FOB KALSU — For school children in the south Baghdad area, getting an education has become a difficult, even dangerous prospect in recent years. In some cases, supplies were short and facilities were in disrepair. Sometimes the teachers weren’t there. In a few cases, the schools themselves were all but gone.
The area where the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 3rd Infantry Division arrived in June 2007, had long been an insurgent strong hold, with many villages controlled by al-Qaida terrorists who kept children, especially girls, from attending school. With no Coalition or Iraqi security force presence, local schools suffered the same fate as many farms and businesses in the area. They were looted and damaged, even becoming battlegrounds.
“About two years ago, the Ministry of Education ordered all of the teachers out of the rural areas because the security situation was so bad,” said Capt. Trista Mustaine, education adviser to the Baghdad-7 embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team (ePRT), which works with the 2nd BCT to rebuild the local infrastructure and economy.
The area is now more secure than it has been in years, with Iraqi Army and Police establishing a presence and preparing to hold the gains made by the 2nd BCT, which is scheduled to redeploy in July.
In addition to repairing critical infrastructure and breathing new life into the damaged economy, the 2nd BCT and Baghdad-7 ePRT have spent millions to keep schools open and make it possible for children to pursue an education.
With the school year now over for children in the area, it’s a chance for workers to complete renovations and building projects throughout the 2nd BCT’s area of operation.
Perhaps the most intense activity is in the “Banshee” area of operation, which belongs to the Soldiers of Battery B, 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery. There are currently four school improvement projects in their sector, with a combined estimated cost of more than $1 million.
The nearby al-Menahay School was occupied by al-Qaida insurgents, who eventually destroyed it using homemade explosives. Students of Tatwir School suffered worse.
“[Al-Qaida] emplaced [improvised explosive devices] in that school, thinking Americans would come there to occupy it,” Aaron said. “We cleared that school earlier this year. We removed multiple IEDs. An [explosives clearing] robot was lost trying to clear that school as well.
As for the al-Hader School, a new school is being constructed to replace it, just 200 meters from the original site. The estimated cost for that project is $500,000. In total, more than $2.2 million has been spent so far on schools from Commander’s Emergency Response Program funds administered by the 2nd BCT, with another $500,000 worth of projects currently funded.
In Sayifiyah, the Maahmoon School being renovated with Government of Iraq funding from the Baghdad Provincial Council, the only school in the 2nd BCT’s area to receive such funding. Budget execution for projects has been a problem for Iraqi government ministries across the board, said Mustaine. Fortunately, a new line of funding has come through for schools in the form of I-CERP, which uses Iraqi money within the framework of Coalition CERP.
“I think the biggest success in capacity building is I-CERP,” said Mustaine. “It’s Iraqi money, filtered through the U.S. Treasury and implemented jointly by Coalition forces and the GoI. It’s a step toward building capacity and gets [the GoI] spending their own money. Currently we have eight schools funded with I-CERP and three pending funding.”
I-CERP is currently providing more than $980,000 for school projects in the area.
As Aaron and his Soldiers near redeployment in July, he feels good about the work they have done.
“We’ve made a huge impact on the community with the school, and with other projects we’ve done,” he said.