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Civil engineer sets his 'sites' on Afghanistan's future

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jason Lake
  • 455th Air Expeditionary Wing
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan --  Master Sgt. Todd Davis has his 'sites' on Afghanistan's future.

With his notepad, digital camera, and 65-pounds of body armor, the civil engineer assigned to the Kapisa/Parwan Provincial Reconstruction Team at Bagram Air Field talks with a local foreman about progress on Masab High School near the city of Mahmood Raqi.

The foreman reassures the 13-year Air Force veteran that the two-week-old construction project is on schedule and the workers are proud they are improving the infrastructure in their community.

"Is the contractor giving you the tools you need? Do your workers get enough water to drink while they are working?" Sergeant Davis asks as he takes notes from the PRT team's translator, "Alemi," who interprets the foreman's answers.

After a 10-minute discussion with the foreman, Sergeant Davis and a small group of PRT members walk around the site and talk with some of the workers digging the school's foundation.

Sergeant Davis pulls out his digital camera and documents the progress made at the site since his last visit March 7.

"There are so many different projects that I have to re-familiarize myself with each project," Sergeant Davis explained. "I sit down once a week and review my project folders to get up to speed on what's going on before the next visit."

The Kapisa/Parwan PRT is one of six U.S. Air Force-led teams within Afghanistan.

Currently the team is working on 58 projects, which include building new schools, roads, bridges and medical clinics in nearby neighborhoods.

For Sergeant Davis, that means traveling outside the wire several times per week.

"I've been on roughly 40 missions since I got here in November," said the Troy, Ill.-native.

After making a similar site visit to a gravel-crushing plant, the team stops to inspect a bridge that had been booby trapped with mines a month before.

"This is where we found them," Sergeant Davis said as he sloshed through a small stream running beneath the small concrete bridge. "The detonation wires still hadn't been connected, so we got to it before [insurgents] could use them."

But Sergeant Davis, who also served as a turret gunner on this particular mission, has become familiar with life outside the comforts of a main base.

In 2008, he deployed to Iraq as a RED HORSE engineer at Forward Operating Base Hammer building an Iraqi Army training school for civil engineers dubbed the "Village of Hope." As soon as the school got up and running, Sergeant Davis took on the role of course instructor for several months.

"The difference between the work here and the work in Iraq is that in Iraq, we did all the handiwork," he said. "Here, we provide quality assurance for local workers to make sure our government gets what it pays for."

Over the past year, U.S. and coalition forces have contributed nearly $7 million dollars toward construction projects and employment of local workers in the two northeastern provinces.

Sergeant Davis admits that work has not been easy.

In addition to security concerns, some projects have been complicated by cultural differences, local bureaucracy and lack of experience with precision tools. 

But the seasoned CE veteran deployed here from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., said it's an opportunity to share his knowledge in construction.

"It can be challenging sometimes dealing with issues that some projects expose, but we're changing our tactics to ensure stricter contractor accountability," explained Sergeant Davis, who's also the team's payment agent for contractors.

Sergeant Davis remains confident that the work he and his team are doing here is making a difference.

"My main goal is to make sure these contractors are doing quality work versus quantity," he said. "We want the projects to be built the best way possible so they are safe and provide a long-term benefit to the Afghan people."