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Iraqi Construction Apprentice Program Continues
Story Number: NNS041001-11
Release Date: 10/1/2004 4:04:00 PM
From 1st Marine Expeditionary Force Engineer Group Public Affairs AL ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq (NNS) -- Members of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 14 began the second round of teaching construction skills to Iraqi youth in the Iraqi Construction Apprentice Program (ICAP) in July.
The ICAP program is designed to take 14- to 25-year-old Iraqi students and teach them enough basic construction to get a job in their local communities.
“This is what we came here to do, to help the Iraqi people,” said one of the new instructors, Equipment Operator Constructionman Thomas Gilberti. “They’re just like American kids.”
The classes are organized to give each student an overview of electrical, carpentry, plumbing and masonry trades, so the students can later concentrate on the construction field they want to pursue most.
The program is divided into two stages, beginning with six to eight weeks of classroom and hands-on instruction, followed by four to six weeks of on-the-job training. The schedule is flexible to allow the program to be tailored to student needs.
The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force Engineer Group is running the overall program and providing guidance to instructors from NMCBs 14 and 74.
“I like the idea of helping them out, because they’re a bunch of young guys just starting out,” said Builder 2nd Class Nathan Allen Jr., an instructor.
“A lot of these young kids have never had a job before, so we’re getting them started in something that may become their career,” added veteran instructor Builder 2nd Class David Trout.
Upon completion of the program, students receive a completion certificate and a tool belt containing such tools as hammers, tape measures, squares, screwdrivers, chalk lines and retractable razors. The tool belts are a gift of friendship from the American people, according to the nonprofit group Spirit of America.
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