September/October 2011 Afghanistan Engineer District-North C Tajikistan h Uz in District Commander bek a Col. Christopher W. Martin is ta District Command Sergeant Major n Chief Master Sgt. Chad Brandau Chief of Public Affairs J. D. Hardesty hshan Editor and Writer dak Paul Giblin Ba Layout and Design ar uz kh Joseph A. Marek Kund Ta Writer and Photographer Mark Rankin jan Balkh wz Ja The Freedom Builder is the field magazine of the lan Afghanistan Engineer District, U.S. Army Corps of gh Volume 11, Issue 4 September/October 2011 www.aed.usace.army.mil n Ba n a r a Engineers; and is an unofficial publication authorized t angan t is am e ris by AR 360-1. It is produced bi-monthly for electronic n S jsh u distribution by the Public Affairs Office, U.S. Army Corps e an N 4- P r Winging it of Engineers, Afghanistan Engineer District-North. It is a m ul un Airmen comprise more than a quarter of the military produced in the Afghanistan theater of operations. Fa P K k ryab ri Kapisa n members within the Army Corps of Engineers unit. Views and opinions expressed in Freedom Builder r a wan L a S ar aghm are not necessarily those of the Department of the Army u Bamyan P or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 8- ul bul Final tribute to Coker All photographs appearing herein are by the T ab ries - Ka rhar K Sto ga Colleagues honor James W. “Will” Coker, who was Afghanistan Engineer District Public Affairs Office an unless otherwise credited. N dedicated to family, religion and service. The mission of Freedom Builder is to support the Wardak r Commander’s Internal Communication Program for his n a 10- the Afghanistan Engineer District-North. It also serves dg g Remembering 9/11 Ba a o as the Commander’s primary communication tool for t L District personnel pause to remember the terrorist a accurately transmitting policies, operations, technical s y t attacks in 2001. r i k developments, and command philosophy to the ho a G le heart P st g shot Afghanistan Engineer District-North. n 17 Purp Kho -Partin Page g the way Page 34 14- 4-Pavin Securing Afghan roads a kun ni Page 1 The Freedom Builder Magazine is available online at Day di az Select Corps of Engineers professionals guide at h h www.aed.usace.army.mil er G road projects and similar work at outposts around H g Cover image: f 17- Soldier gets Purple Heart A Paktika Col. Christopher W. Martin awards a Purple Heart to n Sgt. Barry W. Castro. Uruzga ul Zab 18- Work bustles across the north Personnel focus on a police headquarters, ammo bunkers, airport passenger terminal and more. 20- Small firms, big business har da District officials meet Afghan construction executives Farah an K one-on-one to develop business connections. 22- Olé! Hispanic employees show pride in their heritage during an event in Kabul. mroz Ni lman He 24- Breakfast in Afghanistan Chef Tracy Hunter takes the long road back to the dining facility at Qalaa House. an 28- Training Day Ir Military personnel work out the kinks in cross-loading, Some of the Airmen within the district’s ranks: then demonstrate it to civilians. 1) Master Sgt. Travis Chadick; 2) Master Sgt. Guadalupe RodriguezValdez; 3) Tech. Sgt. Dwain 30- Cousins in arms Hornesby; 4) Staff Sgt. Erika Jackson; 5) Tech. Pennsylvania cousins Chris and JeremyIn Houckdia rebuild Sgt. Sunshine Scarbrough; 6) Chief Master Sgt. istan family ties while stationed in Afghanistan. Chad Brandau; 7) Capt. Trent Arnold; 8) Staff Sgt. Pak Tilmon Alvin; 9) Lt. Col. Aaron Benson; and, 10) 34- Parting shot Capt. Mark Jones. Al VanGuilder breaks down barriers while building a wall in remote Mistegay. (Full story on pg. 4) Photo by | Joe Marek The district’s line-up of employees already Afghanistan. Without the open-door policy has something of a pick-up team feel to it. The at the Corps of Engineers, he and others group of 1,400 is comprised of U.S. military might have missed the chance altogether. service members, U.S. Army employees, “In the back of my mind, I always wanted Winging it private-sector U.S. contractors and Afghan to get here to Afghanistan, definitely,” employees plucked from locations around Benson said. “I got to go to Iraq for 90 days, Airmen fill key roles in Army unit the globe. so I thought it would be really neat to say The mix-and-match composition is further later in life that I was able to serve in both of evident even among the military members. these theaters while I was in the military.” The specific numbers change on almost In fact, the Air Force has been extending daily, but the composition of military service the tours of its members, so that they can members on Aug. 27 illustrates the joint serve in leadership positions and make nature of the district’s military team. On that greater contributions to the effort. Benson day, 66.7 percent were Soldiers, 26.4 percent began his year-long tour in May. were Airmen, 5.4 percent were Seamen and The general consensus among Airmen 1.5 percent were Marines. within the district is that the biggest All armed service members arrive in impediment to serving in the unit is simply Afghanistan knowing that the task is tough learning the Army’s unique and sometimes and aligned with peril, but they’re united in puzzling lingo. In contrast, the greatest the mission to defend freedom and eradicate benefit is exposure the Army’s protocols and terrorism, said Air Force Maj. I don’t think we could methodologies. Keithen Washington, who accomplish the Two key components heads the human resources to developing a sense Story by | Paul Giblin Photos by | Mark Rankin mission without operation for the district. all the Air Force of teamwork across the “This is definitely a team personnel. branches is for non-Army and close-contact sport,” he service members learn ABUL – The U.S. Army Corps said. “Our success is dependent the Army’s acronym-laden Kof Engineers in northern on the ability to operate in this language and for all service Afghanistan increasingly is taking on joint environment, bringing the members to pick up each of the the blue hue of the Air Force. full capability of our strengths other branches’ rank structures, Air Force service members fill more to the forefront. I’ve visited all the said Air Force Chief Master Sgt. than a quarter of the military positions forward operating bases and the Chad Brandau, who serves as the within the unit, including several of camaraderie and esprit de corps has top enlisted member in the district. the top leadership positions. Consider been nothing short of phenomenal.” “We’re very fortunate,” he said. “We have this: The district’s deputy commander, Because the Army is largely tasked with the Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and of course, the top non-commissioned offer and the fighting operations of the war in Afghanistan, we have our Airmen. They work together. I chief of the force protection team are all the other services have been called upon to haven’t seen a hiccup.” Air Force members. fill vital roles within the Corps of Engineers, Brandau noted that almost immediately The Airmen’s contributions are critical said Air Force Lt. Col. Aaron Benson, who after Col. Martin assumed command of to Afghanistan Engineer District- serves as deputy commander of the district. the district on July 10, he ordered posters North, said Army Col. Christopher W. “The Air Force, the Navy and other services highlighting the Army’s values be displayed Martin, commander of district. have come on line to accept these taskers,” prominently at Corps of Engineers facilities “I don’t think we could accomplish Benson said. “There’s just so many Army across the district. The posters, which focus the mission without all the Air Force resources out there, and there just aren’t on loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, personnel that we have,” he said. “Just enough to go around, so the other services honor, integrity and personal courage, by the number of engineers and military have stepped up.” design feature photos of the district’s service engineers that it takes to execute here, The joint nature of the Corps of Engineers is members from every branch. we just have it in the Army, so it takes especially beneficial to Airmen, Benson said, “What the boss is saying is ‘Check your a blend of all the services.” because it provides opportunities for Airmen sticks on these values.’ He’s not telling the to contribute directly to the war effort in Sailors or the Airmen or the Marines that District human resources chief Maj. Keithen Washington stands guard as 4 he waits for a helicopter before leaving the Afghanistan National Police 5 Wardak provincial headquarters complex in Maydan Sahar, Afghanistan. regular duties when he returns to his Air Force unit in England at the conclusion of Blended workforce his tour in Afghanistan. “We bring in more of the transport Afghanistan Engineer District-North blends civilian and military personnel, specialization, like the cargo prep and pallet build-up of moving and manifesting cargo, government-sector and private-sector employees, and Americans and Afghans. which here is probably 90 percent of our effort in supporting the forward operating bases,” he said. 9.1% Arnold is particularly proud of a new 36% procedure he guided to develop a small pallet 10.9% that fits inside Russian-made Mi-8 transport helicopters, which are under contract to the Corps of Engineers in Afghanistan.