Photo By Capt. Laura Beebe | A noncommissioned officer with the Afghan National Army 207th Corps Engineer Kandak...... read more read more
HERAT, Afghanistan – Soldiers with the 65th Engineer Battalion, 130th Eng. Brigade’s Engineer Training Team (ETT) have been working with the Afghan National Army’s 207th Corps Engineer Kandak (CEK) since they graduated from the Combined Fielding Center in December 2013.
The CEK has exceeded projections both from the 207th Corps leadership and their coalition partners as one of the last ANA units to be fielded.
“They have learned well, you can really tell,” said Sgt. 1st Class Michael McDowell, ETT first sergeant, as he inspected the work being done by the horizontal company just outside the gates.
The project was the one identified by the 207th Corps to increase their force protection outside their walls. It was the first project received by the 207th CEK outside of their nine week training program they are still undergoing.
“This is really going to set the stage for them to move forward,” McDowell said after discussing the progress with the 207th Corps Engineer Planner at the site.
After going over the plan for drainage and some of the logistics issues they may face with bringing different types of equipment to the site and weighing the cost versus benefit, McDowell and the others spoke about some possible future projects the Corps is expecting to have soon.
Col. Khairizada Zainuddin, the 207th Corps Engineer planner, said, “I am very happy with the work being done. We would have to spend a lot of money to pay contractors to do the same thing these engineers are able to do. Having this asset internally increases our Corps’ capability drastically.”
ANA 1st Sgt. Mohammad, the horizontal company first sergeant, who was also on site, explained that the entire project was being run by soldiers within the same company, “from the security guards to the equipment operators, to the supervisors, they all come from inside my company.”
The members of the 65th Eng. Bn. ETT said the force protection project has been planned and executed by the ANA engineers independent of much help by their coalition partners.
McDowell explained how they check on the project every few days to ensure they are on the right track, but do not impose beyond that, allowing them to learn through their own leaders, similar to how the U.S. Army completes tasks by teaching soldiers through their NCO’s experience.
“We are trying to emphasize the importance of using their NCOS, which in turn allows them the ability to teach themselves much easier,” said Capt. Jason Oliver, ETT officer in charge.
Oliver was confident in the CEK’s ability to continue their training to complete independence with the method his team was using to teach the ANA engineers. The nine week training plan includes everything from drivers training to medical training, skills training and assessment to a “train the trainer” portion.
The skills training and assessment requires the ANA engineers to build useable projects, and work on common methods they will use on many future projects.
One example of a method the engineers are learning from their U.S. counterparts is the use of masonry in addition to the commonly used carpentry construction. This is important because, in this part of the country, many of the buildings are a combination of masonry and wood construction due to the materials available in Western Afghanistan.
The vertical company commander, ANA Capt. Ali Akbar, expressed his approval on how well his soldiers were performing and continuing to learn.
“The training is going very well. We just need to keep doing, as much as possible until we are on our own, and then continue to keep doing,” Akbar said.
When asked how confident he was with his soldier’s ability to perform independently on their own, he said, “We still need some more experience to be completely proficient, but that comes along with working on more projects.”
“Once my soldiers have the chance to do something hands-on, I am certain that my soldiers can do it again,” continued Akbar.
Sgt. Patrick Henry, one of the horizontal equipment trainers from the 663rd Eng. Company, Ala. National Guard said, “They are getting the idea of the concepts and understanding what it should look like.”
“The rest of what they need to know is just stick time on the equipment and learning how it feels when they do it,” continued Huntsville, Ala., native, Henry. “At this point, all I do is give suggestions to their plans.”
In regards to the “train the trainer” portion of the training plan, McDowell said, “Once they complete that portion of the phase three training, they will be self-sustaining and able to complete any project or mission they have.”
“That training will ensure the soldiers are trained on not only how to train on the engineering portions, but also on how to fix the equipment and the logistics behind everything,” he continued. “It will allow them to maintain their equipment and materials.”
Especially during this critical time period, with so many unknowns in front of the International Security Assistance Forces, the CEK continues to perform above expectations.
“Our soldiers are doing their best to learn all the equipment and methods so that we will be ready to do any project our army may need us to do in the near future and beyond,” said senior horizontal platoon sergeant, Sgt. 1st Class Mohammad Sadaq.
| Date Taken: | 03.08.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 03.10.2014 08:36 |
| Story ID: | 121763 |
| Location: | HERAT, AF |
| Hometown: | HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA, US |
| Hometown: | SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 453 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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