Army Corps of Engineers Lays Foundation for Quality Construction (ESSAYONS)

American Forces Press Service ^ | Spc. Brandon Sandefur, USA

[SandRat]

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Feb. 13, 2009 – Members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently mentored Afghan contractors to ensure the construction of a new school in northeastern Afghanistan’s Laghman province will last through the harsh climate for years to come.

Bill Stratton, from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, puts mortar on a brick as he demonstrates the proper technique to construct a wall in northeastern Afghanistan’s Laghman province, Feb. 3, 2009. Stratton is teaching construction techniques to Afghans as they work on The Center of Excellence, a school for boys. U.S. Army photo  
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

Bill Stratton and Bill Martin, both Kennewick, Wash., natives, assisted Afghan contractors on The Center of Excellence, a boy’s school for 5- to 15-year-olds. Afghan contractors completed the project with the skills needed to build a lasting building.

“We mentor the contractor on bricklaying and how to do a basic design for a building,” Stratton said. “We had a bricklaying class here at [Forward Operating Base Mehtar Lam]; we had a practical exercise, and we visited the job site.”

Martin and Stratton also taught the Afghan contractors other skills. “We taught them how to mix mortar, and the difference between mortar for stone vs. mortar for brick,” Stratton said. “They did not know there was a difference before we showed them, so they now have better quality in their construction.”

The instructors used hands-on training to ensure the skills were properly imparted. “They’ve learned these bricklaying skills from their father, so it’s hard to get them to switch to the ideas of a total stranger,” Stratton said.

This is Stratton’s fifth trip to the country. He noted that the construction quality has greatly improved.

“The quality of work on my first deployment to Mehtar Lam was pretty poor,” Stratton said. “Statements of work didn’t hold the contractor to the standards they now do. The quality of construction is much better now, and statements of work are 15 to 20 pages with detailed explanation of the work to be done and the technical requirements.”

(Army Spc. Brandon Sandefur serves with the 1st Infantry Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team public affairs office.

[SandRat]

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[Joe Boucher]

SandRat,
I’m not meaning to be negative but here in Florida the Army corps of Engineers are the ones responsible for screwing up the Kissimmee River, Lake Okeechobee, and the everglades.
I’ve no confidence in them any more.

[SandRat]

Cybilian Engineers are the problem, not Combat Engineers doing work for the CofEng.

[Karliner]

Don't forget a bundle of Harbors...I mean whowoulda thunks the currents in California travel north-South?

Granted to Army Corps create projects , and successful ones aalso, heck I started off in the Army drafting your basic sh*thouse that "do not roll down the mountain WHEN said COLONEL is ______ing in it." I often wonder if I ever ended up in Leavenworth building what was in the old imagination sector...I'd end up getting the dinky dow dip dunk who put the Colonels sh*thuose on rollers or whatever he did.

Neverthe less i am always anmazed how much our country gives and gives BIG vie the men abd women in the Army Corps of Engineers...but why the heck didn't the SeaBees blow up the California reefs, screw the pooch on the San Onofre Kelp Beds( Otherwise known as the San Onofre Nuclear generating Station), and about twenty other projects that not only CHANGED currents but ruined some of the best fishing and diving reefs( yes and surfing reefs) in the whole state?

Nevertheless, the Army Corps of Engineers have done a lot for other nations, our own, and I hope the folks in Afghanistan can at least be somewhat thankful...before they blow the stuff up like they did the two huge Buddhas...I wonder in the ACof E's are rebuilding Saddam Obama Hussein's Babylon in Iraq...much safer than the streets of Baghdad.