FORWARD OPERATING BASE FIDDLER’S GREEN, Afghanistan -- In early October, approximately 20 Marines with Engineer Company, Combat Logistics Battalion 3, 1st Marine Logistics Group (Forward), arrived here to install drainage ditches and culverts, raising the FOB by nearly two feet.
The CLB-3 Marines constructed ditches and installed culverts to alleviate the flooding issues that this FOB may experience in the coming ‘rainy season’ months.
“These operations are in direct support of all the units who come through here because [FOB Fiddler’s Green] is built on a flood plain,” Staff Sgt. Julio Castro, heavy equipment section chief, Engineer Company, CLB-3, 1st MLG (FWD). “When it rains, part of the FOB floods to about two feet. Prior to the [drainage ditches and culverts], the excess water had nowhere to go.”
In addition to preventing any future flood damage, the Marines also repaired sections of the FOB by installing geo-webbing – a system of dirt-filled, connected barriers to raise the terrain. The barriers also prevent erosion and provide stability to the FOB’s roadways.
“In total, we built six culverts and dug about 2,000 meters of ditches inside and outside of [FOB Fiddler’s Green],” Castro, a San Antonio native. “The soil was the most difficult part of the mission. The dirt comes up in clumps and our gear kept getting stuck – good soil was hard to come by, but we still ended up raising the FOB by a foot and a half.”
After nearly three weeks here, the engineers returned to Camp Dwyer and are preparing for future missions in support of the I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) and elements of Regimental Combat Team 1.