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SANGIN DISTRICT, Afghanistan - During predeployment training at Fort Drum, N.Y. earlier this year, Army Sgt. Randall Schamber was told teaching Afghans wouldn’t be an easy job.
Randall is an engineer maintenance advisor attached to the Infrastructure Advisory Group, 215th Corps Security Force Assistance Advisory Team. The team’s mission is to embed with SFAATS throughout Afghanistan and advise Afghan National Security Forces on various subjects including electrical work and construction.
For the past two weeks, Schamber has taught a generator maintenance and repair course to Afghan National Army soldiers at Forward Operating Base Nolay, Sangin District, Helmand Province, Afghanistan. So far, he said he has been “very impressed with their eagerness to learn.”
The course curriculum includes classroom instruction on safety, service logs, preventative maintenance, basic generator functions, wiring and hands-on training.
Schamber said the students are surprising him every day. He said the soldiers volunteer to ask and answer questions, fix maintenance issues, stay after class to ask questions and help fellow soldiers to solve problems.
“Our class has been amazing,” said, Schamber, a Jonestown, Pa., native. “Back in the states, we pride ourselves on being individuals. Here, it’s not their culture. But, they’ve been raising their hands and showing their eagerness to learn. Each time they come up to the white board, they have a problem they need to solve and they’re getting it right most of the time. If they don’t, they listen to the constructive criticism. They’re doing everything we thought would take time, but we’re only two weeks into the course.”
Schamber said the course was originally planned for eight weeks but could end up being only six weeks, due to the speed at which the soldiers are learning
Following the classroom instruction, Schamber took the ANA soldiers outside to a broken generator to test what they have learned. The circuit board for the generator was broken and parts were on order. However, Schamber wanted to explain the different components of the generator.
The soldiers crowded Schamber and were enthusiastic to learn and participate in the hands-on training. Unbeknownst to Schamber, after the hands-on training concluded, the soldiers were able to start the generator by hot-wiring it.
“It was like watching [someone] back home hot-wire his truck because the starter went out,” said Schamber. “I was blown away because I didn’t teach the soldiers that. That just goes to show if something is broken, the soldiers will find a way to fix it and make it work for them. It’s Afghan ingenuity.”
Afghan National Army Sgt. Abdul Hamid is one of 14 soldiers enrolled in the course Schamber is teaching. He said any skill he can learn “that helps the ANA” is well worth the training.
“That’s the only way we can power our buildings right now. That’s the only way we can recharge our batteries,” said Hamid. “If we have generators, we have power.”
| Date Taken: | 09.03.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 09.03.2013 07:38 |
| Story ID: | 112987 |
| Location: | SANGIN DISTRICT, AF |
| Hometown: | JONESTOWN, PA, US |
| Web Views: | 428 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Afghan National Army soldiers showing initiative during generator course, by MSgt Bryan Peterson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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