Pfc. Mark Johnson, a security team member with Security Assistance Force Team 4, 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, receives mail at the Arghandab District Operations Coordination Center, July 1. Johnson is from McAlester, Okla. Photo by Sgt. Seth Barham07.05.2011 Story by Sgt. Seth Barham KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – Being away from home and away from loved ones can be extremely difficult for anyone.
Talking to family back home makes things a little less difficult for the soldiers of 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.
That is the main reason soldiers are working to improve conditions at the Arghandab District Operations Coordination Center, where a number of ‘Death Dealers’ live.
“Being able to talk to my wife and daughter on a daily basis really keeps me going out here,” said Staff Sgt. David Burris, an operations noncommissioned officer with 1st Bn., 67th AR.
Burris, along with several soldiers from the Dealer battalion have begun construction projects around the coordination center to improve recreation facilities for the soldiers and civilians who live there.
Soldiers are in the process of building a new Morale, Welfare and Recreation center, gym, and a building to house interpreters on the base.
The new MWR facility will be equipped with televisions, video games, computers and phones, said Spc. Joshua Pindall, a security team member with Security Assistance Force Team 4, 1st Bn., 67th AR.
“The MWR we have now is okay but we wanted to increase the number of phones and computers on the base so it would be easier for us to talk to our families,” Pindall said.
The construction projects not only help soldiers talk more with family back home, they also bring the soldiers closer to one another.
“My team here reminds me of my family,” said Pfc. Mark Johnson, a security team member also with SFAT 4. “They let me know what I should and shouldn’t do. They pick me up when I’m down and just really keep me going.”
“We keep each other’s spirits up pretty well; we really watch out for each other,” Burris said. “We’re one big family out here.”
Stumble It!
