Commander's Update - from July 11, 2009

Now entering our fourth month in theater, the 166th Engineer Company continues with its projects throughout southeastern Afghanistan.

1st Platoon is working on projects focused on FOB Sharana. Their first project, expanding the Brigade Tactical Operations Center, is complete. They've moved on to building a Morale Welfare and Recreation center for Engineer Soldiers as their primary project.

They're also working throughout FOB Sharana to emplace new force protection barriers and build new guard towers, and they are our “go to” platoon for emergency missions in our Area of Operations.

There was a recent attack at a nearby Combat Outpost, which has required 1st Platoon's efforts to rebuild. This has slowed their pace here somewhat, but they're quickly gaining ground. While the bulk of their work has been on FOB Sharana, they've increasingly been asked to do more with less. A good number of the platoon is on leave or preparing to go on leave and they're constantly begged to provide soldiers to build a door, build some shelves, frame and pour concrete, etc., none of which is effort applied any of their tasked projects. On the other hand, lending a helping hand often opens a door for help toward getting our hands on building supplies or toward getting priority on a flight for our soldiers or materials to one location or another. The expectation is that future projects on of the FOB here will decrease and that those throughout the general Area of Operations will increase.

2nd Platoon continues its focus on Winterization throughout southeastern Afghanistan and their work on building FOB Sharana's new Entry Control Point (ECP). Issues related to transportation of the soldiers and building materials remains an issue for us, but we're adjusting and trying new avenues to ensure we accomplish the mission. All assessments were wrapped up a week prior to the suspense, and we're hopeful for providing the same result with the actual construction at each of the locations. 2nd Platoon was the first to be sent out on a mission, and it was a tough one. They built almost two dozen guard towers in southern Afghanistan at an expanding Forward Operating Base, and it required that they do their work in full battle gear (which tends to weigh close to 50 lbs in total). The soldiers were hopeful that they wouldn't have a similar experience at any point in the future, but they're in the same boat when working on their ECP. With rising temperatures, it's a challenge to maintain the same intensity that they're usually capable of pushing. They're doing a fantastic job nonetheless.

3rd Platoon, currently working with the 168th Engineer Company, has completed its work toward building the new Jordanian Combat Outpost and has moved onto another new COP construction project. Their day to day lives have been difficult, given that their living conditions have been austere at best. Washing laundry by hand, finding dust and dirt in every crevice and even in their food, and sleeping on hard cots every night are just a few of the challenges. Given the limited number of vertical construction engineers and increasing pace in Afghanistan, they're already being pushed toward their newest mission. Despite the fast pace, their platoon leader is doing a terrific job of managing resources and priorities to ensure that every soldier receives several days to clean his or her gear, rest, and prepare for the next step. Of course, he is receiving an amazing level of support from his soldiers and NCOs.

Our platoon of soldiers from Indiana’s 1613th Engineer Company have proven to be an invaluable asset to our efforts here. They have become well-versed and play a part in every type of mission we support in Afghanistan. While their focus is on horizontal (earth work) missions, they have provided soldiers and expertise in every vertical mission and also in our ongoing Winterization efforts. They’ve also had the added task of learning to manage, utilize, and work with Local National contractors to widen our capacity. This, to say the least, has been an interesting and beneficial experience. If we had the option of taking these soldiers back to Alabama as a permanent addition to the unit, we wouldn’t hesitate.

The headquarters platoon's focus on supporting all of our fine soldiers is right on track. Most of this effort is managed on FOB Sharana, but there are some that are needed elsewhere. This primarily applies to our medics and supply personnel, who are needed either on mission locations or at Bagram. They too are doing a great job and doing all they can to take care of all of our folks.

All of the 166th Engineer Company soldiers are doing a fantastic job. We're now spread out across the country supporting three different Task Forces, but I continue to receive positive, often ecstatic, feedback from the leadership of those the soldiers have gone to help. The temperatures are now approaching or exceeding 100 degrees at every location, and dust storms and enemy activity seems to be more frequent. Regardless of those and many of the other dozens of challenges we face on a daily basis, the soldiers' quality of work, morale, and efforts never cease to impress.