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PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan, Republic of the Philippines- More than 50 Seabees from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the United States Navy work together in a joint effort during Exercise Balikatan 2012 (BK12) to construct new school classrooms, April 9, 2012, at Buena Vista Elementary School in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines as a part of the Combined Joint Civil-Military Operations Task Force.
BK12 consists of a series of humanitarian civic assistance projects, a command post exercise and field training operations that work to improve Philippine-U.S. military interoperability. Buena Vista Elementary is one of five schools to receive engineering civic assistance project support for 2012 in addition to medical, dental and veterinary outreach assistance throughout the month of April.
In its 28th iteration, BK12 represents a bilateral partnership between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and United States forces which strives to maintain military readiness through training and relationship building between the two nations.
Armed Forces of the Philippines Army Sgt. Rex Rodrigo, construction man, Puerto Princesa, Republic of the Philippines understands the value of every team member and why these school projects are important to the local community.
"I work with the Seabees of the U.S. to do the most important job, I think," Rodrigo said. "Today, I'm using the sifter to separate excess dirt to make plaster for the school." And judging from the amount of cement needed to complete the project, Rodrigo’s work continues throughout almost every stage of construction.
U.S. Navy Seabee Daanen M. Grasso, equipment operator construction man, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 40, Port Hueneme, Calif., assists in the ground preparation of the construction site and admits he plays "student" to his AFP counterparts during the vertical construction of the building.
"They are a real good group of hard workers and it’s continuously an educational experience while learning their skill crafts and teaching ours," said Grasso. "The overlap of our tactics and techniques verses theirs enable us all to walk away with a great experience in engineering."
It's amazing to see what our AFP counterparts can do with what they have, said U.S. Navy Seabee Michael A. Johnson, construction electrician, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 40, Port Hueneme, Calif. "They don't have all the fancy stuff we have but are able to do anything we can do and teach us easier ways to get the same job done."
Johnson added that working with the AFP Seabees has thrown him and his team a huge learning curve that has impacted him in a positive way. "I will be able to take what we've learned from them to my next mission."
The construction activity at the site is about 40% complete says U.S. Navy Seabee Chief Louie Alvarez, steel worker chief in charge of the building project in the area during BK12, and emphasized the Seabees hard work, noting that everything is going as planned.
"We've been out here for four weeks and everything has been going as scheduled," said Alvarez. "This is what Seabees do best in humanitarian civic assistance on both sides; come in, plan rapidly, build fast, and deliver quick execution."
He asked, what better job is there to have than to build schools?
| Date Taken: | 04.09.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 04.13.2012 23:49 |
| Story ID: | 86743 |
| Location: | PALAWAN, PH |
| Web Views: | 337 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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