December 2005
US Military Centcom
Welcome to the U.S. Central Command Electronic Newsletter.
Week of November 28, 2005
By SSgt Jacob Caldwell - Combined Task Force Bayonet Public Affairs
Soldiers from the 4-1 Afghan National Army Battery run a crew member drill on a 105 MM Howitzer Nov. 19 during Operation Atal Wali conducted at Kandahar Airfield.
Operation Atal Wali Lives up to its Name
By SSgt Jacob Caldwell - Combined Task Force Bayonet Public Affairs
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Operation Atal Wali, or Operation Heroic Success, set a new benchmark for training for Afghan National Army Soldiers in Kandahar and, for that matter, the country of Afghanistan.
Soldiers from the 1st Kandak, 2nd Brigade, 205th Corps, took part in a nine-day validation training exercise Nov. 12-20 at Kandahar Airfield and Camp Sherzai, the first such exercise ever conducted with the ANA.
The battalion, or Kandak, level exercise, trained ANA soldiers from the top of the chain-of command down to the lower-enlisted ranks. Kandak officers, infantrymen, medics and artillerymen all honed their skills under the watchful eyes of Coalition Forces.
Leading the way on the training of the Kandak staff and conducting their first ever training mission in Afghanistan was a team of observer-controllers from the Joint Multinational Readiness Center out of Hohenfels, Germany.
Zabul Clinic Openings -
Qalat Provincial Reconstruction Team Opens two new Medical Clinics
By
SPC Tiffany Evans - 20th Public Affairs DetachmentZABUL PROVINCE, Afghanistan - Qalat Provincial Reconstruction team members donated two medical clinics to the different districts in the Zabul Province in November.
On Nov. 12 Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen attached to the PRT held an opening ceremony for a medical clinic in the district of Mizan.
"We are donated the clinic in Mizan to Ibn Sina," said Army Capt. Roberta Smith, public affairs representative, 492nd Civil Affairs Battalion. "Ibn Sina will supply staff and monitor the daily operations of the clinic."
Once fully staffed and operational the clinic will support about 30,000 citizens, said Smith. Another clinic opened Nov. 14 in the district of Shah Joy.
However, while the Mizan clinic is for everyone, the specific target audience for the Shah Joy clinic is females.
Operation Atal Wali Lives up to its Name
By SSgt Jacob Caldwell - Combined Task Force Bayonet Public AffairsKANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Operation Atal Wali, or Operation Heroic Success, set a new benchmark for training for Afghan National Army Soldiers in Kandahar and, for that matter, the country of Afghanistan.
Soldiers from the 1st Kandak, 2nd Brigade, 205th Corps, took part in a nine-day validation training exercise Nov. 12-20 at Kandahar Airfield and Camp Sherzai, the first such exercise ever conducted with the ANA.
The battalion, or Kandak, level exercise, trained ANA soldiers from the top of the chain-of command down to the lower-enlisted ranks. Kandak officers, infantrymen, medics and artillerymen all honed their skills under the watchful eyes of Coalition Forces.
Leading the way on the training of the Kandak staff and conducting their first ever training mission in Afghanistan was a team of observer-controllers from the Joint Multinational Readiness Center out of Hohenfels, Germany.
By
SPC Tiffany Evans - 20th Public Affairs DetachmentMarine Lt. Col. Andy Wilcox, Qalat Provincial Reconstruction Team Commander, 3rd Marine Division, Shah Joy's District Chief Mullah Barat, and various important locals cut the ribbon on the new Women's clinic
Expeditionary Medical Facility (EMF) Kuwait, Camp Pendleton Detachment Takes Charge During Ceremony
By Journalist Chief Stephen K Robinson
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait - During a formal military Change of Command ceremony in the Kuwaiti desert, Navy Capt. Catherine A. Wilson assumed command of U.S. Military Hospital Kuwait from Navy Capt. Jack E. Riggs. Capt. Wilson is commanding officer of Expeditionary Medical Facility (EMF) Kuwait, Camp Pendleton Detachment (CP Det.), and Capt. Riggs is commanding officer of Expeditionary Medical Facility Dallas.
During his remarks, Capt. Riggs reviewed the past 10 months his staff of nearly 400 medical personnel provided care to more than 100,000 patients, and performed nearly 1,800 surgical procedures, noting with pleasure the outstanding reputation EMF Dallas built throughout the theater of operations.
"For most of us this mission will be the highlight of our naval careers," commenting on the profound experience this
deployment was for the all reserve EMF Dallas crew.
By HM3 Marika SteenblockNavy Capt. Catherine Wilson addresses guests during a Nov.12 Change of Command ceremony where she assumed command of the Expeditionary Medical Facility Kuwait aboard Camp Arifjan.
Navy Capt. Catherine Wilson addresses guests during a Nov.12 Change of Command ceremony where she assumed command of the Expeditionary Medical Facility Kuwait aboard Camp Arifjan.
Baquba is Re-building its Future
By Polli Barnes Keller - Gulf Region Division - US Army Corps of Engineers
Mosul, Iraq
- Over three hundred residents receive fresh water from another water network completion in Baquba.The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Director of Water for Diyala worked together to refurbish existing pipelines in the town of Baquba. As a result, workers connected three hundred and fifteen homes to the water network.
The citizens of Baquba now receive a continuous flow of water directly from the nearby water treatment plant instead of waiting for unreliable delivery trucks to transport water to their homes.
In addition to providing water, one of the key objectives of this $222,000 rehabilitation was to make the maximum use of local contractors, suppliers, artisans, and laborers in the specific neighborhoods where the work is executed.
By Gulf Region Division - US Army Corps of Engineers
Baquba Pump station delivers water and pressurizes the main lines.
Information Management Working Group Utilizes Technology to Achieve U.S. Strategy in Iraq
By LCDR Kurt Danis - Gulf Region Division
An interagency Information Technology Working Group (ITWG) was formed in August 2005 with the mandate to consolidate all U.S. Government-funded and managed relief and reconstruction project information across all sectors and organizations throughout Iraq into one database for reporting to the U.S. Congress through the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and the Commander, Multi-National Force-Iraq. By leveraging the same IT system already in use by the Project and Contracting Office (PCO), other U.S. agencies benefit from the enterprise network with little or no capital investment.
The name for this master database is the Iraq Reconstruction
Management System (IRMS). IRMS is the system of choice by the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office (IRMO).
By Denise Calabria - Gulf Region Division
Dennis Plockmeyer (right) addresses the IT working group.
Starts and Completions during the last two weeks in Iraq
Continued Reconstruction Success from 15 Nov to 27 Nov 05
1. Completion of police stations in Babil, Basrah, Erbil, Kirkuk, Ninewa, and Salah ad Din Provinces, and a holding facility in Al Muthanna Province will provide approximately 250,000 people a safer environment and greater security as police operate from these improved facilities.
2. The completion of renovations to 12 schools in Baghdad, Basrah, and Al Anbar
Provinces will equal a better learning environment and brighter future for over 7,200 Iraqi schoolchildren and 50 teachers.
3. Over 29 km of new roads between Qadisiyah Province and Wassit Province will provide a safer travel route for farming villages to transport their crops to the market and reaching larger towns such as Baghdad.
4. 500,000 people annually will benefit from six renovated railroad station in Qadisiyah Province will provide protection from the environment while the passengers wait to board the train and for the stationmaster to schedule freight movements.
5. 150,000 residents between Baghdad, Ninewa, and Wassit Province now enjoy more reliable electricity as their 15 km of electrical power feeder were installed to local distribution substations.
6. 80,000 people between Maysan, Najaf, and Ninewa Provinces now enjoy potable water with the installation of three compact water units and repair of 27 km of water line.
7. Four border forts in Maysan Province and two border forts in Al Anbar Province will increase the security along the border with Iran and Saudia Arabia, allow for the proper training of the border police, and provide additional logistical support for border patrols.
8. The completion of a Port of Entry in Ninewa province will expedite the safe passage of thousands of vehicles and persons traveling between Iraq and Syria daily.
9. Fire stations in Al Anbar, Basrah, Diyala, and Kirkuk Provinces will increase fire security for 100,000 residents in local towns and provide an excellent training facility for firefighters.
10. Completion of cluster pump station is part of an overall project to restore water injection to pre-war levels. The water injection infrastructure is critical to providing adequate pressure on the oil reservoir in the Rumaylah field and has a direct impact on crude oil production output.
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US Central Command Electronic Newsletter –
Week of 28 November 2005
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