KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Engineers with the Fort Bragg, N.C.-based 82nd Sustainment Brigade – U.S. Central Command Materiel Recovery Element have teamed with the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan’s Civil Aviation Authority for the Ministry of Transportation and the Regional Command-South Department of Public Works to assist with a project to build a hotel for the Kandahar International Airport.
For the 82nd SB-CMRE portion of the project, engineers from the attached, Little Rock, Ark.-based 489th Engineer Battalion are providing re-locatable buildings that can be refurbished for use in the hotel’s construction and will be given to Afghans through the Foreign Excess Personal Property program. In addition to this, the 82nd SB-CMRE played a major role in the plans and design of the structure.
“When the idea first came about, we went to the Afghan Ministry of Transportation with it and they weren’t sure if they had anyone who could provide designs for the project or come up with a concept,” said Lyman, S.C. native, Air Force Staff Sgt. William King, an engineering craftsman for the 82nd SB-CMRE. “So, I volunteered to do the design.”
“I love the idea, it’s what I was trained to do and it was really great to get more experience doing this,” added King. “It’s good for our engineers, because with this project they really do see the tangible results of their work. Eventually the Afghans will get the funding to build it, and all we really did was assist them in getting started.”
With the eventual transition of security to Afghan Security Forces in the near future, 82nd SB-CMRE engineers said the project was an opportunity to assist the Afghans with sustaining their stability.
“The project shows that we are continuing to grow relationships with all entities involved in our operations and the combined effort is a sign of growing stability [in Afghanistan],” said Highland Heights, Ky. native, Sgt. Maj. Charles Kottmyer, engineering operations sergeant major for the 82nd SB-CMRE.
King’s design for the hotel includes regular hotel rooms with individual bathrooms, suites for special visitors, areas for VIP visits, a pool and laundry facilities along with other amenities.
Besides the re-locatable structures themselves, 82nd SB-CMRE engineers are also providing other recovered materials for the building project consisting mainly of electrical components, wood, metal trusses and sheet metal.
Engineers working on the project said it has been a worthwhile experience and they were glad to know that the recovered materials from their work sites will go to good use.
“We’re enjoying the mission and are proud to be part of it,” said Brick, N.J. native, Pfc. Joseph Bove, a combat engineer for the Marion, Va.-based 760th Eng. Co., attached to 489th Eng. Bn. “We’re taking down these structures in a responsible way which you know will benefit someone in the long run.”
“You can see the importance of this and the fact that there’s a purpose to what we’re doing,” added Bove. “It’s not like we’re just demolishing something, but we’re doing something that will have a nice result for the Afghans to help them out. We’re giving them something that will improve their quality of life and give them some creature comforts.”
To date, 82nd SB-CMRE engineers have assisted with moving more than 120 re-locatable buildings to the hotel project site and once the engineers are done with their portion of the project, they expect to have handed over nearly 600 structures to the Afghans.
| Date Taken: |
01.27.2014 |
| Date Posted: |
02.06.2014 02:52 |
| Story ID: |
120169 |
| Location: |
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, AF |
| Hometown: |
BRICK, NEW JERSEY, US |
| Hometown: |
ELLWOOD CITY, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Hometown: |
FAYETTEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Hometown: |
FOLLANSBEE, WEST VIRGINIA, US |
| Hometown: |
FORT BRAGG, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Hometown: |
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, KENTUCKY, US |
| Hometown: |
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS, US |
| Hometown: |
LYMAN, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Hometown: |
MARION, VIRGINIA, US |
| Hometown: |
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: |
558 |
| Downloads: |
1 |
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This work, 82nd SB-CMRE engineers assist with hotel project at Kandahar, by SFC Jon Cupp, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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