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New Radios Improve ANA Communications and Enhance Military Operations

Story and Photos by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Mack Davis, Office of Military Cooperation – Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan—The Afghan National Army can now talk freely—from Kandahar, to Kabul, to Herat—thanks to recently received communication equipment that replaced Soviet-era radios and systems.

Implementing the new communications system was a complex task. Attempting to set up and manage all the different aspects of the country-wide tactical communication network was even more difficult, requiring the procurement and deployment of various equipment types; installation into different environments; and training for administrators, operators and maintainers.

The Office of Military Cooperation-Afghanistan assigned that task to its communication section in Kabul.

According to Sgt. 1st Class David Miller, an Army Reservist with the 3rd Battalion Signal Command, Anderson, Ind., and head of the OMC-A tactical communication section, “We are on track with what we have to complete. This is a challenge, but of a good sort. I thought I would be repairing radios here, and was surprised that I was honored to have such a high level of responsibility.”

In the past the ANA relied on older, Soviet-style radio equipment, the R130 and the R123 for high frequency and very high frequency communication. They also used the PRC-77—a man-pack short-range VHF radio the United States deployed during the Vietnam War era.

The difficulty was finding someone to conduct the training and maintain the radios once deployed.

According to Capt. Stephen Robinson, Alabama Army National Guardsman and embedded trainer during Coalition Joint Task Force Phoenix II, the Romanian Army used to provide some communications training and repair at the ANA’s Pol-e-Charki site.

“The biggest challenge for them was making daily repairs on the Soviet radios while trying to conduct training at the same time,” said Robinson. “Repair parts were almost non-existent, and the U.S. embedded trainers had never seen the radios before.”

Mixing Afghan soldiers, U.S. trainers, Romanian instructors, several interpreters and Soviet radios presented some challenges.

The first mission for the OMC-A communications team was to find a company that had some experience with similar circumstances. They assembled a summary task list of equipment and initiated a bid process in the United States. U.S. company Datron World Communications Inc. won the contract to provide communication equipment and training to the Afghan Army.

OMC-A chose four types of radios and repair part kits to give the army both long-range communication capabilities and squad-level abilities. The Datron RT7000 long-range high-frequency radio and the PRC-1099 man-portable HF radio will replace the R130 Soviet-style radios. These radios have the capability to communicate between Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, Gardez and back to Central Corps in the Kabul area.

The Datron PRC-1077 man-pack radio and the PRC-1070 hand-held radios will be very high frequency and will complement the U.S. PRC-77. The ANA will use these radios for platoon and squad-level communications.

Maj. Brad Letner, Materiel Officer for OMC-A, said the U.S. government has spent $46.5 million dollars on radios and $1.7 million on repair parts for the Afghan National Army. The British Government provided an additional $6 million dollars.

Each of the repair part packets was put together to give the radios a 10-year serviceability.

After the equipment started arriving in Afghanistan it was time to begin the training process.

Robert Fable is the project coordinator for Datron in Afghanistan. A retired Marine master sergeant in the communication field, Fable has worked for Datron for four years.

Fable’s first visit to Afghanistan was in March 2004, when he set up Datron’s program. His first step was to develop administrator-level training, which focused on how to program the radios and properly deploy them for optimum use. Training included choosing the appropriate antenna, setting up communication networks and procedures for handling radio traffic. He also initiated operator-level training, primarily a non-technical approach to equipment use.

At the same time Fable was trying to get his training program off the ground, the U.S. embedded trainers and the ANA were deploying throughout Afghanistan.

Said Fable, “During the day I would teach one-week classes to the ANA on how to use the different types of radios, and at night I’d meet with the ETTs to bring them up-to-date on the equipments’ capabilities.” One key difference between the older radios and the new Datron equipment was the new radios are digital.

Fable continued to work almost around the clock in Afghanistan until June 2004, training 100 ANA soldiers and many U.S. advisors. While “a lot of the Afghan men do not have a formal education,” said Fable, “They are really sharp and pick up on the equipment. They have a genuine interest on learning the radios so they can do their jobs.”

Because of the tremendous growth in the Afghan Army, Fable has returned again to train the ANA soldiers. During the next five months, Fable will concentrate on intermediate and depot-level maintenance courses.

To maintain the equipment throughout its lifespan, the Afghan Army and the Ministry of Defense will have to be able to troubleshoot and repair the Datron radios. Saad Forouk, Afghan Ministry of Defense Communication Officer, said, “I welcome the training we are receiving. It will be my office that will be responsible for the fault identification and advanced trouble repairs, and I want to learn all I can while the instructor is here.”

The ANA has used the radios in Afghanistan since March 2004, allowing Fable to concentrate repair training on faults appearing in the field environment. He has prepared the ANA to sustain the equipment in the future, through train-the-trainer programs. While the Ministry of Defense will provide some future training, future communication mobile training teams from the United States will include classes on the Datron radio as part of their Signal Course.

Whether calling in reports from Kandahar to the Central Corps in Kabul, or calling for additional troops when quelling a riot in Herat, the Afghan soldiers will have the equipment to enable their efforts to provide peace and security to the people of Afghanistan.

The Bayji power plant supplies 270 megawatts of power to the Iraqi power grid. Photo by Harry Weddington

Engineers Work Together to Improve Iraq's Power Production

American Forces Press Service

March 28, 2005 – As March draws to a close, temperatures in Iraq are on the rise. Getting more electricity on the national grid is of foremost concern as the summer months draw near. An international team of engineers and technical professionals at the Bayji power plant has spent the past nine months working to get an additional 270 megawatts of power on the grid, which is enough energy to power more than 200,000 Iraqi homes and businesses.

The Bayji power plant supplies 270 megawatts of power to the Iraqi power grid. Photo by Harry Weddington (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

In April 2004, a $64 million contract was awarded to Odebrecht-Austin, Joint Venture to rehabilitate two gas turbine units, each capable of generating 135 megawatts of power. After months of hard work, the units had “first fires” Feb. 25 and March 11 and started applying power to the national grid March 3 and 16. Final reliability tests are being performed, and the project will be transferred to the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity this month, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials said.

OAJV began work at Bayji in June 2004. The plant, which is located along the Tigris River, is a central location for oil lines and 400 kilovolt transmission lines that feed electricity to various parts of the country.

“This site is ideal for refurbishing and increasing the reliability of current power generation,” said Bob Kennedy, resident engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Kennedy’s background in electrical engineering was heavily utilized during the rehab. As the resident engineer, he provides construction oversight and quality assurance. The project’s intent was to restore the two units to a level where power could be generated on a reliable basis, he explained.

“The overall objective is to increase power output and capacity through immediate rehabilitation of this plant,” Kennedy said. “The project includes the assessment, replacement and rehabilitation of all essential generation components, fuel infrastructure, substations and transmission lines, subordinate equipment, transformers, electrical switchgears and other devices necessary for the production of reliable power for Iraq.”

When the contractor’s personnel arrived, they found only a shell, Kennedy explained. The turbines were only partially constructed, and the plant had been abandoned for four years. Project materials sat unused for several years, and some had been removed and used elsewhere.

The project has employed as many as 1,100 Iraqis, and workers from all around the world have contributed. The project has been an international effort among Americans, Brazilians, Canadians, Chileans, Colombians, English, Germans, Indians, Iraqis, Irish, Jordanians, Scots, and Turks, Kenney said. “Together they have all worked as a team, fully committed to Bayji. They turned many obstacles around and overcame daily challenges.”

The Bayji area and the pipeline around the plant have been targets for the insurgency, Kennedy explained. When insurgents attacked an oil pipeline near Bayji, a picture Kennedy took of the resulting fire reached the Pentagon several hours later and was used to brief President Bush. The oil fire burned through a 400-kilovolt line, which fell into the river and created a cascading effect, causing 90 percent of the power in the country to “trip off line,” Kennedy said.

Company officials expressed pride in their work on the project. “We are proud of our contribution to the improved living conditions of so many people, as well as the trust of our client on our ability to deliver in such a harsh environment,” said Paulo Suffredini, executive vice president with OAJV.

Completion of the contract required expertise in civil, electrical and mechanical engineering, as well as tenacity and lots of hard work. The contractor was able to move around the axiom, “You can’t do things quickly in Iraq,” Kennedy said.

“The Odebrecht materials manager could get almost anything from anywhere to this plant in several days,” he said. “On several occasions he got replacement electronic modules from Germany in less than 24 hours. The project team constantly adapted to meet the needs of the moment and had a great management team.”

Now that the project is complete, Kennedy, who arrived at Bayji in September, is preparing to leave for his next assignment. “This is exactly what I was looking to do to help the Iraqi people,” he said. “When I get home after my 13 month tour, I will go home knowing I have done something useful for mankind and my Iraqi friends. This was truly an experience of a lifetime.”

Since the “Restore Iraqi Electricity” mission began in late 2003, over 1,900 megawatts of power have been added to the national grid, enough to service 5.4 million Iraqi homes. Over 1,400 electrical towers and 8,600 kilometers of transmission lines have been installed and over $4 billion have been allocated from the U.S. supplemental to address the electrical system improvements.

The successful rehabilitation of units 3 and 4 has added an additional 10 percent to the Iraqi grid, Suffredini said. “The project will provide for substantial easing of living conditions for the Iraqi people,” he said. “We are proud of what we have accomplished here.”

(Nicole Dalrymple works for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region Northern District.)

U.S. Army Col. Michael Chesney, director of the Joint Effects Assessment Cell for Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan, hands a young Afghan boy a backpack full of school supplies during a March 27, 2005, visit to Khoshal Khan Boarding School in Kabul, Afghanistan, while the school's principal, Gul Ahmad Waziri, right, checks the boy's name off from his list. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Darren D. Heusel

Coalition Efforts Benefit Kuchi Students

After two decades of war, enrollment at the Khoshal Khan boarding school for boys fell to five students; now, however, the school boasts an enrollment of 1,030 students.

By U.S.Army Sgt. 1st Class Darren D. Heusel
105th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

KABUL, Afghanistan, March 28, 2005 — Representatives of the Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan Joint Effects Assessment Cell set out March 27 to effect change for some students of the Khoshal Khan Boarding School here.

And if smiles, handshakes and hugs were any indication, their mission was a tremendous success.

Nine members of the Effects Cell, which includes Information Operations, Psychological Operations and Political Military Operations, joined with representatives from the Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan Operations Department and the Office of Military Cooperation-Afghanistan to deliver 275 backpacks filled with school supplies as a gesture of goodwill and to learn more about the Afghan culture.

“Many of us have children back home and miss our time with them,” said Capt. Chris Crosby of Castle Rock, Wash., one of the event organizers and a member of the Effects Cell.

“Opportunities to share with other children help us to suppress our feelings of being away from our families. In addition, we are only here a short while and desire to make an enduring difference in the relations between the United States and the people of Afghanistan,” Crosby added. “How else can we demonstrate our goodwill than by assisting the children and the helpless?”

Khoshal Khan is an all-boys boarding school for students in grades six through 12 on the outskirts of Kabul. It was established in 1948 for children of the Kuchi tribe, a nomadic people whose tribes are scattered throughout Afghanistan.

“I sincerely appreciate your help and your assistance with the school,” school principal Gul Ahmad Waziri

The Kuchi children attend school from March through December, while their parents travel the countryside allowing the families’ livestock to graze.

More than 5,000 students attended the school from 1948 through 2004. But more than two decades of war took their toll; toward the end of the wartorn period, the school was serving only five students.

Today, the school boasts an enrollment of 1,030 students with another 600 arriving soon, according to Gul Ahmad Waziri, the school’s principal.

“I sincerely appreciate your help and your assistance with the school,” Waziri told the U.S. servicemembers soon after their arrival. “As you are aware, the war has torn apart our country and we are trying to get through this transition period the best we can.”

Col. Michael Chesney of Carlisle Barracks, Pa., the Effects director, told the principal he looked forward to meeting some of the students and faculty because “we believe this is where the future of Afghanistan lies.”

“We’d like to see educational opportunities available to everyone eventually,” he said.

Last summer, the National Provincial Reconstruction Team, a civil affairs operation based in Kabul and belonging to Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan, conducted an assessment of the Khoshal Khan Boarding School and later donated $700,000 for improvements to the school.

Those improvements included the installation of electricity and running water, three newly remodeled dormitories with indoor bathrooms and showers, 15 classrooms that can hold up to 80 students each, a library, an administration building and a dining facility.

The efforts of the National Provincial Reconstruction Team culminated with a grand reopening of the school on Jan. 15. Since then, the school has become part of the command's community outreach program, where servicemembers volunteer their personal time to serve the community.

Crosby said he and a colleague, Maj. Rob Earl of Brandon, Fla., gained interest in the project after attending a community outreach meeting about four weeks ago.

Members of the Joint Effects Assessment Cell from Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan hand out stuffed animals to faculty members of the Khoshal Khan Boarding School to be given away to their to their students during a March 27, 2005, humanitarian assistance mission to the school in which 275 backpacks full of supplies were also given away. The stuffed animals were donated by the students of Gwin Oaks Elementary School in Lawrenceville, Ga. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Darren D. Heusel

“We chose the Kuchi School because we call ourselves Kuchis,” he said. “Since our arrival at Camp Eggers, we have moved five times and have shared desks and worked out of the coffee shop.

“From this experience, we have some affection for the nomadic wanderers of Afghanistan. As it turned out, our cultural advisor also worked with this school after its near destruction following years of war.”

Not only did Crosby and Earl volunteer to assist the Kuchi School, they also proposed the Effects Cell adopt the school as a community outreach project. Chesney would later vow his complete support for the entire directorate.

Once onboard, Effects personnel set aside time on Thursday nights to pack the school kits in the Pool House Conference Room.

By involving others such as Office of Military Cooperation-Afghanistan Capt. David Betz of Spring Grove, Pa., and Maj. Jimmie James of Wasilla, Alaska, Sgt. 1st Class Reggie Cyrus of Oakland, Calif., and Staff Sgt. Richard Silvano of Albany, N.Y., all from the Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan Operations Department, Crosby said he hoped to create a desire in the servicemembers to take on other volunteer projects like this one.

“There are a number of schools, orphanages, hospitals and daycares in need of support,” he said. “The time spent by our soldiers interacting with the children and needy will break down cultural stereotypes and demonstrate the good hearts of the American people.”

Sher Ahmad, cultural advisor for the Effects Cell, said all the materials given away on the March 27 visit were donated from individuals and family members of servicemembers from the United States.

Crosby said those gifts have created a conduit between the families and friends back home and the people of Afghanistan. “We are all working together to restore Afghanistan,” he said. “These efforts will make a direct impact on the minds of children that may be swayed by extremist organizations in the future.

“The goodwill of our service members ties our cultures togetherwith a bond of friendship.”

Also participating in the humanitarian mission from the command were: Staff Sgt. Greggory Zeliff of Whitefish, Mont.; Sgt. Joel Tavolacci of Fredericksburg, Va.; Sgt. Buffy Schmidt of South Haven, Minn.; Maj. Donald P. Taylor of Stafford, Va.; and Maj. Allison Stewart of Zephyr Hills, Fla.