War In Afghanistan Daily Combat News - January 12, 2009
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Inspect New Afghan National Army Base
From the International Security Assistance Force - Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan — Representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers inspected the construction of a new Afghan national army base
outside Farah, Jan. 10.
The new ANA base is a $70 million project funded by Combined Security
Transition Command-Afghanistan and is managed by the Army Corps of
Engineers with Provincial Reconstruction Team-Farah. Construction
representative Dan Murphy, an American from Colorado, makes a trip to
the construction site at least once per week to ensure the project
complies with structural quality and safety standards.
“We verify with our own eyes what projects are completed and we
determine if the contractor is reaching the goals,” said Murphy. “I’ve
made numerous quality inspections out there and this contractor is
doing a great job.”
The base has been under construction since March 2008 and is scheduled
to be complete in June 2009. The new facility will house more than
2,500 ANA troops and feature open-bay barracks, Morale, Welfare and
Recreation facilities, a dining facility, and sports complex. A Kandak
currently stationed in Shindand will move to the site once construction
is complete.
“Farah province is a big province,” said ANA Capt. El Taf, executive
officer of 207th Corps 3rd Kandak, 1st Brigade of Farah City. “We have
two kandaks here now, but we’ve needed the additional support of
another.”
A Kabul company, FCEC/UI Projects, is building the site of the new
kandak and has overcome several difficulties during the build, security
being at the top of that list. In September, a bus carrying workers
home from the site for the Eid holiday was attacked, and 150 people
were kidnapped and held for two weeks. The workers were released, but
they never returned to the job site. Since the incident, security has
improved and progress on construction has continued.
“Right now we don’t face many security issues at the site,” stated
Zabil Ollah, FCEC/IU, site manager from Kabul. “The only issue we still
deal with is our roadworker’s security and issues with delivery of
supplies.”
Most of the skilled workers are from areas outside of Farah because
there is a lack of formal training in this area for the construction
trade. The Army Corps of Engineers has implemented an apprenticeship
program in the area to help improve the skills of laborers throughout
the area.
Associated Images:
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Airmen in sky give warriors on ground situational awareness
by Senior Airman Clinton Atkins
379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
1/12/2009 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFNS) -- Airmen
of the 7th Expeditionary Air Command and Control Squadron from this air
base in Southwest Asia provide constant situational ground assessment
from the air to coalition forces supporting operations Enduring Freedom
and Iraqi Freedom.
Inside the E-8C Joint STARS, the aircrew give airborne battle
management, command and control, intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance throughout the entire area of responsibility.
"We are there every day for long periods
of time. Our presence provides an in-depth understanding of how things
are moving on the ground." said Lt. Col. Mack Easter, the 7th EACCS
commander.
By using the E-8C's surveillance capabilities, Airman of the 7th
EACCS provide real time situational awareness to a wide gamut of assets
across the battlefield. The radar and computer subsystems on the E-8C
can gather and display detailed battlefield information on ground
forces.
"We work with the Army from the corps level all the way down to the
company level, integrating the ground movement picture from the joint
terminal attack controller to the brigade tactical operations center,"
said Colonel Easter, who is deployed from Robins Air Force Base, Ga.
"We also work to integrate (MQ-1) Predators, rotary wing and fast,
fixed-wing aircraft all across the battlespace from one end of Iraq to
the other. Additionally, our datalink capability allows us to
communicate our radar picture to multiple brigades simultaneously."
Not only can the crews share information digitally across the
battlefield, but also the E-8 crew can also talk to just about anyone
in the world with its various radio and communication suites, he said.
During major force-on-force engagements, E-8C members support the fight
by tracking columns of movement. As the fight in Iraq and Afghanistan
has changed, so has the E-8C role in the mission.
In the current environment, crews are often looking for a single ground mover in an area of interest.
"When an attack happens on the battlefield, we can backtrack using the
information we collected to identify the origin of the attackers," said
Lt. Col. Jerry Cole, the 7th EACCS director of operations. "Lately,
that has been one of our most used capabilities."
Staff Sgt. Karis Baker, an airborne operations technician assigned to
the 7th EACCS, looks for, finds and tracks the ground movers.
"(The JSTARS mission) also includes significant post-mission analysis
by many organizations," said Sergeant Baker, a native of Astoria, Ore.
"We are analyzing the pattern of traffic movement," said Sergeant
Baker, deployed from Robins AFB. "Our radar records the whole mission.
If something happened an hour ago, we can replay the event to see
exactly how it went down."
"We know from the time we get here in theater to the time we leave,
we'll be consistently busy," Colonel Cole said. "We are without a doubt
one of the biggest providers to this war. It's extremely rewarding to
see the impact we have on the guys on the ground."
MsMarti notes that it is an extremely light news day for Afghanistan. That's all I found folks, so let's hope that No News Is Good News for our troops over there in harms way!
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