Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, work simultaneously on several classrooms in the Khalis Secondary School in Diyala, Feb. 14, as part of the unit’s “Extreme Tomahawk School Makeover” project. U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Jesse Ryan.

The 1st Battalion, 23 Infantry Regiment “Tomahawk” Soldiers began “The Extreme Tomahawk School Makeover” to refurbish the building damaged by war and to better the educational opportunities of the local children.

The Soldiers worked for at least nine hours a day to completely overhaul every square foot of the school. They assembled new desks, painted the walls, installed windows and air conditioners and provided new textbooks and bags for the students.

"This was a huge challenge for us to get done on time," said Spc. William Chanda of Bridgeton, Maine, a forward observer with 1/23. "I am still catching up on sleep from the last push, but it was definitely worth it."

Lack of sleep wasn't the only difficulty the Tomahawks had to overcome, but each obstacle was taken in stride during the construction process. They didn’t have all the equipment and tools they may have wanted, but through perseverance the job was completed.

"We had to make do with the few tools we had available," said Chanda. "There weren't enough hammers to go around, but everyone just passed stuff around to work with."

Although many of the combat arms Soldiers didn’t have much experience in construction, those that did stepped up to play vital roles.

"I had done framing all my life, working construction," said Pfc. Wesley Loria, an anti-sniper specialist and Frisco, Texas, native. "With my experience I was put in charge of all the framing in the building."

According to Loria, another challenge was the degeneration of the existing foundations. Along with general construction, Soldiers were able to provide some basic amenities for students and teachers such as rewiring the school's electricity and providing air conditioning to keep comfortable during the warmer times of the year.

As the school was unveiled to community members by driving back one of the Tomahawk Stryker vehicles from in front of the school, students rushed in to see all of the new improvements

"My favorite part of this is the desks and the new air conditioning," said Ausama Adel, a 15-year-old student at the school. "With all these new things it will be much easier to perform our studies."

His sentiments about the improvements seemed to radiate from his classmates through their smiles.

The school's headmaster saw it as a wonderful display of the opportunities opened for the future.

"Every part of this school was completely damaged before the Soldiers started working here," said Qasem Mohammed Al-Qasi, school headmaster. "With all these improvements we can really push toward hard work and a better future for our students."

"This is the first of several schools that we are planning to overhaul," said Chanda. "Never in a million years did I think this is what I would be doing in the Army, but it really felt good to make a difference in these kids' lives."