Seabees diverted from Kuwait to Afghanistan

[unhappycamper]

Seabees diverted from Kuwait to Afghanistan
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, January 17, 2009

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Defense Department has diverted about 500 Seabees from Kuwait to Afghanistan to build facilities for extra troops going there.

The move marks the largest deployment so far of support forces for the new buildup of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.

The sailors with the 25th Naval Construction Regiment, out of Gulfport, Miss., are expected to arrive next month in Afghanistan, Whitman told reporters on Friday.

"Where they’re going to be doing their work, exactly what they are going to be doing, I’ll leave that to commanders on the ground," he said. Commanders have not yet determined whether the Seabees will be replaced when they are finished.

Also Friday, Whitman announced that the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, will be going to Afghanistan in February and March as part of a regularly scheduled rotation.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=60062