Locals Join With Soldiers To Create New Base
Forward Operating Base Hammer, Iraq- When they received orders to construct and set up a new 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team headquarters and combat outpost, the soldiers serving in 1st Sergeant Arvento Collins unit were prepared and ready.
“We receive our instructions, we get orders, and we spring into action, and execute those orders, its that simple,” said Sgt Collins. Sgt Collins unit has just a little more than three months left in its deployment. “This set of orders is not that much different than any other set that we have received,” said Sgt Collins.
The new Combat Outpost Carver is one of the largest outposts that the soldiers of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team have had to set up. It is located on a piece of land near the Tigris River. The area is right by Al Duraiya, which is a smaller village not to far from Salman Pak.
The entire region near Salman Pak has been used heavily by insurgents as a safe house and stronghold because it is sparsely populated and features a number of abandoned farms and homes. The 3rd HBCT has worked hard to push back the insurgency and in these efforts they have reclaimed a large amount of land for the community.
It is on one of these parcels of land that COB Carver is being constructed on.
Local Workers worked alongside Coalition soldiers to enclose the area with 12-foot concrete barriers, and this has led to a lot of goodwill among the community. “We have been blessed to have a lot of willing help from the local community, its been a challenge to get the base up and running,” said Sgt Collins.
