The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has been operating in Afghanistan for close to 20 years. At the high point there were two different Districts operating throughout the country, one in Kabul and one in Kandahar.
Now there is one District with its headquarters located at Bagram Air Field and many other executing platforms located at key strategic centers throughout Afghanistan.
The mission of the Transatlantic Afghanistan District is to deliver critical host-nation security infrastructure and coalition advisory platforms in support of long term stability and international terrorism containment efforts in Afghanistan.
The District accomplishes this mission by focusing on three Lines of Effort (LOE). Line of Effort # 1 is the Afghanistan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) Development and it covers both construction and operations and maintenance.
Within the ANDSF LOE, TAA performs work under Vertical Infrastructure and Operations and Maintenance (O&M). Regarding Vertical Infrastructure, TAA executes 49 different projects in pre-award planning and construction worth $578M.
The primary stakeholder TAA works with is the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan (CSTC-A) and its Engineering Staff (CJ-ENG). Overall, the focus of these projects deal with Afghan Air Force Modernization, Gender Integration, Afghan Special Security Forces, the Special Mission Wing, Afghan Special Operations, and the Ministries of Defense and Interior growth.
“Our daily mission is to effectively anticipate the needs of the stakeholders and Deliver the Program,” said Dan Meier, O&M Project Manager. The end state of all our work is a sustainable, effective, and affordable ANDSF capable of securing an Afghanistan that is acceptable to the majority of the population and establishes a foundation for an Enduring Partnership Coalition,” Meier said.
TAA’s O&M program, valued at $295M, supports maintenance across Afghanistan focusing on strategic sites, critical infrastructure, and power generation. TAA employs local Afghan contractors to perform the required maintenance.
Additionally, TAA relies on the experience of more than 100 Afghan engineers who regularly visit sites, assess problems, and document the maintenance performed under our maintenance contracts. This program provides critical support for the Afghan Security Forces and aids their quality of life and ability to perform.