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Airmen pick up pieces before historic handover

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Jason Lake
  • 321st Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BAGHDAD, Iraq --  Less than three weeks into Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, U.S. combat forces entered Baghdad and set up camps to administer the war at landmarks throughout the city.

Now, as the security agreement deadline draws closer, U.S advisors are packing up their things and returning the same landmarks to Iraqi officials in the best condition possible.

Last week, more than 35 U.S. Air Force and Army volunteers pitched in to help clean up Victory Over America Palace at Camp Slayer. VOAP, which is one of Saddam Hussein's 70-plus palaces throughout the country, is slated to be returned to the Iraqi government shortly.

The three-day cleanup effort got underway June 5 after Staff Sgt. Teresa Pavljuk used her clout as one of the Air Force's former palace "tour guides" to enlist volunteers.

"Now that tours are over, I volunteered to open [the palace] up and organized for [Airmen] at Sather Air Base to clean it up," said the Air National Guardsmen from Fargo, N.D. "I'm doing something that is part of history. I'm giving back palaces to Iraq. How many people can actually say they did that while deployed?"

Over the past eight years, the bombed-out palace had been used for office and dormitory space, supply storage, and even dining facility before it became a novelty site where deployed servicemembers took occasional supervised visits for souvenir photos.

"We had a lot of military people here back in 2003," said Sergeant Pavljuk, a 447th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron aerial porter. "Now we're cleaning up the mess. There's a lot of wood, glass, and metal. We're taking it all out and trying to make any kind of presence we had here go away [before] we sign [the palace] back over to the Iraqi general."

For some Sather Air Base newcomers like Staff Sgt. Nicole Beye, it was an opportunity to help out U.S. Army property caretakers while getting a special one-last glimpse inside Iraq's historical landmark.

"We helped the Army out. We filled up a flatbed and a regular truck several times," said the 447th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron weather observer deployed from Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. "[I've moved] more than I've ever moved before in my life. I'm glad I had the opportunity to come out here and actually look at it since nobody else will be able to after this."

The four-hour cleanup session June 11 gave Sergeant Beye a chance to show her muscle while working alongside her sidekick from homestation, Staff Sgt. Alexis Johnson, who is the new 447th EOSS airfield manager. The pair that arrived together on the same flight to Baghdad two weeks earlier decided to lend a helping hand.

"It's always good to help the Army out. We showed them that Air Force girls... can hold [their] weight too," Sergeant Beye said with a laugh.

"I showed my 'guns' off... yeah, firepower," Sergeant Johnson replied after dusting herself off.

"I think we did a really good job moving a lot of equipment," said the Debary, Fla., native. "I think we did the Army a big favor."