One of the most pleasant and rewarding experiences of my time as Chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation in Monrovia was with the U.S. Navy Construction Battalion led by Lt Gareth Montgomery and Chief Detweiler. The Seabees came to Liberia with the Africa Partnership Station and stayed with us for three months. During that time frame they worked on several of our existing HA projects managed by Lieutenant Commander Peters.
During the first week of June, 2008 I finally got a chance to go out and inspect the overall progress of their efforts. One great feature of their deployment was that we were also able to turn this into a military-to-military event as well. The first Armed Forces of Liberia combat engineer course ended just before their arrival and the second class graduated while they were still in Liberia. The upshot is that 40 Liberian army combat engineers participated and played a significant role in the successful completion of each project. The great work that the Seabees and the AFL combat engineers did will make a positive difference in the lives of hundreds who seek health care and many more children who attend the school they renovated.
{June 5th, 2008: the completed Logan Town road. This gravel road was previously a horrible dirt road with massive holes that made it impassable to all but off-road vehicles.}
{June 5th, 2008: Lieutenant Commander Peters and Lieutenant Montgomery in front of the project sign after the completion of the Logan Town road project}
{June 5th, 2008: the finished Clay Ash Clinic project outside Monrovia, Liberia}
{June 5th, 2008: Liberian soldiers and American sailors work together on the Monrovia Demonstration School project in Monrovia, Liberia}
No comments:
Post a Comment