Rebuilding Baghdad
by DONALD J. BARNES, lieutenant colonel, United States Air Force
Donald J. Barnes, Lt Col, USAF (second from right) standing with Iraqi Contractors at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Baghdad
I work in what is known as the “Joint Area Support Group,” which is a military organization comprised of members from the Army, Air Force, and Navy. We have a unique mission. We are tasked with supporting the United States Embassy here in Iraq, which is the first American Embassy stood up in a non-permissive environment. What that means is this Embassy was opened before there was a permanent Iraqi government in place, and we are all still under the threat of indirect fire from insurgents. As a result, our Group helps provide security, logistics, and transportation for the American Embassy and State Department officials. We also manage all the property (buildings and land) in the International Zone (you may have heard it called the “Green Zone”). Our mission in the International Zone is to return the properties and land inside the International Zone to the Iraqi government. We are very active now, because we are preparing for the permanent government to be installed this Spring. The permanent government was elected by the Iraqi people in December 2005, and will come into permanent power in the next few months. We are preparing to give them back their buildings and land, and our plan is to return it to them in as good (or better) shape than it was when the former Regime was in place. Below is the story of one of our most recent successes. It took place in November and December of 2005:
The Joint Area Support Group has been working a program to restore some of the Iraqi infrastructure inside the International Zone here in Baghdad. The International Zone is a four-square mile section of downtown Baghdad, which houses much of the Iraqi government. The International Zone can be thought of as an Iraqi version of the Mall in Washington DC. The International Zone is where the Iraqi government meets, and it’s also home to many of the big Iraqi National Monuments to include their military parade grounds and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Donald J. Barnes, Lt Col, USAF (right) standing with Iraqi contractors at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Baghdad
One of our recent programs was to restore the Iraqi Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was a $600,000 project, which involved rewiring the building, replacing broken glass and lights, as well as building a barracks and dining facility for the Iraqi soldiers tasked with guarding the Tomb. There was a lot of work involved in the project because the Tomb hadn’t been touched in over two years, and it had been damaged by vandals and looters. We accomplished the project with two goals in mind: The first was to repair the damaged monument. The second goal was to put nearly 100 Iraqi’s back to work, thereby providing them with a source of income. Our work was completed in December 2005, and the Tomb was unveiled to the public on Iraqi Army Day on the 6th of January 2006.
Here are a couple of pictures from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We are standing with the Iraqi Contractors who completed the work.
Cheers!
Don
DONALD J. BARNES, Lt Col, USAF
Director, Support Operations, JASG-C, Baghdad Iraq
Centenary Class of 1984
