Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan -- A new recruiting center for the Afghan National Army highlighted the six projects completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers -- Transatlantic Afghanistan District (TAA) in April. The projects totaled more than $15.5 million, and included both new construction and improvements for the ANA, Afghan National Police and the Ministry of the Interior.
Construction of the new $3.2 million National Army Volunteer Center in the western part of Kabul began in December 2012. The facility can house up to 100 personnel (staff and potential recruits), and includes a women's barracks that will help the ANA reach its gender integration goal of having women comprise ten percent of its forces by 2025. Currently there are 850 women in the ANA.
Other ANA projects included $3.7 million worth of upgrades and new construction at the Pol-e-Charki garrison in Kabul, as well as the completion of a $1.8 million addition to the headquarters building of the National Directorate of Security (Afghanistan's domestic intelligence agency) in Kabul.
A new district headquarters for the ANP was completed three months ahead of schedule. The $1.74 million Uniformed Police District facility in Dasht-e-Qala District, Talkhar Province, will be able to house up to 120 ANP personnel in the northeast part of the country. Also, the ANP Police District 1 compound in Kabul received more than $1.1 million in upgrades.
A new Ministry of the Interior supply point will be able to support ANP logistic and security operations in six provinces in northern Afghanistan. The $5.7 million compound was built in Sherberghan, about 80 miles west of Mazar-E-Sharif. It provides the ANP storage areas for equipment and surplus materials as part of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces supply management program.
USACE-TAA has 45 more projects throughout Afghanistan contracted through the end of 2017, totaling more than $500 million. This includes finishing the Kajaki Dam (Helmand Province) and Dahla Dam (Kandahar Province) projects which will improve irrigation and provide more electricity in the southern part of Afghanistan.
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