Village outreach strengthens GIRoA support

PAKTYA PROVINCE, Afghanistan — Afghan Border Police and Afghan Uniformed Police from all areas of Regional Command-East have been coming to Forward Operating Base Gardez to learn how to work on vehicles and, more importantly, with each other, at a class taught by the U.S. Soldiers of the Maintenance Platoon, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment, Task Force Spartan.

KHOWST PROVINCE, Afghanistan – It’s 10 a.m. on the flight line at Forward Operating Base Salerno. All you can hear is the sound of a UH-60 Black Hawk‘s rotor blades winding down on one of three designated MEDEVAC parking pads.

PAKTYA PROVINCE, Afghanistan — The city of Gardez is located at the junction between two important roads that cut through a huge alpine valley. Surrounded by the mountains of the Hindu Kush, which boil up from the valley floor to the north, east and west, it is the axis of commerce for a huge area of eastern Afghanistan, and has been a strategic location for armies throughout this country’s long history of conflict. Observation posts built by Alexander the Great are still crumbling on the hilltops just outside the city limits.

PAKTYA PROVINCE, Afghanistan – For the better part of a year, more than 80 members of the Paktya Provincial Reconstruction Team have been dedicated to maintaining an enduring nine-year relationship with the people and government of Paktya Province.