D.C. Air National Guard members brought expertise and muscle mid-summer to the Republic of Moldova in support of a humanitarian civic assistance (HCA) mission and deployment for training program. One that has brought U.S. Army and Air Force personnel in defense, logistics, medical and engineering to communities in Moldova for the past 20 years and speaks to a robust bilateral military relationship between the two countries.
“I think it’s very important to continue to cultivate a good relationship with this country given it’s geographical location between the European Union and a region that’s been traditionally under Russian influence,” said Jim Pettit, U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova, during a July 31 visit to Romanita. “We have done numerous projects since 1997 when the Office of Defense Cooperation began it’s humanitarian assistance programs --- this particular project cost about $75,000 --- but we spent close to $15 million [on similar projects] since 1997. There is concentration on schools, clinics … [for the embassy] it’s a wonderful investment to help children, since they are the future of Moldova, and it also shows one of the many different faces of the Unites States military: humanitarian assistance.”
Organized by the United States European Command (EUCOM) and identified by the U.S. Embassy in Moldova, Guard members installed new sidewalks, laminate flooring, ceramic tiling, suspended ceiling grid/tile, doors and frames, new wallpaper as well as light electrical work at two schools in the Village of Hulboaca and the Community of Gratiesti. Moreover, for some Guard members, it was the first time they worked on a mission that required working alongside primarily civilians in a host country.
For Staff Sgt. Bayr Lukomyansky, a member of the squadron medical element (SME) within the D.C. Air National Guard’s 121st Fighter Squadron, who served as an on-site medic for civil engineers, the experience was bittersweet. Born in Leningrad, Russia, what is now the city of Saint Petersburg in 1989. Fluent in Russian, Lukomyansky served as a translator and the link between Moldovan contractors and civil engineers and even acted as an unofficial craftsman at both sites under renovation.
“This experience and assignment reminded me of my childhood --- coming here to Moldovia ---- and interacting with people who have learned to do so much with so little,” Lukomyansky said. “However, I think it’s important for the world to see how the American military and government specifically does things, and how other nations can learn to do great things to make the world better … we came halfway across the globe and made significant improvements the younger generation will see … whenever you have the intersection of two or more cultures, great things happen when nations learn from each other.”
| Date Taken: | 07.31.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 09.12.2017 12:03 |
| Category: | Package |
| Video ID: | 541751 |
| VIRIN: | 170731-F-PL327-011 |
| Filename: | DOD_104676428 |
| Length: | 00:03:34 |
| Location: | CHISINAU, MD |
| Downloads: | 0 |
| High-Res. Downloads: | 0 |
This work, U.S. forces mark 20-years of humanitarian civic assistance in Eastern Europe, by MSgt Arthur Wright, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
