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Light shines on Mosul reconstruction projects through hospital windows

By Pfc. Sharla Perrin, 3rd HBCT, 1st Cav. Div. Public AffairsMarch 27, 2009

Pfc. Spencer Smoot, the medic for 3rd Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division is reflected in the cracked glass of a window in the Alsalam Hospital in Mosul, Iraq. C Co. and the Mosul Rec...
1 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Pfc. Spencer Smoot, the medic for 3rd Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division is reflected in the cracked glass of a window in the Alsalam Hospital in Mosul, Iraq. C Co. and the Mosul Rec... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
A little boy stands in the doorway of a relative's hospital room, lit by sunlight through a window on the room's far wall. The windows of the Alsalam Hospital in Mosul, Iraq were damaged in improvised explosive device concussions and are being replac...
2 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – A little boy stands in the doorway of a relative's hospital room, lit by sunlight through a window on the room's far wall. The windows of the Alsalam Hospital in Mosul, Iraq were damaged in improvised explosive device concussions and are being replac... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Soldiers with C Company, 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division maneuver a staircase in the Alsalam Hospital in Mosul, Iraq. The windows of the hospital were damaged in an improvised explosive device detona...
3 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers with C Company, 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division maneuver a staircase in the Alsalam Hospital in Mosul, Iraq. The windows of the hospital were damaged in an improvised explosive device detona... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Soldiers with 3rd Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division are seen through the freshly replaced windows of the Alsalam Hospital entrance in Mosul, Iraq. C Co. coordinated with the Mosul R...
4 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers with 3rd Platoon, C Company, 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division are seen through the freshly replaced windows of the Alsalam Hospital entrance in Mosul, Iraq. C Co. coordinated with the Mosul R... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORWARD OPERATING BASE MAREZ, MOSUL, Iraq - Lt. Col. Kirk Fernitz, the deputy chief of the Mosul Reconstruction Operations Center and C Company, 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division paid a visit to the Alsalam Hospital in southeastern Mosul March 17, 2009 to review an ongoing window-replacement project there.

The goal in replacing the hospital's windows was to improve and increase the health care environment for its surrounding community.

"Unfortunately, the Alsalam Hospital in Mosul was damaged by the blast and concussion of nearby IEDs," Fernitz said. "Assisting the hospital with structural repairs and improving its appearance is important in enticing patients to seek treatment there, which keeps the hospital in business and attracts future health care applicants."

Fernitz said that projects like this are showing the citizens of Mosul that the

government is capable of and genuinely interested in improving the health

and welfare of its citizens.

Besides overseeing local reconstruction projects, the MROC has been helping with the development of the province's respective director generals through a process called civil capacity building.

"The key to civil capacity building is for the Iraqi leadership to develop the capacity to coordinate and to independently work out their issues," said Fernitz. "Once the Iraqis are consistent with the process and can 'catch their own fish,' we consider our job done."

The Coalition Forces that inhabit the Ninewah province also coordinate with the director generals and the MROC. Units who operate in Ninewah, like Co. C, nominate projects which are presented by the MROC to the director generals for approval. Then, members of the MROC provide assets to the director generals, such as engineers, to execute the projects.

So far, the local government has ensured that chlorine is delivered every month to the four water treatments in Mosul and overseen ongoing trash and rubble removal projects, repaired water lines and replaced the windows in the Alsalam Hospital, Fernitz said.

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