Thursday, August 28, 2003 News From Iraq
101st-sponsored clinic opens in ZumarWith a traditional "snip" of a ribbon, the village of Zumar opened it�s newly refurbished clinic Aug. 26.
Before its restoration, the Zumar Primary Health Clinic was in disrepair, according to 1st Lt. Michael Lefler, Executive Officer, B. Battery, 3-320th Field Artillery, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), and project officer for the clinic refurbishment.
"The clinic was falling apart," Lefler said. "The walls were cracked, the foundation was separating from the rest of the building, and there was very little workable space inside."
Lefler and the doctors who work in the clinic prioritized the clinic�s needs. "My first priority was structural,� Lefler said. �They needed electricity, they needed fully functional plumbing, and they needed hand washing stations in all of the treatment rooms. After that we were able to worry about furniture." Coalition forces (Dutch/Italian) provide airfield securityTroops from the 28 countries that have committed forces to support the International Coalition in Iraq have begun assuming more and more duties. Dutch and Italian forces at Tallil Air Base in southern Iraq who are providing internal airfield security together.
The Dutch conduct roving patrols while the Italians man checkpoints and provide a quick reaction force for the airfield.
"Although we have different responsibilities, our area of responsibility is the same," said Italian Master Sgt. Gianni Pitzalis who works force security.
The quick reaction force responds to immediate calls, while the roving patrols conduct regular sweeps of the area.
"We share the same areas, but we don�t patrol together because of the language barrier" Pitzalis said.
Dutch Air Force Capt. Wim Verschragen, officer in charge of the Dutch security force, said, "Even though both the Italians and our forces speak some English, during training for emergency response the soldiers immediately began working in their own language."
As members of NATO, both Dutch and Italian soldiers follow NATO procedures and some have previously worked with other NATO forces. Foreign language center helps soldiers communicate in ArabicBecause he finds it difficult to communicate with the Iraqis, Command Sgt. Maj. Bob Szakal holds on to a little beige book that a friend from civil affairs gave him.
The Defense Language Institute, Foreign Language Center�s Iraqi Basic Language Survival Guide is indispensable for talking with the locals, said Szakal, the command sergeant major of the 171st Area Support Group (ASG) based in southern Iraq.
Szakal has sponsored a community relations project helping rebuild three Iraqi orphanages in the town of An Nasiryah. One of the orphanages is for infants to six-year-olds. There is another for boys ages six to 16 and the third is for girls ages six to 16.
Szakal works closely with the director of all three orphanages, who goes by the name Amira. Humanitarian assistance to Iraqi orphanageRebuilding Iraq and helping the Iraqis reestablish normalcy in cities that have survived two wars in 12 years isn�t something that happens overnight, and Col. Lawrence Larsen, the commander of the 171st Area Support Group (ASG) in Southern Iraq, says he is beginning to see gradual improvements in the neighboring town of An Nasiryah.
There have been some improvements like restoring electrical power for six hours a day has helped the entire city, Larsen said. Other improvements like providing a water treatment plant and sewage system, both on Larsen�s wish list would cost millions of dollars that are currently unavailable. Even so setting goals and taking things one step at a time has become a little bit easier thanks to the funds available from the Commander�s Emergency Response Program.
Larsen and other commanders can now request up to $50,000 per project that would help stabilize Iraq through a program formerly titled the Commander�s Discretionary Fund.
"We go through a grant-writing type of process where we identify the projects we could work on, the impact that these projects would have on the community and cost," said Larsen, a reservist who is also a biology professor at Campbell Community College, North Carolina.
One of the areas that Larsen has designated for the Emergency Response Program is assistance to three orphanages in An Nasiryah. The 402nd Civil Affairs sponsored the boys� and girls� orphanages for ages six to 16, and babies� orphanage from birth to age six in April. Before most of the civil affairs team left the area, the 171st ASG command sergeant major took up the sponsorship for his unit. -- posted by Chuck at Thursday, August 28, 2003 | E-mail | Permalink | Main |
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