US forward bases prefer Filipinos

Jerome Aning
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: August 22, 2009


US AND NATO forces battling al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan have been moving toward the southern part of the country, near the border with Pakistan, to capture enemy strongholds.

The operations in the Kandahar and Helman provinces require massive logistics to protect supply routes, support soldiers’ needs, and keep camps, bases and other military facilities in tiptop shape, according to Emmanuel Geslani.

30 FOBs

Geslani, a consultant for several Manila-based recruitment agencies, said the buildup of forces in southern Afghanistan, would require a network of forward operating bases (FOB) with the city of Kandahar as the nerve center. There are about 30 FOBs across Afghanistan.

He recalled that Fluor, the company that employed the Filipinos who were killed in a chopper crash last month, was involved in the construction of eight new FOBs in southern Afghanistan set up in support of new troop commitments ordered by US President Barack Obama.

Troop surge

Beginning 2001, the US deployed troops numbering only about 3,000. There are now 26,000 of them as of March 2009 (excluding the 34,000 Nato troops) and the US defense department wants the number increased to at least 50,000 by the end of the year.

“FOBs needed to be set up to house thousands of troops and civilian-support staff to the tune of $400 million, according to US government estimates. And lots of workers are needed to maintain these bases,” Geslani said.

The FOBs are typically made of prefabricated buildings for dining, barracks, headquarters, recreation and training. They may or may not have their own hospitals and airfields.

The bases will be used as launching pads for troops to attack enemy forces moving in villages to retake territory and set up ambushes against US troops. The facilities are expected to have sufficient firepower and other sophisticated defense measures to minimize attacks from the outside.

Hundreds of jobs

Geslani said hundreds of jobs would be available, such as carpenters, electricians, plumbers, water-food- and vehicle-maintenance crew, training specialists, utilities manager, information technology experts, vector specialists, laundry managers and housing supervisors.

The US military prefers Filipino workers because of their familiarity with Western culture and their ability to speak or understand English, according to the consultant.

Filipino construction workers and electricians also understand English technical terms better than their Afghan counterparts, he said.

Geslani said those who were previously employed in US bases in Iraq and those who had experienced working or living in former US bases in the Philippines were given preference. “The Philippine government can only watch helplessly as more OFWs will stream into Afghanistan, attracted by the high pay, for example, $1,400 for construction workers, which is triple the salaries received in Middle East countries,” he said.

Afghanistan saw a surge in violence in recent weeks, as the country prepared to go to the polls for landmark presidential and provincial elections on August 20.

About 21,000 US troops were sent to the country recently to keep stability ahead of the vote. Last month, some 4,000 troops began assaulting Taliban strongholds in the southern part of the country.