COB Speicher- Tikrit, Iraq- The region around COB base Speicher continues to enjoy peace and security, and the overall forces in Iraq in the Salah Ad Din province are working to assist the Iraqi people with their quality of life.
Reconstruction, along with providing the local citizens with job opportunities are at the top of the list for the Coalition forces, and boosting the Iraqi economy is also one of the main thrust efforts now that the overall fighting and security has become less of an issue.
Members of the Iraqi government met with Coalition Reconstruction team leaders recently in Tikrit to examine what needs to still be done to assist the economic recovery in Iraq.
Members of the 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, and Coalition Salah ad Din province reconstruction team met and visited the Balad Canning Factory in late November, to tour the facility and to talk about efforts and ways to continue to improve the economics of Iraq.
In the past, the Canning Factory at Balad was a local economic powerhouse and leader of the business efforts in the region. Then came the fighting and strife, and it is just now that the Balad Canning Factory is getting back to full production, with the help of the coalition.
The factory is a local success story, and employs 195 members of the community, and it has a lot of potential to hire and train even more employees as the facility grows.
The Canning Factory cans water, corn and potato chips, Juice, and an Iraqi Dish called Kuppa. It helps the local economy and is one method that the Coalition and American Soldiers are working to assist the local economy to be able to fend for itself.