MILL CREEK – If and when Iraq gets fully back on its feet, a Marine Corps reservist from here will be proud that he had a larger role than a lot of U.S. service members in the country’s reconstruction.
In fact, Lance Cpl. Eric Nevala, 24, may be able to claim a really big part in Iraq’s recovery.
Private and military reconstruction efforts now under way in Iraq’s largest province are being tracked and managed by a database developed by Nevala, a computer programmer now stationed at Camp Fallujah with the 3rd Civil Affairs Group.
The program, combined with a Web site, keeps track of the materials, money and people involved in the myriad of rebuilding projects, which include utilities, schools, roads and agricultural efforts.
The program is used by U.S. and coalition military forces, private companies, Iraqis and “just about anyone under the sun that has anything to do with reconstruction,” Nevala said in a recent telephone interview from Iraq. “Our idea was to put together a Web page all these people could put all this information on.”
The 2003 U.S invasion of Iraq left an already underdeveloped country in ruins.
Many of the electrical and sanitation systems, roads and other utilities were bombed during the war or by insurgent factions afterward.
The U.S. Congress has appropriated more than $21 billion for reconstruction, and other nations have pledged another $14 billion, according to a recent congressional report.
Some estimates claim the total reconstruction cost will be $70 billion or more.
Nevala believes his system will help with all the rebuilding.Called the Iraqi Civil Military Operations Project, or ICMOP, the system has been in use in Anbar province. Nevala hopes it will soon be used throughout the country and eventually be turned over to the Iraqis.
The computer tool “has the potential to radically change the tracking of existing civil military operations” in Iraq, Lt. Col. Robert Busby, Nevala’s commanding officer, said in an e-mail.
Among other things, the system saves untold hours of entering data on spreadsheets. Nevala hopes it also will help prevent graft because so many people are able to see the entries in a single place.
“You cannot really put a dollar figure on applied intellect … but in the end, this tool should dramatically improve the quality of time spent analyzing how well we are doing with the projects we are executing,” Busby said.
Nevala, the son of Mike and Annikki Nevala, became interested in computers when he was just 8. The interest ballooned at Gateway Middle School and then at Henry M. Jackson High School.
Nevala took more computer classes at Cascadia Community College, and has started his own computer consulting business.
He joined the Marine reserves in 2001 and volunteered for duty in Iraq when the 3rd Civil Affairs Group needed a webmaster in 2004.
Nevala said he left a good job in Seattle for Iraq, and soon started to develop his computer program for reconstruction.
By the time he left the country in September 2004, his system was tracking 1,500 projects valued at more than $1 billion.
When he left, the system fell into disuse, but he revived it in January of this year when he returned to Iraq for his second deployment. His expectations for the work are high.
The future of the program includes plans to use it as the nationwide system for all reconstruction project contractors and managers, as well as local business owners, Iraqi ministries and U.S. reconstruction efforts “vital to the Iraqi rebirth,” Nevala said.
It will provide, he hopes, ongoing publishing and bidding capabilities, a business owner networking component and a system for open communication between the people and the Iraqi government, he said.
When he’s through with his tour at the end of the year, Nevala intends to return to school and earn a four-year degree at the University of Washington.
In the meantime, he’ll continue to manage and develop his program, using his talents to the maximum.
“Absolutely,” he said. “They’re definitely getting their money’s worth out of me.”
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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