The Nowruzi Bridge

FOB PASAB, AFGHANISTAN: It’s mid morning here at this dusty US Army post in southern Afghanistan. Soldiers of the Third Brigade Combat Team, 10^th Mountain Division who man this Forward Operating Base are preparing to drive East on Highway #1. Their mission for the day is to participate in a ceremony marking the opening of the Nowruzi Bridge. This is a secondary crossing of the Arghandab River which forms the border between Kandahar and Zahari provinces, and is half a mile upriver from the main Route #1 crossing over Baghepul Bridge.

The convoy is made up of a dozen or so heavily armed MRAPS, and other types of mine clearing vehicles. There were at least as many four-man pickup truckloads of Afghan Army Troops who will attend the ceremony and provide security throughout the surrounding area while the US Army and local dignitaries participate in the ribbon cutting. Col. Patrick D. Frank commanding officer of the 3^rd Brigade Combat Team will be in attendance.

Col. Patrick D. Frank watching bridge ceremony with Haji Toragan

“My men fabricated this pedestrian passageway over a collapsed span on the old bridge which was built by the Russians” said Lt. Col. Jered Helwig, commander of the 710^th Brigade Support Battalion. “It had been down for nearly 30 years and the school children have been walking an extra mile around the highway bridge twice a day just to make it to and from school.”

While work was ongoing during this project the safety of the soldiers from the engineering company had been an issue, hence the caution being taken during the lead up to this ceremony. The MRAPS mine clearing vehicle sweeps forward on the dirt road which runs from the main highway to the older river crossing. There is no evidence of incoming fire or mortar activity. A large crowd of local residents, Afghan army and police are in attendance while the local dignitaries line the bridge railings. The main local celebrity here is power broker and tribal leader Haji Toragan.

L to R: SSG David Gibbons, Lt. Michael Scutier, Capt. Adam Phearsdorf, Haji Toragan and Col. Patrick D. Frank

“We call Haji Toragan the Keith Richards of Afghanistan,” says Lt Col Helwig. “His red hair and flamboyant clothing stand out among the locals but this guy is a very forward thinking leader.” In the past Haji Toragan has fought with the Russian army, with the Mujahudeen and now he supports the Americans. These varying allegiances seem to be in the background of most men in Afghanistan in their struggle for survival.

It turns out that Haji Toragan has built the local school that’s visible across the Arghandab River from the new bridge site. He insists that both boys and girls attend. He himself is illiterate but he means to see that this younger generation be educated so that they can enter and compete in the modern world.

School Teacher for the Nawruai bridge district school

Col. Frank has arrived along with the district governor, assorted local politicians and tribal chiefs. The children from the neighborhood school look on with their book bags and lunches. Well equipped local press and TV media are set up to cover the event that begins with a Muslim prayer sung by one of the Afghan Army soldiers.

Afghan school children waiting to cross over the new bridge to attend school

With the speeches concluded and the ribbon cut, the children along with the dignitaries cross over the new span. The soldiers from the 710^th who actually cut and welded the steel span together look on approvingly, proud of their work and justly so. This is the type of project that might, as has been predicted for so many years, win a small space in the hearts and minds of the Afghan people.

Brigade Commander Col. Patrick D. Frank is a firm believer in the ‘Shona-ba-Shona’ program which means simply standing shoulder to shoulder with our Afghan security and governance partners. He will condone nothing in the way of collateral damage or simple rudeness toward the Afghan people.

L to R: Col. Patrick D. Frank and Lt. Col. Jered Helwig on the Nowruzi Bridge