Kapisa PRT provides lines inside the wire

KAPISA PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Kapisa Provincial Reconstruction Team personnel raced against the clock Oct. 11 to build and install a fiber backbone that will provide vital lines of communication and expand the PRT’s capabilities at Forward Operating Base Morales-Frazier.

The potential freezing ground of the upcoming winter necessitated the surge in activity, so the team called in reinforcements from the 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and subordinate units, Task Force Wolverine’s Charlie Company’s 86th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, L-3 Communications Corporation, the FOB’s local Afghan workers, and Fluor, the FOB’s contracted construction crew.

“The visible progress is exciting because we’ve been waiting to implement this project,” said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Ryan Phillips, Kapisa PRT’s client systems administrator, a native of San Antonio. The $160,000 cable and fiber project started in April with a site survey and installation commenced July.

The team soon realized they’d be able to combine the main power cables into the existing fiber backbone installation, saving hundreds of man-hours and additional excavation in the area. Initial stages of the project required 500 man-hours to complete, with teams travelling from Bagram Airfield to the FOB on several occasions to work with the PRT.

“Working with the PRT on this project over the course of the year has been both challenging and rewarding,” said U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Richard Briggs, TF Wolverine’s communications procurement/projects noncommissioned officer and Langdon, N.H., native. “It was great to complete this project, have the added satisfaction of working with Fluor to complete the main power line installation, and give the new PRT the added benefit of not having to worry about that part of the project.”

“There’s nothing like seeing your blood, sweat and long hours in the sun finally coming to fruition,” said Kapisa PRT’s NCO in charge of communications, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Kerktan Rowe of Bronx, N.Y., deployed from Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. “It’s been a pleasure working with all the different entities.”

Teaming up with outside assets enabled the PRT to maintain focus on their missions within the province and continue training their newly-arrived replacements.

“One of our goals has been to improve the FOB for our replacements and leave Afghanistan a better place for future generations,” Rowe added. “I can confidently say we have accomplished that goal; it’s a great feeling!”
Kapisa PRT conducts operations from FOB Morales-Frazier near Nijrab, FOB Kutschbach near Tagab, FOB Tora in Surobi District, and Bagram Airfield. The civil-military operation is comprised of more than 100 members, including active-duty Air Force, active-duty Army, Army Reserve, Army National Guard, local national interpreters, and government officials from the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development, and U.S. Department of Agriculture.