[...] Members of the 877th Engineer Battalion spent about five months working at "the Castle," which is about 30 miles west of the 877th's main camp in the city of Mosul. Earlier this month, there was a ribbon-cutting ceremony at which the Iraqi flag was raised, the Iraqi anthem played and the Iraqi military formally took control of the renovated building. [...]

When members of the 877th's C Company, along with some soldiers from A, B and Headquarters companies, arrived, "The site was a massive mud hole," said C Company commanding officer Capt. Mac Griffin of Enterprise. "It was a chaos of Iraqi dump trucks, contractors, Iraqi troops and mud. It was an intimidating mess and not how we hoped to finish our rotation in Iraq."

Griffin said the 877th teams started with eight major projects "but they quickly grew into an ever-expanding list."

C Company 1st Lt. Steve Finan of Pelham initially directed the 877th workers but later divided up the duty with 1st Lt. Brent Williford of Slocomb, C Company's executive officer.

During time at the Castle, the 877th soldiers also had what Griffin described as "a more subtle mission" — setting an example for a new generation of Iraqi soldiers.

"We are serving as role models and try to maintain a neat and professional appearance," he said. "We strive to keep our areas neat and orderly. Cleanliness is not a trait possessed by many Iraqis. Perhaps it comes from the nomadic mentality this culture arose from, but they think nothing of dropping an item in place when they have no further use for it ... Simple concepts as garbage cans, trash bins and cleaning as you go are not the norm here." [...]

The 877th, which is headquartered in Hamilton, has more than 500 members in Iraq. The battalion has been in Iraq for nearly nine months and expects to head for home in the next few weeks. It will be leaving its equipment and some of its unfinished construction tasks to its replacement unit from the Maine National Guard, the 133rd Engineer Battalion.