Soldiers Perform Own ‘extreme makeover’

Soldiers perform own ‘extreme makeover’
Story and Photos by
Spc. Mike Alberts
3rd Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs
The military transition team Soldiers of 3rd Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, commenced their own extreme makeover of remote Forward Operating Base Gains Mills located in the northern Kirkuk Province, Iraq.
3-7’s modest MiTT of fewer than 20 Soldiers shares Gains Mills with the Iraqi Army’s 1st Strategic Infrastructure Brigade whose job it is to protect Kirkuk’s valuable oil infrastructure, among other things. Soldiers live and work with their 1st SIB counterparts to more effectively mentor and train them.

“When we got down here last August, Gains Mills was maybe 200 meters in each direction,” said Sgt. 1st Class David Noel, non-commissioned officer-in-charge MiTT life support, 3-7 FA. “The previous group had four people in living spaces designed for two, an underground septic tank that didn’t work, [bacteria-laden] water that really wasn’t fit to shower in, and practically no gym,” said Noel.

Noel, a Philadelphia, Pa., native, is a veteran of a previous combat tour in Afghanistan with 3-7 FA. There, he tolerated living in a mud and straw hut without laundry or showers. This time around, though, he was the one responsible for ensuring that Soldiers had adequate “life support” while at war. Noel refused to allow his Soldiers to live like he had.

“The first four months here we had everybody up everyday [from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.] working on improving this place,” he said. “It was tough, but thanks to our Soldiers the hard work paid off.”

“We more than doubled the FOB in terms of physical size and constructed a bunk house and additional rooms so that every Soldier has his own living quarters. We re-routed septic piping and flow equipment to make the showers run well. We added two 10,000 gallon fiberglass containers and deviated existing well-water into these containers for clean showers. We replaced all hot water tanks and gravity feed tanks to virtually eliminate all sorts of mild preventable medical problems like rashes. We also added heaters and ventilation for the bathrooms.”

Of course, no FOB would be tolerable with an adequate gym. Noel’s team transformed a dark 20 by 20 foot room that masqueraded as gym space to three interconnected workout spaces that include a weightlifting room containing five different weight lifting units and dozens of dumbbells, a cardio room with four cardio machines and a matted grappling room.

“Life and living conditions here at Gains Mills are considerably better than Afghanistan,” said Capt. Thomas Mears, MiTT assistant team chief, 3-7 FA. Mears, also a combat veteran, recalled much rougher times during his previous deployment.

“In Afghanistan, living conditions were really bad and so was communication with family. I remember that we had three phones for almost 450 Soldiers and just a couple computers. Here, we have the ability to call home without much waiting, and internet capability. We now also actually have flushing toilets and a shower trailer.”

But it’s not only the seasoned Soldiers that appreciate the niceties of Gains Mills. Private Ezequiel Widrick is on his first combat tour. Widrick, a Texas native, is a field artilleryman that is currently tasked to assist with security.

“Being here is good. I really appreciate the support we get from home and from our leaders here,” said Widrick. “Its very comfortable down here and most of that is because our leaders care about us and because we’ve got a lot of good non-commissioned officers.”

Wild Thing’s comment……
Our troops are just so awesome. They deserve the best we can givei them and do for them. I pray so hard our country would know in their heart how much we should appreciate all our military does. Stop the bickering from the left and sign anything and put it through asap that helps our troops. Do everything they can to provide for our military all they need for as long as they need it and afterward too when they come home.