Construction begins on Taqaddum medical facility

Marine Corps News ^ | Feb 16, 2006 | Cpl. Daniel J. Redding

[SandRat]

CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (Feb. 16, 2006) -- After months of delays, construction has begun on Camp Taqaddum’s new medical facility, with the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 22 stepping up to the task.

The unit, a part of the 30th Naval Construction Regiment, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, has faced difficulties in getting the project underway and is working hard to see that the medical facility begins taking form.

The biggest difficulty the unit has faced as it has sought to begin construction has been getting its hands on quality materials, said Lt. Jay E. Lowack, officer-in-charge of the project and Charlie Company commander for the Fort Worth, Texas-based unit.

More specifically, quality concrete has been hard to come by, said Lowack, 29, a native of Arlington, Texas.

“Getting materials for the concrete has been painful,” Lowack said, adding that this inability to get quality gravel and sand, among other things, has been the number one cause of the delays for the unit.

“Our biggest difficulty [in getting the concrete] is our environment,” explained Petty Officer 1st Class Pat D. Garrett, a native of Austin, Texas, and the project leader, referring to being in a deployed arena.

The project is expected to take several months now that construction has begun, said Senior Chief Evans J. Atkins, 56, a native of Amarillo, Texas and the project manager.

With the project initially having been started several months prior, all other materials needed for construction of the facility are on hand, Lowack said. The first steps of construction have been taken, with the new cement floor currently being poured over the course of several weeks.

He cautioned, however, that the unreliable material supply hampers the speed they are capable of working at.

Once the concrete has been poured, the plywood structure of the facility will then be erected, said Garrett, 42.

At this point in the construction of the project, NMCB 22 will transfer control of it to their replacements, who will then begin installing the basic electricity and plumbing, he continued.

Finally, the overall final touches of the structure – inside and out – will be completed, along with the plumbing and electricity.

Ultimately, the unit is happy to provide the improved medical facility to the Marines of Camp Taqaddum, Garrett said, because it’s the least that they can do.

“We have it harder than some, easier than most,” he explained, adding that he respects all that the Marines here do.

The sailors of NMCB 22, along with the 4,000 servicemembers of 1st Marine Logistics Group based here, are part of the 25,000 servicemembers of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force’s forward deployed element.

The 1st MLG’s mission is to provide sustained logistical support to I MEF and Iraqi Security Forces operating in the Al Anbar province of Iraq. First MLG will also support the development of ISF logistical capabilities in order to enable independent ISF led counter-insurgency operations.

[SandRat]

Sailors from Naval Construction Battalion 22, 30th Naval Construction Regiment, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, work on properly laying a cement floor for the new Camp Taqaddum medical facility Feb. 16, 2006. The Fort Worth, Texas-based unit will continue to work on the project, expected to take several months, before handing it over to its replacement for completion. The sailors of NMCB 22, along with the 4,000 servicemembers of 1st Marine Logistics Group, are part of the 25,000 servicemembers of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force’s forward deployed element. The 1st MLG’s mission is to provide sustained logistical support to I MEF and Iraqi Security Forces operating in the Al Anbar province of Iraq. First MLG will also support the development of ISF logistical capabilities in order to enable independent ISF led counter-insurgency operations.
Photo by: Cpl. Daniel J. Redding

[SandRat]

Sea Bees Build!!!

[E.G.C.]

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