Courtesy Photo | Sgt. 1st Class Kenny Kachena, of Grand Forks, N.D., works with a civilian contractor...... read more read more
By 1st Sgt. Gregory Brockberg
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — North Dakota National Guard Soldiers in Afghanistan have been finishing the details of a major equipment move that began two months ago.
The Guardsmen, who serve with the 1st Battalion, 188th Air Defense Artillery Regiment's Rapid Aerostat Initial Deployment IV, operate a tower camera system around the clock in a mission that protects forward operating bases, or FOBs, of all sizes. The system becomes the eyes of the base defense commander, allowing him or her to monitor the landscape around the FOB during daylight or nighttime hours. It also can accurately pinpoint areas of interest or enemy forces using a laser range finder.
Early Easter Sunday this year, beginning at 1:30 a.m., the RAID IV Soldiers started the major move of all their equipment at "Alpha Site" to a better location at Bagram Airfield. Twelve CONEX containers that house offices, storage and living quarters for the Soldiers needed to be moved, as well as the tower camera system. Within three days, the new Alpha Site was fully operational, and its valuable video feed, along with that from the Bravo and Charlie cameras on the base, was again being broadcasted to the Bagram Base Defense Operation Center.
The finite details of the move would continue well after those three days, however. The former Alpha Site had been a home-away-from-home for North Dakota's RAID Soldiers for several years. Men and women with the Grand Forks-based unit have more experience in the operation and maintenance of the RAID system in Afghanistan than any other unit in the U.S. Army. The current unit — based at Bagram Airfield and five outer FOBs — has taken up where three previous RAID units, all from the same battalion, left off. RAID I, also called JLENS (Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor), served in Afghanistan throughout 2006. RAID II replaced them and spent all of 2007 in this theater. RAID III arrived in March 2009 and RAID IV, along with a Sentinel Radar mission, relieved their sister unit in January of this year. The only difference this time around is Capt. Walyn Vannurden, of Cavalier, N.D., commands two Sentinel Radar units, one in Afghanistan and the other in Iraq, along with the RAID IV unit.
It's taken nearly eight weeks of work to get the new Alpha Site up to par with the former site that had been used for several years. For starters, the command post needed to be rebuilt from the bottom up. Within two weeks, the exterior walls were erected; the rafters were assembled and installed; a roof was added to cover the command post, the office CONEX containers, and the three living quarters; the interior walls and ceiling were put up; the doors hung; and air conditioners were installed. Unit personnel, under the direction of Sgt. 1st Class Terry Stickel, a rancher from Lehr, N.D., provided all the know-how and labor with the exception of the cement floor slab and the heavy electrical work.
It is common for National Guard units from every state, regardless of mission, to have within their ranks Soldiers who have construction, plumbing, electrical and countless other civilian skills. Those individuals are what sets National Guard units apart and aids them in completing any assigned mission, says RAID IV leadership.
Although the Alpha Site has been operational for almost two months, other construction tasks are yet to be completed at the new site. In the planning stages is a workout room, a shaded patio area, a covered wood storage area and a walkway that leads from the command post to some of the living areas. Additionally, a few coats of paint need to be added to the exterior walls. Lastly, large replicas of the uniform patches of all the units, both active component and National Guard, that have been assigned the RAID mission here in Bagram will be mounted as a tribute to those Soldiers who have helped protect the military members and civilians who have lived, worked, and too often died, in the cause of freedom for the people of Afghanistan.
RAID IV and Sentinel Radar personnel have built a new Alpha Site and command post to last through many unit rotations. They built it strong and secure for Soldiers from the Florida National Guard who will be replacing them later this year, as well as for any units that will follow them. But, mainly they built it strong and secure because that is what National Guard Soldiers from every state do — they leave buildings, compounds, FOBs, countries and people in better condition than they were when they arrived.
| Date Taken: | 06.02.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 06.02.2010 10:16 |
| Story ID: | 50709 |
| Location: | BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 247 |
| Downloads: | 165 |
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