COL Richard G. Kaiser

BRIGADE COMMANDER’s CORNER

CASTLE COURIER

C A S T L E C O U R I E R V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 7

BDE CSM Pg 2

PROMO-

TIONS

Pg 2

S6 Pg 3

326TH Pg 4

HHC 20TH Pg 5

TECH SEC Pg 6

CHAPLAIN Pg 6

467TH Pg 7

CONTACT

INFO

PG 9

INSIDE

THIS

ISSUE:

See DFAC Project on pg. 8

Hello all – I hope and trust that everything is well back at Fort Bragg or wherever else you may be spending your time as we work through the dreaded ―Dog Days‖ of summer. All is in place here at COB Adder, and everything is falling into line in accordance with the plan as we under-stood it. CSM Kendrick and I are amazed at the effort the Brigade Team has put together here at COB Adder. Almost everyone is ―wearing two hats‖ as we say, meaning they have to focus on both our organic engineer units and our Garrison operation of COB Adder. We have a very talented team and everyone is working very hard, and doing a magnificent job. We recently had a visit by GEN Lloyd Austin (US Forces-Iraq Commander) and then by LTG Frank Helmick (XVIII Air-borne Corps Commander) and they BOTH pointed out what a remarkable job the Brigade is doing; CSM and I are extremely proud of this team. Everyone here is part of a very special operation, and I think they know that. Operation New Dawn is a unique point in our Army and our Nation’s history. By the time this letter gets published, many of you will be thinking about ―Back to School‖ events; the annual clothes shopping, school supply shopping and athletic squads practicing before the official start of school. I am sure kids are starting to see the end of summer vacation approaching rapidly. This is a good a time to remind everyone about Safety. Even back at Fort Bragg, the Commander of Fort Bragg di-rected every unit to hold a Safety Stand Down Day – before Labor Day; they will focus on safety issues and ensure our troopers have safety in their minds before the long Holiday weekend. Might be a good thing to do at home as well. We certainly keep an eye on safety here in Iraq, and all leaders are aware of the

dangers in the extreme heat we face; our tem-peratures still remain in the 117-124 degree range in the south. The Army Safety Director was just visiting here and he showed us some disturbing safety trends. The one that jumped out was the fact that ―the failure to use seat belts is still the biggest contribu-tor to Soldier’s dying in accidents‖. That is some-

thing to remember – please wear your seatbelt, and set a good ex-ample for your kids and ensure that your Soldier does the same when we finally return home. Many Soldiers will feel ―bullet-proof‖ once they leave here, and will believe that they no longer have to take simple precautions when they return to the good old US of A,….. but that is the farthest thing from the truth. So, please

help us all out by being safe and asking others to do the same. Lastly, I would like to let everyone know that our Troops have remained extremely busy and will be fully committed until the day we leave here. Engi-neers are ALWAYS in high demand, and just be-cause some people are leaving, does not mean that our work load has or will decrease. It has actually increased a little bit – as we expected; this will help make time go by faster, so that is good. There are only a few more months left, and I would remind everyone to stay engaged with the Rear-Detachment. The Rear-D has done a tre-mendous job and shortly they will begin to initiate plans for the redeployment - it is too early for de-ployed members to think about redeployment, but the Rear-D needs to start putting an eye towards this event and they are; the deployed team will continue to ―dream‖ about redeployment! “GET THERE!” CASTLE 6

P A G E 2

BRIGADE CSM

Hello again to all Families and friends

from around the world. Another month

has been placed in the memory book of

the 20th Engineer Brigade. Our Soldiers

are motivated and determined to finish

the mission as we started it – STRONG.

We started the month off by providing

recognition to some of the great Soldiers

from the 389th Vertical Company. These

Soldiers have been a great addition to

the team by providing their engineering

skills day and night to achieve perfec-

tion. On behalf of Castle 6 and myself,

several Soldiers received a BDE coin for

their engineering operations at Joint

Base Balad.

The 34th Sapper Company will finally

complete their combat tour in less than

30 days. The Sappers have cleared ap-

proximately 20,405 miles to assure safe

travelling for military forces, Iraq Soldiers

and civilian population. While conducting

route clearance patrols they have found

at least 10 Improvised Explosives De-

vices which are known as IEDs. This

month I had the opportunity to conduct

several combat patrols with the 34th En-

gineer Company; these Soldiers are

masters of clearing the routes. The pa-

trols from start to finish last approxi-

mately 8 continuous hours. The BDE

would also like to commend the leader-

ship of Captain Toole and 1SG Otero . I

would be remorseful if I failed to thank all

the Soldiers of the 34th Sapper Company

as they begin their transition with the 62nd

Engineer Company.

We recently had the privilege to receive a

visit from General Austin, LTG Helmick and

CSM Rice all in less than a week. They

wanted to stress to the Brigade the impor-

tance of our mission and why we were cho-

sen to conduct operations at COB Adder.

We also had some brilliant senior Noncom-

missioned Officers who were selected to

attend the United States Army Sergeant

Major Academy, Class 63. 1SG

Baumgartner, 1SG Wright, 1SG Blansett,

MSG Peak, MSG Lohman, MSG Mendoza,

MSG Rivera, MSG Hall, and MSG Negron

will all attend the academy at Ft. Bliss,

Texas next year. Congratulations to all!

I hope you enjoyed your summer as you

begin the shopping for the children going

back to school. Enjoy the time now, be-

cause time disappears and soon they will

be grown and accomplishing their own

goals. Trust me, you will reminiscence

about those moments, so try to enjoy them.

Take care of yourself and your loved ones

and know that we will continue to do our

best.

-Castle 7

Enjoy the time

now, because time

disappears and

soon...‖

CSM Butler J. Kendrick

LTG Helmick (DCG-O, USF-I) speaks dur-

ing a visit to the 20th EN BDE Command

Teams and Staff

BIRTHDAYS SGT Peoples 01 Aug

SPC Hyman 02 Aug

MAJ Goetz 18 Aug

SFC Coffman 20 Aug

MAJ Besinga 21 Aug

SGM Edington 21 Aug

Mr. Krechko 21 Aug

SSG Payne 29 Aug

SFC McDuffie 30 Aug

PROMOTIONS CW2 Savage, Robert

SSG Lee, Keisha

SSG Huskey, Adrian

SSG Robinson, Kelly

SSG Payne, Kameelah

BDE S6/ADDER GARRISON S6 P A G E 3

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 7

Greetings from COB Adder, hard to believe that we have been hard at work here in Iraq for over seven

months now. The Soldiers of the S6 shop remain strong and dedicated to providing world class support to the 20th

EN BDE Headquarters and other units here on COB Adder. Sometimes it is a thankless job but we all enjoy what

we do.

In the past few months we have bid a heartfelt goodbye to a great men-

tor and friend, MAJ Jennifer Mendel. We would like to wish the Mendel

family the best of luck as she attends Intermediate-Level Education

(ILE) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

During the month of July we welcomed CPT (P) Gerardo Rodriguez to

the team. As soon as he arrived he jumped right into action without any

hesitation. CPT (P) Rodriguez came to us from Texas were he attended

the Masters Program.

July was also a busy month for us, as we also relocated 124 users and

over 150 computers to COB Adder to take over as the Mayor Cell. In

order to complete this move the S6 shop had to move to Adder two

weeks in advance of the brigade to setup our shared drives and to re-

ceive our administrator accounts.

We inherited several additional duties such as AFN and Garrison Help-

desk. SPC Hannum and SPC Blackwell have been working diligently to

try to restore the AFN service around the base to help boost the morale

of the Soldiers and Civilians here just as the football lockout ended. We

also provide a COB Adder newsletter. SSG Lee sends this daily news-

letter out that informs residents of COB Adder of any upcoming events,

safety messages and weather status for our area.

Most recently one of our own was promoted from SGT to SSG. Con-

gratulations SSG Lee on a well deserved promotion. Some of the other

recognition we have had

in our shop is SPC Black-

well. SPC Blackwell re-

ceived a COIN from 4 Star General Lloyd J. Austin for his illustrious

effort during a mission in which his participation was essential to pro-

viding reliable secure email, voice and video teleconference support

to our Brigade Commander and several engineer units. Congratula-

tions SPC Blackwell.

When it is all said and done we would like to thank the fami-

lies of the Brigade S6 Shop and the 20th Engineer Brigade for their

continued support of the Engineer Soldiers downrange. -MSG Allen

C A S T L E C O U R I E R

GEN Lloyd Austin, United States Forces—Iraq

Commander, presents a Commander’s Coin to

SPC Blackwell

MSG Allen pins the rank of SSG on newly promoted SSG Lee

during her Promotion Ceremony

Construction is at the forefront of the Sapper Eagle vision here in Iraq. With a multitude of pro-

jects occurring country wide. At the helm of this construction is the 82nd Engineer

Support Company. The 82nd has been in country for over 4 months. Construction

projects have ranged from road improvements to hardening of defensive structures.

From the start of the 82nd’s mission was their transfer of authority from the 617th

Engineer Support Company. The 617th had worked themselves to the bone here in

Iraq establishing things as simple as vehicle lots to rather difficult and drawn out

projects. Following the 617th ESC’s lead the 82nd ESC has worked hard to improve

the military and civilian life here in Iraq.

Some smaller projects that we can mention here are the sanitizing of checkpoints and reinforcement of protective barriers. The 82nd ESC was

tasked with improvements to numerous United States Forces and Iraqi military check points across Iraq. One of the first things the 82nd set about to do

at these check points was to fix the unsanitary conditions that had arisen from disrepair. Water drainage was either non-existent or in bad shape, so the

82nd’s first task was to drain out areas of water and then build proper drainage. After that the areas around the checkpoints were leveled to ease the pain

of traffic. Then the checkpoints defensive structures/barriers were reinforced with the necessary materials that the 82nd had either brought with them or

created on the spot. The end result was the Soldier’s safety was greatly enhanced at all the checkpoints.

A larger project that we can mention is the Combined Training Center. The 82nd ESC has spent many months creating gunnery ranges, estab-

lishing miles of roadway, clearing many miles of brush, and creating varied

training areas. The 82nd ESC devoted a single platoon of Soldiers to accom-

plish this task. Working long hours every day under the blazing sun, the pla-

toon worked very hard to improve the training environment for the Iraqi Sol-

diers. The platoon’s work was very detailed, and constructed to the point that it

matched the quality of training areas in the United States. Their hard work was

not ignored; the platoon was rewarded with many command coins from Lieuten-

ant Colonels all the way up to Three Star Generals showing their appreciation

for the accomplishments at the Combined Training Center. At the center’s last

day of construction, the 82nd can look back at their accomplishment and be

very proud that their hard work resulted in such a fine product.

The most important mission that the 82nd ESC has is their ongoing

Partnership with Iraqi Engineers. The 82nd ESC has been mentoring their Iraqi

partners in the fine art of horizontal construction. From showing the Iraqis how

to operate individual construction equipment to teaching them how to utilize all the construction equipment in tandem to create drainage systems, fortify

protective positions, create roads, etc.. The 82nd ESC will leave a proud legacy with their Iraqi partners , thus leaving the country of Iraq with competent

Engineers to further enhance the Iraqi infrastructure. -1LT Scheuch

SAPPER EAGLES

Soldiers showing a leveled culvert pipe emplaced in the ground.

Engineers watch on as a bucket loader lifts soil after digging from 20ft

below.

MONGRELS

Another great month sped by. I think I was back from R&R just long enough to get my feet solidly on the ground and learn our

new battle rhythm when 1SG headed out on his R&R, a week later the XO was also out the door for R&R. SFC Tucker the

Operations Sergeant missed 1SG in Kuwait by 30 minutes on his way out the door for R&R; SGT

Fulmer, my Assistant Operations NCO and ―GO TO‖ Guy for just about everything was shang-

haied by Safety. I really must commend all the HHC Staff for an outstanding job during all our

transitions. SFC Tucker didn’t miss a step filling in for 1SG. SGT Fulmer, SGT Schudel and

SPC Santoro stepped up and knocked out mission after mission with little to no supervision. Our

Supply Team, SGTs Lee and Perez, were a whirlwind trying to keep up with property transac-

tions left over from JBB.

This month COB Adder hosted a Combatives Tournament. HHC rallied to the call, we had seven

entries with three qualifying for the finals. SPC Blackwell was maneuvered into and escaped

from an arm bar which broke his hand. The break was identified shortly after he was declared

the winner which unfortunately prevented him from competing in the finals. SGT Schudel after

an epic battle of titans placed 2nd in his 101 lb weight class by decision from the judges. I per-

sonally want a recount. SGT Taylor pummeled a 4th SB Soldier to place 1st in the 170 lbs Middle

Weight Class. The team brought home 2nd in the tournament, which was not good enough for

SGT Taylor who’s currently coaching the HHC Team and is one of the primary planners for

the next COB Adder Combatives Tournament in September. 20th EN BDE is looking forward to dominating the next event.

Since my move to HHC Company Commander, I have a little more freedom of movement around the company areas. I’ve no-ticed and received verification from the XO’s due out tracker; the S4 shop is giving the S3 shop a run for the busiest staff sec-tion. Not that any section is having an easy time; S1 cranking out the Awards dozens at a time, S2 verifying local national se-curity clearances, S6 doing high speed S6 Stuff <- Engineer Speaking COMO, and TS running the Base DPW. CPT Pope and SGM Wilkin team’s OPTEMPO has blown through the roof. I just wanted to recognize the S4 shop and say the team is doing an awesome job. Keep up the intensity.

COMMANDER, HHC 20th EN BDE

Hello to the most amazing Soldiers and family members of the 20th EN BDE. The temperatures

are finally bearable. The average daily temperature is 115 degrees. The Soldiers are all on

board now after transitioning from North to South. We conducted a Relief in Place with the 4th

Sustainment Brigade and assumed Mayoral Cell duties. Soldiers are excited and working hard

while they perform their new jobs.

We welcomed CPT (P) Rodriguez (S6) and CPT Kim (S4) to the team. They bring character and

leadership to the Brigade and we are glad to have them on board.

To date over 90 Soldiers have participated in the Rest and Recuperation (R&R) Program. Soldiers are returning bright

eyed and eager to complete the mission so they can return home to their loved ones.

We proudly acknowledged the following Soldiers for advancing to the next rank. WO1 Savage was promoted to CW2,

and SGT Lee, K, SGT Huskey, SGT Payne, SGT Robinson were all promoted to SSG. Congratulations to them all on

their great achievement and continued success.

We celebrated birthdays for the following: MAJ Goetz, MAJ Besinga, CPT Schuyler, CPT Goettke, SFC McDuffie, SFC

Salladay, SSG Payne, SSG Wheat, SGT Peoples, SPC Breed, SPC Hyman, SPC Matthews, PFC Hulsey. We had a

great time with each of them as we enjoyed finger foods and some laughs.

The 4th Sustainment Brigade hosted a Combatives Tournament, ―The Wrangler Rumble‖, in which our Soldiers com-

peted. The team consisted of SGT Taylor, SGT Schudel , SGT Ross, SPC Blackwell, SPC Matthews, SPC Dean,

SPC Villegas . The Soldiers used their fighting techniques acquired from Combatives level I and II training. The team

fought a good fight while displaying their skills and placed second overall. SGT Taylor made it to the Finals and de-

stroyed his opponent, CPL Speedy, 4th SB, and earned 1st place in the Middle Weight Class. He received an AAM, and

numerous gifts from the retention NCO.

CPT Matthews

1SG Howard McQuirter

1SG, HHC 20th EN BDE

C A S T L E C O U R I E R

TECHNICAL SECTION P A G E 6

―The Necessity of Love in our Lives.‖

Quest for fire is an unusual movie. Its French producer, Jean-Jacques Arnaud, said its production fulfilled a lifelong dream. He had always wanted to celebrate, in film, the discovery of fire. For it was the discovery 80,000 years ago that saved the planet Earth from extension.

Love, most especially, knowing that you are loved is the greatest inspiration to anyone! It is the fuel that brings one to fulfill even "the dream, which is an impossible dream!" As the song goes further, it could even bring in courage to one...to fight, the unbeatable foe!"

Today love and loving has become a rare commodity; many have quantified love and loving...with gold or money. Many believe that money can buy love! But on the contrary... we cannot buy love. Some con-cerned people think the planet Earth is at the crossroads of survival again. Our need today is not fire, but love. Will someday 80,000 years from now celebrate, in film, the discovery of love, which saved the

human race from extension in the 20th century.

___________________

Recall a time, when someone showed special love toward us.

―Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides, and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of loved, and then, for the second time in the history of the world, man will discover fire.‖ Teilhard de Chardin

“Do not try to do too much with your own hands. Better the Arabs do it tolerably than that you do it per-

fectly. It is their war, and you are to help them, not to win it for them.”

Does this quote come from a newly published Army Field Manual such as FM 3-24, Counterinsurgency? Not

quite- back the clock up 94 years; this quote comes from T.E. Lawrence’s 27 Articles, a short essay by the British

military officer who worked in this part of the world in the early twentieth century. This advice from Lawrence charac-

terizes the day to day actions of most American forces in Iraq, and the 20th Engineer Brigade Technical Section as

well. Though most of us have jobs that keep us on the base, our actions fall in line with the advice Lawrence was

passing on to fellow military and government officers. As American forces continue to drawdown our numbers in

Iraq, we have few alternatives and are relying more on local Iraqis.

SFC Narvaez, the Tech Section NCOIC, manages the contract with local Iraqis to provide the base with wa-

ter, and in doing so, provides a valuable service to the base and liaison between Americans and Iraqis. Also, the

Soldiers of the Survey and Design Section, the bulk of the manpower of the Tech Section, occasionally oversee and

conduct Quality Assurance checks on locals and other foreigners who work on the base, as American sources of

labor begin to disappear. SSG Heckel manages all gravel brought onto the base from local companies. CPT Neely,

with his able assistant SPC Leslie, manages construction by military units across Iraq. As the construction units

drawdown, US forces increasingly depend on Iraqi companies for their construction needs. All of these roles that the

Soldiers of the Tech Section fulfill indicate that we are in Iraq at a very dynamic, historic time. Perhaps our efforts will

help ensure the success of the mission to transition Iraq to a stable, secure nation. Rest assured, each of your loved

ones is serving honorably for the United States of America and never disappointing the leaders of the section, bri-

gade, or country. For that, be proud and we thank you for your support!

The Tech Section welcomed Mr. Phil Means, a DOD civilian from Alaska, who is still acclimatizing to slightly different

temperatures, and we are glad to have his experience in the section. We also promoted one of our Soldiers into the

ranks of non-commissioned officers: SPC Villegas was promoted to Sergeant in front of the whole company on Au-

gust 31st. We congratulate him on this proud accomplishment and wish him success in his new role as a leader of

Soldiers. Our NCOIC, SFC Narvaez got home in time on R&R to witness the birth of his second child, another boy!

We want to congratulate him and his wife on the birth of their healthy child and we wish them happiness and contin-

ued blessings. -CPT Neely

Chaplain’s Corner

CH (MAJ) Dino Besinga

467 Expeditionary Prime BEEF

Finding a low cost and quickly executable method of force protec-tion in a deployed environment can be a challenge. The typical methods are installing entry control points, early warning detection systems, and sidewall protection on the exterior of occupied facili-ties. Still, the threat of suicide bombers, active shooters, and indi-rect fire (IDF) always remains. COB Adder, Iraq was presented with the problem of increasing its force protection standards for some of its more highly occupied facilities, specifically the dining facilities (DFAC). Installing an overhead cover system in concert with sidewall pro-tection is, in most cases, the best solution where the threat of IDF remains high. The only problem with overhead cover is that it can be costly and take a significant amount of time to execute, espe-cially for large facilities such as DFACs.

Other options to protect facilities with high rates of occupancy do exist typically in the form of compartmen-talization. Compartmentalization consists of dividing a larger facility into smaller rooms or compartments. This limits the occupant’s exposure to an internal threat to only portions of the population as opposed to the entirety. Compartmentalization is by no means a new concept and has been written into the Joint Forward Operations Base (JFOB) Survivability and Protective Construction Handbook for the past several editions. Due to funding restrictions and time restraints COB Adder needed to compartmentalize its DFACs for force protection. The JFOB lists four standard methods of constructing internal walls for compartmentalization. Three of the four listed methods include filling some type of container or wood framed wall with sand. The fourth identifies ballistic e-glass as an alternative. Bringing natural soil inside a DFAC and filling any con-tainer with natural sand can present its own problems. Natural sand and soil contains bacteria, insect larvae and fecal material all of which are undesirable to bring into a DFAC. In addition, the placement of the soil into the containers would spread dust throughout the facility. This process would shut down the DFACs for weeks at a time while construction was ongoing. Clearly, not a very good option for an already busy location on base. Ballistic E-glass would clearly be the cleanest option but the dearth of E-glass in the AOR and cost in conjunction with time-line for procuring such materials would be considerable. Tasked to determine a way forward was the 467th Expedi-tionary Prime BEEF Squadron (EPBS). The squadron was given just over one month to develop and execute a compartmentaliza-tion concept for the DFACs. The sand filled walls and E-glass were unlikely candidates due to health risks, costs, and time to pro-cure.

“PRIME BEEF”

Engineers from the 389th Vertical Construction Company

move walls into place during the DFAC Compartmentalization

Project

Engineers from the 389th Vertical Construction Company move

walls into place during the DFAC Compartmentalization Project

Alternative options were reviewed to include a variety of concrete barriers. One type of material COB Ad-der had a relatively abundant supply of was pre-cast concrete panels. According to the JFOB, 4500 PSI concrete panels that are at least 6‖ thick can be used as an effective means for sidewall protection. Utilizing pre-cast concrete panels for compartmentalization is not without its problems. For starters, pre-cast concrete panels are prone to back spall which could result in additional damage due to a detonation in the proximity of the walls. Utilizing pre-cast panels also does little to prevent overturning in the event of a close prox-imity blast. Finally, maneuvering massive 8000lb blocks of concrete indoors presents quite a challenge as engi-neers are without the benefit of cranes and other heavy equipment typically used to place concrete walls. All cons aside, the pre-cast concrete panels offer the fastest, cheapest solution for installation, as well as one of the cleanest options from a health standpoint. Selecting an appropriate panel to place indoors required some research. The panels had to be a mini-mum of 5 feet tall to meet JFOB standards, needed to fit through the personnel doors (there were no rollup doors leading into the seating areas), have a relatively small footprint to minimize the loss of useable space, be some-what aesthetically pleasing, and needed to eliminate the need for any sandbagging. The chosen panels were approximately 6’ tall and ranged from 4 feet long to 15 feet long, the vast majority being 15 feet long. The panels had a two foot wide base and cutouts on the end of each base. The cutouts al-lowed panels to be pushed tightly up against one another at 90 degree turns eliminating the typical gap you get from T-walls without this cutout. Once the panels were selected the task of actually getting them through the door and in place had to be determined. The weight of the largest panels was between 4 and 5 tons. The standard equipment for moving these panels would logically be a forklift (minimum size of 10K) and a small crane. Unfortunately, getting a 10K forklift and or a crane through a personnel door (3’X7’) was not possible. In addition, the risk of fumes from heavy equipment and low ventilation could contaminant food or present a health hazard to DFAC patrons (the DFACs remained open during the entire project). Heavy equipment being out of the question, the panels would need to be moved by hand. A system was developed using roller pipes, fulcrums, pry bars, and on occasion a come-along wench. The panels were initially picked up by a forklift at which time they were pressure washed. Each panel was pressure washed just prior to entering the DFAC to eliminate foreign debris and reduce the possibility of contamination. Once cleaned, the pan-els would be prepositioned on clean dunnage. From there, a crane would lift the panels and place them on a se-ries of cut pipes, each approximately four feet long. At this point the panels would be resting on the pipes and be half in a personnel door and half out. After the crane work was done all further movement was accomplished via fulcrum, pry bar, and manual labor. The panels would roll fairly easy on the pipes with a good push and or pull. As the panels rolled past one pipe, the pipe was picked up and moved into the front of the line. This method was dubbed ―the Egyptian method‖ as it closely resembled construction methods used some 2,000-3,000 years ago. If the panel needed to be turned, a fulcrum and lever would be used to inch one end of the panel in the direction it needed to be moved. Little by little the panels would get to where they needed to be. The final step involved roll-ing the panels off the pipes and pulling the remaining pipes out from under the mass of concrete. Pulling the pipes out took some basic engineering. Again, a fulcrum and lever was used to lift up one end of the panel as a soldier drug the recently released pipe out from under the concrete. Any final movement of the panels was done using come-alongs. The come-alongs were attached to the same rebar rings the crane used to pick the panels up. In the end, each panel was placed in its specified location and no gaps were left between panels. The work was labor intensive and daunting when it first began but as the saying goes, ―If you have a long enough lever you can move the world‖. The largest levers used were 10 feet long and cut from 2‖ by 2‖ steel stock weighing around 75 pounds each. The actual crew used to manually place the panels consisted of 10 engineers from the 389th Vertical Construction Company which is under the tactical control of the 467 EPBS. At any given

P A G E 8

“PRIME BEEF”

Castle Courier is published by the 20th Engineer Brigade. Some of its contents are official while others are the opinions

of the individual articles’ authors, and are not endorsed by all Soldiers/Airmen or the Department of Defense. For ques-

tions/concerns, please contact the Brigade PAO at lamario.thomas@iraq.centcom.mil.

“GET THERE!...

...ALL THE WAY!”

P A G E 9

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time, two of the engineers were used as safety inspectors to ensure no unsafe acts were committed. At pro-ject completion, there were no serious injuries aside from one bruised foot when a member dropped a tool. There were a handful of broken floor tiles and scratches due to the placement of the panels. Outside of these defects, there was no other damage to the interior of the facilities. To meet health regulations the concrete panels will be sealed in place using a low Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) indoor concrete paint. The paint will make cleanups easy, eliminate voids where bacteria or dirt could gather, and increase the aesthetic appearance of the concrete. Although somewhat unconventional, pre-cast concrete panels could be used for interior applications. Where there are engineers; there is a way! -Maj Black