Posted on 03/06/2009 3:17:56 PM PST by SandRat
BAGHDAD — A joint effort between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the U.S. Air Force is improving the training facilities for Iraq’s Air Force (IqAF) cadets.
The $1.96 million rehabilitation project at the Iraq Military Academy Rustamiyah (IMAR) includes five major components that will greatly enhance the learning and living environment for future IqAF officers.
The academy, established by the British in 1924, serves as the sole site for training IqAF cadets. Cadets learn essential skills there, including English, before commissioning as officers ready for flight training. English is taught because it’s the mandatory international language for aviation communication.
Personnel from USACE’s Gulf Region Division and the Air Force’s 321st Air Expeditionary Training Group oversaw the rehabilitation of the academy’s aging infrastructure.
Work, which began in November, was largely complete in February and included expanding the air wing training building, renovating the campus water towers to provide potable water, repairing aging facilities, updating the existing cadet barracks, and constructing a new 300-person dorm from the rubble of an abandoned building.
According to U.S. Air Force Capt. Mickey Jordan, the academy’s renovation is the first effort between USACE engineers and the Coalition Air Force Training Team. Planners conferred jointly with IqAF lieutenants, former IMAR cadets, who helped identify more than two-dozen critical points requiring redesign.
Additional features of the project included a dining facility; renovated barracks from the inside out; instructors’ quarters; classrooms; a small theater and a large auditorium; as well as new generators; air conditioners; and audio-visual systems.
In January, work was completed on renovated barracks. As Iraqi engineer Hamed flipped the switch, sending power to 33 heating units in the barracks, cadets cheered and rushed out to shake his hand. “I used to try to sleep, freezing under two blankets, but now our lives are much better,” commented one cadet.
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