Update on the 624th Engineers

Guest Blogger Captain Chris Vernon, commander of the 624th Engineer Company, deployed to Afghanistan.

Time continues to fly; I can't believe we are already into December! Our mission tempo is still very fast paced.

First Sgt. H. and I are in the process of interviewing every Soldier in the company to see from their perspective how this deployment is going. Our goal is to take what we learn from them to further mentor and develop their leaders and make changes necessary to make the second half of the deployment even better than the first half.

Here is what has been going on the last few weeks:

First Platoon. Nearly all soldiers have returned from the mission in Bagram. The remaining individuals are staying behind to work on a fence, flooring, and a list of add-ons.

One squad is currently working on a project for a portion of a FOB that will shortly be turned over to the Afghan National Army. They are starting their fourth week on that project with about one more week to go. The rest of the platoon is working on projects on our home FOB.

Second Platoon. They continue to work directly with another Engineer unit. They just completed a repair project on a FOB that was damaged by a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device. Soon they will be working on another FOB project. Both the first sergeant and I are planning on visiting them soon.

Third Platoon. Staff Sgt. B. has assumed leadership of the platoon. I have not seen many SSGs as prepared and ready to step up as platoon sergeant as I feel he is. He has been in the position for about a week and is doing a fantastic job. It is fun to watch a motivated soldier work hard, address the issues head on, and make a significant impact for the better. I am excited to see the positive changes that will come about over the next several months because of his leadership.

The platoon has just started a project at another FOB, building a brigade headquarters. It involves the entire platoon and will take them a few weeks to complete. This should be a very fun project for them.

The first photo above is from a ceremony in which the new brigade building was dedicated. A nearby Joint Operations Center was named after Sgt. 1st Class James Thode, a Utah Guard soldier who was killed in action two years ago here in Afghanistan.

I also have included a picture of the JOC in the construction process (second photo above) and a picture of the completed room (above). The workstations are tiered just like a stadium, and the desks are all custom made by our guys. The craftsmanship was outstanding. Each desk has drawers, cubbies and a false back to hide all the wiring.