173rd ABCT, Afghan partners open road for local citizens

WARDAK PROVINCE, Afghanistan – In southern Wardak province, businessmen rely on roads for their life line.  Commerce hinges on it.

The Sky Soldiers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team were on hand June 28 to help celebrate Onkhai Road’s opening – an event the business community sees as being vital, according to shop owners in Sayed Abad.

In Afghanistan, Onkhai Road is Sayed Abad’s commerce connection in many ways. It connects customers with shop owners and villagers with each other, increasing commerce and social interaction. While successful business operations are a goal of International Security Assistance Force personnel, there are pockets of insurgents who prefer dysfunction and despair over success and prosperity.

The 173rd ABCT has thousands of Soldiers in Wardak and Logar provinces who are here to assist by helping improve security, governance and development.  Onkhai Road’s reconstruction was just one aspect of several concerns local national elders brought to the attention of the district governor during a shura in February.  

Onkhai Road was the main link between Highway 1 (Ring Road) and the Onkhai Valley. The road was blocked due to force protection concerns following a vehicle suicide improvised explosive device attack in summer of 2009.  

This forced Afghans from the Onkhai Valley to take a long, unimproved bypass road, which decreased their access to the district center and local health clinic. Reopening the road re-established a critical link between Onkhai and Highway 1.

The road construction demonstrated to the people of Onkhai that their district government listened to them and that the district government worked with coalition forces to make this happen.

 “The construction required A Company to relocate several things on the combat outpost, purchase many tons of gravel, and a month and a half of work by a coalition engineer platoon,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Matthew McFarlane, the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry, commanding officer. “The work and results empowered our unified partners, the district sub-governor and his staff. Locals are happy to have their road back.”

The deputy governor and Sayed Abad sub-governor gave rousing speeches highlighting the action of the government on the part of the people and calling for closer cooperation for security reasons.

Sub-governor Nematullah at one point posed the question, “If we are trying to help the people while the enemy is killing their own people, why do we not work together for our future?”

ISAF personnel have worked tirelessly with their Afghan partners to pump prosperity and security back in this region. The new road marks the beginning of a new era for business owners.

Members of the 173rd ABCT have partnered with provincial and district leaders and tribal elders from the southern Wardak area in order to help improve security.

McFarlane said he has enjoyed a good relationship with the elders and the governor of the local province. He understands the importance of fighting for the Afghan people, as this insurgent war has called for both infrastructure and infantry intervention.

“Protecting routes and keeping them safe and clear from insurgent activity is everyone’s responsibility,” said McFarlane.

IEDs cause more than injuries and deaths to innocent people within the region; the fear that goes with such attacks also reduces faith in the government and reduces Afghanistan’s citizens’ desire to want to travel or do any shopping in the area.

In order for Afghanistan to enjoy a brighter future, roads like this are key, said McFarlane. Safe passage is essential for villagers to build the kind of lasting trust in their government and to move forward and prosper as a nation.