First on decorahnews.com: Despite the heat, members of the 322nd Engineer Battalion are doing well in Afghanistan

The 322nd Engineering Battalion's Second Platoon built this Special Forces Assistance Team Operations Center

Now that the 160 members of the 322nd Engineer Company vice battalion have arrived in Afghanistan, life has settled into a routine.

Company commander Troy King says the unit is living in tents.  Each tent comes with air conditioning and heat available and houses 18-24 soldiers.  Two of the 322 EN platoons are actually living on Canadian run bases, which King says, "is much different living and working with soldiers from other countries."  Adds King, "The (soldiers on the) bases owned by the Canadians have not complained about the food at all.  The Canadians have been tremendous host and have met the needs of our soldiers."  Soldiers in the other platoons have moved from older style tents into the newer model of what the Army has.

A typical day starts around 7:00 a.m.  Some of the unit's soldiers go to the motor pool to conduct preventive maintenance on the unit's vehicles.  The rest of the soldiers go to their assigned job sites and start working.  Right now the members of the 322nd Engineering Battalion typically are working 12 plus hours a day, usually 6 days a week.

When the members of the 322 EN do have spare time, they work out in the gym or run around the base.  Another favorite activity is watching movies.  Says King, "A good majority of our soldiers brought their own computers over here with external hard drives full of downloaded movies."

They also get fed pretty well, says King.  The food served at the HQs and to the members of the 2nd Platoon is prepared by contractors and King says they're pretty generous with their food--"We walk through a tent to get the food and continue through a series of other tents to find a seat.  There is a main line, a fast food line, a salad bar, desert bar, and several coolers full of water, Gatorade, and soda.  We even get Baskin Robbins ice cream on certain days."

The weather, however, has been more difficult to contend with.  In south central Afghanistan where the 322nd Engineer Battalion has been deployed, it has been over 100 degrees for the last 4-5 days.  Says King, "We recently were on convoy that had very strong winds, a sandstorm, rain, and hail."

Tomorrow:  A surprising story about the 322nd Engineer Battalion and Decorah