By Spc. Nathaniel Smith
4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division
BAGHDAD – It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in southern Baghdad.
That's because Soldiers of Company A, 450th civil Affairs Battalion restored electricity to the Assyrian church in the capital's Hadar neighborhood, Dec. 9.
The company supports the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, which is currently deployed to Forward Operating Base Falcon from Fort Riley, Kan.
Sgt. Martin Brown, a prime power production specialist with Co. A, 450th CA, which is based in Riverdale, Md., said the mission was one of the more satisfying he has participated in.
"It was a good mission; I think everybody felt good about it," the Lorton, Va., native, said. "It felt nice just to go in and get something done for the people."
Brown was given the task of inspecting five generators within 200 meters of the church and finding which would be most easily repaired to restore power in time for Christmas church services.
Sgt. 1st Class Pedro Medina, the battalion mort sergeant for the 450th CA attached to Co. A from Rochester, N.Y., was the mechanic who primarily worked on the generator.
"We did a risk assessment and made sure it wasn't booby-trapped. After that, we started opening and checking fluid," he said. "We noticed the fuel tank was watered down. We didn't drain it so we just poured more diesel in and fired it up; as it went through the oil filter, it operated very well."
While the operation may seem simple, Staff Sgt. Christopher Ifill, a civil affairs team sergeant from Co. A, 450th CA that supports 2-2 SCR, said there were challenges that were not so apparent initially.
"First of all, time second of all, materials cost a lot. We needed different types of equipment that you can't typically find in a military inventory. That was definitely a major challenge right there," the Philadelphia native said. "We came up with a list and we just went around the whole base trying to get whatever we could – we went to every motor pool and all the civilian companies."
Medina said that the troops' ability to adapt to the circumstances and accomplish their mission was impressive.
"They were given a short period of time to prepare, then they gathered me and some mechanics to help out with the engine in the generator," Medina added. "The time they gave all of us to prepare was quite amazing. That's exciting. We covered a lot of material at no cost to the government."
The make-do attitude of the Soldiers created a solution that will provide the Assyrian church with about three months of power.
Brown said with more time and proper materials, they could produce a more permanent fix, but the priority was for them to have the church ready for Christmas.
"It was more of the field expedient, 'Hey, we've got to get this done yesterday,'" Brown said.
"We didn't really have the proper material so we gathered whatever we could gather and we made it happen," Medina added. "It's a miracle."