U.S. Soldiers Establish Tashree Community Center, Clinic, Playground [Baghdad]

2nd Lt. Luke Sparks, fire support and information operations officer for of C Company, Task Force 1st Battalion, 35th Armored Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, gets caught in a group hug by some neighborhood children at the Tashree community center playground in central Baghdad, Nov. 17, 2003. Sparks said that the soldiers’ interaction with local children has improved the U.S. Army’s relationship with the community. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Chad D. Wilkerson

U.S. Soldiers Establish Tashree
Community Center, Clinic, Playground

By U.S. Army Spc. Chad D. Wilkerson / 372nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Dec. 3, 2003 — Every day, as soldiers in Baghdad travel down the city streets, through neighborhoods and markets, they travel with weapons loaded, watching people, buildings and vehicles for the source of the next possible threat.

The job that many of these soldiers have taken on, however, is not simply defending themselves against insurgents, or even to find and apprehend those who pose a threat to Coalition forces. These soldiers have also made it their mission to improve life for the Iraqi people.

Capt. Richard Graves, commander of C Company, Task Force 1st Battalion, 35th Armored Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, has gone the extra mile and beyond in order to make life better for the residents of one central Baghdad community.

Graves and his soldiers are tasked with providing security for three neighborhood districts located on the Coalition’s “green zone,” but that is just the beginning.

“I am just a facilitator,” said Graves. “I listen to the problems of the residents here and then I do everything I can to find a solution.”

Graves’ humility is easy to distinguish when you look at all that he has been able to accomplish in the Al Tashree neighborhood.

“The playground here is part of the community center,” said Graves. “There were people in need of medical care, and we come into the neighborhood every other day to talk with the Iraqis about their problems and concerns. I had the idea back in May that we needed a place that would be one-stop shopping for the residents here.”

The solution, said Graves, was a community center for Al Tashree that would act as a meeting hall for the Neighborhood Advisory Council, as well as a medical clinic for those in need of minor care and a fun place where neighborhood children could play.

Today, the community center is a place where people can come and socialize, those in need can find medical attention and medication, and kids can take advantage of the brightly-colored playground facilities outside.

“It is difficult for the people here to get medical treatment because of their location, and the U.S. Army will not treat Iraqis unless it is a ‘life or limb’ case,” said Graves. “I was able to track down some people from ‘Red Crescent’ and asked them if they would be willing to open a clinic here, and they were happy to.”

Three Iraqi girls make use of the swings at the Tashree community center playground in central Baghdad, Nov. 17, 2003. Capt. Richard Graves, commander of C Company, Task Force 1st Battalion, 35th Armored Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, made the arrangements to have the playground built in order to help improve relations with the local community and show them that the soldiers do care about them. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Chad D. Wilkerson

2nd Lt. Luke Sparks, fire support and information operations officer for of C Company, Task Force 1st Battalion, 35th Armored Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, pushes some of the children in the swings at the Tashree community center playground in central Baghdad. Sparks said that the soldiers’ interaction with local children has improved the U.S. Army’s relationship with the community. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Chad D. Wilkerson

One of the unique qualities of the assistance that C Company has provided to Al Tashree is that everything has been cost free to the U.S. and Iraqi governments. All the facets of this community center have been privately funded and sponsored by the Red Crescent, were services donated by Graves and his soldiers or are a result of Graves’ bargaining with locals.

“I spoke to a local man who wanted to be able to salvage all the scrap metal from buildings in the area that were destroyed during the conflict,” Graves said. “I told him that I wanted a playground for the community center, and I just got lucky. He had an entire playground that he and some workers disassembled, brought over here and welded together in the yard.”

Second Lt. Luke Sparks, fire support and information operations officer for C Company, said he sees the community center, playground and clinic as the perfect way for Coalition personnel to make contact with the public and hear the problems people have that need to be solved.

With the lack of communication capabilities in Baghdad, the center also serves as a forum for Graves and his men to get information out to the public, as well as giving them a chance to interact and have fun with the children.

“ The playground out here is great,” Sparks said. “It is good for the community to see us out here listening to their problems, helping with what we can and playing with their kids.”

But according to Sparks, the work for this community is far from over, and the goal on this small scale mirrors that of the Coalition’s goal for the rest of the nation: a free and sovereign Iraq.

“ I would like to see us be able to leave and this community (would) be able to stand on its own two feet and do well,” Sparks said. “With what we have been able to accomplish, we are giving them the confidence to do that. I think we are doing a good job for Tashree.”

As far as solving problems in the community, Graves said there is always someone on duty at the center to listen to and record the issues and suggestions brought up by community members, and frequent weekly visits keep him informed of progress and new issues.

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