Contracting Adventures in Afghanistan
My all-expense paid trip to Afghanistan included an eight month tour in the mountainous Kunar Province. In 2012, I was a logistics officer assigned to the 25th Infantry Division (25ID) out of Hawaii, I was deployed to the remote Kunar Province in Eastern Afghanistan. This province is not for the faint hearted, it sits directly in line with the Hindu-Kush Mountains amid extensive cave networks, impenetrable terrain and is home to multiple insurgent groups. It is the favored spot of Taliban forces, Al-Qaeda fighters, and Mujahedeen militias. Criminal activity is widespread and the routine smuggling of precious stones, natural minerals and lumber are organized along tribal lines. With all of this going on, Kunar province was a focus area for allied and Afghan forces to conduct counterinsurgency operations. These forces needed continual re-supply in some very technical terrain, so logistics was a very challenging endeavor in the Kunar province. Air assets, particularly the Chinooks, were rarely available for large scale re-supply as they were usually allocated for troop exfiltration (exfil) and casualty evacuation (CASEVAC). The only way to get supplies and resources to the warfighters was to get them as far forward and/or close to the fight as possible with what may be called a Forward Logistics Element (FLE). This is what I was doing on my all-expense paid trip to Afghanistan, well, sort of.
Kunar Province is one of the four "N2KL" provinces (Nangarhar Province, Nuristan Province, Kunar Province and Laghman Province). N2KL was the designation used by the US and Coalition Forces in Afghanistan for the rugged region along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border opposite Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (merged in 2018 with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). Kunar is the center of the N2KL region.
Shortly after my arrival in theater, it was announced by US senior leadership in Afghanistan that US forces would be shifting away from kinetic operations in order to focus on partnering and training the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). The Provincial Reconstruction Teams or PRTs had already been active for years but this was different, it was a complete change of mission. This was a big deal, because it meant that warfighters would now have to restrain their inclinations in order to focus on partnering, mentoring and nationbuilding. A problem, because alpha males in Afghanistan shoot bad guys in the face, they don’t shake hands and they’re not good at building bridges, they blow them up… Logisticians were tagged as the subject matter experts for construction contracting, service contracting and the array of support activities that would provide the physical infrastructure for the joint environment. Apparently, the Army’s plan was to sprinkle fairy dust on us Logisticians and make us multi-functional subject matter experts overnight, so, thats where I come in. Within my command, it was quickly decided that I would be the first logistics guy to go up North to the Kunar province in order to immediately begin partnering with the Afghan National Army (ANA) unit that we were assigned to sponsor. There was only one problem, they weren’t up there, they were stationed near us down in the relatively relaxed area around Jalalabad.
My mission was to move up to the Kunar province, establish a presence with the locals, and to prepare for the re-location of the ANA unit that we were sponsoring up to the Kunar Province. This would close the gap and put them hundreds of miles closer to the infantry units that they supported. The Fifth (5th) Afghan National Army (ANA) logistics Kandak was our unit and was comprised of about 250 Afghan National Army Soldiers, all with rudimentary training in transport operations, supply and carpentry. Some of my peers were assigned to work with the preparation efforts down around Jalalabad and I received word that our Afghan friends were not pleased with permanently re-locating up to the insurgent controlled Kunar province. They understood the reasoning behind the move but still tried desperately to avoid this move, but in the end their efforts were futile. The Afghan infantry units that they supported were all operating in the Kunar Province and their responsive re-supply was not only urgent, but critical. They were to be garrisoned at a remote and austere compound about eight miles from the border with Pakistan. There were mountains, buttes, and jagged hills surrounding this small compound and when I arrived, all I could do was look at the dozens of potential overlooking positions that an enemy sniper could occupy. I wore my individual body armor system everywhere, but after many long hot days, it became impractical, so I stripped all of that down at great risk, but as long as I remained on the compound, I was generally safe, I figured. The shock of being so exposed was best described in the book titled “Red Platoon”, written by Clinton Romesha. He was a squad leader in a 4ID Brigade Combat Team (BCT) assigned to Combat Outpost (COP) Keating, this COP was actually just up the Main Supply Route (MSR) from my location, but that is another story, I would strongly recommend reading this book.
Upon arrival I began to assess requirements, and there were a lot, and with almost no capability, no vehicle and no contracting authority it was shaping up to be a fun mission. I was to oversee the immediate construction of an entire barracks complex, put service contracts into place, and facilitate the construction of a Joint Tactical Operations Center (JTOC) while simultaneously setting up an administrative office for follow-on US logistics officers and NCOs. Additional responsibilities included the training and supervision of five Afghan Army Soldiers. These ANA Soldiers were dispatched from the 5th kandak down South in Jalalabad and ordered to report to me in order to provide me labor and assistance throughout this early process of standing up this compound.
Within a few days of notification that I would have ANA Soldiers under me, three of the five men showed up one evening at the compound unannounced and with no sleeping bags or gear of any kind. I had to scavenge whatever I could find at 10:30 pm to get these guys settled. Of course, it was a big red flag that these guys just appear late at night and completely unprepared, but on the other hand, I was happy to have some semblance of a team now. The next morning, an interpreter appeared from nowhere and he stated that he had been assigned to me for as long as I needed him, ok, I thought, now things are coming together. I was with the interpreter 12-14 hrs. /day and he became sort of cultural aid, counselor and ended up being a good friend. I am purposefully excluding names.
As previously discussed, I had limited resources and almost no support from the local US light infantry units as they were not concerned in the least with my predicament, they had their own challenges. My unit down in Jalalabad was focused on supporting US force logistics and preparing the main body of the 5th Kandak for the move. Once I fully realized that I was on my own, I started reaching out to local and regional contracting officials, I lived on the Defense Acquistion University (DAU) website (despite unreliable internet service) and got my contracting credentials and authorities in place. Soon, I was off and running and after a careful analysis of available resources, I began preparing contract documentation for all of the life support items needed to maintain this Afghan compound. Luckily, the primary construction contract had already been executed and was underway. I was assigned as the Contracting Officer’s Representative or COR by the Regional Contracting Command (RCC) which was managed by the US Air Force for some reason. This primary contract covered the construction of the six to eight buildings that would serve as the primary infrastructure for the ANA compound, which was also the contract vehicle for everything else. Like most things, the devil was in the details, in this case, there were a lot of details. For starters, there was no wiring backbone for the buildings, which meant no power, there was a sewer system but it had not been emptied in months and had never been serviced, there was no motor pool for their vehicles, no ammunition storage, a malfunctioning well pump and no dining facility written into the contract. I had a lot of work before me so my operational rhythm had doubled within the span of two weeks after arriving.
Meanwhile, I had my ANA guys start with the initial preparation efforts for our JTOC. Luckily, these guys did have some experience in carpentry and understood the fundamentals of wood working. There was no lumber or building material sales in the region, so I was reliant upon the local infantry unit supply team (S4) for lumber and building material acquisition. That was probably my most difficult negotiation, working to persuade the local infantry unit that all of this was reimbursable and that this effort would expand capability in the region. The section responsible for managing material resources and logistics in the Army is called the S4, the S4 that supported this Infantry unit up at this FOB had shifted their attitude towards me from disdain to dislike. Despite this major barrier, I managed to get what I needed and acquire the essentials and I even finagled some woodworking tools as well for my guys.
Eventually, I was able to establish a couple of service contracts, which included 1) heavy equipment rentals for the grading of my proposed motor pool space, 2) repair of the septic tank 3) weekly emptying of septic tank and 4) repair of the dining facility that had burned down. My unit and the RCC pushed back against the septic tank service contract as they weren’t convinced that it was our responsibility to maintain. I strenuously objected as my team and I were literally tip toeing through black water every morning that had overflowed from the surface of the in ground tank. Finally, I worked out terms in the statement of work (SOW) that limited the scope and duration of the contract to satisfy all parties involved. This first phase of my mission was a combination of service contract establishment, material acquisition, bridge building (not literal), cultural learning and good old fashioned hammer swinging. The first phase established the momentum, it was the most difficult phase even though the heavy lifting would come later, but it was also the most rewarding phase of the mission as I had started to see progress a month or so in.
Our first service acquisition was a grader for the 5th Kandak Motor Pool
The septic tank
The DFAC burnt down and upon discovery, nobody took any action
Highlights of Phase II included a focus on the overarching construction contract, resolving construction punch list defects, receipt of the barracks, finalization of the operations center and buying containers for their ammunition storage. The purchase of the two large 100kw generators were included in the construction contract but the installation and maintenance of the generators was not, that fell on us to implement and manage. That was more than likely the biggest headache of the second mission phase mostly because the contracted generator mechanic & electrician turned out to be an incessant complainer and definitely a glass is half empty kind of guy. On a positive note, some of our ANA unit Soldiers began arriving, one of their English speaking senior leaders and I got along very well and I soon realized that I now had a very capable ally with the mission. He served as my go to guy for getting manpower from the ANA and also served as a back up translator.
The 100KW generators would provide power to the ANA compounds eight buildings.
Our electrician explaining: “this is impossible” why did we keep him? there was nobody else and at the end of the day, he got the job done, we just had to hear him bark first.
The core of the team; my go to guys from the 5th
Strangely, my relationship with the Americans on the Forward Operating Base (FOB) had begun to deteriorate, their annoyance for my mission had now devolved from dislike to disgust. It left me bewildered because I had been fulfilling all of their paperwork requirements and it was looking like the logistics capability for the area would soon be expanded, which was in their best interest. I think that they were seeing that we were getting things done and were feeling threatened maybe? I believe that they had a strong tribal identity that impacted their judgment, not sure, but that’s what my gut told me. My solution was to swallow my pride and placate, so I complied and did it with a smile, it kept them off my back at least.
The requirements kept adding up and it seemed like the more that I got done, the more there was to do, everything from generator control box modules to well pumps fell under my purview and the locals were not playing nice either. Fierce negotiations, arguments and sometimes outright refusals were becoming a daily occurrence. I continued to make some good allies though and an American civilian contracting officer from the US arrived unannounced to help me finalize the construction punch list. He seemed like an average middle-aged man that arrived in a polo, loafers and no protective gear whatsoever, what a strange place this is, I thought as he pulled up in a John Deere Gator. As it turned out, this gentleman was very helpful in resolving many of the larger issues that I was having as he had direct execution authority. He helped me hunt for a well pump too and we were able to finagle one out of the largest American contractor (Fluor) in the region, he leveraged his relationship to get this done and I was very thankful, a connection of a connection got this one done. I couldn’t realistically bring any more ANA Soldiers up to the compound without fresh water.
Then, we were all reminded that this was a war zone. One of our new barracks buildings received indirect fire, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team determined that it was a 122 mm rocket that penetrated the ceiling, and this was days before the main body of the kandak was set to arrive. I knew that it was just a matter of time, we were receiving daily indirect fire (IDF) and unfortunately the barracks were very close to the perimeter wall of an under protected area of the compound. I lost my civilian contracting officer though, after that incident, he said “I’m not getting paid enough for this STUFF”, and then I never saw him again, and he wasn’t replaced either. I was happy to have received his services, although brief, after all, he procured a well pump for the mission. The IDF wasn’t that big of a deal, after all, it was Afghanistan, what was he expecting?
The IDF impacted an empty barracks, we had to get this fixed before they arrived, they were already skiddish about the move.
The barracks were shaping up nicely though and the 5th Kandak seemed to be pleased with their new home. The dining facility roof was completed too but the generator wiring was faulty and parts were hard to come by. As I alluded to earlier, what was even more difficult was finding a good generator mechanic and harder yet, an electrician. My implied task was to become familiar with the fundamentals of generator maintenance and circuit mapping. I would stand over the contractors while they worked and called them out on a few things to show them that I wasn’t ready to hand them money for nothing. My guys were sitting in the dark every night with no power so after a week or so of this, they got involved which quickly escalated to nightly shouting matches at the generators. My first instinct was to intervene, but then I decided to let them resolve this on their own, this was their home after all, they are grown men and with that I stepped aside. They eventually resolved the situation, got this generator mechanic to perform and no further action was required from me. Resolution + a training opportunity, what can be better?
The infrastructure was coming along nicely but the electrical backbone was particularly troublesome.
Not pretty, but we had a DFAC!
Finally, Phase III involved closing out the construction contract, making final adjustments to the motor pool, the ammunition supply point and the supply annex. We built furniture for the operations center, set up the OE-254 antennas and we even squeezed in daily training sessions. We even got in a few early days and rode their 250cc CCM dirt bikes around. The ANA apparently purchased six brand new dirt bikes and they arrived to the compound still in original packaging. Being the motocross enthusiast that I am, I got a little excited and word got back to their Sergeant Major who immediately offered to give me one of these little bikes. I denied of course, but they insisted so I rode it around locally for about a week until my command found out about the bike situation which I was nearly reprimanded for. Then there was the goat situation. They brought in goats for consumption, they were allowed to roam freely about the compound and one little guy seemed to like me, he followed me around and even found his way to my room where he waited for me on most mornings. Then one day, I didn’t see him, and my interpreter ran up to me very excited and said “we slay your goat, are you happy?” I replied, “No, I’m not happy, why would I be happy about that?” At least I hadn’t named him yet. So, later that day, there was a Key Leader Engagement (KLE) with many members of their leadership and some of our command team, and we all sat around and ate the goat.
Soon after, the remainder of the kandak arrived and I was able to spend more time with my guys and I had opportunities to do some higher level training for some of the ANA officers. I was actually only working 12 hour days by the end of my mission and I was even fortunate enough to take in a beautiful sunset from right outside my door. Before that night, I had never really noticed how beautiful the sunsets were in Afghanistan, and then I realized that the sunsets were always there, the good people were always there too, it’s up to us what we see or don’t see.
