BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 22, 2004 — The Coalition handed over possession of Al Kasik military base July 21 at a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Northern Iraq base, according to Office of Security Transition officials. The handover caps the Coalition’s year-long $96 million refurbishment of the former regime’s army base roughly 20 miles northwest of Mosul.

Project and Contracting Office Director David Nash attended the ceremonies which included a flag raising ceremony. In a symbolic gesture, Nash presented Maj. Gen. Koursheed Salem, commanding general of the 3rd Iraqi Army Division, with a key to the base.

“This transfer signifies an important step towards Iraqis taking custody of their own security and national defense,” Nash said.

The base, constructed in the late 1980s by a Yugoslavian contractor was never occupied under the former regime. It was selected as a new Iraqi army base because of the existing infrastructure and to provide a military presence in Northern Iraq. The post was in disrepair prior to the renovation effort.

“Basically we started with a shell of a concrete building,” Office of Security Transition Chief Engineer, U.S. Navy Capt. Phil H. Dalby said, “and built it from there.”

The refurbishment included the renovation of existing buildings and infrastructure on the base and the construction of new facilities to support operations and training.

Work was also performed on the water distribution, sanitary sewage, wastewater treatment, and electrical distribution systems at the base. Work continues as Iraqi soldiers are already being housed and trained on-site. Permanent utilities remain to be installed, and will include a package water treatment plant, wastewater treatment plant and central power plant prepared to connect to the national electrical grid when it comes on line.

The base will eventually have facilities for more than 6,000 Iraqi troops and will serve as a training center for the Iraqi army. The Iraqi army’s 4th Brigade will conduct recruit basic training, an 8-week program that will train individual, squad and platoon level tasks. The base will also be used later this year to train four battalions of the Iraq’s Civil Intervention Force.

“The handover of this installation does not just represent Iraqi possession of this facility,” said Coalition Military Assistance Training Team Commander Brig. Gen. James Schwitters. “It is a step in the steady, deliberate journey of Iraq as they travel to freedom.

“The immediate future will show that the people of Iraq are eager to take control of their government’s facilities and their nation’s military and police forces, and put an end to the violence which is taking a deadly toll on the Iraqi populace. This place will help serve to that end,” Schwitters said.

The base, according to Col. James Mulvenna, the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team’s chief of staff, will be exponentially better than any base used by the former regime, and it will have the capacity to house two full infantry brigades and a division headquarters, as well as a number of support troops and units.

“It provides a strategic location for significant combat power in the northern region of Iraq,” Mulvenna said. “Second, it creates jobs for the local economy which should help with economic recovery. Obviously the military element of power is key for establishing security and stability, the addition of economic stability to the region further advances this objective.”

The Office of Security Transition is specifically tasked with training, mentoring, and equipping Iraqi security forces.

(Information from a Project and Contracting Office press release was used in this release.)