Afghan utility workers prepare power lines at the Kajaki Dam to receive a new primary switch center. USACE Photo

A small contingent of soldiers play a huge role in improving and maintaining southern Afghanistan’s electric power infrastructure, primarily in Kandahar City.

These non-commissioned officers, deployed from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ only active duty unit, the 249th Prime Power Battalion at Fort Bragg, N.C., are all prime power specialists assigned to Task Force Breshna Barq. Established in the summer of 2010, the task force’s primary mission is bringing more and more reliable power to Kandahar City.

“These soldiers are responsible for electric power outside the wire,” said Chief Warrant Officer 5 Thomas Black, deputy commander of Task Force Breshna Barq. “Locally, four soldiers are based at the USACE-built and managed power stations in Kandahar city — two at the Bagh-e-Pul power station in western Kandahar and the others at the Shurandam Industrial Park power station.”

The initial task force mission was two-pronged: daily oversight and contract management for the installation and commissioning of two $40 million, 10-megawatt diesel-fueled power plants and the validation and assessment of about 40 kilometers of 20-kilovolt, overhead medium-voltage feeder lines. The electric lines distribute electricity to satisfy the industrial, business, agricultural and residential demands of one third of Kandahar City’s 480,000 residents.

- Editor’s note: Keep in mind that all the fuel for these plants has to be trucked into the country. -

“We are here to assist in the development of the Afghans’ outdated electrical distribution networks throughout the region so businesses can thrive and stimulate the economy,” said Staff. Sgt. Mario Sanchez.

Once the two power stations were commissioned, the task force members began overseeing the $10.3-million operations and maintenance contract for the power stations and developing and managing $7.2 million worth of “starter kit” tools and materials for DABS (Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat), the Afghan power utility company.

The starter kits include transformers, medium and low-voltage cable, distribution panels and tools. Also included are electrical test equipment, bucket trucks, and pole truck with a trailer. The kits will provide the Afghan utility with the resources it needs to accomplish immediate, lasting, effective and reliable repairs in Kandahar province so they meet the needs of their Afghan customers.

As the conditions and needs evolved, the prime power team took a mentoring role on as well.

“We work with the utility company to maintain the power systems and train their employees,” said Staff Sgt. Alex Brown. “They really do want to improve their way of life and are willing to work hard at it.”

Sgt. Joshua Strausbaugh agreed and added: “In the United States, there are many codes that must be followed when working with electricity to ensure safety. In Afghanistan, they don’t have these kinds of regulations. Fortunately, the utility employees picked up quickly on the whats and whys that we were trying to communicate to them.”

Safety is an essential component of all USACE projects, said Air Force Col. Benjamin Wham, South District commander. “Our first priority is keeping people safe. We must share that fundamental value with our Afghan partners.”

The team worked hard to accomplish their goal of safely getting more power production and effective distribution inside Kandahar, and were gratified by the appreciation they saw on the faces of Kandahar City residents, said Strausbaugh.

The team’s work has also taken them to the Kajaki Hydroelectric Plant, where they installed special protective switchgear. This relatively inexpensive installation increased the reliability of the transmission lines to Kandahar and Helmand provinces. According to Black, a new diesel plant providing an equal amount of power would have cost $24 million.

A private contracting company was willing to install the switchgear at a cost of $1.5 million with an eight-month lead time. Instead, three Prime Power soldiers, working with and mentoring the Afghan hydroelectric plant operators and electricians accomplished the installation in six weeks for less than $150,000.

“The $150,000 for the primary switch center was borne by USACE as it had the item in stock,” said British Air Force Wing Cmdr. Charlie Allan, Regional Command Southwest development plans officer. “But that said, there was also a benefit to the power house staff who were given on-the-job training by the prime power team during installation.”

“Language barriers and the idea that ‘doing things the old way was fine,’ were issues we overcame working with the Afghans,” said Brown. “But the challenge of doing something that would improve the life of Afghans was worth it.”

From initial conception to completion took just 39 days, but the impact on the electric system was immediate, said Allan. The switchgear protects the two Kajaki turbines where none existed before and prevents hard shut downs of the grid and mechanical deterioration of essential generators. This, in turn, leads to a far more stable power supply to the people of Helmand and Kandahar and far fewer power outages leading to longer electricity availability per day.

“Regardless of how costs are measured, having prime power specialists in Afghanistan is an exceptional value,” said Black. They supervise, operate, install and maintain electric power plant and associated systems and equipment—the 249th is a unique unit with unique and valuable capability.

“The 249th has a really critical mission here,” said Air Force Col. Benjamin Wham, South District commander. “Afghans need electricity to develop and sustain their economy. By helping the Afghan utility company improve and maintain its electric power generation, this small group of soldiers delivers huge benefits. The outgoing crew has done an outstanding job training Afghan technicians and working with our private contractor to ensure Kandahar City enjoys reliable, stable power. I salute the outstanding efforts of the 249th soldiers.”

This team of prime power non-commissioned officers will return to the United States soon and will be replaced by a new team.

“There is still much to do,” said Sanchez. “Substations powered by the Kajaki Dam will need upgrades to increase power throughout southern Afghanistan. The new team will continue the mentoring and contract oversight mission.”

Story by Karla Marshall
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Sgt. Randy Elmore, team leader, Zombie Response Team, 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, secures a reconstruction project along Highway 4 in Spin Boldak, Afghanistan, April 8. The construction is part of a commander�s emergency response program-funded reconstruction project, which includes repairs to 7.8 kilometers of road from the Pakistan border into Afghanistan. Elmore is a Surprise, Ariz., native deployed from Fort Bragg, N.C. Photo by Senior Airman Jessica Lockoski.

A vital highway reconstruction project to repair stretches of road near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border is progressing ahead of schedule.

Highway 4 is often referred to as the “Gateway to Kandahar.” The stretch of road is the economic corridor that allows passage from the Weesh crossing, near the Pakistan border, to Kandahar City in Afghanistan.

“The project is significant because most of the commerce between the two countries in the southern region travels along that route,” said Col. James Edwards, 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade commander, deployed from Fort Bragg, N.C. “It is significant to International Security Assistance Force because it’s the number two ground line of communication. Many of our supplies travel through this area. It is also important because of international trade, the local economy and for ISAF to sustain operations here.”

The project, funded by the Commander’s Emergency Response Program, repairs 7.8 kilometers of road from the border to Spin Boldak.

“Many trucks that pass through here are overloaded, because they don’t have any transportation inspectors to inspect the weight of the vehicles,” said Jon Jorgenson, construction representative for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Jorgenson oversees the Afghan-contracted project that began late December 2010.

“Some of these vehicles may be two or three times the weight of vehicles in the U.S., so the road sank and was unsafe,” the engineer said.

Local laborers dug up the dilapidated asphalt and soft dirt previously laid down. They set and compacted a base layer and aggregate, and will soon lay a new layer of asphalt.

Additionally, ruts and medians were removed from the highway to expand the the road into four lanes in the future and ease the flow of traffic.

Pfc. Brandon Fender, enabler response team member, 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, provides security at a reconstruction project along Highway 4 in Spin Boldak, Afghanistan, April 8. The highway is an economic corridor that allows passage from the Weesh crossing, near the Pakistan border, to Kandahar City in Afghanistan and is vital to the trade industry in the south. Fender is an Omaha, Neb., native deployed from Fort Bragg, N.C. Photo by Senior Airman Jessica Lockoski.

Jorgensen said a project of this size would typically take six months to a year to complete, but it is progressing faster than expected and should be finished by late June.

“The contractor is moving along very well,” Jorgensen said. “Because the company is so good, we can move along with the project. It’s probably the best highway project I’ve seen from Qalat to Spin Boldak’s border; it’s going to be a good road.”

Commuters and delivery truck drivers crossing into Afghanistan will not be the only people to benefit from the reconstruction and durability of the new road. The trade-based communities who line the highway also profit.

“You can’t drive along this part of highway and not be amazed by the amount of bustling economic activity that is out there,” said Edwards. “With a better road, it will support more traffic and further assist the growth in the area. It will benefit the people of Spin Boldak and extend the development benefits, ultimately bringing stability to the region.”

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Story by Senior Airman Jessica Lockoski

Afghan and international forces killed several militants and detained numerous suspected militants in recent operations, military officials reported.

No Afghan civilians were harmed in the operations, officials said.

– An Afghan-international security force detained several suspected insurgents for further questioning after searching a compound in north Kandahar city last night.

– In Paktika province’s Bermal district last night, several militants were killed when they threatened a combined Afghan-international security team. The combined force detained several additional militants and found automatic rifles and multiple rocket-propelled grenades at the compound.

– In Wardak province’s Sayyidabad district last night, an Afghan-international force captured a Taliban weapons facilitator accused of buying and selling large amounts of weapons, munitions and explosives for other militant networks. The security force also detained a few other suspected militants.

– In Zabul province’s Shinkai district last night, a combined force went to a rural area where intelligence information indicated militant activity. Two militants engaged the approaching force and were killed. During a follow-on search the combined force found radios, an automatic rifle, ammunition and a rocket launcher with multiple rounds.

– In Farah province’s Shewan district, March 29, an Afghan civilian turned in two 155 mm rounds and an improvised explosive device to a security force.

– On March 28, a combined Afghan-international force noticed suspicious movements in an uninhabited area outside of Shindand in Herat province and launched an illumination round. Insurgents then opened fire on the force, causing no injuries. The security force returned fire with small arms and mortar fire, forcing the insurgents to flee. Upon searching the area, the security force found more than 300 pounds of explosives, an 82 mm mortar round, four artillery shells, two grenades, three anti-tank rockets, a 122 mm anti-tank round and small-arms ammunition. The cache was destroyed.

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ISAF reports 1 and 2

In Helmand province a joint security force detained a suspected militant commander and several suspected militants linked to the narcotics industry in Nahri Sarraj district, during an Oct. 11 operation.

Haji Khan Mohammed is considered a senior power broker in the district, and it is believed that his drug operations provided financial support to enemy fighters throughout southern Afghanistan.

During the operation joint security forces received machine gun fire from militants shooting from multiple compounds. The forces moved the fighting away from the compounds and detained the militants.

The joint force also found a weapons cache consisting of 40 rocket propelled grenades, two ammunition vests, several thousand machine gun rounds, several five-gallon jugs used in constructing homemade explosives for roadside bombs, three AK-47s and 20 mortar rounds. The cache was destroyed on site by controlled detonation. No joint force members were injured during the operation.

A joint security force killed several militants Oct. 11, during an operation in Qalat district, Zabul province in an effort to disrupt a Taliban element believed responsible for several attacks in the region.

During the operation the joint force received hostile fire and returned fire, killing several militants.

Also during the search the joint force found an RPG, an AK-47 rifle with ammunition rounds, a pistol, a grenade, an ammunition belt and communications gear. All items were destroyed in place.

In an operation conducted in Kandahar province today, a joint security force detained one suspected militant in a compound known to be used by a Taliban facilitator and his element responsible for supplying improvised explosive devices, weapons and ammunition to other militant groups in the region.

The search in a compound northwest of Kandahar City was conducted without incident. No Afghan civilians were harmed during these operations.

Today (October 12 2009) a joint security force killed more than a dozen militants and detained a suspected militant after searching a mountainside compound in Kunar province known to be used by an al-Qaida commander and his element believed responsible for the facilitation of foreign fighters and numerous attacks in Pech Valley.

During the search of the compound located near Tantil village, northeast of Jalalabad, the force received hostile enemy fire on two occasions and returned fire, killing the enemy militants. The joint force also found a number of rocket propelled grenades, machine guns, multiple AK-47 rifles and other grenades. All items were destroyed in place.

In another operation in Ziruk district, Paktika province a joint security force detained several suspected militants today after searching a compound known to be used by a Haqqani facilitator and his element believed to be responsible for financing and supplying weapons to other militants in the region.

The joint force also found several grenades and a cache of small arms ammunition. All items were destroyed on site.

In a third operation that marked one of the largest drug and weapons discoveries this year, a joint force found about 100 kilograms of heroin, 1,800 kilograms of opium, nearly 50 metric tons of opium seeds along with a morphine processing lab during a search in Kajaki district, Helmand province, Oct. 6.

The joint force killed multiple enemy fighters and detained several suspected militants.

The joint force, assisted by the Afghanistan Narcotics Interdiction Unit, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, coordinated and conducted the search to disrupt Anti-Afghan forces and to set conditions for effective future security operations in central Helmand province.

The force also found a weapons cache that included: 35 RPGs, five hand grenades, one 82mm recoilless rifle, 600 links of 7.62mm ammunition, four sniper rifles, one RPG launcher, 15 blocks of C-4 explosives, two blocks of Semtex plastic explosives, 50 detonation cords, two landmines, one passive infrared initiator, 350 rounds of various ammunition and 35 tons of ammonium nitrate—a chemical used to make roadside bombs.

All drugs were destroyed on site, and weapons were either positioned for safe disposal or destroyed on location.

No Afghan civilians were harmed during these operations.