Soldiers finish needed housing repairs at FOB Sweeney

Sgt. Christopher McCullough/3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division Public Affairs

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SWEENEY, Afghanistan — Moving into a new residence for the first time is a challenge for anyone. When that residence is some place that has not seen any sizeable American forces in nearly five years and is in serious disrepair, it is infinitely more challenging.

“The place had been neglected for well over a year,” said Capt. Joe Mickley, commanding officer for B (“Battle”) Company, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, Task Force 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, the newest tenant at Forward Operating Base Sweeney.

After living out of their bags for nearly a month at FOB Apache, the men of Battle Company were itching to settle into their new home and strenuous manual labor wasn’t about to stop them. They set about building their proverbial ‘home away from home’ almost as soon as they arrived.

“Everything you see around here was built by our Soldiers,” Mickley said. “We built a lot of buildings, we put up a lot of tents, we filled a lot of sandbags and we increased our force protection significantly.”

“We had to build it from the ground up,” the Battle Company 1st Sgt. Aaron Alexander said.

The hard work the Soldiers of B Co. have put into their FOB in such a short time was not lost on their commanding officer.

“The obvious challenges are having to build everything that you have and make it what it is,” Mickley said. “However, the rewards of being able to sit back and see the growth — the place that you’ve put your blood, sweat and tears into — that’s the reward, and that’s what is really creating a high motivation, high morale within the unit right now because Soldiers can sit back and see the fruit of their labors.”

The Soldiers of FOB Sweeney agreed.

“Sweeney turned out to be a lot better than I thought it was going to be before we came out here,” said Staff Sgt. David Cross, a Battle Company squad leader. “The guys have really pulled together and we’ve worked hard. It’s coming along well and I think it’s going to turn out to be a pretty good outpost.”

It hasn’t been easy, however. The quartering party that was sent in advance, worked relentlessly for the last month.

“The guys have done a tremendous amount of work — from sunup to sundown, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve — to make sure this place was ready to support a company-plus size element and all its future operations,” Alexander said.

To make things more difficult, FOB Sweeney’s location — more than a mile high on the east side of a mountain range, several hours from Qalat — makes getting provisions difficult.

“It’s fairly remote,” Alexander understated. “So, as far as receiving the supplies and heavy equipment that we need to expedite these projects, that’s definitely been a challenge. But the guys have overcome, they’ve adapted and they’ve made-do with what they have.”

None of these challenges have dampened B Co.’s spirit.

“There is kind of the challenge of the unknown, which is fun,” Alexander said. “There hasn’t been anybody out here for a while. There has been nobody conducting any enduring operations out here for quite some time, and the enemy has realized that and capitalized on it. So we have the opportunity to make a dent in the insurgency here and the partnership with the ANA and the other local security forces.”

In spite of all the challenges they face, Battle Company is on point and digging in for the long haul at FOB Sweeney.

“There are going to be challenges,” Mickley said. “However, given the start that we’ve gotten here, I feel we’re well suited for those challenges. I feel we’re going to make a difference here ... but we have our work cut out for us. It’s not going to be easy.”