Task Force Warrior accompanies stability and development experts cement plant

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AFGHANISTAN

07.25.2009

Story by 1st Lt. Lory Stevens 

Combined Joint Task Force - 82 PAO

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan - Task Force Warrior and Task Force Gladius personnel accompanied a U.S. government business and stability operations team to the Jabal Saraj Cement Plant in Afghanistan's Parwan province, July 25, as part of a fact finding mission.

Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, Paul Brinkley, and his team of development experts have worked in Iraq for the past three years building the private business sector, and are currently travelling all across Afghanistan to determine if the U.S. can assist Afghans with more employment opportunities.

General manager Islamuddin Ahmadi met with the group and gave a brief tour of the cement plant that employs approximately 200 workers.

During the Afghan-Soviet war in the 1980s, the buildings were bombed leaving noticeable gapes in the structure, said Ahmadi, who has worked at the plant for the last 30 years.

"The Taliban later forced plant workers at gunpoint to turn on machines in the absence of adequate power, causing other structural problems and damage to equipment," he added.

Due to limited electricity, the plant only operates for one hour per day, but it produces cement and has limited sales.

"We did not expect to see this in Afghanistan," the development experts said, referring to the relatively good working order of the plant and the level of expertise in management.

At the conclusion of the fact finding mission, Brinkley will report the team's findings to U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, and the Commander of U.S. Central Command, U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, who requested the mission in attempts to foster economic growth in Afghanistan.

• Date Taken: 07.25.2009
• Date Posted: 07.27.2009 10:54
• Story ID: 36855
• Location: BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF