Blog Posts tagged with "Croatia"
Taking Care of the Basics: Humanitarian Civic Assistance in Croatia
Croatian President Ivo Josipovic talks with the Mayor of Slunj, school officials and the parents of children who attend Slunj Primary School during his visit . (Photo credit: MAJ G. Lee Sepulvado)
The town of Slunj, Croatia, was not far away and Diana and I were traveling there by car to participate in the Croatian President Ivo Josipovic’s visit to Slunj Primary School. For months prior, Diana had worked closely with the US and Croatian military representatives, as well as with the civilian authorities in the town of Slunj, to ensure the availability of the necessary construction materials for a renovation project at the Slunj Primary School. Today, she too could celebrate. The joint Croatian-US military exercise Immediate Response 2011 had just finished and President Josipovic was visiting the Croatian military base where the exercise had taken place. He was there to thank the Croatian and US military members who had participated in the exercise and to view several joint military construction projects that had taken place concurrently with the exercise.
One of these projects was the complete renovation of the boys’ changing and restroom facilities in Slunj Primary School that Diana had worked. More than 400 students attend Slunj Primary School and the boys’ and girls’ bathroom facilities were in need of complete renovation. With nearly $25,000 provided by US European Command’s Humanitarian Civic Assistance program (HCA) to purchase construction materials for the project, a joint US- Croatian military engineering team worked to complete the renovation. An extremely functional and beautiful changing and restroom facility was the result. The City of Slunj provided matching funds and labor to renovate the school’s girls’ changing and restroom facilities simultaneously.
Croatian President Ivo Josipovic posing with representatives of the Office of Defense Cooperation, US Mission Croatia, the Minnesota Army National Guard and US Army Europe representatives during his visit to the Slunj Primary School.(Photo credit: MAJ G. Lee Sepulvado)
Until it is absent or not available, the basics are sometimes easy to take for granted. A working restroom, a functional primary school, passable roads, responsive and capable civic and military institutions, and security are things not taken for granted by most in Slunj as the evidence and memories of its absences are still too near and remain in memory. But, at least for the current and future students of Slunj Primary School, a working restroom can now begin to be taken for granted.
MAJ G. Lee Sepulvado, US Army Reserve,
Civic Engagement Branch, Logistics Directorate
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My Dream Come True
Thank you for all the good you have done for the current, and all subsequent generations who will live and enjoy this dorm, thank you so much ... When I lived here it was both a paradise, and a calvary for me, but, I think, life here made me what I am now…..a young, but mature person ready for life ahead of me.
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A Baltic Bridge to the Adriatic
In human affairs, successful cooperation in one area often builds bridges to successful cooperation on other endeavors. In the case of Croatia and Latvia, successful security cooperation has recently led to cooperation on the protection of the natural and economic resources on the Dalmatian Coast.
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Unexpected Twists Are Normal Business at SOCEUR
The Jackal Stone Special Operations Training Exercise is now officially finished with the successful completion of the closing ceremony Saturday afternoon, Sept. 26. And as with all military operations (especially special operations in my experience), flexibility remained key. You see, we set up for the ceremony on a concrete “parade field” area on Zemunik Air Base near Zadar, Croatia (beautiful area by the way). Of course, we had already briefed the boss, we’d conducted a rehearsal, and we had set up all of the props – chairs, podium, speakers, etc. Those scheduled to be given awards were seated and awaiting the beginning of the ceremony. The plan was in place.
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Balkan Dreams
As I fly back from a three day visit of the region, I certainly had ample opportunity to see firsthand all that he describes; yet today, there seems to me to be real hope in the region for cooperation and security alignment, perhaps for the first time in the more than two millenniums of recorded history.
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Focusing on the Fundamentals
I had a good series of meetings in Lisbon, Portugal on Monday. The gathering in Lisbon was with all of the Defense Chiefs from the 28 nations of NATO. We focused on two key topics for the alliance: Afghanistan and the Strategic Concept.
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Making Friends in Croatia
I just returned to Patch Barracks, Germany from Knin, Croatia where I had the unique opportunity to spend time with a few of the Airmen deployed from the 435th Construction and Training Squadron (CTS), stationed at Ramstein AB, Germany. They function as a rapidly deployable construction unit with capabilities such as: carpentry, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, pavement and road construction. After seeing them in action, I know that the previous list is just a portion of their skills.
Comments: 1
its really good thing ! every civilian to be proud for this