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Marine
Expeditionary Brigade - Afghanistan Gauges Progress in Farah,
Afghanistan
Story by Cpl. Aaron Rooks, 07.06.2009
 FARAH
PROVINCE, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan - "Everyone always
looks forward to going outside the wire on missions," said
Army Staff Sgt. John Smith, an infantryman who provides
security for Provincial Reconstruction Team-Farah in
Afghanistan's Farah province. "They enjoy meeting the local
population and watching the children play. That's our
motivation, to see how happy the children are and that they
now have a future ahead of them."
Smith, from West Frankfort, Ill., continued to express
satisfaction with the accomplishments made by his team and the
PRT they've supported throughout their deployment as his
humvee led a convoy down Highway 517 near the Farah District.
"We've made a lot of improvements for the local population
here in the province," he said, pointing out that the highway
they were driving along was built by the PRT. "The local
population has become very supportive of us being here. I
think it's because they see how we're helping them and realize
we're here to help make their lives better."
Smith said the PRT has built new roadways, medical facilities
and schools for the Afghan populace, as well as facilities to
support Afghan national security forces. What used to be a
two-hour drive along a goat trail has turned into a 30-minute
drive along paved roads.
"I'd like to see how this place looks in five years," said
Smith as the vehicle he was in came to a halt inside the local
Afghan national army compound. "With the number of
improvements we've made in such a short time, I'd like to see
how it looks by then."
The soldier then made his way toward Brig. Gen. Larry
Nicholson, commanding general of Marine Expeditionary
Brigade-Afghanistan, and the Marines who accompanied him from
Camp Leatherneck.
Nicholson, who traveled with fellow key leaders to gauge the
progress made by the PRT, looked at the ANA compound in
admiration. "This is very impressive," he said.
Navy Cmdr. Benjamin Nicholson, commander, PRT-Farah, then
escorted the general and his party through the billeting and
dining areas of the compound, which featured crisp, white
walls with clean, sparkling white floors
As the leaders left the group of buildings in the compound in
the direction of their vehicles, Smith said, "I think they
were pretty impressed with how nice they were."
After the general and his party safely got into their humvees,
Smith returned to his. He said they were heading into the city
limits of the Farah District.
"No worries," said Smith's driver, Sgt. Allan Talley, also an
infantryman from Illinois. "It's a pretty quite place. Not a
whole lot of bad stuff goes on here.
"The Afghan national army patrols the area often to ensure
there's no insurgent activity going on," Talley continued.
"They've developed a lot of respect and support from the
people here because of it."
The convoy arrived at the city outskirts within minutes. Life
seemed normal among the district as the group of up-armored
humvees rolled down the streets. They were full of children
and adults alike, who waved at the vehicles in a friendly
manner as they passed by, with the exception of a few who
silently glared in the group's direction.
Smith said he's come to believe those few individuals who give
them negative looks only do so because they may feel
intimidated by the large vehicles and crew-served weapons
mounted on them.
"Most change their attitudes when we get out of the vehicles,"
Smith said. "They see us face to face and see that we're
people just like them. They realize we're there to help."
The vehicles stopped beside a large, gold gate. The general
and PRT-Farah commander approached two Afghans, carried on a
conversation with them for a moment, then continued toward the
Farah Agricultural and Veterinary Educational Institute, which
was funded by the Afghan government and the United States,
with the cooperation of the people of Farah.
The group returned to the vehicles, around which a group of
children had gathered. They then proceeded through the
remainder of the city and returned to Forward Operating Base
Farah, the base of operations for the PRT, where Brig. Gen.
Nicholson met with Farah Gov. Roohul Amin.
"People are out, people are smiling," Brig. Gen. Nicholson
said, after shaking hands with the governor. "I think it's
very positive."
Amin told the general there were a lot of positive things in
the province, stating that he felt they were headed in the
right direction. But he said he still felt there were still
areas to build upon, primarily economic projects like Highway
515.
The highway, which is still currently under construction, will
eventually provide a path of travel from the Iranian border
all the way through Farah to the Delaram District at the
eastern edge, near where Marines operate in the vicinities of
Bakwa, Golestan and Par Chaman, said Maj. Wayne Bodine, MEB-Afghanistan's
liaison officer to PRT-Farah.
Bodine said Marines in those locations will continue to
provide security and develop relationships as PRT-Farah
continues efforts to complete Highway 515, which he said will
open routes for economic growth for the Afghan populace.
"With the Afghans feeling their security is stable, road
networks and other projects will spread prosperity into the
districts and allow the Afghans to be able to stand on their
own," Bodine said.
Cmdr. Nicholson said the PRT also plans to create a tougher
pavement that will prevent insurgents from emplacing
improvised explosive devices, a measure that will greatly
increase protection for both locals and International Security
Assistance Forces.
At the end of their meeting, Amin informed the brigade
commanding general that construction of roadways remained the
top priority for the province. As he prepared to depart, Brig.
Gen. Nicholson told the governor that he looked forward to
working with him more in the near future, and reassured him
that he would keep a close oversight of roadway construction
progress. |
Aerial
Gunners Provide Cover for Lifesaving Mission
U.S.
Air Forces Central Public Affairs, 7/06/2009
 CAMP
BASTION, Afghanistan -- Air Force Combat Search and Rescue
crews fly throughout Afghanistan, providing airlift and
medical care to service members wounded on the battlefield.
More often than not, this requires them to fly into and
operate in extremely hostile and precarious situations and
locations.
Aerial gunners are charged with protecting their CSAR
teammates and do their best to bring everyone on the
helicopter back safely.
"The HH-60s need to be able to land virtually on top of the
point of injury to quickly recover the wounded," said Tech.
Sgt. Scott Matthews, 129th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron
aerial gunner. "The helicopters are a huge target for the
enemy and we need to have our heads on a swivel making sure
the PJs [pararescuemen] have the cover they need to recover
injured people."
The rescue crews are successful in recovering the wounded
largely because of the speed in which they can get to a
location and extract the wounded on the ground.
"Speed is everything, so you need to be very familiar with
your job so that you don't cause any delays," said Staff Sgt.
Tim Chase, 129th ERQS aerial gunner, deployed from the 41st
Rescue Squadron at Moody AFB, Ga. "We constantly train for
these missions. This allows us to work confidently and quickly
when we are on a mission. All that training helps us keep our
guys safe in a hostile environment."
The irony of the aerial gunner's role in a rescue flight is
that it often requires them to take a life in order to save
another.
"The aspect of this job I love more than anything else is that
we're here saving lives," Sgt. Matthews said. "On the flip
side, we need to make sure that when PJs step off the bird to
get the wounded, they have the protection they need. This may
require taking out the bad guys so the good guys succeed."
For the crews, flexibility is important, as they never
encounter the same situation twice.
"The challenges that come with being in the back are
constantly changing and dynamic because the combat search and
rescue platform changes according to whatever theater we
operate in," said Staff Sgt. Sean Pellaton, 129th ERQS aerial
gunner, a native of Castro Valley, Calif.
A common observation among the crews of the rescue flights is
the amount of chaos they fly into when recovering the wounded.
"When we're on a mission, we're seeing all this chaos and
right in the middle of that, there's this odd organization
that exists," said Sgt. Matthews, deployed from the 129th
Rescue Squadron at Moffett Federal Airfield, Calif. "We're
right in the middle of these crazy situations. While we're
observing what's going on all around us as thoroughly as
possible for threats - whether natural or enemy - we're also
playing an active part using the radios and manning a weapon."
The team, through training and experience, are completely in
synch with one another, allowing the mission to become a
well-orchestrated symphony of events. Once the helicopter
lands, the gunners relay the signal for the pararescuemen and
combat rescue officers to disembark from the helicopter to
recover the wounded, while simultaneously alerting the
operations center that the aircraft is wheel's down.
The flight engineers and aerial gunners man their .50 cal
machine guns providing a virtual 180 degrees of security on
each side, monitor the blaring radios, update the crew on the
activity out their doors and prepare the ground forces for the
helicopters' departure.
"It's all going down in a matter of seconds," Sgt. Chase said.
"In that time, I'm looking for bad guys, the PJs are triaging
their patients, I'm giving a 30 second call for liftoff, the
[flight engineer] is making sure the systems are working and
the pilots are focusing on getting us out of there and back to
base camp. I don't know how or why, but everything just comes
together."
Indeed, it's not until afterward that the crew has a moment to
reflect on all the possibilities that could have happened
during the mission. And it's a process built into the mission
itself. Each flight results in a thorough debriefing, where
the entire scenario is re-stepped and evaluated. With so much
happening all at once, there can be a lot missed from one seat
in the helicopter to the next.
"Everything happens so rapidly that it's only after the
mission is complete that you realize how well everything went
despite the chaos," Sgt. Matthews said. "That's when you
realize how easily things could have gone wrong if you weren't
focused enough, had enough training, or confidence in your
crew's teamwork."
At the end of the day, it's the goal of the rescue mission
that leaves the biggest impression on the crew.
"Being a gunner - I'm part of something much bigger than
myself," Matthews said. "We go in and get guys who, if we
weren't there, may not make it to the next day or even the
next hour."
"One of the greatest things a person can do is risk his life
for another's," Sgt. Pellaton said. "It's an awesome thing and
something any of us is willing to do. It's not just a motto to
us, it's the soul of the mission." |
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