Army Transfers More Land Back to Iraq

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Army Transfers More Land Back to Iraq
October 28, 2009
Army News Service|by Lt. Col. Tim Donovan

BAGHDAD - Among the many ways to judge the continued progress in Iraq is by counting the increasingly fewer number of U.S.-controlled properties in the International Zone.

The Wisconsin Army National Guard's 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, part of Joint Area Support Group-Central, helped contribute to that progress, when they handed the keys to two large properties inside Baghdad's International Zone back over to the Iraqi government -- a symbolic gesture that transferred the property to the Iraqis.

"In terms of square footage of habitable structures, Essayons and Freedom Compound are the largest we've turned over so far," said the 32nd Brigade's Maj. Gregory Schlub, who is the officer in charge of real properties for Joint Area Support Group-Central, in Baghdad.

The two properties, formerly used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, include about 25 acres of land and buildings with about 380,000 square feet of floor space. Included among that is 650 apartments, three business towers, a museum, seven villas and equipment and furnishings valued at nearly $12 million.

The 7.6-acre Essayons property holds 10 buildings, along with some $279,275 of furnishings and equipment. The nearby Freedom Compound, about 17.4 acres, holds 34 buildings and about $11.7 million in furnishings and equipment. That compound was remodeled and lodging facilities were constructed with money from the Development Fund for Iraq.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/army-news/army-transfers-more-land-back-to-iraq.html?col=1186032369115