Fire fighting capabilities and training give Afghans a way to protect acquired assets on Sabulla-Harrison

AFGHANISTAN

11.06.2014

Story by Staff Sgt. Whitney Houston 

U.S. Forces Afghanistan

SABULLA-HARRISON, Afghanistan - The Afghan National Army’s Military Police Guard Command, Garrison Support Unit, on Sabulla-Harrison, Afghanistan, received a fire truck through the Federal Excess Personal Property Program, Oct. 18, 2014.

The truck was given to the unit on Sabula Harrison to protect newly acquired assets on the base which, until recently, was part of Bagram Air Field.

As the Resolute Support Mission draws near and more responsibilities and property are handed over to the Afghan National Security Forces, materials and equipment are being organized to suit an RSM framework. This process entails responsibly disposing of these materials and non-essential equipment, sending it back to the states, dispersing it amongst U.S. forces where there is a need, or giving it to the ANSF.

“Whenever you want to hand any federal property over to any ANSF element, you first have to determine that there’s not a need amongst U.S. contingencies first,” said Maj. Terry England, a Pittsburg, Kansas, native who serves as a logistics cell officer in charge, and also serves on a rule-of-law development team. “So if there is not a U.S. need, and an ANSF need is identified, then it can be handed over to them.”

“We’ve given them a pretty big compound called the National Security Justice Center, which has a detention facility and headquarters, along with other buildings on Sabulla-Harrison,” England said.

England explained that a lot of money has gone into giving the Afghans the NSJC and that when it was in U.S. control they had a fire station equipped with a truck to protect those investments. Now that the area has been transferred to the Afghans, the U.S. needed to responsibly hand over the compound with a capability to protect it.

Daniel Glembot, an Oxon Hill, Maryland, native who serves as a seasoned Department of Defense civilian fire chief for the U.S. Army, headed an effort to get the Afghans the fire truck. However, when Glembot was signing the truck over to the ANA, he encountered some concerns about the truck that needed to be addressed.

“The ANA had never had a fire truck that we, as U.S. firefighters, are used to operating. So when they got the fire truck they were concerned that they wouldn’t know how to use it correctly, or to its full capability,” Glembot said. “So one of their generals asked if I would provide training on the truck.”

Glembot explained that he knew they would need help starting the fire truck because of a very specific mechanism, and that they would need instruction how to use the trucks’ water pumps. While showing the ANA soldiers how to operate the truck, Glembot seized an opportunity to bring the Afghan firefighters to a new level.

“What initially started with training on the truck turned into a full blown week of firefighter training,” Glembot said. “There was no lesson plan, no syllabus, I just got this training approved, and I was passing on knowledge that I have obtained over the last 29 years of being a firefighter. It worked out extremely well, and I’m very confident in their capabilities and abilities to get the job done.”

Glembot explained that the ANA will transition at least four of the fourteen Afghan soldiers that received the firefighters training into full time fire fighters. He said he is hopeful they will continue to pass the same training they received to other Afghan firefighters.

• Date Taken: 11.06.2014
• Date Posted: 11.06.2014 08:39
• Story ID: 147139
• Location: AF
• Hometown: FORT DRUM, NY, US
• Hometown: OXON HILL, MD, US