A 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment soldier peers into a courtyard at the Babylon Ruins site. The soldier is part of a team surveying the site for a renovation project in the Babil province of Iraq. Photo by Staff Sgt. Mark Albright

What’s old will become renewed as the Babylon Historic Ruins Museum undergoes a facelift. Local contractors have begun the renovations under the coordinating efforts of museum officials and the Babil Provincial Reconstruction Team.

“We are working hand-in-hand with the Provincial Governor and we are just doing one step at a time,” said Lou Simonetti, Infrastructure Essential Services Team Lead Engineer of the Babil PRT.

The project focuses on the renovation and restoration of the museum, the exhibits, archeological artifacts, and upgrading security at the gates. Once complete, the project will benefit the economy of the province by boosting tourism there, said Simonetti.

The project will also provide a benefit to students of all age groups as they come to visit the ruins and learn about its history, said Lt. Col Brian Radliff, Regimental Deputy Commanding Officer, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment

The project is scheduled for completion in three months at the cost of just over $200,000. The site contains Nebuchadnezzar’s Palace, Alexander the Great’s Palace, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and several other temples.

“Our current focus in the last stage of our operation here is to continue to develop the Iraqi economic infrastructure within the local communities,” said Radliff. “Improving tourism, and specifically, ecotourism, with projects like the Babylon Ruin Museum will have economic benefits.”

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Story by Staff Sgt. Mark Albright

A chaplain's assistant reads while Soldiers tour St. Elijah's Monastery, June 11, at Contingency Operating Base Marez, Iraq. Photo by Sgt. Chad Menegay

The abandoned, sixth century St. Elijah’s Monastery of Ninawa province, Iraq, once a center for the regional Christian community, served the Army chaplain community, June 11, and brought two old friends back together in study and prayer.

Seven years prior, 1st. Lt. Brandt Klawitter, chaplain with the 14th Transportation Battalion, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) and a Hermann, Mo., native, and Capt. Matthew Christensen, chaplain with the 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment and a Kalispell, Mont., native, studied biblical archaeology together, but never imagined that one day they would walk within the deteriorating walls of a possible archeological cache and pray at its altar.

It seemingly happened by chance.

As Klawitter scanned his ID card at the entrance to the dining facility at Contingency Operating Base Diamonback, Iraq, he looked up to see his friend, Christensen, wandering around looking for coffee.

The two had no idea one another was visiting troops at COB Diamondback at the same time. Klawitter’s office of operations is at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, and Christensen’s at Contingency Operating Base Taji, Iraq.

They caught up over breakfast.

Capt. Matthew Christensen -from left-, chaplain with the 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment, and a Kalispell, Mont., native; 1st Lt. Brandt Klawitter, Chaplain with the 14th Transportation Battalion, 13th Sustainment Command -Expeditionary- and a Hermann, Mo., native; and 1st Lt. Geoffrey Whitaker, garrison chaplain with Regimental Fires Squadron, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, 13th ESC and a Murphy, N.C., native, enjoy a tour of St. Elijah's monastery, June 11, at Contingency Operating Base Marez, Iraq. Photo by Sgt. Chad Menegay

Klawitter and Christensen met during postgraduate work in 2001 at Concordia University in Seward, Neb. They had Greek and Hebrew classes together. They continued studies at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis.

They also started Chaplain Basic Officer Leadership Course together.

“We were friends so we signed up for the same summer,” Klawitter said. “We rode down together in his minivan to Fort Jackson, S.C. I babysat his kids before. His Family came out to my Family’s house. He helped my dad and I put in a rail fence.”

Klawitter described Christensen, who was previously a diesel mechanic in the Army, as accomplished and squared away.

“He grew up in the mountains of Montana,” Klawitter said. “His dad runs mules and horses up at Glacier National Park.”

Christensen described Klawitter as both a people person and an intellectual.

“If you have any kind of issue, he’s one of the guys you could call at anytime,” Christensen said.

Klawitter said it is a real blessing to have a good friend in Iraq.

“He’s one of those friends you trust in, you depend on, you’ve been through different life experiences with,” Klawitter said. “I give him a call every once in a while just to say ‘hi.’ When we get together, we compare notes about what’s worked and what’s not.”

Of course, this time around the chaplains did more than just catch up; they visited a 1,500 to 1,700-year-old building together, the oldest, still standing Assyrian monastery in Iraq.

1st Lt. Geoffrey Whitaker, garrison chaplain for Regimental Fires Squadron, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, 13th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) and a Murphy, N.C., native, leads weekly St. Elijah’s monastery tours at the southwest corner of COB Marez, a base connected to COB Diamondback.

He put together a VIP tour for Klawitter, Christensen and their chaplain assistants.

“The tours boost interest in spirituality,” Whitaker said.

Whitaker has been working to build interest in stabilizing the monastery to preserve the building and the Christian heritage it holds.

Recently, the RFS mayor’s cell’s coordination with Iraqi and U.S. agencies has paid off, as St. Elijah’s has made an Iraqi government list of sites to be preserved.

“The Iraqi facilities engineering team is working on a full blown plan with diagrams, a timeline and cost of materials,” Whitaker said.

Whitaker said the monastery is Iraqi history. As such, the Iraqis should lead the process of preservation, with Americans only helping.

1st Lt. Brandt Klawitter, chaplain with the 14th Transportation Battalion, 13th Sustainment Command -Expeditionary- and a Hermann, Mo., native, listens to a lecture during a tour at St. Elijah's Monastery, June 11, at Contingency Operating Base Marez, Iraq. Photo by Sgt. Chad Menegay

“In this day and age you don’t think of Iraq as having much to do with Christianity,” Klawitter said, “but there actually is a history over here, just like in Turkey there is a ton of Christian history.”

Klawitter said St. Elijah’s was something adventurous to check out.

“A lot of Soldiers now don’t go outside the wire and see much of the Iraqi culture and history,” he said. “To see something of cultural value, of religious significance, it reminds you of another side of this land that doesn’t have to do with the present war.”

Klawitter and Christensen said during the visit they felt tied historically to the Christians who came before them to the monastery.

They said they thought back to their biblical archaeology class and wondered what they might dig up if they actually had the chance to excavate.

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Story by Sgt. Chad Menegay

The Ziggurat of Ur towers of Contingency Operating Base Adder during a flyover of Dhi Qar province in southern Iraq, Sept. 19. The flight in an AH-60 Blackhawk helicopter was scheduled to provide Iraqi reporters with an opportunity to get aerial shots of the province. Photo by Spc. Gavriel Bar-Tzur

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Staff Sgt. Justin Stein, of Billings, Mont., examines the damage time has done to a walkway under the ancient Taq-i-kisra- Arch. Stein is an infantryman assigned to Headquarters Brigade, 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division. The leftover ruins here have been converted into a temporary Iraqi army outpost. Photo by Pvt. Jared N. Gehmann

In an attempt to restore national pride and tourism to one of the oldest landmarks in Iraq, American Paratroopers and Iraqi army soldiers discussed plans for renovating the area surrounding the famous Arch of Ctesiphon in Salman Pak, Aug. 5.

The all-brick arch was built nearly 16 centuries ago and is one of the oldest free standing arches in the world. But years of neglect and war in the region have transformed the once popular attraction into an Iraqi army outpost surrounded by acres of trash and rubble.

However, as conditions in Iraq continue to improve, a new effort to renovate the area was discussed between U.S. and Iraqi army officials during a site assessment mission in the hopes to bring some heritage and stability back to the people of the greater Ma’dain region.

“About 25 years ago this area was very popular and people came from all over Iraq to trade at the marketplace that used to be here,” said Iraqi Capt. Abbas Kadhum, an Iraqi army officer who grew up in the region and currently oversees the outpost around the arch. “There was music playing all the time here, and the large fountain used to have running water that the kids would play in.”

“It was sad to see this place get torn apart in the 1990s when residents started taking ancient bricks from the arch to build their houses and walls,” added Kadhum.

Iraqi and U.S. forces discussed their hopes to start several projects at the arch site within the next few months.

“We want to start improving the area by working around the arch, I think that’s our quick fix,” said Capt. Dallas Cheatham, of Fayetteville N.C., the commanding officer of Company B, 1st Battalion, 505th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. “The first thing we are going to try and do is build a fence around this area and plant grass and trees, trying to make the area more beautiful and inviting.”

Cheatham said another goal for the project is to bring some tourism to the area that will display Iraq’s history and culture.

“The Iraqi people need a sense of pride and heritage for their country and few places in Iraq are as symbolic as the arch,” said Cheatham.

Cheatham also said once the surrounding area is complete, restoration of the surrounding buildings on the site will be looked into. These areas include the courtyard fountain, a nearby pool, visitors’ center, and the large panoramic building, which were all built in the 1980s to help bring more people to the ancient attraction.

“I’m really excited about the reconstruction and I hope it all goes well,” said Kadhum.

Cheatham emphasized that the reconstruction of this area would also symbolize the overall reconstruction of the war-torn nation and would give many of the Iraqi people hope and encouragement for the country’s future.

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Story by Pvt. Jared N. Gehmann