Carter Concludes Afghan Trip With Visit to Kajaki Dam

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press Service

HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan  – Wrapping up his first trip to Afghanistan since assuming the Pentagon’s No. 2 post, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter today visited a key site that provides irrigation and hydroelectric power to residents here.

 “It has always been a dream of mine to come here,” Carter said as he walked through the grounds of the Kajaki Dam.

After the Helmand Valley Authority was formed in 1952, the dam was built with the assistance of the U.S. Agency for International Development and $40 million in bank financing, officials of the International Security Assistance Force’s Regional Command Southwest said. The facility’s turbines produce the hydroelectric power crucial to villages throughout the province and the irrigation of farmlands.

Carter met the dam’s chief engineer and received follow-up information from Col. Steve Waldron, Regional Command Southwest’s civil-military affairs officer, and Thomas Bauhan from USAID.

Two of the units were installed in 1975, but a third turbine was delayed due to conflict in the country, they said. Following failure of both installed turbines in 2003, USAID hired companies to step in and repair the units, and the work finished in 2006.

In August 2008, a contingent of British, Afghan and ISAF troops delivered the third turbine from Kandahar Airfield, but it has yet to be installed, said Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. John Kirby, who is traveling with Carter.

The deputy secretary was able to witness the results of recent efforts by U.S. Army engineers, Marines, USAID and international donors to restore and improve functionality at the dam and to begin preparations for the third hydroelectric turbine’s installation, Kirby said. The turbine could be operational in 2013, he added, and would be able to provide more than 50 megawatts of power once distribution lines are in place.

Carter’s Walk Through Marjah Market Shows Progress

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press Service

MARJAH, Afghanistan – Simply by walking through the marketplace here today, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter showed how much progress has taken place in this former Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.

Carter visited a forward operating base and the Marines of 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, before he walked through the village’s marketplace with no issues. He got a firsthand look at work under way to expand capacity at the base, touring numerous construction areas.

The deputy secretary received an operational update from local Afghan national security force leaders and the district governor before moving on to the Marjah marketplace, where Taliban insurgents once operated with impunity.

In contrast to violent protests elsewhere in the aftermath of Muslim religious materials being inadvertently mishandled at Bagram Airfield, Carter encountered no protests, upheaval or disturbances in Marjah. The village remained tranquil as Carter, the district governor and Afghan military and police leaders walked through the streets.

A walk down Marjah’s marketplace was unthinkable as recently as 2010, when Operation Moshtarak was launched to free the area from Taliban control.

Carter called Marjah a “great success story” as he walked through the marketplace. Curious children came by and local residents followed on motorcycles as Carter made his way up and down the streets.

Along his route walking back to the base, Carter stopped and bought snacks from a local merchant for the village children who were tagging along. At another brief stop, he examined another merchant’s wares.

As he departed, Carter thanked the district governor and Afghan security force leaders for the opportunity to walk through the marketplace, again referring to the peaceful village as one of many “great success stories” in Afghanistan.

Carter’s first stop today was at the Chaman Gate, one of two major border crossings with neighboring Pakistan. The Pakistani government closed the crossing to NATO traffic amid recent tensions. The deputy secretary visited with local Afghan police and customs officials, toured a new biometrics facility and got a firsthand view of the daily traffic at the crossing.

Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. John Kirby, who is along on the trip, said this was Carter’s second visit to Chaman Gate, and that he noted the progress made in adding controls to the border post to put pressure on smugglers of explosive materials.

“American and Afghan military officials updated Carter on security at the Chaman Gate and gave him a better sense of the impact its closing to NATO traffic has had on resupply efforts,” Kirby said. Though Carter expressed his hope that Pakistan soon would allow alliance goods to begin flowing again, Kirby added, he was assured that operations in Afghanistan had not yet been adversely affected.

Carter's next stop was to Regional Command Southwest, where he received updates from Marine Corps Maj. Gen. John Toolan Jr. about the progress of transition efforts and improved security throughout the region. Roughly half of Helmand's districts are in or will soon be in the process of transitioning to Afghan security lead, Kirby noted.