Soldiers return critical grain silo back to Iraqi people

Photo By Spc. Jazz Burney | Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment tear down sandbags in preperation for the responsible return of the base to the Iraqi government, Aug. 4. Soldiers removed more than 200,000 sandbags, 500 T-Walls and 400 housing trailers to return the base, a provincial grain storage site, back to the Iraqi government. A small ceremony will be held Oct. 8 to mark the base's return to the Iraqis.  

TIKRIT, IRAQ

10.07.2009

Story by Spc. Jazz Burney 

3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, TIKRIT, Iraq — A small ceremony marked the return of Salah ad Din province's most important grain storage site to the Government of Iraq, Oct. 6.

The Samarra Silo, formerly known as FOB Brassfield-Mora, had been occupied by U.S. military forces for several years as U.S. Soldiers first fought an insurgency and later supported reconstruction efforts in the central Iraqi province.

As the security situation in the province improved and reconstruction efforts turned to agriculture, Soldiers realized the importance of their base to the province's farmers.

"We've been putting so much effort into rebuilding the agricultural infrastructure and yet here we were, sitting on the most important storage facility in the province," said Col. Walt Piatt, the 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division commander.

A serious drought period in Iraq and the unstable security situation negated the need for a provincial storage site for wheat in recent years. Thanks to an improved security situation and agricultural advancements the province had an unusually large wheat crop this year. The achievement revealed one problem: the Iraqis didn't have a place to store the wheat.

"If you were to drive around the province about eight weeks ago you would see a lot of the wheat crop was piled outside and in various local refineries because they had no place to store and refine the wheat," said Maj. Kareem Montague, of Fishkill, NY, the executive officer of 2nd Bn., 35th Inf. Regt., the battalion stationed at the Silo. "By returning this silo to the Iraqi government, we are returning Samarra's wheat storage and refining capability," he said

"We decided to return this facility to the Iraqi government as soon as possible. We wanted to make sure we did it before we left the province, so the incoming unit wouldn't have to worry about it," said Piatt.

Leaders from the brigade and battalion met with provincial agricultural officials in June and July to discuss the base's return. Soldiers from the 2nd Bn., 35th Inf. Regiment started tearing down hundreds of thousands of sandbags and clearing out the base in early August. Soldiers from the 95th Engineer Company, 65th Engineer Battalion joined the de-construction effort in mid-August and moved housing trailers, sandbags, concrete barriers and leveled the ground to prepare the base for agricultural use again.

The mammoth task of removing all the equipment and returning the base in pristine condition to the Iraqi government in just over two months showed the dedication of the Soldiers and civilian contractors stationed at the Silo.

More than 400 housing trailers, nearly 200 concrete bunkers, 65 shipping containers, 1,600 concrete barriers and 200,000 sandbags had to be removed from the base, according to Montague. It took more than 200 convoys to transport all of the equipment off the base, he added.

Soldiers from the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, the 3rd Brigade's replacement unit, will oversee reconstruction projects to renovate the seed separator, scales, warehouses and administrative building to return the Silo to operational capacity in time for the 2010 wheat harvest.

• Date Taken: 10.07.2009
• Date Posted: 10.07.2009 11:55
• Story ID: 39779
• Location: TIKRIT, IQ