Battery helps drawdown of forces in Iraq

IRAQ

08.14.2010

Courtesy Story

United States Division-South

by Capt. Andrew Huth
3rd Bn., 29th FA Regt., 3rd BCT, 4th Inf. Div.

COB ADDER, Iraq – The soldiers of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division recently partnered with members of the local community recently to take steps to reduce excess equipment at Contingency Operating Base Adder.

Soldiers and Iraqis sorted through the equipment and supplies to be shipped to the United States for redistribution throughout the Army.

Our job this morning is to take all of the equipment that has accumulated over the years and sort out what is no longer needed,” said Capt. Don Mills, contracting officer for 3rd Bn., 29th FA Regt. from Rome, N.Y.

The amount of equipment in Iraq right now is staggering, Mills said.

“To support the troop reduction plan, we have to move this equipment out of the country in a way that is efficient while minimizing the impact on the Iraqi people,” he said.

Paying Iraqis to sort through the equipment has created jobs, boosted the local economy and shown the people of Iraq that U.S. troops are serious about leaving the country, Mills said.

Scattered across an empty field were shipping containers full of items ranging from office supplies to weapons parts. The labor-intensive process started with each container being emptied, sorted, organized and re-packaged.

While the work was long and hard on a hot Iraqi day, the soldiers of HHB, 3rd Bn., 29th FA Regt. saw it as a good sign.

“The fact that we’re moving out is a testament to the Iraqis’ ability to take care of themselves,” Sgt. Bo Dryer, a Sulphur Springs, Texas, native with 3rd Bn., 29th FA Regt. “If they couldn’t handle providing security for their own country, we wouldn’t be moving [excess equipment] out right now.”

• Date Taken: 08.14.2010
• Date Posted: 08.14.2010 02:35
• Story ID: 54565
• Location: IQ