A newly-built truck lift is demonstrated before a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Maysan Central Wheat Granary of the where a newly-built truck lift was unveiled. The hydraulic truck lift will be a valuable addition to the granary, which can hold upwards of 10,000 tons. Before the lift was built, workers had to unload grain trucks using shovels, a task that could take hours to complete. Photo by Pfc. Khori Johnson

The Maysan Provincial Reconstruction Team and Soldiers of Battery A, 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, which is attached to 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd BCT, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Maysan Central Wheat Granary to unveil a newly-built truck lift.

The hydraulic truck lift will be a valuable addition to the granary, which can hold more than 10,000 tons of grain. Before the lift was built, workers had to unload grain trucks using shovels, a task that took hours to complete.

With the addition of the truck lift, unloading grain will take a fraction of the time, said 2nd Lt. Boykin Lucas, a Camden, S.C., native serving as a platoon leader and project purchasing officer with Battery A, 3rd Bn., 29th FA Regt., 3rd BCT, 4th Inf. Div.

The governor of Maysan, Muhammad Shi’a Sabar Hatim al Sudani, cut the ribbon to unveil the finished project, and the crowd on hand responded with applause and songs of celebration.

The project was a joint effort between the PRT, the Iraqi government, and the ‘Iron’ Brigade. The PRT and the GOI acquired and installed the truck lift while 3rd BCT assisted with construction.

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Story by Pfc. Khori Johnson