Learning, Teaching and Growing in Iraq

MNF-Iraq

BAGHDAD - Projects under the U.S.-led reconstruction program in Iraq were initiated in the understanding that in an asymmetric war, progress is most clearly witnessed at the local level.

For both the Iraqi people and the Coalition engineers and Soldiers involved, reconstruction efforts to restore essential services and develop the capacity for future economic growth have also come as a learning experience.

With Soldiers, contractors and Iraqi residents often working side by side on construction, the groups gain an understanding of each others' cultures and viewpoints at the same time as they create a stake for the surrounding communities in seeing the national stabilization effort succeed.

For 1st Lt. Dawn Harrison, a Mississippi Army Reservist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the work is a crucial part of the overall struggle to stand up the nation.

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(Photo by Suzanne M. Fournier)