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WASHINGTON, Dec. 29, 2008 – The general who leads what he calls “an engineer fight” in Baghdad credits attention to sanitation and reconstruction of essential services with creating a dramatic turnaround that’s having a ripple effect throughout Iraq. “It doesn’t matter if you are in direct support of lethal operations or on the nonlethal side, it is almost always an engineer leading on both sides of the house right now,” Army Brig Gen. Jeffrey Talley, engineer for Multinational Division Baghdad, told American Forces Press Service by phone from his headquarters. A reservist who in civilian life is an engineering professor...

12/24/2008 - JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq (AFNS) -- "Answering the call" is a motto 732nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron Airmen believe in, and it's something Soldiers can attest to. This team of combat-trained engineers, assigned to the 732nd ECES Det. 6, will build anything, anywhere to help Soldiers in Iraq accomplish their mission or to improve quality of life. "We do vertical and horizontal construction projects at different forward operating bases," said Maj. Thomas Taylor, the Det. 6 commander. "We can build a FOB from the ground up or expand facilities to provide more space for Soldiers to live and...

BASRAH — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is working closely with Iraqi businessmen to teach them how to bid on contracts for work with the U.S. government. At a workshop in Basrah Oct. 9, USACE contract specialist, Karen Johnson, and project manager, Sheila Hyde, provided information on a variety of topics. The businessmen were shown how to read and understand government solicitation requirements; the key steps in the USACE contracting process, from initial scope of work to contract award; adhering to the Defense Base Act insurance requirements; other important documents (i.e. past performance evaluations, letters of recommendation, security...

Hey. I'm new here and I apologize for the vanity post, but I'd like to interview people with AC-130 experience. I'm working on a story and need an objective opinion. The deadline is 10-16-08. Thanks.

Spc. Roberto Giron of the 74th Multi Role Bridging Company works to teach an Iraqi combat engineer how to properly set bridge panels during the unit’s training session held at Camp Taji. The training of the Iraqi army combat engineer is just another step in helping the country sustain itself in the future. Photo by Spc. Michael Behlin. CAMP TAJI — Getting Iraq to the point of being able to sustain itself in all operations is an important factor in today’s war on terrorism. With the country being able to govern, defend, and sustain itself, the U.S. military presence has...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE WAR EAGLE, Iraq, Sept. 12, 2008 – The soldiers of Earth Movers Platoon, Company B, 46th Engineer Combat Battalion, gathered for their mission briefing. Army 1st Lt. Jeremy Atkinson briefs his platoon before the soldiers head to Baghdad’s Sadr City district Sept. 9, 2008. Atkinson serves as a platoon leader with Company B, 46th Engineer Combat Battalion, 926th Engineer Brigade, Multinational Division Baghdad. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jerry Saslav, Multinational Division Baghdad  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. They would pick up a quality assurance/quality control team and then head into Baghdad’s Sadr City district....

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, July 25, 2008 – Multinational Division Baghdad engineers with the 25th Infantry Division’s 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team journeyed to the Grand Canal Bridge in Taji Qada, northwest of Baghdad, on July 22 to monitor repair progress. Construction workers from a local construction company weld steel that is going to be used to fix the hole in the northbound lane of the Grand Canal Bridge in Taji, northwest of Baghdad, July 22, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Lyndsey R. Dransfield, Multinational Division Baghdad  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The bridge, which spans a portion...

JOINT BASE BALAD — Army engineers across the world face the same challenges each day for soldiers, materials and equipment. Shortages of repair parts, force protection measures, and limited construction equipment are just some of those challenges. These shared challenges provided the opportunity for two engineer units to construct a lasting partnership together. Together, Soldiers from the 5th Engineer Battalion and the 5th Iraqi Army Engineer Regiment in Diyala province constructed an aggressive six-month training and combined operations partnership, June 5. The two engineer units are organized similarly, with combat capabilities of combat engineers, construction engineers and a boat and...

6/3/2008 - PANJSHIR PROVINCE, Afghanistan (AFPN) -- More than 1,000 people attended the groundbreaking ceremony for a new $6 million road May 28 in Barak of the Bazarak District in the Panjshir province. During the ceremony, Afghan officials from the highest levels of government discussed the critical importance of the road, which will extend from Barak to Khenj, to Panjshir and to all of Afghanistan. Ahmad Zia Massoud, Afghanistan's first vice president and the brother of famed Panjshir martyr and Afghan national hero Ahmad Shah Massoud, was the main speaker during the hour-long ceremony. The ceremony was held adjacent to...

NURISTAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan, June 2, 2008 – Coalition engineer and cavalry soldiers worked together in April and May to build living quarters and a security checkpoint for Afghan border police at the Gowardesh Bridge during Operation Mountain Highway II in the eastern portion of Afghanistan’s Nuristan province. U.S. Army Spc. Ben Kavanagh, Charlie Company, 62nd Engineer Battalion, marks a spot on a four-by-four while building an Afghan Border Police check point April 26 at the Gowardesh Bridge during Operation Mountain Highway II in eastern Nuristan Province, Afghanistan. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Brandon Aird  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution...

Women make up almost half of today's workforce, yet hold just a fraction of the jobs in certain high-earning, high-qualification fields. They constitute 20 percent of the nation's engineers, fewer than one-third of chemists, and only about a quarter of computer and math professionals. Over the past decade and more, scores of conferences, studies, and government hearings have been directed at understanding the gap. It has stayed in the media spotlight thanks in part to the high-profile misstep of then-Harvard president Larry Summers, whose loose comment at a Harvard conference on the topic in 2005 ultimately cost him his job....

5/16/2008 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Kettles filled with scalding tar, 300-degree asphalt, concrete chemicals that can burn skin are the tools of the trade for heavy equipment operators who labor here under a scorching Iraqi sun. Airmen assigned to the 332nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, known as "Dirt Boyz" know their duties are indeed dirty and dangerous, but understand aircraft operations depend on their ability to repair and expand the flightline. In less than four months, Balad Air Base Dirt Boyz have placed and finished more than 12,460 feet of concrete and added approximately 90,000 square feet...

BAGHDAD, May 9, 2008 – The senior consultant for water resources in Iraq, the Multinational Corps Iraq geospatial team, and Iraqi surveying engineers from the Ministry of Water Resources discussed the future of a geospatial reference project Iraq is taking over at the U.S. Embassy in the International Zone on May 5. Army Staff Sgt. Anas Malkawi, a geodetic surveyor with 100th Engineer Company, 20th Engineer Brigade, discusses the locations chosen for future geospatial reference system points across Iraq with Iraqi surveyors from the Ministry of Water Resources during a meeting at the U.S. Embassy, in Baghdad’s International Zone,...

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq — The battlefield of today is much different than in wars past with an enemy who prefers to cower in hiding and use his weapon of choice, the improvised explosive device; a diabolical tool of destruction, ominously waiting road-side to mangle unsuspecting Coalition vehicles. Combating this ever popular threat are the brave men conducting route clearance throughout Iraq such as the Marines of Reaper platoon, Company A, 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 1. The Reapers deployed to Fallujah, Iraq in October of last year for a seven month tour supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom with Regimental...

FOB KALSU — Construction on numerous community buildings in Sayafiyah is nearing completion. A health clinic, middle school, elementary school and community center will be completed by the end of April. The Sayafiyah Health Clinic will be fully-furnished, funded and controlled by the Mahmudiyah Qada. A local contractor is also finishing the work on the Sayafiyah Community Center. The center has been completely renovated with the addition of two administrative rooms and four new restrooms. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sponsored the renovation of the al-Inbaath elementary school. They expanded the school by six additional classrooms and two laboratories....

Now that big corporate lobbyists know they can't get amnesty for the millions of cheap laborers they have imported illegally, they are pushing to increase the number of so-called high-skilled workers by raising the cap of H-1B visas. The pressure is on the House of Representatives to pass an increase soon, most likely in the form of the SKIL Act (H.R. 1930), sponsored by Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ), usually a conservative ally. There are three reasons why Big Business wants to increase foreign workers: * H-1Bers are paid much less than Americans * The influx of H-1Bers depresses the "prevailing...

Funny stuff :)

Under the constellations Orion and Sirius, Iskandariyah Thermal’s smokestacks blow exhaust into the night at Forward Operating Base Iskan, Iraq, March 8.(U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Ben Brody. FORWARD OPERATING BASE ISKAN — There’s a reason the lights never go out at FOB Iskan, and it’s not because of Coalition forces. The brightly-lit Iskandariyah Thermal Power Plant located there has been chugging along since long before troops arrived. The plant is the dominant visual feature of FOB Iskan, with four enormous smokestacks rising above an imposing labyrinth of iron girders, spindly ladders and steaming pipes. The electricity is churned into...

4/10/2008 - PANJSHIR, Afghanistan (AFPN) -- As part of a Provincial Reconstruction Team it is common to go "outside the wire" to do work. While some may only leave the base once a week, engineers are out there every day conducting site assessments, quality control missions and preparing the province to respond to natural disasters. April 1, while out on an inspection of a handful of construction projects in a mountainous region of Afghanistan, Air Force engineers were honored to be invited to take part in a ceremony to lay the first stones of the foundation of a new building...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq, April 7, 2008 – When an Air Force engineer first stepped foot in Hawr Rajab, it was an al-Qaida in Iraq safe haven. The thought that came to mind was a scene from an old western movie. Airmen from the 557th Expeditionary Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers, or RED HORSE, Squadron teach masonry to Village of Hope students at Patrol Base Stone in Hawr Rajab, Iraq, April 2, 2008. Two hundred Hawr Rajab men, in four classes of 50, are scheduled to graduate from the vocational school. Courtesy photo   (Click photo...