America's North Shore Journal

The project serves two purposes: to provide better visibility for Marines who occupy an observation post on the road and to make the area look more normal for the local Iraqis, said Staff Sgt. Bryan Spencer, platoon sergeant, Operations Platoon, Engineer Company, CLB-5.

“We’re going all the way down this road to get rid of all the berms and get it looking nice again,” said Spencer, from Texarkana, Texas.

Fallujah community members can look outside each morning and see signs of change in their neighborhoods. Small, but significant beacons of hope are brought on by new construction projects appearing all over the city.

To aid a city rising from the ashes of war, Marines with Detachment 3, Civil Affairs Group 3, Regimental Combat Team 1, met with Iraqi contractors and construction workers July 5 to continue to help facilitate the laborers’ efforts in building a new school for the children in the Abu Saleh area of Fallujah.

Only a short time ago the city of Fallujah served as stronghold for insurgents. Daily skirmishes, improvised explosive device detonations and public unease made operating a business in the city very difficult.

Today, with improved security throughout the region, the low price of 4,000 dinar, or $3.50, will purchase a full meal at the recently established Kentucky Fried Chicken in the Hey Al Dubat area of the city.

Albu Hawa, a small sub-tribe south of Fallujah resides in a farmland district that lines the Euphrates River. Only a year ago, it was a rural battlespace with daily violence that harbored al-Qaida terrorists.

Known as one of the last strongholds for al-Qaida, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines performed operations during last year’s deployment to rid Albu Hawa of terrorist activity. This year, the battalion has returned to the area and witnessed the progress of this farmland community from when it was plagued with everyday violence. Now with terrorism on the brink of defeat, Iraqi Police have developed a strong presence in Albu Hawa and the area is dramatically safer for the citizens.

Marines geared for war walk in tactical columns through the once mean streets of Fallujah, ready for what may lay around the next corner.

“Mister, mister shokalata! Shokalata!” shout exuberant children from a crowded neighborhood as Marines and Iraqi police pass out candy.

The city is now in the planning stages of establishing a new water distribution network. 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines recently approved a project to purchase needed parts for a water treatment facility, which will service the majority of Fallujah. Right now, the facilities have inoperable pumps and other parts that are in a state of disrepair. The installation of new pumps and filters at the Azerghia water treatment facility will bring the facility back to its previous prewar output capacity.

The halls remain empty, the sirens are silent, the only thing collecting on the floor is dust from the staff walking in and out; boredom is consistent, and no one is complaining.

This is the state of one of the U.S. forces most actively used hospitals in Iraq, Fallujah Surgical.

Progress is being made daily with keeping al Qaida in Iraq at bay and transferring security responsibilities to the Iraqi people, allowing coalition forces to transition to tactical overwatch.

An example of such progress is the demilitarization of Fallujah’s new bridge by the Marines of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, on April 24.

The “Bastogne” Soldiers of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, recently finished conducting multiple operations that cleared al-Qaida fighters and other enemy extremist from the desert areas west and south of Samarra, including the southern portion of the city.