Students at Al Soonobar School greet Soldiers with the 36th Sustainment Brigade out of Temple, Texas, Nov. 18, in Jaber Mohamed Village, Iraq. Photo by Spc. Lisa A. Cope, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary).

COL ADDER

Lt. Col. Clinton Moyer, chief of civil operations with the 36th Sustainment Brigade out of Temple, Texas, has worked with the school's staff and the local community for roughly a year to build a new school.

Moyer, a Clearwater, Kan., native, said the new school is scheduled to be completed in January.

"We helped with the plans for the new school,” he said.  “We helped get the project approved; and, as far as the actual building of the school, we have an engineer team, the [U.S. Army] Corps of Engineers, as the lead for going out and making sure that everything is done correctly. Once the school got approved and they started building it, we were just kind of the conduit for it."

The new school will facilitate more students at more grade levels and will provide running water and electricity, said Moyer.

"What they have right now at that school is three grade levels, 1st grade, 2nd grade and 3rd grade," he said. "With the new school they will be able to go up to the 6th grade."

Shaykh Sultan Kataa Jaber Mohamed, of Jaber Mohamed Village, said, through an interpreter, one of the biggest improvements to the area was a gravel road leading to the school.

"The gravel that America put over here to create a new road for them helps the kids a lot because it is about four kilometers to get to here," said Mohamed. "It was so full of mud, they wouldn't be able to do it before. They appreciate what [America] has done."

Mohamed also said he appreciated the help from U.S. Soldiers with building the new school.

"Without American forces, we would never get a new school like that," he said.

Spc. Elizabeth A. Patterson, a supply clerk with the 36th Sust. Bde., and an Austin, Texas, native, visited the Soonobar School for the first time, Nov. 18.

Patterson said visiting the school helped her have more of an understanding of the local culture and their way of life. She said she thinks all Soldiers should be given the opportunity to see what life is like outside the base.

Patterson said she was amazed at the difference between the old and new school.

"It is crazy how they are going from a mud school to a school with running water, electricity [and] fans," she said. "I believe that all kids deserve – no matter what country or how bad off they are – they deserve a good education."

(By Spc. Lisa A. Cope, 13th Sustainment Command)