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HOT TOPIC - March 2005 Colorado Engineers Help Rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan Denver, CO-The American Council of Engineering Companies of Colorado (ACEC/CO) is recognizing the broad range of service and commitment by some of its member firms that have men and women who are either serving, or have served, in the military. In particular, there are Colorado engineers who are part of the infrastructure reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Like many industries that must deal with the absence of employees serving in the military, Colorado engineering firms have not only supported the sacrifices of their staff but also appreciate the engineering and construction efforts being made in Iraq and Afghanistan. Iraq is currently a country desperately trying to get back on its feet. The recent elections were a good step for Iraq moving in the direction of a stable democracy. But long before Saddam Hussein’s removal from power, Iraq’s infrastructure was in need of substantial repair due to years of neglect. Projects for infrastructure reconstruction and repair include restoring electrical service, building safe municipal water and sanitation systems, rehabilitation of local hospitals, schools, fire and police stations and rebuilding bridges and highways. In the midst of the designing, construction and rebuilding, there is still tremendous courage and personal sacrifice required in serving our country during a time of conflict. Numerous Colorado engineers have become part of the substantial effort that is being made to repair and rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan. Phil Landeros, a practicing structural engineer at Merrick and Company in Aurora, is currently serving as a Major in the Air National Guard and is on active duty with the 732nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron in Iraq. His unit is comprised of Guard, Reserve and active-duty Airmen assisting US Army engineering groups on Iraq reconstruction projects. Major Landeros and 11 other Air Force Civil Engineers from the 240th Civil Engineering Flight at Buckley AFB have been stationed in Iraq since September 2004. Their work includes designing bridges, fuel distribution systems and water filtration plants. In particular, Landeros spends much of his time on rebuilding bridges blown up by insurgents. According to Major Landeros, working on the longest Mabey-Johnson float bridge in the world, that crosses the Tigris River, has been the highlight of his engineering experience in Iraq. Not only has it been an engineering design challenge, but also the project was accomplished under the cover of M1 tanks and air support. When asked how this experience changed him, Major Landeros replied, “It gave me an appreciation for construction sites without small arms fire, indirect fire and improvised explosive devices.” Engineering companies back home in Colorado, have not only had to do without the services of their engineers but have to play a support role for their employees serving in the military. Major Landeros commented that Merrick and Co. has been awesome. “They sent me care packages and anything I requested to help me with my engineering mission here.” But being away from Colorado has its impact on the home front. “My third child Andy really misses me,” commented Landeros, “they say he gets sad, sometimes choked up, when someone mentions me.” Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit seems to be a common deployment location for some of Colorado engineers. Andre Schlappe of Martin/ Martin in Lakewood has been a part of the Army Reserve for 9 1/2 years and was called to service last year. Schlappe served 10 months based in Tikrit where he designed and constructed base camps for U.S. solders, improved Iraqi roads and fortified police stations. While rebuilding new police stations and repairing damaged security buildings is a high priority in Iraq, insurgents seem determined to destroy as many police stations as possible. Yet for Schlappe it was an important job as he worked on police stations in nearly a dozen such facilities in Northern Iraq. Schlappe received support from his employer Martin/Martin in the form of letters, care packages and salary differentials while he was deployed. His wife also was part of that support system and had to deal with a military separation that lasted over a year while coping with running a household by herself. His work experience at Martin & Martin helped Schlappe cope with the difficulties of construction in Iraq. “The daily problem solving we do at Martin/Martin was a big help in quickly designing numerous base camps in a tough environment throughout Iraq.” A battle zone experience tends to give a soldier perspective. Schlappe commented his most noteworthy experience was, “being involved in a two hour firefight with insurgents in the City of Samarra.” He added the experience, “made me more appreciative of the blessings of liberty back here at home.” Army Reservist Zachary Robinson, an engineer employed by Hepworth-Pawlak Geotechnical, Inc. returned last fall from Tikrit, Iraq. Robinson performed many of the same functions as he does at work in Denver, as a draftsperson, surveyor and soils analyst, but also designed pads for pre-fab housing units and shower and latrine units. While Robinson is single, he’s aware of what families must endure, “My deployment gave my extended family here in Colorado an appreciation of what families of full-time Army families go through.” Dick Hepworth, Vice President of Hepworth-Pawlak Geotechnical said, “We were happy to get him back.” Robinson’s commanding officer took the extra step of sending Hepworth a letter thanking the company for supporting him and for his service in Iraq. Like most companies that must deal with the absence of a valued employee, Hepworth added, “They would be keeping his slot open.” That’s probably a good thing. In mid-February, Robinson was re-deployed to Iraq for another year. This time Robinson will serve with an Army Airborne division in a helicopter unit. A ten-year veteran of the Army Reserve, Engineer Captain David Hartman was activated and served in Afghanistan from May 2003 to May 2004. Hartman is an engineer with Armstrong Consultants, Inc., a civil engineering consulting firm in Grand Junction. Hartman spent his year of active duty initially stationed in Kabul, “building, improving and maintaining” a series of six base camps, housing both US and Afghan troops. He went on to be assigned to Kandahar where he traveled around the province with a civil affairs team setting up and checking on locally contracted projects like schools, clinics, road rehabilitation projects, wells and irrigation systems and government buildings. Captain Hartman said there were lots of school rehab projects and expansions to allow girls to go to school. Under the Taliban regime, girls weren’t permitted to go to school and so now schools need to be doubled in size to accommodate new students. According to Hartman, “Afghanistan has had no maintenance of its infrastructure or new construction for the past 20 to 30 years. When you add that onto their recent history of feuding warlords and Taliban oppression, drought, and third-world landlocked economy you get to a nearly endless list of construction and quality of life improvements that the whole country needs.” Armstrong Consultants, Inc. helped Hartman keep in good spirits by sending him care packages and constant emails. They also helped him by sending much needed drawing details and equipment supplier information for projects he was working on in Afghanistan. Working in an area of conflict has its own share of problems but Hartman’s engineering experience was called into the line of duty almost daily. While plans, profiles and multi-paged detail sheets usually drew blank stares from local contractors, Hartman was able to draw on his background in surveying, airfield, road, drainage, and utility design to conjure up details and schematics that were applicable to the projects at hand. Back in the U. S., Hartman explained how he missed American building standards, “I’ve also come to appreciate how detailed we are in the US about construction, contracts, and quality assurance.” Getting shot at and nearly run over by an Afghan travel truck were experiences that Hartman won’t soon be forgetting. But Hartman reflected on his time there saying, “The human aspect of what we are doing in this war often gets lost. These people we’re helping, either Afghani or Iraqi, are real people, not just faces on CNN or a statistic in a news release. They have souls, hopes, dreams and worries just like everyone else.” Colorado engineers and their supporting companies are only part of the story of the infrastructure reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan. So much of the job to stabilize this part of the world lies in the ability of these people to become self-sufficient. With the help of some of Colorado’s engineers who are serving and have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, the citizens of these countries may now have a better chance of defining and shaping their own future. The American Council Engineering Companies of Colorado (ACEC/CO) is the business association of approximately 246 member firms employing over 8500 employees in the independent private practice of consulting engineering. Consulting engineering firms in ACEC/CO provide expertise for a wide range of activities including acoustical, chemical, civil, electrical, geotechnical, industrial, materials, mechanical, mining, petroleum, photogrammetric, structural, transportation, water resources, environmental and agricultural engineering and surveying. -END- Photo Captions Phil Landeros.jpg: Major Phil Landeros-Merrick and Co., Reviewing repair plans on recently destroyed bridge, Iraq Davis Hartman.jpg: Capt. David Hartman-Armstrong Consultants, Inc., On duty in Afghanistan Zachary Robinson.jpg: Zachary Robinson-Hepworth-Pawlak Geotechnical , Inc.before returning to Iraq Schlappe-A.jpg: Andre Schlappe-Martin/Martin, Inc. Visit our "Ask the Expert" site for a listing of engineering experts in these areas.