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WASHINGTON D.C. (February 27, 2008) - U.S. Army engineers are
busy building roads and security outposts that are helping put
previously isolated Afghans onto the path of peace and prosperity,
a senior U.S. military officer posted in Afghanistan said
today.
Soldiers assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division's 36th Engineer
Brigade have constructed nearly 200 miles of secondary roads across
daunting terrain since they arrived in eastern Afghanistan in March
2007, Brigade Commander Col. Richard Stevens told Pentagon
reporters during a satellite-carried news conference.
Those mostly gravel roads "traverse some of the most remote,
mountainous and, if I may say, rugged terrain in the world,"
Stevens said.
The engineers' road- and trail-building projects have connected
about 120,000 Afghans living in 34 previously isolated villages,
the colonel said.
New roads and trails constructed by the military engineers "not
only allow coalition forces to reach areas that were previously
inaccessible, they also provide the Afghan people better security,
better access to their government, and increased opportunity for
commerce," Stevens explained.
Stevens' soldiers also have constructed seven new security bases
and outposts in support of the "clear, hold and build" strategy
employed against insurgents.
The new bases and outposts "allow the security forces to extend
their presence and live among the people," Stevens explained, which
is a key tenet of anti-insurgency operations in Afghanistan.
Stevens' brigade also has a countermine element that has
inspected more than 40,000 miles of Afghan roadways and trails
while conducting 1,200 missions in search of enemy-emplaced
improvised explosive devices.
"Their efforts to find and clear IEDs make the roads safer for
coalition and Afghan security forces, as well as the civilian
population," Stevens said.
Most enemy-emplaced mines discovered in his area of operations
are crude, homemade devices of the contact-detonation variety,
Stevens said. More technically advanced bombs using radio signals
for detonation are rare, he noted, likely because of the
effectiveness of the coalition's anti-mine countermeasures.
The 36th Brigade works closely with Afghan authorities during
its endeavors, Stevens said, to include partnering with the Afghan
military during road building, bridging and demining operations or
while conducting construction-skills training classes for the
Afghan public.
Teaching basic construction skills to local Afghans provides a
livelihood and enhances employability, Stevens said. About 150
Afghans in his area have learned carpentry and other construction
skills, and about 30 workshop graduates have found employment with
his brigade as contractors, he said.
Unemployed Afghans are more "susceptible to the Taliban's
influence," Stevens said.
In addition, Commander's Emergency Response Program funds have
been used to build local schools and to fund other
community-improvement projects, Stevens said.
"All of these initiatives are done with the assistance of and in
close coordination with our Afghan partners," he said.
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