I am scratching my head right now because I am not seeing all the difficulty of which you guys are speaking.

If I'm going to position a COP, I conduct a leader's reconnaissance with ASCOPE in mind for the "C" in METT-TC, look at the task requirements (is it a laager for patrols only, a semi-permanent site for PRT and USAID enablers, etc.?) and consider the basic defensive position requirements. inherent in any static defense.

It is not like were are making water here guys, but rather more along the lines of constructing a patrol harbor site with direct fire barriers and some IDF protection, but that's pretty much it. What is so difficult that a basically trained officer can't open a pub with a few technical drawings detailing dimensions, and get started, even if he is not an engineer?

Engineers can tell us the calculated time to construct a COP based on soil composition and HESCO fill rates, but once you work a few barriers, the rest are really very easy to deal with.

Now, if I had to incorporate a Taco Bell Express into the site, that might take a bit more work, but it appears that Gen McChrystal has taken care of that with a directive that the AAFES oxygen-stealing largesse of chain restaurant crap in Afghanistan is bring terminated within the next 90 days.