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NEWS RELEASE
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND
7115 South Boundary Boulevard
MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101
Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894

December 19, 2003
Release Number: 03-12-51


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


MOSUL AREA HOUSES OF WORSHIP RECEIVE HEATERS FROM 101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION

MOSUL, Iraq - As part of a nearly $30,000 project to supply heaters to local mosques and churches, the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Friday delivered 100 kerosene heating machines to the Ninevah province Ministry of Religious Affairs.

To date, 200 additional heaters have been supplied to the ministry office, where Imams and Priests pick them up to heat their mosques and churches during the cold winter months. Fifty of those heaters went to local churches. The initiative was directed by Maj. Gen. David H. Petraeus, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) commanding general, as part of his continuing engagement policy, according to the division's top chaplain.

"He's putting up the money for this. It's money out of his office. I'm just the gopher to make it happen," said Chap. (Lt. Col.) Chester Egert of Hampton, Va., division chaplain for 101st Airborne Division. Egert oversaw the Friday heater drop in Mosul.

The heaters will of course serve more practical needs than just making goodwill with the citizens of Mosul. Mosques and churches with electrical heat will now have an insurance policy for when the power goes out. "It does make a dent in their needs," Egert said. "They're absolutely delighted to receive these heaters."

Egert and Dr. Saleh Khalif Saleh, Ninevah minister of religious affairs, have worked together for the heater drops and future plans to rebuild the ministry office, located just a block from the Mosul City Government Building. The building's leaky roof has caused flooding in the basement, where archive files are stored, some of which are centuries old. "Some of their records and paperwork have been badly damaged," according to Egert.

Likely, not all of the 1,200 mosques in the Ninevah Province will receive a heater, but the efforts will continue. "On the sociopolitical side of things, I think it extends a hand to the local populace. You could say were both Guns and Roses," said Chap. (Capt.) John Stutz of Austin, Tex., 101st Airborne Division chaplain.

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