This slideshow highlights the role of Naval engineers in supporting ground operations in Afghanistan.
[slidepress gallery=’naval-mobile-construction-battalion-builds-causeway-in-afghanistan’]
Credit: US Navy, Forward Operating Base Payne, Afghanistan, March 15th, 2010
- In the first photo, Petty Officer 3rd Class Richard Gaines, equipment operator, dumps clay from a Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement dump to form a road that that will serve as a causeway used to cross the Helmand River, while Petty Officer 3rd Class Jared Salvini, equipment operator (right), and Petty Officer 3rd Class Nathan Durcholz, construction mechanic, set HESCO barriers in place to line the causeway.
- In the second photo, Petty Officer 3rd Class Jared Salvini, equipment operator, assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 74, Detail Payne, uses an excavator to fill HESCO barriers to line a causeway being constructed along the Helmand River, while Soldiers from the 502nd Bridging Unit patrol the river providing security for the project. The causeway will allow U.S. Marines and Afghani national army forces a way to transit the Helmand River in order to continue operations further south.
- The third photo shows Petty Officer 3rd Class Jared Salvini, equipment operator, assigned to Mobile Construction Battalion 74, Detail Payne, using an excavator to fill HESCO barriers to line the road for a 300 foot long by 80 foot wide causeway along the Helmand River, while Seabees assigned to NMCB 74 discuss construction plans for the causeway with U.S. Marine 2nd Lt. Collin Bell (center), assigned to 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance, 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion.
- The fourth photo shows Petty Officer 2nd Class John Black, equipment operator, assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 74, Detail Payne, spreading gravel with a D7 bulldozer to form the sub-base for a 300 foot long by 80 foot wide causeway
- The fifth photo shows Petty Officer 1st Class Aaron Nagel, equipment operator (right), dumping gravel along the bank of the Helmand River using a Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement dump, while Petty Officer 2nd Class John Black, equipment operator, spreads the gravel using a D7 bulldozer.
- The sixth photo shows Petty Officer 3rd Class Darnell Baker, equipment operator, assigned to Mobile Construction Battalion 74, Detail Payne, transporting fill to the Helmand River bank with a front-end loader in order to fill HESCOs for a causeway.
- The seventh photo shows Soldiers assigned to the 502nd Bridging Unit ferrying U.S. Marines and Afghani National Army Soldiers across the Helmand River from a causeway recently constructed by Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 74, Detail Payne, using an Improved Ribbon Bridge (IRB) raft.
- The final photo shows U.S. Marines assigned to 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance (4th LAR) and Afghanistan National Army Soldiers setting out on a patrol of Southern Afghanistan using a causeway recently constructed by Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 74, Detail Payne.
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***Posted May 6th, 2010