Generator course revs up Afghan transition

CAMP LEATHERNECK, AFGHANISTAN

04.24.2012

Story by Petty Officer 3rd Class Monique LaRouche 

Regional Command Southwest

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan – Being the new student on the first day of school often leaves an uneasy feeling. But what about the instructor, he has the planning and coordinating of the course, building a solid foundation for success.

This is the case for the Raheem Gul, the newest instructor at Joint Sustainment Academy Southwest. Gul will be making history being the first Afghan leading Afghan instructor.

Gul, once a student at JSAS, is now standing in the front of the class teaching.

“When I first got here I was student, I demonstrated good working skills,” said Gul, a sergeant for the Afghan National Army. “They offered me the instructor position.”

He has been at JSAS for more than a year training side by side with the Marine instructors. When the time was right, Gul was ready to take the lead, teaching his own course.

“It is a good feeling to be able to teach my people,” said Gul. “I would especially like to thank the Marine Corps. They helped me get where I am now.”

Gul taught the generator maintenance course. It consists of basic knowledge of generator systems and hooking up the power distribution system.

Generators power almost everything here and even a country as small as Afghanistan must learn to sustain itself.

“Generators give off power and electricity, without electricity we cannot do anything,” said Gul. “We would not be able to eat in our chow hall or work in our offices without it. So we need them, on the compound and on the base.”

The week starts out with basic safety, prestart, generator checks, checking the oil and fuels, checking for loose wires and fuses. As the week continued, the students are taught to run the grounding system, hooking up main breakers, subpanels, putting in breakers, switches, lights and outlets.

Gul and Petty Officer 2nd Class Jacob Simino, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 11, evaluate the curriculum daily. Simino, a combat engineer and a native of St. Louis, touches upon some of the areas of electricity. Simino shared his experiences of working in the field and one of his favorite missions was to Vietnam helping build schools there.

“It makes me very proud to pass down my knowledge to the soldiers,” said Simino. “I always like the humanitarian aspect of giving back to other people.”

Gul and Simino communicate through a translator and value the common goal of working together to help sustain Afghanistan. Gul has taken huge steps to become the teacher and Simino is there as a helping hand in case Gul should need guidance along the way.
After the classroom work is done, the students concentrate on practical application.

The students got their hands dirty, grounding wires and checking the mechanics of the generators.

Simino addressed the students on electrical theory involving voltage, resistance, wattage and power.

For anyone dealing with electricity, it is important to know how much voltage a generator is outputting, what the resistance is for the grounding and electrical dissipation into the ground. It is important for safety, said Simino.

“Working with electricity there is a risk of always being shocked,” said Simino.

Simino explained getting electrocuted is uncommon. Even before the course began the students were given a safety brief. In the classroom, they ran through possibilities of shock and the things to prevent or even stop it.

The students are policemen and members of the Afghan National Army. They will be able to maintain their own camps and be self-sufficient. They can teach this to others in their villages.

“I will be able to maintain the generators of my unit, my own home and this will help my family,” said Abdul Qudim, a student in the class. “I am grateful for the course and there is a lot of information I can take to my people.”

“We have generators in our brigade, but we have no one to fix them,” said Gul. “When the students come to JSAS, our commanders are happy.”

“This will help our country, “added Gul with confidence.

Gul had nervous smile as he carried the stack of diplomas, his first students have passed the practical and written exams. After many long days and nights of learning the operations and maintenance of the generators, the students graduated.

“He did a great job,” said Simino.

Gul was present on the stage with the leadership and commanders of the academy, former students and members of NMCB-11.

It is a big day for Gul. He carefully watched his class walk across the stage to receive their diplomas, he whispered words of encouragement before they marched before the leaders.

The class rose to attention for the National Anthem and after a prayer Lt. Col. Michael Cromwell Director of JSAS, spoke in Pashtu, as he welcomed everyone to the graduation ceremony.

“In the past ten days these soldiers and policemen have learned fundamental generator maintenance training, critical to sustain security operations,” said Cromwell. “The knowledge gained will improve their units’ effectiveness while conducting operations in southwest Afghanistan.”

Cromwell, thanked Gul in is heartfelt speech, for his instruction and hard work. He also gave a warm thank you to NMCB-11, JSAS Marines, and the interpreters.

“The hard work of this combined team insured that these students received the best possible training,” said Cromwell. “This basic knowledge is something they can build on for their community and Afghanistan,” said Cromwell.

Executive training and educational officer, Maj. Gulam Hosain also gave words of encouragement to the graduating class. They will take what they have learned to the places in Afghanistan that need it the most, said Hosian.

As the students received their certificates, Gul was all smiles. Gul learned that being the teacher has more rewards than just teaching the class.

• Date Taken: 04.24.2012
• Date Posted: 04.26.2012 01:41
• Story ID: 87354
• Location: CAMP LEATHERNECK, AF