CAMP FERRIN-HUGGINS, Baghdad, July 27, 2004 — Being one of the poorer districts of Baghdad, Al Rashid may need more attention from civil affairs efforts. What is needed is provided by 5th Brigade Combat Team’s rebuilding budget of more than $160 million, according to Capt. Dustin Felix, 5th Brigade Combat Team’s civil affairs officer.

Numerous projects in the district put thousands of Iraqis to work through the brigade’s Operation Oasis: the overall project to improve electricity, sewers, water and other essential services in the district.

It’s the chief rebuilding effort in the brigade with the largest rebuilding budget within the division.

Behind the bricks and beams of all the brawn in construction, lies much planning and coordination. The 5th Brigade Combat Team Operation Oasis engineering team undertakes this task.

“Civil affairs develops projects through talking to the Iraqis and identify types of projects,” said Maj. Curtis Woods, roads and lighting chief for the team. “And we, as engineers, help them schedule projects; sculpting them and evaluating the needs for the projects. “

The team consists of soldiers and Iraqi civilians from many different areas of expertise, which all tie into civil engineering and help provide a technical view to civil affairs projects, according to Woods, an Army reservist who is a director of public works from Mt. Vernon, New York when he’s not in desert camoflage.

“We have an officer covering each bucket of essential services,” explained Sgt. 1st Class Ronald Ice, the team’s power chief and sole non-commissioned officer. “Our job is more of a liaison and tracking the big brigade-wide projects to help the visibility of the Army in a positive light in the district.”

As a liaison, the team provides a technical prospective to other elements involved in the projects.

“The civil affairs talks to the local governments for overall look on an area. We are a much smaller scale,” said Maj. Christopher Spohn, the team’s chief. “We look at the professional details of [Civil Affairs] projects. We do more technical points.”

Lacking the resources to organize and execute daily convoys to construction sights, the team is supplemented by groups of Iraqi civilians to conduct day-to-day operations in sector.

“The civilians basically are our eyes out there, where we can’t go,” Woods said. “They can just drive a car out to a sight, where as we would have to get a convoy out there. They basically do the day-to-day operations.”

There are two civilian components in the team. One component is made of six experienced Iraqi civil engineers who parallel in many of the same areas as their U.S. counterparts: some specializing in electricity or construction of sewage systems.

“They are familiar with the Iraqi standard,” Woods said. “We have them draw it out and identify certain things that are common. We check the equivalents like standard system versus metric system.”

The other Iraqi component of the group is the technical advisory team. It consists of 25 Baghdad University engineering students who conduct reconnaissance on projects, as well as quality assurance during the different stages of construction.

Through the three segments of the Operation Oasis engineering team, the group effort is to literally help Al Rashid become an oasis.

“We get a sense of gratitude when something is done and accomplished,” Woods said. “It actually helps out the Iraqis, and you can see the change taking place. That part is what all engineers like to see. It shows us that we help.”