Deployed from January through August 2005 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Major Dustin Harris of the US Army Corps of Engineers served as the resident engineer for Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan and, in this capacity, worked on "projects that included rebuilding the Kandahar Airfield, the bed down - barracks - facility for the coalition troops, the potable water tank for the base, and the sewage lines from the barracks to the sewage lagoons. We were also constructing force protection barriers for the base as well." In addition, Harris worked on an Afghan National Army base camp located near the Kandahar Airfield, on another one near the town of Qalat, and also during the course of his deployment traveled to Bagram on a mission to capture lessons learned related to the construction of that airfield. In this interview, conducted via email, he also reflects on his predeployment training, his movement into theater, the logistical support he received while in country, and his dealings with local Afghans. What's more, he comments on what he considers his greatest challenge, that being when units and the base leadership changed out, which demanded copious amounts of "patience and flexibility." "When the leadership changed," Harris said, "we needed to learn the new standards and figure out the fastest way to get our workers on the base to be able to accomplish the most work we could." He closes by talking at length about the family separation issue and especially how being away for eight months impacted his wife and his young son.

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