279th Engineer Utilities Detachment shows off woodworking abilities

Courtesy Photo | CAMP TAJI, Iraq — The 279th Engineer Utilities Detachment woodshop with completed sign. (U.S. Army photo by Capt. Charles Adamson)  

IRAQ

03.15.2018

Courtesy Story

Task Force Spartan

By Capt. Charles Adamson
35 EN BDE, Task Force Muleskinner

CAMP TAJI, Iraq — There is a woodshop on a U.S. Army post in Iraq, where more than a dozen U.S. Army Soldiers with the 279th Engineer Utilities Detachment, at any given time can be found building chairs, prefabricated roofs, rifle racks and desks. Within the limits of their supplies, they will build pretty much anything made out of wood that other military units request.
“The big mission here is to support everyone ... for office builds, anything to improve their work space,” said Staff Sgt. Andrew Sireno, a high school math teacher and football coach from Burlington, Wis.
The U.S. Army reserve unit is based out of St. Charles, Mo. and commanded by Capt. Francisco J. Arocho, from Fairfax, Va. Most of the Soldiers have civilian jobs back home, but here,they are Soldiers and carpenters.
However, it is not just a woodshop. The warehouse has become a place to unwind, where Soldiers from other units can come to do their own woodworking, play ping-pong on a makeshift table, barbecue and watch movies.
The Sergeant Major of the Army, Daniel Dailey, visited the woodshop once and played ping-pong against a junior enlisted Soldier, Spc. Andrew Shimkus from Springfield, Ill. The specialist won. The sergeant major gave him a challenge coin and both signed their names on the ping-pong table constructed by the Soldiers here.
“I’m proud of our guys and how much they learned and how they applied it to our mission. I’d say the shop was a great success to the overall mission. We were even able to have a bit of fun,” said Shimkus.
“On Fridays, the shop is opened to any Soldiers on post who want to come by and blow off some steam,” Sireno said.
“We have a ton of scrap [wood],” said Sgt. John Finney for the visitors wanting to build something to bring home. “We help them. We show them how to use the tools. We do a safety brief in the morning. We provide PPE [personal protective equipment].”
The dozen or so Soldiers who work in the shop all come from the engineer military occupational specialty class – number 12 – but from different subspecialties. There are electricians, plumbers, carpenters, surveyors, and heavy equipment operators.
Sgt. Christy Woolsey, of Jerseyville, Ill., is a 12-Kilo (plumber). He does concrete and asphalt work in the civilian world and cross-trained as a 12-Whiskey (carpenter) on his last deployment. Woolsey worked through March was on building rifle qualification target holders. The stands are necessary to allow the Soldiers to train while deployed.
Spc. Justin Vineyard, of Roadhouse, Ill., is also a plumber, but has morphed into the unit’s movement officer, making sure everyone from the commanding officer to the privates get where they need to be in the theater of operations. He is a corrections officer in Illinois. He has not worked as a plumber on this deployment; instead, he has learned, in the woodshop, to build shelves and other office furniture.
“I learned a lot of woodworking skills,” Vineyard said. “It’s basically a home away from home. You come in here to relieve stress, help people build things, teach people new things. I have a lot of memories here.”
He is not alone. Many of the Soldiers learned their skills in this shop. Spc. Joseph Cruzaedo-Wagner, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, joined the Army out of a desire to serve. He plans to go back to school to become a medical doctor.
“Woodworking was new to me when I got here. Now I’m a confident 12-W [carpenter].” Spc. Cruzaedo-Wagner said.
“The woodshop has been a great opportunity for all of the Soldiers. They truly made it theirs, a place to work, a place to learn, and a place to hang out. It has been the number one attraction for all of the DVs [Distinguished Visitors] to come and visit. I think it provides them an opportunity to get out of their offices and interact with Soldiers, which they seem to truly enjoy and I know the Soldiers do as well,” Arocho said.

• Date Taken: 03.15.2018
• Date Posted: 06.09.2018 09:18
• Story ID: 280294
• Location: IQ