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101st Hosts Its Last Tigris River Valley Commission Meeting
MOSUL, Iraq – Amid preparations for redeployment, the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) hosted its final meeting of the Tigris River Valley Commission at the Qayyarah West Airfield in northern Iraq Jan. 17.
During the meeting, U.S. military and regional Iraqi leaders discussed funding for projects in each town and how money from the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) should be distributed. They touched on hiring teachers to fill newly constructed schools around the area, resolving land disputes, and preventing electricity brownouts.
The commission is made up of leaders from the division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team, mayors from towns around Qayyarah, including Al Hadr, Mosul, Tal Abtah, Qayarrah, Makhmur, Hammam Al Alil and Ash Shura, and sheiks of large tribes in the region. The group has been meeting since July to discuss topics that affect the population of the area.
Also during the meeting, Col. Ben Hodges, 1st Brigade Combat Team commander, introduced the mayors and sheiks to his replacement from the Stryker Brigade, Lt. Col. Karl Reed, commander of 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment. Reed is scheduled to host the next meeting Jan. 27 in Al Hadr.
Release #040118c |
