Iraqi children, at a small Bedouin school, located in southern Iraq's Dhi Qar province, near Contingency Operating Base Adder received school supplies from U.S. Soldiers assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1...

2nd Lt. Christopher Doyle, a native of Parker, Colo., and assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, delivers bottled water to children at a small Bedouin school, located in southern Iraq's Dh...

Contingency Operating Base Adder, Iraq. At least once every week, the 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Command Sergeant Major, Command Sgt. Maj. William May, and a few of his Soldiers drive past a small Bedouin school located in southern Iraq's Dhi Qar province, near the American base here.

The school, made of three mud-hut rooms, is part of the province's ministry of education and provides primary schooling for all the children in the local area, which includes long stretches of open desert.

It was originally built by Iraqis, and maintained by only four faculty members that provide instruction for all levels of primary education.

"I couldn't believe that these children were living out here in this area, and drinking river water," said the 'Thunder Horse Battalion's senior enlisted non-commissioned officer, from Monument Beach, Mass. "I decided that it was about time someone paid attention to this and did something."

May, and his personal security detachment, paid a visit to the school during one of their routine convoys to see Soldiers within the Thunder Horse Battalion's area of operations. They delivered bottled water, soccer balls and school supplies to the kids that spend their days in the almost baron rooms learning elementary education Oct 30.

The school's principal and primary instructor said this was a great day for the Bedouin children, who live in an Iraqi community of families that tend to move around in the desert attending to sheep or camels.

The kids rarely receive any visitors; especially U.S. Soldiers showing up with donations of water and school supplies. So, according to the principal, the 2nd BN., 12th Cav. Soldiers gave the children an unforgettable experience.

May has future plans for the area and the school, which include water purification and more school supplies, and possible expansion of the school house itself.