BALKH PROVINCE, Afghanistan – U.S. Army engineers of 4th Platoon, Forward Support Company, Task Force Roughneck, Task Force Sword, immediately started partnership-training with engineers of the Afghan National Army and began construction projects upon arrival to Camp Shaheen in October.

“As soon as we got here, they put us to work,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Patricia Thorogood with 4th Plt., a plumber from Dallas. “We built a B-hut [wood structure building] and started working side-by-side with Afghan National Army engineers.”

B-huts provide semi-permanent shelter and popular for Army engineer construction projects.

“They’re not hard to build, but we’ve got to build to a high standard,” said U.S. Army Spc. Carlos Silos with the 4th Plt., a carpenter from Houston. “Most U.S. B-huts are used for office space.”

The carpenters, electricians and masonry members of the platoon become the subject matter experts on these projects. These experts shared their skills with the Afghan soldiers.

“We have three generation of craftsmen in our platoon. We have our veterans from Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan,” Thorogood said. “They’re highly skilled and do this work as civilians. Then there are the young sergeants who are trained and got the drive but need more experience. And finally, the new ones, fresh out of advance individual training [AIT] school. They’re young, strong and want to get out there and work.”

These engineers used different teaching methods to train the ANA. Some set the example on how to do certain techniques while others used their assigned language assistors for group instruction.

“We showed the ANAs how to build wood floors for their tent living quarters at Camp Shaheen,” Thorogood explained. “Now we’re teaching them our plumbing and electrical techniques … We teach them so they can do it on their own. The ANAs catch on quick. They watch; we give them tools; and they get to it.”

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