The two-week infrastructure crash course will help familiarize the Engineer Brigade’s 8th and 20th Engineer Battalions with similar surroundings or problems they might encounter while in Baghdad, where they are set to deploy soon.
Temple Mayor Bill Jones III welcomed the soldiers and wished them well during a morning orientation at the city’s Service Center, while City Manager Mark Watson gave an overview of city operations.
The 25 or so soldiers were then separated into three groups: water, wastewater and solid waste.
After the morning orientation, the three groups were briefed on the basics of what each type of service entails and the maintenance involved.
In a classroom setting, James Smith and Steve Jacobs of Waste Management briefed the group of eight on landfill operations and trucks. They stressed that garbage trucks be kept clean, especially bulldozers that push landfill trash.
“Pushing trash is one of our big maintenance headaches,” Smith said of debris clogging up drives, bearings and filters.
