On the Road to Titin
U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Jonathan Reabe, Company C, 1st Battalion, 158th Infantry Regiment, assesses the situation after the road crumbled underneath a Humvee in Titin Valley, Afghanistan, Aug, 22. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Henry Selzer
The roads of Afghanistan can be treacherous paths to travel but the Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team and local construction workers, who travel them daily, are doing their best to improve them.
The Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team assessed the ongoing construction of a road running from Titin to Kordar, Aug. 22. The road will eventually run through the rest of the Nuristan Province.
The construction of the road, an Afghanistan Engineer District managed project, began in June 2006. It will make it easier and more safe for Afghan National Security Forces and Coalition forces to conduct their security patrols and expand the number of troops present in the area.
During this trip, the Nuristan PRT and Company C, 1st Battalion, 158th Infantry Regiment soldiers found themselves with the tires of one Humvee within an inch of the edge of the road, looking down the side of a cliff, as it disintegrated beneath them.
As the sun started to go down, it was time to get the truck moved before it got dark. Army 2nd Lt. Jonathan Reabe, from Whiteland, Ind., of Company C, 1st Battalion, 158th Infantry, decided to put the Humvee on jacks. The soldiers then manipulated the front wheels so they could turn away from the eroding mountain and drive the vehicle out of danger.
This episode further emphasized the importance of improving the roads in the province.
“A road through the area will allow the villages along the road easier access to government services and commerce, and it will facilitate economic growth in the area,†said Navy Lt. Stanley Lam, of Seattle, Wash., with the Nuristan Provincial Reconstruction Team.
