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Altus Airman helps make Iraq a little greener

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Andrew Lee
  • U.S. Air Forces Central, Baghdad Media Outreach Team
KIRKUK, Iraq --  After six straight days on the job, people usually use their day off to rest and recover before their week starts again. That's not the case with a group of Airmen deployed to Contingency Operating Site Warrior, Iraq.

As areas of the base got dirtier and more polluted with trash, members of the 321st Expeditionary Logistical Readiness Squadron Vehicle Maintenance Flight created a volunteer project called Operation Kirkuk Regional Air Base Cleanup to keep COS Warrior a little cleaner week by week.

On any given Sunday the program allows anyone from any unit to spend a few hours walking around the base to pick up trash with fellow Airmen.

"I have enjoyed doing this because while I'm working, I'm hanging out with everyone," said Senior Airman Troy Jenkins, an Operation KRAB Cleanup volunteer. "We all have a good time together working, so it makes time fly."

COS Warrior Airmen of all ranks who wanted to make a difference and create a cleaner atmosphere have assisted in making the program successful by engrossing themselves in it and helping contribute toward impressive results. In less than the three-month life of the program, more than 7,500 pounds of trash and debris has been picked up.

"It's nice helping out," said Jenkins, who is deployed from Altus Air Force Base, Okla. "Any time you can put something in a better spot than it was, it's good."

While continually accomplishing so much work, the volunteers recognize the impact they have on the situation of keeping the grounds clean and kept up until the transition of control of the base is back to the Iraqi forces.

"In the future we will be giving back this area to the locals, so we need to keep it in good shape," said Airman 1st Class David Moseley, a founder of the project. "We're trying to show that it may not be our country, but we do want to take care of it as much as we can."