 After the invasion was over , the brigade was supposed to support the operation with bridging and infrastructure support . During the planning for the invasion , the engineers of the brigade were told that reconstruction in Iraq would be conducted by Department of Defense contractors and Iraqi civilians . They were not originally prepared to conduct major reconstruction efforts . When V Corps became the commanding element for the task force to rebuild Iraq , much of the invasion force , including the 130th Engineer Brigade , was sent to do jobs they had not been originally planned for , as basic utilities and sanitation conditions in Iraq were far below what was expected . Throughout the rest of 2003 and 2004 , the engineers engaged in a large number of initial reconstruction projects on basic utilities , including schools , water treatment plants , waste removal , and the nation 's power grid . It was determined that the scale of these projects was much greater than what the US had expected or what had been encountered in previous <unk> . It was also decided that reconstruction was essential to the coalition since it would help win over the Iraqi people . By May 2003 , the brigade had been completely repurposed . Though originally tasked with demolishing obstacles , building fortifications , and bridging operations , the brigade was tasked entirely with construction projects . This conversion was a difficult process , as the brigade did not have the equipment and specialist units designed to handle reconstruction on a national scale . As more US military reconstruction units arrived in Iraq , the brigade grew to eight battalions and three groups . 
