One of our current projects is overseeing the construction of a cardiac surgery center here in Mosul. The cardiac center is being built as a new wing on an existing hospital. This past Friday, I visited the construction site with Liz, the Area Engineer, and Alda, the Project Engineer, to check the status. Because of the security risks in the area, we took a couple of extra precautions. Curt coordinated for Kiowa support from 4/6 CAV. It was pretty reassuring having those two helicopters flying overhead the whole way there and back.
Another thing we did was to coordinate for additional gun trucks from the 2/2/2 Infantry Battalion of the Iraqi Army. The triple deuce is on an IA FOB on the north end of FOB Diamondback. MAO managed a project to build their compound, so I had previously met the Battalion Commander, LTC Mohammad. He agreed to provide 4 HMMWV gun trucks to clear the route for us and to secure the area while we were in the hospital. In the picture below, you can see one of these gun trucks.
On the right hand side of the image, you can see the Mosul Mosque. This mosque was originally planned during Saddam’s reign. We drive by it every now and then. Here’s a closer look at the mosque.
