Photo By Staff Sgt. Jodi Eastham | Staff and students of the Bankhaotien School pose for a picture with soldiers of the...... read more read more
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LOPBURI, Thailand – The 18th Civil Engineering Squadron builds a community center at Bankhaotien School February 9, 2018 as part of Exercise Cobra Gold 2018. Cobra Gold is an annual exercise to advance interoperability with the United States and partner nations. At Bankhaotien the U.S. is working with members of the Royal Thai Air Force, Malaysian Army and the Indian Army.
Bankhaotien is a school that services three small villages. The engineering civic assistance project helps the communities by building multifunctional buildings to use for education and community purposes. Village leaders of Bankhaotien attended several meetings to determine what they needed for the community.
It takes months of planning, coordination and purchasing of materials to complete these engineering civic assistance projects. Nongluk Thumapa, director of Bankhaotien School, is the liaison on this project. He attended several meetings with members of the U.S. Air Force in June when much of the planning started.
“We started planning in August,” said 2nd Lt. Jack Robinson, commander, 18th Civil Engineering Squadron, 18th Civil Engineering Group.
Robinson’s makeshift office also doubles as the school’s store. All the proceeds from the store benefit the school.
“We had to build a materials list”, said Robinson, “also we needed a cost estimate, agree on start and end dates with the other countries, what tools we were going to bring. Purchases of supplies also needed to be made. This project is costing around $80 thousand.”
Thumapa’s responsibilities were to prepare accommodations for the troops, rooms, bathrooms, food, and everything the troops would need for the month-long stay.
“A local community organization provided everything,” said Thumapa. “The Wang Preung District Administrative Organization provided many necessities to them.”
Villagers give their support with additional supplies for the project. They provided dirt, to ensure a strong foundation for the building, and a backhoe to move ground materials around. Many villagers look on, excited for the new addition to their home. Sometimes the children play soccer with the troops who have learned their names.
Other troops arriving from India and Malaysia provided a challenge as all had different ways of constructing a building since construction standards differ between participating nations. Every morning they have a joint meeting to decide what needs to be accomplished first followed by a block of instruction for those who don’t know the required skill set.
“My job is for medical reasons and also public health,” said Staff Sgt. Brendon Baez, independent medical technician, 18th Civil Engineering Squadron, 18th Civil Engineering Group. “When I’m not doing medical, I’m hands on. I’ve learned to set foundation, dig holes, lay concrete, mix mortar, bend rebar. It’s done by hand. It’s a humble experience, everybody gets it done and does it right.”
“Brands are different in construction technology,” said Robinson. “Thai, Malaysia and India have different standards of construction. We’re used to having more technology and fancy tools. Thai's use the string line method and water leveler.”
Forty-six troops came from four different nations; The Royal Thai Air Force-20, USAF-16, Malaysian Army-5, and the Indian Army-5. All are excited to work on this project with smiling faces and their eyes wide with anticipation as each day brings unique challenges and additional experiences to treasure.
“It’s a good feeling to get with four other countries to go help build,” said Maj. Anoof Joshi, 6th Squadron, Royal Engineers Regiment, Malaysian Army. “I like being here to helping. I get pleasure to help others.”
“Awesome,” said Airman 1st Class Zion Adkins, structural apprentice, 18th Civil Engineering Squadron, 18th Civil Engineering Group. “This in an opportunity to build from start to finish. It’s a really satisfying experience.”
The villagers are appreciative of the help to receive a new building and even more excited that it will have a stage built in to use. Every day they are ready to provide whatever supplies they can. In the end they will have a new community center that will double as a classroom for their children to learn in.
| Date Taken: | 02.09.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 02.23.2018 19:47 |
| Story ID: | 265594 |
| Location: | TH |
| Web Views: | 58 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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