BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 17, 2004 — The 478th Civil Affairs Battalion from Miami, Fla. arrived in Baghdad Feb. 4 to replace the 422nd Civil Affairs Battalion from Greensboro, N.C. The newly arrived Army Reserve unit has not wasted any time in getting out into the community and continuing the projects established by the 422nd and establishing new projects with the local advisory councils.

“Our soldiers are happy to finally be on the ground in Iraq and to be working with the local citizens in improving the lives of the citizens,” said Lt. Col. Colonel Wilfredo Rosario, 478th commander.

“We have civil affairs teams throughout the Baghdad area that are focusing on the problems of the citizens in the various neighborhoods in the city,” he said. “We are working with the neighborhood advisory councils and the district advisory councils to find solutions to the problems.”

Team leader Capt. Mathew Pederson from Orlando, Fla. heads a six-soldier civil affairs team that has been working in the Karkh District for the last month.

“Our team has had a real advantage here because we were able to train with the 1st Cavalry Division, the unit we will be supporting here,” Pederson said.

The team has served with the “First Team” Division in Louisiana and in Texas before deploying to Iraq.

“Those prior deployments gave us confidence in our own team and the unit we will be supporting. We don’t have to build relationships here from scratch,” Pederson said.

“Our team is made up of two policemen, a court employee, a hospital case manager, a university student majoring in commercial recreation and a small business owner who manufactures artificial limbs and leg braces,” said Karkh District Team Sergeant, Sgt. 1st Class Martin DuMond from Miami, Fla.

The diversity of team’s backgrounds allows them to see problems from different angles and to visualize different solutions, he said.

“We feel we are making a positive impact on the lives of the Iraqi people,” DuMond said.

Sgt. Christopher Cummings of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. is working on assessing the medical facilities within Karkh and the possible restoration of a children’s hospital.

Working with the neighborhood advisory council at Al-Shawaf Park in the Salhiya neighborhood, restoration of the park is the mission for Sgt. Jose Villafana of Gainesville, Fla. The new park will have a playground, basketball court, and benches once the rubble is removed, he said.

“Like parents everywhere, the local citizens want a place that is safe and clean for their children to play,” he said.

Sgt. Gilbert Cuellar of Amarillo, Texas, will work with the Director General of public transportation. He is leading an effort to clean up the Al-Alawee bus station and provide greater security to the passengers.

Spc. Ryan Schorer of Melbourne, Fla. has been assigned as the project manager for the Umar Al-Mukhtar secondary school in the Salhiya neighborhood. The school officials have requested help in securing a metal addition to the concrete fence around the school. This will provide the students with greater security, he said.

“Our team is operating under the old saying that if you give a man a fish you have given him a meal, but if you teach him how to fish you are feeding him for life,” he said.

“We want to work with the civilian population in finding solutions to problems.”

“We are a small team but we think we are doing big things. We look forward to the civil affairs challenges in the future,” Pederson said.