By David Vergun, Army News Service
LA PAZ DEPARTMENT, El Salvador -- Some 1,800 soldiers from
Combined Joint Task Force Hope are providing humanitarian assistance as part of
their training during the Beyond the Horizon exercise in El Salvador.
The U.S. Army South-led mission runs through Aug. 4, and
includes soldiers from all components, Air Force and Marine Corps service
members, Salvadoran soldiers, and personnel from nongovernmental organizations.
The scope of training includes the construction of two
schools, as well as extensions to two existing schools and a clinic in the La
Paz Department, a rural area in the southeastern part of the nation that is
underdeveloped and in need of services, said Army Maj. Al Cavazos, CJTF Hope
Information Operations Cell officer in charge. The task force also is providing
medical and dental treatment at various locations.
Army Staff Sgt. Cristin Baughman is the noncommissioned
officer in charge of a group of 30 soldiers from the 4th Engineer Battalion,
Fort Carson, Colorado, who are building a three-classroom cinderblock structure
for elementary and middle school children at Santa Rita.
The U.S. soldiers were working alongside Salvadoran soldiers
June 25. Despite the language barrier, they were coordinating efforts very
well, she said. The hardest part of the work, she noted, was getting the right
supplies at the right time where they would be needed. For example, she didn't
want the roof beams to arrive before the concrete, which needed to be poured
for the foundation.
Nevertheless, supplies didn't always arrive at the right
time or in the right sequence. Some items are not even available, as soldiers
had to rely on the local economy for construction materials, she said.
Baughman said she has found the local people to be happy
about having U.S. troops building a school. She said they bring coffee and food
throughout the day, and one woman even offered to sew torn clothing for
soldiers.
Valuable Training
Army 1st Lt. Alexander Swafford said the construction
project not only benefits the local community, but also serves as valuable
training for the U.S. soldiers.
The U.S. soldiers are more accustomed to horizontal
construction work, not vertical construction, he said, explaining that
horizontal means projects such as road building or burying pipes for water or
sewage. Vertical means building structures.
Meanwhile, other U.S. troops were building an entire school
at El Amate, with 15 U.S. soldiers, 12 U.S. Marines and about a dozen
Salvadoran soldiers engaged in the construction.
Army Cpl. Eric Lett, a reservist from Knoxville, Tennessee,
said most of the U.S. soldiers had very little experience in vertical
construction. However, Lett's civilian job is vertical construction, which he
does throughout Tennessee, so he gives tips on construction techniques to
others.
Also, the U.S. soldiers and Marines are learning a lot from
the Salvadorans about construction techniques at El Amate, he said. The
Salvadorans are hard workers, he added, noting that back home, he encounters
many construction workers who are Salvadoran and they all work very hard and do
a great job.
Supervising all U.S. and Salvadoran soldiers at El Amate was
1st Lt. Yamilet Estefani Alabi, a Salvadoran soldier. Lett said he found that
the U.S. soldiers and Marines have great respect for Alabi's leadership and
engineering ability.
Alabi said the U.S. soldiers and Marines are learning about
vertical construction very quickly and are doing a great job. They are very
respectful and are a joy to work with, she added.
Alabi graduated from Salvador's military academy 11 years
ago. The Salvadoran soldiers have a physical fitness test that is somewhat
similar to what the U.S. soldiers do, she noted: a 2-mile run, pushups and
situps. What's different is the Salvadorans also swim laps in a 100-meter pool,
she said.
The attrition rate was about 40 percent, she said. Of the 79
who graduated, Alabi was one of six female graduates. She graduated first in
the academy, beating everyone in the physical fitness test and academics.
Although women get treated the same as men in the Salvadoran
army, she said, she works extra hard to get respect.
During the construction work, Alabi took some time to visit
a group of eighth-grade students who were studying math and English at a
temporary school site. They will be going to the new school in Amato, which is
expected to open around the end of July.
Alabi gathered a group of female students around her,
telling them that she's an engineer in the army and if they study hard, they
too can succeed in life and get a good career. Two of the girls said they want
to become engineers like Alabi. They had visited the construction site and had
seen Alabi leading the engineers and they admired her achievements.
Grateful for Assistance
Gloria Estela Henriquez de Rivas, the school director at El
Amate, said all of the residents are grateful for the American assistance. The
soldiers and Marines said de Rivas visits the construction site nearly every
day, bringing snacks and drinks for them.
De Rivas said she's familiar with army life, as her husband
is a retired Salvadoran army captain. He served with U.S. forces in Iraq from
2003 to 2004. The Salvadorans were part of the coalition in both Iraq and
Afghanistan.
Lt. Col. Hernan Garindo-Lecca, a Peruvian soldier, visited
several of the construction sites. He said he was there as an observer to take
notes on the project, as his army would like to do similar projects in rural
parts of Peru and possibly other nations. He provided the engineers with a
checklist of maintenance items to keep the schools in proper working order once
they open.
Besides school construction at Santa Rita and El Amate, the
other two school construction sites are at Ulapa Arriba and San Marcos del la
Cruz. The last two sites are being built by Salvadoran soldiers and U.S. Air
Force Red Horse engineers.
Also, U.S. soldiers, Red Horse engineers and Salvadoran
soldiers are building an addition to a clinic at Unidad de Salud de
Zacatecoluca.
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