U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers from 418th Civil Affairs Battalion are making a positive impact on the lives of people in East Africa through outreach programs.

The Belton, Missouri-based battalion oversees the work of several U.S. Army Reserve and Navy civil affairs units assigned to Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa.

In Harmakale, Ethiopia, Company D, 478th Civil Affairs Battalion worked with local officials to open an agricultural demonstration project that teaches area residents unique methods for crop irrigation in drought-prone areas. The team is one of two civil affairs units led by Maj. Reginald Kornegay, who also led community outreach efforts in Kitgum, Uganda during Natural Fire 10, a U.S. Army Africa-led humanitarian and disaster relief exercise in October 2009.

“These types of projects receive overwhelming support from local residents,” Kornegay said. “The villagers have begun purchasing supplies on their own to duplicate the nursery stations.”

Several senior officials attended the Feb. 11 project inauguration to include John Yates, the U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia, Tom Staal, USAID mission director and Lt. Col. Rich Appel, the 418th commander.

“U.S. Army civil affairs Soldiers fostered a cooperative effort with the local community, which has already made this project a success,” Appel said. “There is now the potential for projects like this in other villages throughout the region.”

In Djibouti, near CJTF-HOA’s headquarters at Camp Lemonier, Soldiers from the 478ths “Team Seminole” recently offered humanitarian assistance supplies to local people, including a water cistern at Balbala, a nearby community in need.

“Fire has destroyed a neighborhood there, to include homes for nine families,” Kornegay said. “A local leader told of their needs, the most vital being a way to collect water.”

Access to drinking water may prevent affected families from forced migration, often a cause of local turbulence, Kornegay said.

Further South, in Eldoret, Kenya, a team of Soldiers from the Danbury, Connecticut-based 411th Civil Affairs Battalion focuses on ways to improve local people’s lives. During a visit to an orphanage, Sgt. 1st Class Victor Fermin recently found a 13-year-old boy with poor hearing. The stop was part of an ongoing effort to conduct medical assessments.

“His hearing loss has affected his education. He has been held back in school,” Fermin said. “We look to local organizations and companies in the U.S. to donate hearing aids.”

This event is one of several assessments at local orphanages that the team will do in the next few weeks.

Work on Kenyan primary school was another team project – a low-cost effort that greatly improve education for local children, said Capt. Roxana Pagan. It’s not all work, though. During a recent visit to the Ng’Arua Primary School, Pagan also practiced English skills with Kenyan students.

“This school is one of 10 minimal cost projects begun in the area by a previous civil affairs team,” Pagan said. “Our job is to assess the effectiveness and impact of the previous project and how we can improve upon them in the future

In Moroto, Uganda, two U.S. Army noncommissioned officers are working with the Ugandan People’s Defense Force and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization to help animals in the area. Staff Sgt. Danielle Bayar and Staff Sgt. Eric Roth discussed plans for a UPDF-led veterinary clinic in Karamoja region of Northern Uganda. Local animal health workers will lead the effort, Roth said.

“We’ve found that pets and smaller animals who may carry rabies are often overlooked,” Roth said. “There is also a need to treat poultry for Newcastle disease, a virus that can be fatal for birds.”

In Gulu and Amuru, two towns in Northern Uganda, U.S. Army civil affairs Soldiers are assessing a two-year veterinary medicine program that wrapped up in 2009.

The project focused on animal health through vaccinations, training for students from Makerere University in Kampala and sustainable veterinary care for animals in the area. For people living in camps following unrest caused by the Lord’s Resistance Army, animal care was key to them returning to their home villages.

Overall, the team found last year’s effort were successful – treated livestock increased in weight and were producing more milk. Now, a local nongovernmental organization offered grant funding to local veterinarians to open shops to treat livestock.

“Our U.S. Army Soldiers and Navy civil affairs personnel are doing great work across the Horn of Africa, is support of CJTF-HOA and U.S. Africa Command,” Appel said. “These efforts will continue to broaden the reach of U.S. strategic goals toward security, stability and peace for our partner nations and increase the level of prosperity for people throughout East Africa.”

U.S. Army Africa
By Staff Sgt. Amanda Boersma
418th Civil Affairs Battalion

Reprinted from October 13 2007

KIA Oct. 5, 2007 in Bayji, Iraq

DoD

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Spc. Rachael L. Hugo, 24, of Madison, Wis., died Oct. 5 in Bayji, Iraq, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked her unit using an improvised explosive device and small arms fire. She was assigned to the 303rd Military Police Company, 97th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade, U.S. Army Reserve, Jackson, Mich.

The medic reached into her pocket and removed an Army honors coin she received for saving a sergeant’s life in Iraq in February. She told her dad, Kermit Hugo, she had carried it with her ever since then to make sure she didn’t misplace it before she had a chance to give it to him.

“She said, ‘Dad, I got something for you,’ and she pulled that coin out of her pocket,” Kermit Hugo said Monday.

On Friday, Rachael Hugo found herself in a similar situation to the one in February, but with much different results.

Hugo, 24, of Madison, was killed when she went to help injured colleagues after they were hit by an improvised explosive device and came under small-arms fire in Bayji, north of Baghdad. She was deployed just over a year ago and was expected to return home in November.

Hugo’s family members gathered at the Army Reserve Center to speak publicly Monday about her life for the first time since she died.

“She saw death, destruction, despair – and a lot of good things, too,” said Kermit Hugo. “Despite it all, she always kept her head held high.”

He said she was a dedicated soldier who made it clear to her family that she loved what she did. Early in her deployment, she sent an e-mail that said, “This is what I choose to do, and being a medic is what I live to do.”

Her mother, Ruth, said: “She felt that was her niche in life, helping people. She wanted to serve her country.”

Her father, Kermit Hugo, told the story of how his daughter saved the life of a comrade during an engagement earlier this year.

A sergeant was wounded during the engagement and Rachael Hugo volunteered to go to his aid.

“She told the guys to cover her, ” Kermit Hugo said. “From the sounds of it, there were rounds going off from the Humvee. She stayed with him. She kept treating him. She just did her job. ”

Hugo, 24, was a specialist in the Army Reserve with the 303rd Military Police Company based in Jackson, Mich., part of the 89th Military Police Brigade. She was deployed to Iraq in September 2006 and was scheduled to return to the U.S. next month.

Channel 3000

Hugo’s mother said that her daughter shared her excitement about coming home through daily e-mails.

“She did a lot of online clothes shopping. And I kind of chewed her out for it. But she said, ‘Mom, I’m going to be so ecstatic to be home as it is.’”

Her family said that they consider her a hero.

“A hero is the way I will always see you, a legend in our community,” said her brother Scott Hugo.

“She was just a wonderful, outstanding daughter. You just couldn’t ask for anything better,” Kermit Hugo said.

Hugo was assigned to the 303rd Military Police Company, U.S. Army Reserve, in Jackson, Mich. Her family said that Hugo was studying to be a nurse and had been accepted at Viterbo College in La Crosse.

Channel 3000

The funeral of a Madison woman killed in Iraq earlier this month will be held next week.

The U.S. Army said the remains of 24-year-old Spc. Rachael Hugo will arrive Saturday at the Wisconsin General Aviation Services building in Madison.

Military officials have said the combat medic died Oct. 5 when her U.S. Army Reserve unit was attacked by insurgents with a roadside bomb and small arms fire in Bayji, Iraq.

The wake will be held Tuesday [10/16/2007] in Madison and the funeral on Wednesday [10/17/2007] in Monona.

The former high school cheerleader served with the 303rd Military Police Company based in Jackson, Mich.