18The Military Engineer L January-February L 2010 Military News Compiled by Meighan Altwies, M.SAME USACE Gulf Region Division Cases Colors When the USACE Gulf Region Division (GRD) cased its colors at the majestic Al Faw Palace in Baghdad on Oct. 23, 2009, it was not just the end of a unit—but the end of reconstruction efforts under combat operations and the beginning of reconstruction under stability operations. Earlier in 2009, when U.S. forces began leaving cities and towns under a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement, the transition to a respon- sible drawdown began. A wide variety of troops and units have already started returning to their home stations, but GRD is the ?rst division to leave the Iraqi theater as part of the drawdown. Gen. Ray Odierno, USA, Multi-Na- tional Force–Iraq Commander, stressed that the accomplishments of GRD ex- tended far beyond the visible brick and mortar construction projects. Your efforts have not been limited to the development of physical infrastruc- tures, but also have included partner- ships with the ministries of Electricity, Housing, Construction, Municipalities, Public Works, Water Resources and Oil. You have vigorously shared your expertise and have helped Iraq make tremendous progress in developing human capital and the technical skills necessary to continue to move forward and build a more vibrant and modern state. Gen. Odierno told the audience that although the inactivation ceremony was a step toward the responsible draw- down of U.S. forces, there was still much work to be done. We are not yet ?nished. Our mission still continues, said Gen. Odierno. We are on a road to success but we still have much work to do to attain that success. Therefore, we will still have a signi?cant engineering presence and a mission here in Iraq. Since its inception on Jan. 25, 2004, GRD has helped rebuild a war-torn na- tion that had very few essential services by providing full-spectrum engineer and construction management support to the Government of Iraq. As of Oct. 1, 2009, GRD had completed nearly 5,300 projects valued at more than $9 billion. In FY09 alone, GRD completed 325 projects valued at nearly $1 billion, including 41 school projects, 20 village road projects, 25 water dis- tribution projects, 21 electric distribu- tion projects, 12 police stations, seven court projects, two military command centers and numerous other projects aimed at improving the infrastructure and providing vital services for the peo- ple of Iraq. According to Maj. Gen. Michael Eyre, USA, GRD Commander, the number of projects is not the true measure of the work that was accomplished by the di- vision. This headquarters team is leaving this land, the Cradle of Civilization, with something that is so much bigger than any dollar value that we can place on projects, said Gen. Eyre. For this nation and its citizens now have hope. These projects are providing electricity, clean water, transportation, police and ?re stations, medical care and educational opportunities to the people of Iraq, things many of us take for granted. With the inactivation of GRD, two USACE districts will remain in Iraq to ?nish the reconstruction mission: the Gulf Region South District, headquar- tered in Tallil, and the Gulf Region Dis- trict, headquartered in Baghdad. These districts now come under the command and control of the newly-established USACE Transatlantic Division, head- quartered in Winchester, Va. The new division uni?es all USACE programs in the U.S. Central Command operations area, which covers 20 countries from Egypt through the Arabian Gulf to Cen- tral Asia. (Contributed by Ron Elliott, Gulf Region District) Army Geospatial Center Becomes Newest Major Subordinate Command The U.S. Army Geospatial Center (AGC), formerly known as the Topo- graphic Engineering Center (TEC), be- came a Major Subordinate Command of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) on Oct. 1, 2009. The center held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate its expanded mission, as well as its new responsibilities to the war?ghter and the nation. AGC will continue TECs legacy of providing timely, accurate geospatial support and products to war?ghters. But the center will expand its mission to support Army Battle Command Sys- tems (ABCS) by facilitating the dissemi- nation of relevant geospatial informa- tion to every level across the dynamic battle?eld environment. In addition, AGC will coordinate, in- tegrate and synchronize geospatial in- formation requirements and standards across the Army, as well as develop and ?eld geospatial enterprise-enabled sys- tems and capabilities to the Army and Department of Defense. The Army relies heavily on geospa- tial information and services (GI&S) for all of its war?ghting and peacetime operations. GI&S is more than sim- ply maps. It includes the presentation and setting of operational, intelligence, human, social, cultural and weather information overlaid in context with all other spatial and temporal infor- mation. This information provides an Army common operating picture, as well as situational awareness and ac- tionable information within the bat- tlespace. GI&S also is used in support of logistics, training ranges, installation management, modeling and simula- tion, civil works, remediation, and en- vironmental activities.
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