Stryker Brigade News

Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 14th Cavalry Regiment, attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, members of the “Black Jack” Brigade and Soldiers from the 414th Civil Affairs Battalion went to the Al Nahraen High School for boys to celebrate its grand reopening Jan. 10.

Although it was in one of the area’s more dangerous neighborhoods, thousands of young Iraqi boys, locals and community leaders were on hand for the celebration and ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Capt. Eric Fedak, a team leader from Company B, 414th Civil Affairs Battalion, said that reopening schools like Al Nahraen gives the young men in the community pride in their neighborhood and themselves.

The school project took a little more than 90 days, more than $140,000, and dozens of local workers to complete the renovation. Fedak said that having locals perform most of the work helps bring the community closer.

"Most of the people who worked on this project were from that neighborhood," he said. "So, we employ people from the neighborhood to give them something they can be proud of."

Fedak said that everything but the structure itself was replaced. The plumbing, wiring, desks, computers, and even a new science laboratory were made new for the students.

"One of the things 1-14 is looking at is mainly around education. If we can make sure the kids are being educated then the terrorists won't try to oppress the people," he said. "The more people are educated the less oppressed they can be."

Currently, the squadron from Fort Carson, Colo., and the Civil Affairs team from Utica, N.Y., have at least six more school projects in the works. However, schools aren’t the only projects on the minds of the Soldiers.

Fedak said getting reliable electricity, market renovations and working clinics are also a priority.

Making the community a better place, Fedak said, isn't everything. He hopes the communities will take charge of their areas and empower themselves against anti-Iraqi forces.

"The more that we can have local support, the more power that they'll have, and the more they'll see we're actually doing something for them," he said. "So, if we can empower these people maybe they can overcome the situation they live in and actually run the terrorist out of their neighborhoods."