COB ADDER — A groggy little boy looks up from his mother’s lap. The presence of American Soldiers in his room is certainly not expected. His face brightens a bit after he and his mother receive small bags of treats from the Americans.

His recovery room is actually part of an elaborate mobile hospital run by the U.S. Provincial Reconstruction Team for Dhi Qar province, led by representatives of the Italian government.

The compound here is also home to numerous training and outreach programs. It houses a new improvised field hospital that provides care for Iraqi citizens unable to get treatment elsewhere.

Soldiers with 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 224th Sustainment Brigade, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), visited the facility in late June to learn more about the services offered and to bring gifts sent to Iraqi children from families in the National Guard unit’s home state of Virginia.

The visit by the infantry Soldiers was the result of an invitation from Steve Burton, a civilian police adviser-trainer, and a Martinsville, Va., native who wanted his fellow Virginians to learn more about the programs being offered.

In addition to childhood and family education programs, Iraqi Highway Patrol professional training, horticulture classes and English language classes, the PRT is also partnering with an international charity which has a mission to provide corrective surgery for children born with a cleft lip or pallet.

The 1st Bn., 116th Inf. Regt. Soldiers walked through waiting areas distributing toys, clothes and snacks to the children and their anxious parents.

“Taking the gifts to these little children at the hospital today was one of the highlights of my deployment so far,” said Capt. Page Brooks, chaplain with 1st Bn., 141st Field Artillery Regt., 224th Sust. Bde. and a New Orleans native.

Brooks joined Capt. Seung Lee, chaplain with 1st Bn., 116th Inf. Regt. and a Charlottesville, Va., native, to deliver the items.

Brooks said she was reminded about the change in the U.S. mission here and the transition to advising and assisting the Iraqi people.

“As U.S. forces in Iraq [transition] into [Operation] New Dawn … it becomes all the more important for us to win the hearts and minds of the people,” he said. “What better way to reach out and show the world’s concern than through helping serve the medical needs of Iraqi children?”

Smile Train Italia is an all-volunteer charity that brings trained surgeons to developing countries for several weeks to provide free surgery to children.

This was the third delegation of doctors here since the Mobile Surgical Unit and Post-Operative Ward were donated in April 2009 by the Italian government. On this trip, 18 Italian medical volunteers gave up their vacation time to come to Iraq. The team included three surgeons, three anesthesiologists and several medical technicians and nurses. Smile Train Italia treated nearly 120 children over 10 days, said Paola Palma, team medical director.

The mobile surgical unit consists of a motorized expandable trailer divided into an operating room, pre- and post-operative recovery areas, a sterile room, a changing room and a storage area. The unit has all of the equipment and systems needed to perform surgeries with a high standard of safety and efficiency.

Many of the parents and children arrived on buses arranged by the principal hospital in Nasiriyah, Iraq, which cooperated with Smile Train Italia by helping the organization find those needing care and allowing all children to undergo the tests and pre-operative clinical examinations. Nearly 250 children and their families showed up on the first day for medical screening.

While the chaplains and their chaplain assistants concentrated on handing out toys and encouragement to families, Capt. Lisa Foster, a physician assistant with 1st Bn., 116th Inf. Regt. and a Charlottesville, Va., native, spent time meeting with the surgeons and the medical staff to learn how they run the system and to learn what assistance the brigade clinic at COB Adder might provide in the future.

“I was so impressed by their operation,” Foster said. “It’s truly amazing how they can get each child in and out so quickly and achieve such amazing results. The doctors are experts in this field and they know that the mothers and their children have come great distances to receive this treatment. I am so impressed by the sensitivity and caring that this team shows to each family.”

Soldiers with 1st Bn., 116th Inf. Regt. said they plan to make more visits to the PRT to assist with the many programs currently under way.