ZABUL PROVINCE, Afghanistan (10/11/11) - A Virginia Army National Guard and an active duty Soldier were both hand-selected for Operation Fairbanks, a recent route-clearing and checkpoint construction mission here, because of their civilian work experience as electricians.
The mission of Operation Fairbanks, five months in the planning, was to reclaim "Route Chicken," a road between the provincial capital, Qalat, and the district capital, Mizan.
The road was subject to Taliban attacks and remained uncleared for military and civilian traffic for the past year. In a combined effort between U.S. active and Guard forces and Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police, the road was cleared of improvised explosive devices and checkpoints were built every five miles for Afghan National Army troops.
It was the checkpoints that required electrical expertise.
Army National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Brian F. Powers from Port Republic, Va., of the Virginia Army National Guard's 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and Army Pfc. David M. Combs of Fyffe, Ala., of Charlie Company 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division out of Fort Wainwright, Alaska, were the two Soldiers hand-picked for the mission.
Powers, on his third deployment in 18 years, is a heavy equipment operator engineer for the Guard and has worked as a maintenance supervisor for a civilian company specializing in electrical repairs for 14 years. Combs, 39, is an Infantryman and recent enlistee on his first deployment.
"I was a general contractor before I enlisted in 2010," said Combs. "The market taking a downturn allowed me an opportunity to do something I've always wanted to do - grab my last chance to serve my country as a Soldier. The major that I used to work for in the operations shop specifically requested me for this mission."
A generator was installed at each checkpoint to provide power for ANA troops.
"The first installation was a little rough since it was the first one," said Combs. "Installing a generator was a new experience for me. I've never worked on one before."
Powers assisted with the electrical work under unusual circumstances.
"The active duty guys were perfectly capable," said Powers. "They had done it before and they wanted me in there in case there was a snafu. For instance, I had trouble getting one of the generators down to 220 volts because the voltage regulator wasn't working properly. You can't get parts out here because we're in the middle of nowhere. If the generator hadn't started working, it would have been a logistical nightmare."
After the completion of Operation Fairbanks and the withdrawal of U.S. troops, ANA soldiers assumed responsibility for maintaining all equipment, including the generators. The recent graduating class at the Afghan National Army non-commissioned officer school in Qalat had a class on generator operations. Some of the ANA soldiers stationed at the checkpoints are graduates of that class.
"I believe they have the capability to maintain the equipment," said Powers. "As long as they check the water and oil, the generators will run for almost forever."
"Regular maintenance - that's going to be the main challenge," added Combs.
Powers was as enthusiastic as Combs about the honor of being hand-picked for the mission.
"Out of everyone in the unit, I was selected for this mission," said Powers. "No matter how tired you get at the end of the day, I'll always remember that. And I'll bet everyone back at the base reading the reports is jealous of us being out here."
For the operation, Powers also conducted an engineering road survey - examining culverts along the road and the capability for water to pass through them, specifically the width of the road, road materials and ratio of paved vs. unpaved surfaces.
"We'll go back and write-up an analysis of the roads," said Powers. "Headquarters will generate a contract using local contractors to fix any problems.
"Everything we do now we try to do with local contracting to help the economy."