Delaram 1 Opens, ANA Increases Autonomy

HELMAN PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN

03.15.2011

Story by 1st Lt. Timothy Irish 

II Marine Expeditionary Force   

HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan -- Forward Operating Base Delaram 1 officially opened as an exclusively Afghan National Army owned and operated base, March 14.

The 2nd Brigade, 215th Corps headquarters commanding officer, General Abdul Wasea, cut the ribbon to open the base for operations.

Two Kandaks, or ANA battalions, will soon live at and operate from the base. 6th Kandak, 2nd Bridgade, 215th Corps, graduates next week from training in Kabul and will take up residence. 1st Kandak will also operate from the base.

During the ceremony General Wasea was confident 2011 would bring increased combat effectiveness for his forces.

“We had 28,000 combat activities with US Marines last year,” said Wasea. “With coalition forces we will expand our abilities.”

Completing FOB Delaram 1 meets the unit’s needs in expanding their abilities in both training and combat operations. It also provides a strategic location. The town of Delaram is in the middle of four major roads and highways, including Highway 1, which circles all of Afghanistan. Its location will allow the 2nd brigade and it’s Kandaks to mobilize quickly for operations in every cardinal direction.

The new base contains 16 buildings that will allow the ANA to be more self-sufficient from coalition forces and closer to the local populace. After the ceremony Col. Eric M. Smith, commanding officer of Regimental Combat Team 8, toured the base with ANA counterparts from the brigade and corps headquarters and Col. Anthony Funkhouser, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers commander whose unit built the base.

“These buildings were built by Afghans for Afghans,” commented Funkhouser while shaking hands with Wasea on the tour.

Lt. Col. Daniel Wagner, the officer-in-charge for the detachment from 4th Civil Affairs Group, observed that 50 percent of the workforce that constructed the base was comprised of Afghan citizens. He saw more than a collection of military buildings in the work that was done. To him the chance to train Afghans in a vocation, employ them and unite them with their military is an opportunity to be exploited.

With a communications facility, barracks, a dining facility, and maintenance bays, the base can hold more than 1,000 troops. The ceremony today marked the completion of phase one construction.

At 11:17 a.m. the flag of the Government of the Islamic Republic of
Afghanistan was raised for the first time."

• Date Taken: 03.15.2011
• Date Posted: 03.15.2011 14:46
• Story ID: 67114
• Location: HELMAN PROVINCE, AF