Courtesy Photo | CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq -- Spc. Matthew Bridges, C co. 365th Engineering Combat Battalion...... read more read more
Spc. Derek Del Rosario
Task Force Baghdad PAO
CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq -- The hot Iraqi air was thick with sawdust and the buzz of power saws as the sun beat down on Soldiers in a roofless warehouse. Soldiers worked like a team of worker ants as they measured, marked and cut the boards before passing them to comrades waiting atop scaffoldings 15 feet overhead.
These Soldiers are from C Company, 365th Engineering Combat Battalion, an Army Reserve unit out of Pennsylvania, and they are sweating through another project in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 3.
The building they are working on is much more extensive than an anthill, it is a medical supply warehouse intended for the 44th Medical Company.
The officer in charge of the project, 1st Lt. Steve Koslowsky, a Medford, N.J., native, said the new warehouse will allow them to store medical supplies that previously did not have any shelter.
"Before we came here, all the supplies were sitting in the sun," Koslowsky said. "When we complete this project, they will have a building with a roof"a place to keep the supplies in an insulated, air-conditioned building away from the weather."
Sgt. 1st Class Scott Kendall, the project noncommissioned officer in charge and a Carlise, Pa., native, agreed that the new 40,000-square-foot medical storage warehouse will benefit the company and the Soldiers they support.
"We are giving them the opportunity to store their supplies in a secure environment, out of the elements," Kendall said. "Having them out of the sun or rain will help in their receiving and shipping."
The warehouse helps the 44th Medical Co., but it's only one of many projects C Co. has worked on to benefit Task Force Baghdad; they're also responsible for the improved living conditions for Iraqi Security Forces.
"We spent two weeks at Camp Yusufiyah to work on projects such as floors and the air conditioning," said Staff Sgt. Mitch Passarella, a carpentry and masonry job foreman and Lorretta, Pa., native. "We really improved the living conditions there, making it a better place for Iraqi Army Soldiers to live in."
Other projects C Co. has completed include 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment's Tactical Operations Center and a tank hangar at Camp Riva Ridge, formerly known as Camp Tigerland.
While the unit is making progress on the warehouse, Koslowsky said obtaining the materials needed to complete project remains the most difficult task. While most of that is out of their hands, he said the company has been able to successfully overcome other challenges they can control.
"(Lack of) experience was an issue when we first got here," Koslowsky said. "But since our first project, you can really see the Soldiers coming together. They are teaching each other and doing a fantastic job staying on or ahead of schedule."
Kendall agreed that C Co. has done an excellent job at overcoming any inexperience they were facing at the beginning of the deployment.
"There is a gap you have to bridge when going from a citizen-Soldier to a full-time military structure," Kendall said. "A lot of these Soldiers" only active-duty experience was basic training and Advanced Individual Training, but they are doing a good job at adapting."
Job satisfaction comes in many forms for the Soldiers of C Co. but for Passarella, nothing beats being able to see a building they've completed.
"It's a great feeling to see the end product and to know I helped build it," he said. "It's gratifying to be able to point (to a building) and be able to say, "We built that building.""
Having a tangible end product can be very rewarding, but it's the intangible aspect of the job that Koslowsky enjoys the most.
"I love working with the Soldiers. Out here, I am like the project manager, and I have the privilege of working with excellent project NCOs and a fantastic, motivated team," he said. "Being out here with these guys'there is nothing better."
| Date Taken: | 10.11.2005 |
| Date Posted: | 10.11.2005 17:46 |
| Story ID: | 3286 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 98 |
| Downloads: | 26 |
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