Increasing Force Protection

Spc. Christopher Allgood, 1st Infantry Division, signals to Pfc. Andrew Borzello, 527th Military Police Company, who raises a crane at the Quargehay District Center, Aug. 1. The pair are unloading Hesco Barriers that will help fortify the center that has come under attack twice since April. (U.S. Army photo/ Sgt. Jessica R. Dahlberg)

Increasing Force Protection

Soldiers and a police officer help unload Hesco Barriers at the Quargehay District Center, Aug. 1. The barriers were brought by the 527th Military Police Company, Methar Lam Police Mentoring Team and Dyncorp workers to help the police fortify the center that has come under two attacks since April. (U.S. Army photo/ Sgt. Jessica R. Dahlberg)

Force protection increased at district center

Published Aug. 19, 2008
By Sgt. Jessica R. Dahlberg
102nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan -- The Quargehay District Center has come under two attacks since April, and recently a Criminal Investigative Division police officer was killed while searching the culverts surrounding the center for improvised explosive devices.

However, work is being done to strengthen the area around the district center from these attacks, such as Hesco Barriers and the construction of a guard tower.

With the Afghanistan National Police station and a governor's building located there, the district center is the hub of government activity for the Quargehay District.

The 527th Military Police Company, out of Giessen, Germany, Methar Lam Police Mentoring Team and Dyncorp workers reinforce security in the area. These three components work together to help train the ANP, and on Aug. 1 they brought building supplies for additional Hesco Barriers to help the police fortify the district center.

"The two recent attacks on the district center are the reason the chief of police requested the Hesco Barriers," Capt. Englebert Roy, with the Methar Lam PMT, said.

"The police are going to build the barriers themselves and then a contractor will come and fill the barriers with sand," Sgt. Michael Butts, 3rd squad leader of the 527th MP Company, said.

Along with the barriers, construction of a guard tower is scheduled too.
The tower is going to be a huge improvement for the police to conduct perimeter operations, Roy said.

Fortifying the district center has been an ongoing process, Roy said. With the new wall of Hesco Barriers and the guard tower the police will be able to fight back from a more secure position than they had previously.