Army Corps of Engineers helps open Wounded Warrior Rehabilitation Center in Republic of Georgia

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District
Published Jan. 31, 2020
Updated: Jan. 31, 2020
(Left to Right) Chief Surgeon of the US European Command, Brig. Gen. Ronald Stevens. North Atlantic Division Commander Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Milhorn, Speaker of the Parliament Archil Talakvadze, Georgian Ministry of Defense Irakli Gharibashvili, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, and then-Acting U.S. Ambassador Elizabeth Rood cut the ribbon on the Maro Makashvili Wounded Warrior and Rehabilitation Center Jan. 27. (State Department photo by Aka Simonishvili)

(Left to Right) Chief Surgeon of the US European Command, Brig. Gen. Ronald Stevens. North Atlantic Division Commander Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Milhorn, Speaker of the Parliament Archil Talakvadze, Georgian Ministry of Defense Irakli Gharibashvili, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, and then-Acting U.S. Ambassador Elizabeth Rood cut the ribbon on the Maro Makashvili Wounded Warrior and Rehabilitation Center Jan. 27. (State Department photo by Aka Simonishvili)

Georgian Soldiers recovering from injuries demonstrate how they will use the new gym in the Maro Makashvili Wounded Warrior and Rehabilitation Center Jan. 27. The facility, constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, provides Georgian soldiers with critical physical and occupational therapy. (U.S. Army photo by Chris Augsburger)

Georgian Soldiers recovering from injuries demonstrate how they will use the new gym in the Maro Makashvili Wounded Warrior and Rehabilitation Center Jan. 27. The facility, constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, provides Georgian soldiers with critical physical and occupational therapy. (U.S. Army photo by Chris Augsburger)

The 2,050 square-meter Maro Makashvili Wounded Warrior and Rehabilitation Center provides Georgian soldiers with an indoor adaptive sports gym, indoor basketball and volleyball courts, aqua therapy room with pool, a physical therapy room with a ceiling-mounted assistance track, various additional therapy rooms, and staff and administrative rooms. (State Department photo by Aka Simonishvili)

The 2,050 square-meter Maro Makashvili Wounded Warrior and Rehabilitation Center provides Georgian soldiers with an indoor adaptive sports gym, indoor basketball and volleyball courts, aqua therapy room with pool, a physical therapy room with a ceiling-mounted assistance track, various additional therapy rooms, and staff and administrative rooms. (State Department photo by Aka Simonishvili)

The Maro Makashvili Wounded Warrior Rehabilitation Center provides Georgian soldiers with critical physical and occupational therapy. (U.S. State Department photo by Aka Simonishvili)

The Maro Makashvili Wounded Warrior Rehabilitation Center provides Georgian soldiers with critical physical and occupational therapy. (U.S. State Department photo by Aka Simonishvili)

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, then-Acting U.S. Ambassador Elizabeth Rood, Speaker of the Parliament Archil Talakvadze, and North Atlantic Division Commander Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Milhorn learn about how the facility’s aqua therapy pool will be used to help soldiers recover from injuries.  (U.S. Army photo by Chris Augsburger)

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, then-Acting U.S. Ambassador Elizabeth Rood, Speaker of the Parliament Archil Talakvadze, and North Atlantic Division Commander Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Milhorn learn about how the facility’s aqua therapy pool will be used to help soldiers recover from injuries. (U.S. Army photo by Chris Augsburger)

North Atlantic Division Commander Maj. Gen. Milhorn delivers remarks during a ribbon cutting ceremony Jan. 27 for Wounded Warrior and Rehabilitation Center for Georgian soldiers in Tserovani, Georgia. (U.S. Army photo by Chris Augsburger)

North Atlantic Division Commander Maj. Gen. Milhorn delivers remarks during a ribbon cutting ceremony Jan. 27 for Wounded Warrior and Rehabilitation Center for Georgian soldiers in Tserovani, Georgia. (U.S. Army photo by Chris Augsburger)

TSEROVANI, Georgia — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), U.S. Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC) and U.S. Embassy in Georgia cut the ribbon on a 2,050 square-meter modernized wounded warrior rehabilitation center for the Georgian Armed Services, Jan. 27, 2020.

Valued at $4.5 million, the Maro Makashvili Wounded Warrior Rehabilitation Center provides Georgian soldiers with critical physical and occupational therapy, funded through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program and the Georgian government.

Amenities include an indoor adaptive sports gym, indoor basketball and volleyball courts, aqua therapy room with pool, a physical therapy room with a ceiling-mounted assistance track, various additional therapy rooms, and staff and administrative rooms.

The need for this facility stemmed, in part, from nearly two decades of support the Georgian Armed Forces has provided the United States, according to Elizabeth Rood, Chargé d'Affairs of the U.S. Embassy in Georgia at the time of the ceremony.

“The United States continues to fight shoulder to shoulder with our Georgian partners,” said Rood. “This [facility] is an impressive testament to Georgia’s commitment to advance peace and security at home and abroad.”

During the last eight years, the Republic of Georgia has sent more than 13,000 troops to Afghanistan, 7,800 soldiers to Iraq, and provided additional support to missions in Mali and the Central African Republic.

"Strategic cooperation between the United States and Georgia has never been as strong as it is today,” said Georgia Minister of Defense Irakli Gharibashvili.

USACE oversaw the design and construction of the center through its Caucuses Field Office, a team located in Georgia that includes three of its own citizens, along with local Georgian contractor LCONS, LLC.

“Delivering this facility today serves as a landmark project in the continued partnership between the Georgian Government and the United States of America,” said Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Milhorn, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, North Atlantic Division commander.

“We stand solidly with our Georgian partners and are incredibly honored for the opportunity to provide expert engineering and construction solutions here and throughout the region.”

The rehabilitation center represents the latest in a series of projects the U.S. government is constructing for the region. In mid-January, USACE completed an $800,000 school renovation for approximately 200 students of the Kveshi School, and also recently completed two fire, search and rescue stations in Armenia, with another two on the horizon.