffee House," after a program the chapel participated in at Fort Lewis, Wash. during the Red Bulls' mobilization training.
The new building, located between the 34th Red Bull Infantry Division Special Troops Battalion and the Red Bull Life Sustainment Area, will serve COB Basra residents as a place to host events with a small number of people, such as Financial Peace University, a program developed to help people attain financial independence and small faith groups and Bible study groups, said Lotzer, a St. Louis, Minn., native.
"It will also be a place where Soldiers can go to relax and have fun," added Sgt. Jonathan Groeneweg, DSTB chaplain's assistant. "It will be another place on COB Basra Soldiers can share ownership."
Lotzer said he has plans for events as well, such as an "Art for Iraq" night, a night when Soldiers can gather and create art to help decorate buildings around the COB and send home to family, friends and other supporters of the Red Bulls.
Work on the new facility is expected to be complete and fully operational by late July, according to Groeneweg, who has worked on construction of the tent since the project began in late June.
"Supplies to build the tent came from different suppliers," said Groeneweg, an Inver Grove Heights, Minn., resident. "The lumber came from the Red Bull LSA manager, Staff Sgt. Scott Wiechmann, and the plywood came from the battalion logistics shop, while Capt. David Markgraf, Headquarters Support Company, STB commander, directed the project."
Groeneweg said the tent will be like a small building when it is finished; it will have a wooden floor, walls, air conditioning and insulation. He is considering having Soldiers submit ideas for murals and other ways to decorate the walls.
| Date Taken: | 07.17.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 07.17.2009 11:57 |
| Story ID: | 36484 |
| Location: | BASRA, IQ |
| Web Views: | 205 |
| Downloads: | 186 |
This work, Improving our foxhole: Chaplain program tent under construction, by SGT Darryl Montgomery, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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