NEWS, SPORTS, COMMENTARY, POLITICS for Gloucester City and the Surrounding Areas of South Jersey and Philadelphia
“Said the king to the people everywhere:
"Listen to what I say
Pray for peace, people everywhere”
By
Staff Sgt. Brandon Aird, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service
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| NURISTAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan, March 19, 2008 - Mechanics from Bravo Troop,
1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment, have their work cut out for them here.
Army Spc. Nathan Bolt-Ray, a mechanic in Bravo
Troop, 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment, turns a wrench while fixing a
radiator on Forward Operating Base Keating in Afghanistan's Nuristan province
Feb. 28, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Brandon Aird
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.
| | The
mechanics are stationed at Forward Operating Base Keating, located in a valley
between two snow-melt-fed rivers in the Hindu Kush mountain range. Vehicle
rollovers, flash floods, road washouts and rock and snow avalanches are just a
few of the hazards that make maintaining vehicles a challenge.
During
the winter, Taliban extremists and coalition forces alike are forced to stay
near their homes and bases, or face battling the elements.
"One of the
things about the snow, when it fell, it made things very difficult around here,"
said Army Spc. Larry Gonzales, a 33-year-old construction and vehicle repair
mechanic. More than four feet of snow fell in the valley this winter. Combat
Outpost Warheit, which overlooks FOB Keating, had more than eight feet of snow.
The snow made movement extremely difficult.
"Mobilewise, airwise,
waterwise -- everything was freezing up," Gonzales said. "The fuel even started
to gel."
When the snow receded, soldiers on FOB Keating were able to
start on projects the snow had hindered. Gonzales and Army Spc. Nathan Bolt-Ray,
a mechanic in Bravo Troop, worked on a Humvee that was damaged during a Feb. 22
firefight.
"We're replacing the radiator in the Humvee," Bolt-Ray said.
"The radiator took shrapnel from a (rocket propelled grenade)."
But
enemy action is only part of what keeps the unit's mechanics busy.
"As
you can see by the bullet holes in a lot of these vehicles' trunks, they've
taken quite the beating," Bolt-Ray said. "The roads -- I guess you can call them
that -- also take their turn beating on the vehicles."
But damage is
damage, whether it's from bullets, rocks or the elements. All that matters to
the mechanics here is keeping the unit's vehicles rolling.
(Army Staff
Sgt. Brandon Aird serves with the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team Public
Affairs Office.) | |
Related Sites:
Combined Joint Task Force 82
NATO International Security Assistance
Force
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Army Spc. Nathan Bolt-Ray (right)
and Spc. Larry Gonzales (left), mechanics in Bravo Troop, 1st Squadron, 91st
Cavalry Regiment, work on a radiator that was damaged by a rocket propelled
grenade on Forward Operating Base Keating in Afghanistan's Nuristan province,
Feb. 28, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Brandon Aird
Download screen-resolution
Download high-resolution |
 |
Army Spc. Larry Gonzales, a
mechanic in Bravo Troop, 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment, turns a wrench
while working on a radiator damaged by a rocket propelled grenade on Forward
Operating Base Keating in Afghanistan's Nuristan province, Feb. 28, 2008. U.S.
Army photo by Staff Sgt. Brandon Aird
Download screen-resolution
Download high-resolution | |
