KABUL, Afghanistan - The winter snow began to melt in the foothills surrounding Forward Operating Base Airborne, creating a muddy mess.
But it didn't deter members of the Wardak Resident Office's Mine-Resistant, Ambush Protected vehicle team from taking in some much-needed time on the range.
The team of three Soldiers, one contractor and a Corps civilian navigated the short distance from the Resident Office's compound to the FOB's range, trudging up the hilly, mud-covered road.
Since acquiring their own MRAP in mid-January, the team had received a new barrel and safety system for the vehicle's .50 caliber machine gun, as well as a new mount for its M240G machine gun. It was time for the Soldiers to make sure the new parts worked the only way they can - by firing the weapons.
This past summer, the Afghanistan Engineer District purchased seven Maxx Pro model MRAPs to support Area and Resident Offices located on Coalition FOBs. The MRAP program is meant to provide protective vehicles, similar to those already in use by ground forces, to protect engineers and help Corps personnel better integrate with their Coalition partners.
Having an MRAP helps construction reps, engineers and others get out to hard-to-reach project sites under the Alignment, Movement and Security Plan - an agreement between the Corps and combat units that allows AED to accompany maneuver convoys en route to locations at or near project sites. The plan allows Corps officials to make more frequent Quality Assurance visits than what they were relegated to prior to obtaining the vehicles, since the MRAPs and MRAP teams are assigned directly to the area and resident offices.
"Having the MRAP allows us to visit two of my project sites weekly instead of bi-monthly, when the district's rotary wing asset is available to us," said Maj. Robert Kurtz, officer-in-charge of the Wardak Resident Office. The district's more convenient, but high-in-demand helicopters currently serve both AED-N and its sister district, the Afghanistan Engineer District - South.
With snow-capped mountains as the backdrop, the Soldiers fired a combination of .50 caliber, 7.62 caliber and 5.56 caliber rounds at their targets downrange - a de-militarized Russian tank and human silhouette targets.
Although AED-N is not a combat unit, MRAP team members are ready and capable of assisting Coalition partners if an attack were to occur during a movement. That's all the more reason why the Wardak RO's MRAP team treated this range trip with such diligence.
"It's very important that we get out to fire these weapons, because you never know when the system might fail or something might go wrong with the weapon," said Sgt. Terence McLaughlin, an MRAP team member. "It's very important to keep checking up on it, making sure it's ready, functional and clean at all times."
Essentially, the only differences between AED's MRAPs and those of combat units are its passengers: Combat units transport troops in their MRAPs; AED transports its mostly civilian personnel in theirs. This presents the necessity for civilians to be familiar with how the team operates.
McLaughlin and his fellow team members, Staff Sgt. Marques Cales, the team's leader, and Specialist Evan Smith, who have since redeployed, brought along Andy Hovey, a construction representative, to observe the training. To McLaughlin, this will pay off in dividends if they ever need to make contact with the Taliban, which is still very much active in the province.
"If civilians are able to observe and interact with us when we train, they'll have an idea of how things would go if we were to find ourselves in a combat scenario," McLaughlin said.
The team shot approximately 100 each of .50 cal, 5.56mm and 7.56mm rounds - just enough to ensure that each weapon system functioned properly.
For Hovey, who has no prior military experience, the trip was an opportunity to learn something new.
"It was a very unique experience. We got to disassemble, clean and reassemble the weapons," said Hovey. "It made me feel more prepared to have watched the training -- I'm aware of how the weapons work now."
After their allotted time on the range, the team gathered up their belongings, cleared the area of brass casings and cardboard ammo wrapping. They began their trek back down the muddy hill in their hulking tan vehicle -- reassured that their equipment was operational and that they were prepared to use it if they need to.
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