Story and photo by Spc. Joshua R. Ford
3rd Brigade Combat Team
AL BAKR — A group of retired Iraqi Air Force officers sat timidly in the conference room waiting for an American Army brigade commander they had never met.
Looks of concern painted the faces of the retirees as they anticipated bad news from the American that may change everything – economy, employment and overall quality of life – in their quaint village just outside of Logistic Support Area Anaconda near Balad.
Once Col. Bryan Owens, 3rd Brigade Combat Team commander, 82nd Airborne Division, informed them that their contract would not be cancelled, a relief was felt throughout the room by the elder community leaders.
The contract has been paying the Al Kawakib company, which is based in the small village of Al Bakr, to treat water and sewage for coalition troops based on LSA Anaconda. The money and jobs provided by the Al Kawakib company has accounted for most of the village’s revenue since Operation Iraqi Freedom began nearly four years ago.
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(Photo: Moshtak Talib Abid, an engineer who maintains the Al Bakr Water Treatment Plant, shows Col. Bryan Owens, commander, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, around the plant.)
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