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Afghanistan District welcomes Chief of Engineers

Part 1- Engaging with the District

Published April 1, 2019
LTG Todd T. Semonite, USACE Chief of Engineers speaks to the Afghanistan District team members following a group photo in front of the iconic District T-Wall.
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LTG Todd T. Semonite, USACE Chief of Engineers speaks to the Afghanistan District team members following a group photo in front of the iconic District T-Wall.

Afghanistan District Commander, Jason Kelly goes over the 90-day plan and overview of the more than $1B program in place in theater, with Chief of Engineers LTG Todd T. Semonite during a recent visit to the District.
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Afghanistan District Commander, Jason Kelly goes over the 90-day plan and overview of the more than $1B program in place in theater, with Chief of Engineers LTG Todd T. Semonite during a recent visit to the District.

The 54th Chief of Engineers, USACE speaks with all the volunteers, civilian and military who are currently deployed with the Afghanistan District, thanking them for their selfless service and reminding them of the important mission USACE has in Afghanistan in building the infrastructure.
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The 54th Chief of Engineers, USACE speaks with all the volunteers, civilian and military who are currently deployed with the Afghanistan District, thanking them for their selfless service and reminding them of the important mission USACE has in Afghanistan in building the infrastructure.

LTG Todd T. Semonite engages in a conversation with Afghanistan District Commander Jason Kelly during his visit in theater, while others in the district overview meeting look on.
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LTG Todd T. Semonite engages in a conversation with Afghanistan District Commander Jason Kelly during his visit in theater, while others in the district overview meeting look on.

LTG Todd T. Semonite, 54th Chief of Engineers listens to a member from one of the Afghanistan Districts Platform Delivery Projects as he communicates through virtual means.
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LTG Todd T. Semonite, 54th Chief of Engineers listens to a member from one of the Afghanistan Districts Platform Delivery Projects as he communicates through virtual means.

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(This is the first article in a five-part series on the 54th Chief of Engineers’ visit to the Transatlantic Afghanistan District)

The 54th Chief of Engineers and USACE Commanding General, along with USACE Command Sergeant Major finished a flawless visit with the Transatlantic Afghanistan District closing out the month of March and the second quarter of the fiscal year.

Lieutenant General Todd T. Semonite and Command Sergeant Major Bradley J. Houston spent more than 48 hours in theater engaging with the Senior Leaders and Staff from the USACE Afghanistan District, the Huntsville Center, 553rd Forward Engineer Support Team-Advance, Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan-Combined Joint Engineers, (CJENG)  Resolute Support CJENG, U S Forces Afghanistan  JENG, and elements of the 20th Engineer Brigade, currently the USARCENT Theater Engineer Brigade, to gain situational awareness.

Once on the Bagram Airfield the team headed right into orientation briefs which included Operations updates at the USFOR-A headquarters via Virtual Teleconferencing with General Miller and all Train, Advise, Assist Commands/Task Forces, followed by a USACE District overview, then a 20th Engineer Brigade and CSTC-A overview.

The first day also consisted of visits with the tactical troops from the 264th Engineer and 801st Engineer Companies.

According to Col. Jason Kelly, Afghanistan District commander it was an excellent visit with LTG Todd Semonite and CSM Houston. Though visits to each of the districts’ project delivery platforms weren’t possible, all were included through the use of Virtual Teleconferencing.

Part of the District’s overview included the program estimated at just over $1B with 90 projects being executed, 45 of those in construction and 16 in the pre-award phase, looking at an additional 29 in the future. The timely delivery and maintenance of infrastructure in support of the Afghan National Defense Security Forces, along with security upgrades to support our U S Forces-Afghanistan, and the Afghanistan National Power Transmission and Distribution facilitation has the district “Delivering the Program”.

Part II- Connecting with engineers across Bagram at a Town Hall-


huntsville center
CSTC-A
USACE
USACE Afghanistan
553rd FEST
RS CJENG
USFOR-A JENG

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Division serves as USACE’s tip of the spear in one of the most dynamic construction environments in the world, STRENGTHENING PARTNERSHIPS, BUILDING CAPACITY, and ENHANCING SECURITY for our nation, allies, and partners. 

We SAFELY deliver agile, responsive, and innovative, design, construction, engineering and contingency solutions in support of U.S. Central Command, U.S. Special Operations Command and other global partners to advance national security interests.

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