Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Glenn Sierra | A grader spreads out and the roller compacts the ground in preparation for a new...... read more read more
FORWARD OPERATING BASE KUNDUZ, Afghanistan - Engineers from 623rd Engineer Company, Detachment 1, Task Force Roughneck began the initial construction on a new dining facility to ensure quality of life for soldiers there July 3.
“It’s a pretty cool mission. It affects everybody on the FOB [Forward Operating Base],” said, Spc. Damen Boyd, a heavy equipment operator for Detachment 1 from Macon, Ga. “The chow hall we’ve been eating at here is getting overrun. They've got new guys coming in all the time, so it gets packed…so we need to expand and make things better for everybody here.”
Building a chow hall is easier said than done. It has to start from the ground up. “I’m in charge of preparing the ground for the chow hall foundation,” said Spc. Justin Rewis, a supervisor for Detachment 1 also from Macon, Ga. “I supervise ensuring they’re applying their techniques correctly, and I’m watching out for their safety. Like right now, it’s a chow hall so there has to be a smooth surface.”
A young energetic soldier steps up from behind the group. “I’m the dozer operator,” announced Spc. Bradley Page, a heavy equipment operator, from Thomson, Ga. “For a pad, you lay some level dirt at one end so that way the water will run off. After that, we lay gravel on top of it. I was actually taking some gravel and trying to level it out a little bit so that the grader operator can take it and smooth it out. He can’t get big mounds of gravel out unless I go over it a few times and try to make it easier for him.”
Boyd added, “Right now, we’re having the Afghans bring in gravel from outside the FOB and pile it up. Page knocks it down on his dozer, I come through and level everything out, and finally Spc. Dupree… packs it down with his roller and gives us a nice even surface.”
After several hours, Rewis looks out across the project and gives his crew a thumbs up. The ground is now ready for the vertical engineers to start building forms for the new concrete pad.
“We enjoy what we do as engineers,” Rewis said. “We make things better. We work with American, German, and Afghan civilians, and we all work together to accomplish different tasks working toward a common goal.”
As Boyd excitedly put his arms over his buddies’ shoulders, he proudly said, “being engineers, we get support everywhere we go. Everybody loves us! It’s a great job and we’re happy to be here. We really are!"
| Date Taken: | 07.02.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 07.13.2011 03:39 |
| Story ID: | 73631 |
| Location: | FOWARD OPERATING BASE KUNDUZ, AF |
| Web Views: | 258 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Engineers build new dining facility for FOB Kunduz, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
