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Story by: U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Christopher Hummel
PAKTYA PROVINCE, Afghanistan - Afghan and American security forces toured Afghanistan’s newest combat outpost as clouds converged on Afghan National Civil Order Police Outpost Zormat Jan. 31.
Afghan Col. Khudayak Totakhel, ANCOP commander, looks forward to the day ANCOP Zormat opens for business.
“This is a very large district,” said Totakhel. “Our permanent presence here will help minimize violence in this volatile area.”
Zormat is a district of more than 90,000 people. Historically, it has been a hotbed of Taliban activity. Civil order police are being permanently assigned to the area to increase regional stability.
Moving into this state-of-the-art facility is not as simple as packing bags and setting up shop. ANCOP forces must first learn to properly maintain the outpost themselves; that is where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers steps in.
“The Corps [of Engineers] handles quality assurance, construction and contract management,” said U.S. Army Capt. Daniel Hill, officer in charge of the USACE Gardez Resident Office from Whitney, Texas. “We faced many ups and downs during this project. It is on budget and is of good quality, but we had some material transfer issues.”
Another obstacle Afghan and coalition forces face at the outpost is operation and maintenance training. Training was facilitated by USACE engineers and Turkish contractors.
“After operation and maintenance training, [the ANCOP] will be passed to the Afghans to inhabit,” said Aaron Throop, the civilian USACE O&M site manager from Spokane, Wash. “They need to learn to repair and maintain the base after coalition forces leave Afghanistan.”
Throop spoke to Afghan technicians about maintaining the new facility.
“Equipment maintenance provides sustainability,” said Throop. “Equipment is like your family, if you take care of your family, it will take care of you.”
The base took two and a half years to build and cost $13.7 million. The project is the first of five new Afghan bases slated to open in 2011.
| Date Taken: | 01.31.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 02.03.2011 06:45 |
| Story ID: | 64714 |
| Location: | PAKTYA PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: | 55 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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