Airmen help make Iraq a little greener

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Andrew Lee
  • U.S. Air Forces Central, Baghdad Media Outreach Team
KIRKUK, Iraq (AFNS) --  Members of the 321st Expeditionary Logistical Readiness Squadron Vehicle Maintenance Flight created a volunteer project called Operation Kirkuk Regional Air Base Cleanup at Contingency Operating Site Warrior, Iraq.

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."

In less than three-months life of the program, Airmen of all ranks picked up more than 7,500 pounds of trash and debris.

"It's nice helping out," said Airman 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."