This year the children of Iraq will have safer, refurbished schools thanks to the work of Renegade Soldiers.

Before Company A, Task Force 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, arrived in Sadr City’s Jamilla neighborhood, the schools here were not even used for classes; militants were using the grounds as makeshift hiding places and torture cells. At the few schools that remained open, militants would kidnap children as they went to or from school and hold them for ransom.

“The schools in Jamilla were places of terror, not places of learning,” said 2nd Lt. Nicholas Boykin, Co. A, TF 1-6, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, which is currently attached to 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad.

Before repairs could begin, the neighborhood needed to be secure. As Task Force 1-6 arrived in Jamilla, Soldiers immediately improved the security and began chasing the criminals and militants out. The wall built by Renegade and the other companies in the Task Force isolated Jamilla from the rest of Sadr City, scaring many of the militants out of the area and allowing the economy and civil society to flourish.

As Soldiers prepared projects to rebuild and refurbish the schools in the area, Renegade Soldiers saw just how bad things were at the schools of Jamilla. There are 12 schools total, ranging from kindergarten and elementary schools to all-women schools and high schools in Jamilla.

While some of these schools were in fairly good condition, others were in near shambles. Almost all of them had no electrical power and no air conditioning, which is something essential no matter what time of year in Iraq. The desks were broken, the walls were crumbling and bullet holes could be found punched through the windows and rooftops.

For the repairs to begin, MND-B Soldiers conducted a variety of escort missions to bring personnel from the Civil Affairs Team, Task Force Gold, and from the Government of Iraq’s Ministry of Education to scout out conditions on the ground.

After a complete assessment had been made, TF 1-6 initiated projects to completely overhaul the structures. Renegade Soldiers watched as all of the schools underwent a transformation. Government-hired Iraqis went to work and replaced wire and electric facilities, installed air-conditioning units, desks, dry erase boards, new playground equipment and repainted the inside and outside of the schools.

“The rebuilding and transformation of the schools was like night and day. It really showed the neighborhood who was on their side, trying to make Jamilla a better place,” said Sgt. Mario Braxton, Co. A, TF 1-6.

As a result, children across Jamilla will begin the school year in freshly painted rooms, at a new desk with air conditioning and electric lights. For long-term development in Iraq, the school projects form the cornerstone of Renegade’s efforts to improve the lives of the Iraqi people.

MNF-I