CAMP TAQADDUM — As U.S. bases and posts in Iraq continue to consolidate or are transferred back to the GoI, U.S. military leaders across the country face the challenge of leaving their locations better than when they initially arrived.
Whether it's through the stabilized security we see here today, or the civil affairs projects that have sprouted throughout the country, there are tangible improvements to many of the areas that continue to be or were once occupied by U.S. forces.
One of these improvements was the recent completion of a renovation project of a mosque located aboard this camp.
The religious structure has actually been closed to the public since 1987, when the area was taken over by the IA. Its new face-lift gives hope to local Iraqis that their place of worship will soon be available for use.
Military officials with the 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Fwd), and local Iraqi leaders met here for a small ceremony to commemorate the improvements to the mosque. The completion of the project comes only a few days before the beginning of Ramadan, the month-long Muslim observance that focuses on spiritual character building through fasting, prayers and acts of charity.
One of the local leaders who came on base for the event was Ishmaiel Al-Khelefowi, a religious leader of Kabani, a small village neighboring Taqaddum. His grandfather actually helped build the first mud structure back in 1945 that served as the mosque for more than 40 years until the area was restricted to Iraqi military personnel. Although the new mosque will remain closed to the public until all U.S. forces depart this camp, Khelefowi knows the local people will appreciate the efforts of the Marines who helped coordinate these improvements. "They'll be very grateful," Khelefowi said. "I want to show the people how CF have helped us; shown their good side."
The project was designed and led by a local Iraqi contractor and facilitated by the civil affairs section of the 1st Bn, 8th Marine Regt, serving as the SECFOR for the camp.
The civil-military ops officer for the bn, 1st Lt. Christopher O'Melia, has worked closely with the local Iraqi villages since his unit arrived to the area in early March. In that time, he has coordinated 52 different projects. O'Melia, who is on his 2nd tour to Iraq, sees a lot of significance in all of the projects he has helped facilitate over the past 6 months in the 2nd MLG (Fwd)'s area of ops. "We want the Iraqi people to understand that we're not occupiers, we're facilitators," he explained. "I think as CF contract and we prepare to turn back pieces of terrain to the Iraqis, we want to make sure the area is better than when we arrived. We want to show them we've been good custodians of their property."
Marines who have been stationed here on previous deployments can testify to overall improvements they've seen in the area. Debris has been cleaned up around the camp, and there is less and less military gear and equipment, which has increased tenfold since the recent uptick of drawdown ops. All efforts have brought the Marines stationed aboard this camp one step closer to getting the area ready for the eventual transfer to the GoI.
