NORFOLK, Va. -- Iraq's infrastructure experienced its fair share of misfortunes over the years, and it wears the scars of a dictator, war and looters in its pockmarked roads, failing power grids and dilapidated buildings.
In January 2004, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers established a Gulf Region District in Iraq to coordinate infrastructure rebuilding efforts in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Norfolk was among the first districts to respond with volunteers.
The Norfolk District plays a vital role rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure through overseas contingency operations, or OCO. Employees from Norfolk District, ranging from engineers, analysts, project managers, architects and support staff volunteer for deployments for six- and 12-month periods. They are improving ports, repairing more than 35 bridges, dredging, providing electricity, building the first-ever water treatment facility, rebuilding airports, police stations and housing throughout the country. It's just a handful of the more than 4,800 reconstruction projects the Gulf Region District has completed.
Walter Kloth, a 23-year-old geographic information system technician and youngest Norfolk District volunteer to deploy, spent six months in Iraq last year.
"Before leaving, I thought I would be surrounded by miles of desert, ducking into buildings to avoid the random sand storm ... (I was) mentally preparing myself to work ten-plus-hour days, seven days a week," Kloth said. "It was nothing like I had envisioned."
The Virginia Beach native worked in the northern province of Kabul - a higher elevated region - grass, trees, terrain with goat herders and lots of rose bushes, he said.
Kloth, along with the other volunteers, lived in a prefabricated metal container - roughly the size of an 8x36 box with air conditioning. In his spare time he played cards and watched movies on his personal laptop - an essential travel item that broke up the "Groundhog Day" feeling, he said. His daily routine consisted of using GIS as integrated hardware, software, and data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information.
"Simply put, GIS gives you a birds-eye view of the terrain to support construction, installation of pipes and other infrastructure elements. It provides an intricate part of the framework for planning," Kloth said.
Kloth is just one of many who have helped breathe life into a damaged and disintegrating infrastructure. Upgraded warehouses, silos, and other facilities have been built and are re-employing more than 3,500 workers at Umm Qasr, Iraqi's main port. Other projects include dredging the port 33 feet deeper and removing unexploded ordnance and other sunken obstacles. By early June 2009, the channel was deep enough to allow ships carrying 15,000 metric tons of food to unload.
"It's important and satisfying to know we are making a difference in the lives of people ... and that goes far beyond building infrastructure to sharing knowledge of engineering, construction management, and business practices. The Corps team continues to make a lasting impact," said Maj. David A. Fedroff, Norfolk District deputy commander and the district's OCO program manager.
To date, more than 100 Norfolk District employees have deployed to Iraq and/or Afghanistan since 2004. Norfolk District has a little more than400 people, and about two percent of the team deploys at any given time to support overseas contingency operations, said Jan VanHouten, an emergency management specialist and the coordinator for OCO.
"The Corps is one of the few organizations that have the capability to design and build the infrastructure of a country, and it started when we provided humanitarian assistance by building tent cities in the Balkans in the late nineties" VanHouten said."Our mission has definitely evolved and our successes and contribution in Iraq and Afghanistan are evidence of our ongoing efforts."
It's also an organization where employees like Kloth are committed to the mission.
"Most people ask me, 'Why would you want to go there and do what you do'' and I ask them, 'Why not''" Kloth said.
The Gulf Region District team has completed $7.8 billion in reconstruction projects. In addition to the more than 4,800 reconstruction projects completed, 261 projects are in progress and 27 projects are being planned, according to a 2009 GAO report.
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