Saturday, January 07, 2006

Engineers complete road from Shinkay to Qalat in eastern Afghanistan

By Army 1st Lt. Claudia Crossland
864th Engineer Combat Battalion (Heavy), Task Force Pacemaker


KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – The engineers from Task Force Pacemaker recently completed the construction of a 66-kilometer major logistical road linking the towns of Shinkay and Qalat in eastern Afghanistan.

Soldiers from Charlie Company, 864th Engineer Combat Battalion (Heavy), Task Force Pacemaker, from Fort Richardson, Alaska, began construction of the road Oct. 20 at Forward Operating Base Sweeny near Shinkay 20 kilometers from the border with Pakistan. They worked their way west through Daub Pass, a mountain trail renowned for its steep terrain, hairpin turns, inclement weather and lethal enemy threat.

“The earth moving engineers used dozers, scrapers and 20-ton trucks to plow through more than 14 kilometers of road in less than eight weeks to complete our portion of the road before our redeployment home in January,” said Army 1st Lt. Eleanor Gillis, 864th ECB earth moving platoon leader. [continue reading].