2 posts tagged “cf”
CJTF-101
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (April 24, 2008) – Elementary school children from the U.S. and Afghanistan met each other Wednesday over a video teleconference facilitated by the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan, as part of a partnership program and cultural exchange. CJSOTF-A has been working with village elders, teachers, parents and students of the Jan Qadam elementary school, outside the gates of Bagram Air Field, to enable the school to become a more effective center of education. Coalition troops have been able to supply more than 1,200 students with notebooks, pens, pencils, backpacks, rules and glue to get them started on a good school year, with the help of Calvert City Elementary School in Calvert City, Kentucky.
The Jan Qadam students used a conference room on Bagram Air Field while the Calvert City students used a conference room at Fort Campbell, Ky. Young Afghan girls wearing black dresses and white scarves excitedly whispered to each other, about the pretty, colorful shirts and long loose hair of their American counterparts. The Afghan boys, dressed similar to any American child with jeans, shirts and baseball caps, fidgeted as they waited their turn to talk and answer questions.
One of the highlights of the conference was when a young, confident Afghan boy stood up and read a letter he wrote to the American students in almost perfect English. At the end of the letter he said he hoped the American students would try to learn Dari and talk to him some day.
“We have been enriched by this program,” said Phyllis O’neill, Calvert City Elementary School Principal. O’neill said she encourages her students to do volunteer work and explore other cultures to gain an understanding of those cultures. This is important for the U.S. students because it really shows them it’s not easy for other students to go to school and get an education, O’neill said. “I appreciate all the students for sending these items,” said the Jan Qadam headmaster. “We are relatively poor and all the kids here are really happy for the supplies.”
Most students wanted to know simple things about each other. They asked about school, choice of favorite foods, sports, and animals and what activities they do during recess. Some of the Afghan children tried to stump the Calvert students with riddles and they clapped joyfully when the answers came over the airwaves. However, this is not the first communications these students have had. A few months ago, some of the Calvert City students wrote letters to the Jan Qadam students and their Afghan peers are in the process of writing them back.
According to a coalition representative, the goal is for the relationship between these schools to continue in order to enrich all of the students and show the importance of education. The partnership is meant as an exchange that will continue for years; enriching the lives of both sets of students.
Students and teachers from the Jan Qadam elementary school in Bagram clap at the answer a U.S. school child gave to a riddle they asked, during their first video teleconference. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Marie Schult).
by Tami Hillis
4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs Office
FOB KALSU, Iraq (April 25, 2008) – At about 12:46 p.m., Jan. 10, everything changed for one Iraqi Army special forces platoon leader. While on a joint mission with coalition forces, the 8th IA Division Soldier was struck by an improvised explosive device as he crossed a pedestrian footbridge on the east side of Route Minnesota in the Chaka Four Region. First Lt. Mohy Ali lost his right foot and sustained trauma to his right wrist in the attack.
A little more than three months later, Soldiers from 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, are helping the 42-year-old soldier get his life back to normal, one step at a time. Capt. Jacob Turnquist, the 4th BCT surgeon, identified a clinic near the Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad, where Mohy was originally treated, that specializes in getting prosthetics for Iraqis. The IA Surgeon General’s Office Prosthetics Clinic is run by Iraqis, with American civil affairs support. Turnquist contacted the clinic and spoke with Chris Cummings, a retired Army medic and a prosthetist in the prosthetics clinic. Cummings, who is also an adviser for Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq, assisted the unit with the process.
The next step was linking Mohy up with coalition forces in his area, which was done through Staff Sgt. Alfonza Chatfield, a medic with the 31st Military Transition Team, 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, in al-Hillah, Iraq. Mohy was escorted to the Green Zone, Baghdad, on April 21 by Chatfield, an 18-year veteran and Georgia native, to the prosthetics clinic. Cummings checked Mohy’s limb to ensure it had healed properly. Cummings then manually measured different parts of the limb. Next, with the use of a computer-aided design program, he created a three-dimensional view of Mohy’s limb on a computer. Between the manual measurements and the program, Cummings generated a close representation of the limb. With the information gathered from this first trip, Cummings will create a prosthetic foot for Mohy, which will be fitted during the next visit.
“I’m a commander and I want to get back with my soldiers,” Mohy said. “I want to be able to walk and run again.”
Chris Cummings, a prosthetist in the IA surgeon general's office prosthetics clinic in Baghdad, runs some tests on 1st Lt. Mohy Ali's limb during an initial visit on April 21. Mohy, an IA soldier, lost his foot during an IED attack on Jan. 10 while on a joint mission with Coalition forces. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Tami Hillis).
