Posted on 02/08/2006 3:29:26 PM PST by SandRat
The theater will provide a location for ceremonies and to view training videos; the clinic will be equipped with some of the latest medical technology.
CAMP TAJI, Iraq, Feb. 8, 2006 — As the partnership between the Iraqi army and coalition forces grows each day, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has invested more than $3.5 million into the local Iraqi community to open a renovated Iraqi army theater Jan. 28 and is getting ready to open two renovated health clinics within the next couple of weeks.
"Iraq and the Iraqi army are getting better every day. We believe we are part of a great team of Iraqis and the Corps of Engineers, who together can rebuild Iraq."
U.S. Army Brig. Gen. William McCoy
The theater is now available to the 15,000 Iraqi troops who call Camp Taji their home. The facility not only improves the quality of life for the troops, but also cements a friendship growing between coalition forces and the Iraqi army.
“I look forward to working together to complete many projects like these,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. William McCoy, commander, Gulf Region Division, Army Corps of Engineers. “We have 3,600 projects and almost 2,200 completed.
“Iraq and the Iraqi army are getting better every day,” McCoy added. “We believe we are part of a great team of Iraqis and the Corps of Engineers, who together can rebuild Iraq.”
The Taji Cinema, which was essentially destroyed during the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, had the old roof removed and replaced, 500 seats re-upholstered and a new restroom area with eight toilets installed.
The project cost $754,000 and took almost seven months to complete.
“This facility will offer many activities, ceremonies and show a lot of training videos to train the Iraqi army and the new Iraq,” said Iraqi Col. Alla Ahmed, base commander for the Iraqi side of Camp Taji. “This is a monument to the wave of freedom our country is now experiencing.”
In addition to the theater, two 143-square-meter health clinics are taking shape at Camp Taji and are expected to open in the next couple of weeks. The $3 million project gives Iraqi soldiers accessibility to medical clinics with some of the latest equipment in medical technology.
“This facility will be a vast improvement from the last facility,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Stephen Griep, an orthopedic physician who calls Bitburg, Germany, his home. “We can see up to 200 patients a day. Out of 15,000 troops, that’s a pretty good ratio. My hat’s off to the preventative medicine team we have in place.”
The health clinic features five exam rooms, one isolation room, a dental clinic and a state-of-the-art x-ray machine. The existing clinic sees only 150 Iraqi soldiers daily and has essentially no modern medical equipment. The clinics’ doors are expected to open in the next couple of weeks.
“There’s been a lot of hard work and a lot more coming,” McCoy added. “Soon this country will be a democratic region, which will be something we all can be proud of.”
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division PING
BTTT
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