An Air Force-led Provincial Reconstruction Team is building two bridges in Salang Valley, Afghanistan that will for the first time allow vehicle traffic to pass through the valley year round and will be the first time vehicles can reach a large marble quarry in the valley. The PRT, based at Bagram AB, Afghanistan, plans to finish construction in early November. “Opening this valley to year-round traffic will bring stability, security, and governance to a region that has been isolated for a very long time,” said Army Maj. Don Johnson, Parwan Province PRT leader. Local Afghans are so excited about the project that they laid a decent road leading to the bridges, Johnson continued.
The U.S. and Sweden signed a bilateral Defense Cooperation Agreement on Dec. 5 that will strengthen military ties between them and likely lead to U.S. troops and prepositioned gear on Swedish soil. Swedish Defense minister Pal Jonson said the war in Ukraine prompted Sweden's joining NATO and he laid out…