ITBAYAT, Philippines -- It was a blazing hot summer evening in Itbayat, Philippines — so hot that a hungry engineer from the 84th Engineer Battalion, 130th Engineer Brigade, 8th Theater Sustainment command, could fry an egg on the asphalt they were using to construct a disaster relief warehouse for the local residents. As the work day was coming to an end, all the Soldiers huddled up in their field tents for one last final break.
“It’s getting real quiet in here,” said Sgt. 1st Class Colby Irvin, a platoon sergeant with the 523rd Engineer Support Company, 84th EN BN. “That means I need to get you all back out there before you get too tired. Five, four, three,” followed as he began counting down. “Why isn’t anyone moving?”
“You didn’t get to one yet, sergeant,” said Pfc. Levi Boudewyn jokingly with a smile on his face. “That’s like a false start if we go before one.”
Boudewyn, a plumber with the 523rd ESC, was one of the few morale boosters left working on the warehouse for Salaknib, an annual exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the U.S. military. A majority of the engineers had already begun departing back to Honolulu, Hawaii, but Boudewyn volunteered to stay behind and help complete the construction.
“I wanted to finish what I started,” said Boudewyn. “To stay and see the end result of the project will give me a feeling of accomplishment.”
Making jokes was one of the ways Boudewyn boosted morale and helped support the exercise. According to his fellow Soldiers, days were extremely long and hot, so having someone around to put a smile on their faces and keep their spirits up was helpful – especially with the extension and fewer Soldiers.
“It’s always been my dream to serve in the United States. So, now I get to do what I love and serve my country at the same time.”
Itbayat lies within the Batanes province, which is both a protected area and an ancestral domain. This meant the Army engineers required an environmental compliance certificate before starting construction. This pushed construction back for a while, impacting some Soldiers’ ability to prepare to deploy to Papua New Guinea for Tamiok Strike, their next mission.
“The project’s original groundbreaking ceremony was in mid-April, but we did not start construction until May 11,” said Warrant Officer Elissa Pedelty, the project manager with the 84th EN BN. “The pushback extended our time on the island by 10 days. This condensed our timeline for completion from 48 to 36 days. We ended up reevaluating our schedule weekly.”
Joking around wasn’t the only way Boudewyn supported the team. When it came time to get serious and work, he was ready to get dirty and do some heavy lifting, even if it wasn’t something he was specifically taught for his military occupational specialty.
“I’ve been getting cross-trained in electrical, carpentry, and masonry,” said Boudewyn. “That’s very helpful for me and my career progression.”
Boudewyn is not new to working with his hands. Before the military, Boudewyn did landscaping and construction for his civilian career. Upon joining the U.S. Army, he was able to bring some skill sets he already possessed and build on them.
“It’s always been my dream to serve in the United States,” said Boudewyn. “So now I get to do what I love and serve my country at the same time.”
Although Boudewyn joined the military with prior construction experience, he lacked experience in traveling abroad.
“All this is new to me. I’ve never been out of the country before,” said Boudewyn. “It’s nice coming to the Philippines and experiencing a new culture, seeing what their day-to-day life is like.”
For the last month, Boudewyn has had the opportunity to work alongside his Filipino counterparts. Throughout that time, the U.S. Army engineers brought their expertise and combined that with the Philippine Army engineers’ valuable capabilities. This mutual exchange of knowledge, skills, and experiences enriched both forces.
“They’ve taught us a lot. We were able to teach them too, and together, we make a great team,” said Boudewyn. “Even with the locals, we like to get out and play basketball with the community and interact with everyone. It’s going very well.”
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