An American Story
Jun 24 at 8:08am by David Tate
There’s a lot of negative talk regarding the US these days. I hear a lot about money, hypocrisy and… well, the white man. The oppressive white man. Fact is, there’s a lot of ammunition out there for folks that believe these thoughts that are, like any generalization, stereotypes.
I’ve had the great fortune of meeting many, many service people from all branches as well as from a variety of countries. While I have to admit I’ve seen my fair share of gung ho, trigger happy Americans, I have seen far more US soldiers and Marines like the one I’m about to introduce.
Meet Lt. Col. (now Colonel) Lapthe Flora. In 2006, when I did this story, Flora was a battalion commander in the 29th Infantry Division with the job of leading Task Force Red Dragon as part of the KFOR mission to Kosovo.
What makes Flora so intriguing is his background. He’s a top level man at ITT in Roanoke (which makes the nightvision goggles for US troops) and very established in the region. His upbringing was much different though. Among other things, Flora escaped the communists in Vietnam by living in the mountain jungles for years. He became a boat person and a refugee. He was eventually adopted by an American couple who saw him graduate high school in near-record time and then shipped him off to VMI for his education.
Now, after all of that, Lapthe Flora is able to give back some of the blessings he was fortunate enough to find. This is an American citizen soldier that is a great example of what true Americans are like.
Arghandab is Clear of Taliban
Jun 17 at 8:08am by David Tate
US officials are saying the stories regarding a large presence of Taliban just northwest of Kandahar are unfounded:
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (June 17, 2008) – Afghan National Police and Coalition forces completed a patrol in the Arghandab District of Kandahar province today and found no evidence that militants control the area.
While in the area, Coalition forces moved freely and met no resistance. Recent reports of militant control in the area appear to be unfounded.
The threat of militant activity still exists throughout the province, but the patrol found no indication that militants have overwhelming strength in the Arghandab area.
History
The story of the Taliban massing broke June 16th, just three days after more than 800 inmates, including 400 Taliban, escaped from prison following a well planned attack that left the facility in ruins.
The report that the area is calm is a very stark difference than that of the plethora of reports out there claiming otherwise.
Some reports claim the Taliban hold at least 18 villages and are currently digging in for the upcoming fight, with hundreds of civillians fleeing the area.
Filling the Void
Jun 16 at 7:07am by David Tate
Now that the tide in southern Afghanistan is turning, how will the coalition sustain their gains?
The US Marines fighting to regain control of Garmser have had an, “astonishing effect”, Britian’s Defense Minister Des Browne recently told Reuters. “We don’t intend to give up what we have created.”
To back that up, Britian announced on June 16th that they are prepared to send more troops to Afghanistan in coming months. This on top of the extra maneuver unit they sent to reinforce last year.
Holding Helmand
The key to keeping Helmand Province is to keep control of that provinces’ “green zones”. Afghanistan’s landscape in that area is incredible for a couple of reasons, but one of the main ones that sticks out in my mind is what are now called “green zones”.
You can look across the Afghan desert and see nothing but rocks, sand and mountains providing quite the rustic and inhospitable view. As you drive along, all of a sudden you come to the rim of a bowl… a green bowl, or green zone.
Far different than the “Green Zone” I have visited in Iraq. These green zones are an oasis of life that includes villages, cattle and fields of crops and poppies. Some green zones are small, others, like the Helmand River Valley, are dozens of kilometers across. The point is, beyond these green zones, life is very, very difficult. Control the green zones, you control Helmand.
The siege of Garmser indicates that controlling these green zones is the strategy underway. Strategically, controlling Garmser is the key to cutting the free flow of fighters and weapons into northern Helmand, Oruzgan and beyond. You control Garmser and the Taliban will have a very difficult time reaching these places in numbers, they will no longer have a transportation hub for their drug running and the poppy itself will inevitably have to change as crop of choice.
South of the town, beyond Garmser’s outlying villages (which number more than 100), is nothing but desert, for more than 40km, before running into the Pakistani border, an area known locally in translation as, “The Desert of Death”. To Garmser’s east and west is nothing but hundreds of kilometers of scorching desert. To the north is Nawa-i-Barakzayi, and the Helmand River Valley that snakes it’s way north, nourishing this parched part of the world, that could one day be Afghanistan’s bread basket. You hold Garmser, you hold Helmand.
The Marines of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which has done the bulk of the fighting for Garmser, will not be staying too much longer. Regardless, by October, this surge force will be gone and. so far, not replaced from the outside. If there is a move to increase forces to replace the Marines, it would have to be in the form of at least two battalions, something that has yet to be announced.
What has been announced is a number of strategic moves from inside Afghanistan that may alleviate some of the concern about the 24th MEU leaving a security void once their mission here is over.
101st Airborne Heading South?
In April, the 101st Airborne Division’s Task Force Gladiator took control of Parwan and Kapisa Provinces (just north and south of Kabul) where 82nd Airborne paratroopers spent 15 months training Afghan Security Forces and building a law enforcement infrastructure. The provinces are largely quiet, with the exception of the Tag Ab Valley in Kapisa. That area has long been an area that is filled with HiG fighters and sympathizers of the Taliban regime. The Afghan National Army also increased its presence here in 2007 from a battalion to a brigade.
Earleir this month France announced it would be sending a battalion of troops to the Kapisa area, particularly Tag Ab, which would free up the US paratroopers who could be shifted south. The paratroopers would be a perfect replacement for Second Battalion, Seventh Marines who are training Afghan Security Forces in Helmand and Farah Provinces. Keep in mind that the mission of 2/7 is district-by-district and meant to be mobile over time, so whoever replaces the task of 2/7, will not be in the same districts that 2/7 operated in.
France also plans to send Embedded Training Teams to central Afghanistan’s Oruzgan Province, where primarily Dutch and Australian forces operate. France also maintains six fighters in Kandahar and roughly 1,700 troops stationed in Kabul.
Italians Moving South and East?
The Italians may prove to be the most effective force to help stabilize the area. In late May, the Italian government announced it would reduce its force in Kabul by up to 300, but also make it’s 2,400 strong mission, based in Herat, more “flexible”.
Their plan is to be able to respond to NATO requests within six-hours versus the current 72 hour standard. While the Italians say they have no plans to move their permenant base from Herat, the ability of Italian forces to go mobile in an offensive manner, opens great possibilities for taking over the role of the 24th MEU.
How Big Will Australia Go?
In Early June, Austrailian Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon called on the coalition to come up with 10,000 more soldiers for Afghanistan, at the same time saying his country would not send any more troops. As the largest non-Nato contributer, Australia has 1,000 troops in Oruzgan.
While Australia has troops abroad in various peacekeeping missions in their area of the world, 550 Autrailians were just pulled from Iraq, a force that could make a difference in one of Helmand’s “green zones”.
40,000 Yanks and Counting
In May, President Bush opened the door for an additional 7,000 troops (two Brigade Combat Teams) to be added to the coalition, taking US troop levels to 40,000. While the decision is not set, the order will almost certainly be signed as the last of five “surge” troops, from Iraq, will have made their way home by July, 2008. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates publicly said in May that the US was prepared to boost its force in 2009, but did not get into numbers.
Don’t Count out the Afghans
One of the most important keys to success for the establishment of government authority across southern Afghanistan is a successful police force, a force which bears the brunt of the violence. Nearly 1000 Afghan cops died in 2007.
In the past two years, since the Americans took over the training from the Germans in 2005, the Americans have pumped more than 2.5 billion dollars into new training strategies.
The Focused District Development (FDD) program is a new approach to the training that is hoped will root out the excessive corruption, lack of credibility and brutality the Afghan Security Forces (usually just local militia guys) have exhibited in the past. Unlike the past, the US is focused on individual districts for specialized training, especially districts known for warlordism and corruption.
In a nutshell, the coalition will sustain security in a particular district while the local police get shipped off to an eight-week boot camp. Once the police unit is trained, a coalition (usually American) Police Mentoring Teams (PMT), works with and mentors the unit in the field.
As the program develops, the Americans are using specially trained Afghans who go through 16-weeks of specialized schooling known as Afghan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP). This force will eventually be used by the coalition to take over police duties in districts in which FDD is targetting, until local police can get trained and in place.
The idea is to have the ANCOPs set the example of what the Afghan people should expect once their local police return from training. The hope is that this example, and the American mentors, will help show the Afghan police the proper way to interact with the public (and respond to threats) in a manner that will build the trust neccesary to have successful police force.
Afterall, Afghanistan cannot succeed as a country unless its people have security, whether the world is there to help them or not.
Push to Find Bin Laden, Mehsud
Jun 15 at 2:02pm by David Tate
The premier American commando unit, Delta Force, is teaming up with Britian’s Special Boat Service (SBS) which has resulted in an escalation in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
An unnamed source within British special forces claims the regular forays into Pakistan are “completely sanctioned” by the Pakistani government.
The report claims US and British ground forces, backed up by unmanned drones and the Pakistani army, are operating within Pakistan in a renewed effort to flush bin Laden toward US troops who are massing on the border.
Evidence of increased activity occured in South Waziristan on June 14th, when for the fifth time this year, apparent US missile strikes rocked the area, killing at least one. Reports say Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud was targetted.
Just last month, an unnamed Afghan intelligence officer told AFP that the Afghans had very recently received credible news that bin Laden is in the area of Chitral, Pakistan, as recently as April. Chitral has long been thought the area where the Al Qaeda leader is hiding.
This news comes at the same time Afghan President Hamid Karzai is threatening to send troops into the same region of Pakistan. Karzai has long blamed much of his country’s problems on Pakistan’s inability, or lack of desire, at reigning in the terrorists conducting cross border attacks.
Updated June 15 at 1750 EST.
Task Force 2/7 Under Fire
Jun 14 at 4:04pm by David Tate
Four US Marines were killed in action in the southwestern part of Afghanistan June 14th where they’ve been training Afghan National Police forces since late March. The Marines died when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle in Farah Province. A fifth Marine was seriously injured in the attack. That brings the number of Marines killed during this springs’ “surge” to seven.
While Task Force 2/7 came to Afghanistan with the 2,200 Marines of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), their mission is completely different from that of the MEU.
“Our Mission is to provide security for the ANP mentors and assist in training the ANP in order to extend Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA) authority and influence over security, stability and regional development.” Lt. Col. Richard Hall told me in an email interview. ”My Marines are in contact everyday, in every district”.
2/7’s current area of operations includes 11 districts across two provinces, but will focus their training efforts in eight of those districts. Currently, 2/7 is operating in Sangin, Musa Qala, Nahr-e-Saraj (Gereshk), Now Zad, and Washir districts in Helmand province as well as Deleram, Golestan, Bala Baluk, Bakwa and Farah districts in Farah Province. The entire area of operations is 400 km by 240 km.
The Marines have been broken down into platoon-sized elements and are assigned to various district centers where they mentor and train a force of primarily Afghan National Police. While 2/7 is attached to Combined Security Transition Command - Afghanistan, they are also part of Task Force Phoenix, which makes the Marine battalion the first unit of this size to be dedicated to the training of Afghan Security Forces.
Beyond that, 2/7 is also working toward the integration of civil affairs projects that coincide with their security efforts.
“We focus heavily on civil military projects tying in and synchronizing our efforts with all elements of the civilian leadership.”
Also by email, Master Sergeant Marlon Martin adds, “The task force’s mission, however, is not to drive out the Taliban. Its mission is the people. The commander (Lt. Col. Hall) is intensely focused on this mission.”
The battalion, now headquartered at Camp Barber, is within the confines of the sprawling British base, Camp Bastion, northwest of Helmand’s provincial capital, Lashkar Gah.
Focused District Development Plan (FDD)
While there are many reasons that have contributed to the shortcomings in Afghanistan, one that ranks at the top is the failure to adequately train and implement Afghan police forces. This task was originally given to the Germans, then taken over by the Americans in 2006.
Beginning in October, 2007, the United States began a new program called Focused District Development, which not only began pumping more funding into the police forces, but training teams, similar to the Embedded Training Team (ETT) concept were now being used with police forces.
The goal for the program is to focus on 52 of the country’s districts by the end of 2008, with all of Afghanistan’s remaining 313 districts to follow suit by 2012.
“We see FDD as really the first step in breaking the cycle of corruption that really is a challenge here in Afghanistan,” said Army Colonel Michael McMahon, the director of force integration and training for Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan, which oversees Afghan security forces development.
A sentiment echoed by Lt. Col. Hall. “We (US and Afghan leadership) jointly understand as being underpinned by a legitimate and capable law enforcement capacity that becomes the first, and perhaps the only, form of legitimate government local people will ever come to know. They understand this, not so much from an idealistic view but certainly from a pragmatic perspective. They both understand force, but it is inculcating character and teaching the legitimate or restrained use of force that becomes the challenge, in both theaters. Teaching them to do the right thing even when no one is looking.”
It’s a challenge the Marines successfully met just last year in Anbar Province, Iraq. Now, less than a year later, 2/7 is doing it all over again, this time as the tip of the spear for a program in it’s own fledgling state, even if almost seven years into coalition intervention.
“Creating a credible, respectable, competent police force is challenging in any theater, especially when you do not always have all the resources up front to get you started, or the processes in place for sustainment.” Hall said. “But there is certainly enough to get the job done.”
The above image was provided by 2/7 Marines.
US Military Releases Video of Controversial Air Strike
Jun 11 at 11:11pm by David Tate
The American military PR department is in full swing countering claims by Pakistan that the Americans killed nearly a dozen Pakistani security forces on the Pak side of the border with Kunar Province.
While the Americans do not deny the attack, they say the strike killed Taliban fighters that had engaged coalition forces, for nearly an hour, from positions straddling the border. Tonight, the US military released a video of what they say is the attack.
UAV Video of Controversial Airstrike
Immersion Training at Camp Atterbury
Jun 10 at 10:10am by David Tate
US troops heading overseas receive what is called, Immersion Training. Basically it’s where the troops are sent to a base that is set up with fake towns, roads and people that are made to resemble that unit’s impending area of operations.
The military even hires people of various ethnic groups that properly portray the civillian population. I was used once as a “CNN journalist”. The two main bases that a majority of troops pass through are Camp Shelby, Ms. and Camp Atterbury, In.
Here’s a quick story I made regarding this training as members of 3/116th, 29th Infantry Division, get ready for a yearlong KFOR tour in Kosovo.
This story originally aired, and belongs to, WSLS-Roanoke (NBC) in Oct. 2006.
Air Assault Training at Camp Atterbury
Jun 7 at 8:08pm by David Tate
For the past several years, Camp Atterbury, Indiana, has been called on to help refresh and train soldiers, particularly National Guard soldiers, who are preparing to deploy overseas.
In this clip, tag along with members of 3/116th, 29th Infantry Division, as they practice an air assault and crowd control techniques just before leaving for a yearlong tour in Kosovo.
This story was shot and edited by David Tate on location in Indiana. It originally aired, and belongs to, WSLS-Roanoke (NBC) in Oct. 2006.
Garmser Grows Silent
Jun 6 at 2:02pm by David Tate
After 35 straight days of combat, Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) are beginning to push ahead with civil affairs projects, as combat in Garmser has been on hold since June 1st. The Marines report more than 150 engagements since the fighting began.
Already, Afghan security forces are taking up positions around the newly liberated areas that will soon be handed over to them, and British forces, once the US Marines move on. When that will happen is still up in the air.
While fighting has slowed, the Marines are only about a third of the way through the more than one hundred villages that dot the Helmand River Valley, before the river veers west into neighboring Nimroz Province. A desert wasteland of roughly 25 kilometers separates the Helmand River Valley from Pakistan to the south.
More than 4000 families were displaced by the fighting, many of whom are beginning to return. British and Afghan forces have also held a jirga (meeting) with some 200 returning refugees, including more than 100 of whom are described as village elders. As the Marines move south, they’re putting together a census and working with locals to initiate humanitarian projects (picture above provided by 24 MEU).
The Fight for Garmser
In the early morning hours of April 28th, Marines assaulted Garmser district’s center, also called Garmser. Three Marine companies flooded the area by ground and through the air. The maneuver element of 24 MEU, Battalion Landing Team (BLT) 1/6, is made up of three infantry companies, two of which air assaulted into position southeast of Garmser as the battle unfolded. British forces, already in place in the center of town, coordinated with the Marines during the attack. Support for the force came from a British post about 10 miles west of Garmser called FOB Dwyer. Scottish forces based at the Garmser Agriculture college were also involved in the fight.
In all, the Marines claim to have killed more than 150 Taliban fighters while uncovering nearly 50 weapons caches. One Marine, a scout/sniper, was also killed with four others wounded.
A majority of Taliban forces, which continualy reinforced their fighters during the battle, are believed to have fled northwest toward Farah Province and south across the “Desert of Death” toward villages and refugee camps on the Pakistani-side of the border.
Coalition forces in Farah have been attacking those retreating forces, killing more than a hundred in a handful of decisive engagements. A U.S. Special Forces soldier was killed in that fighting.
What’s Next For 24 MEU?
When the Marines landed in Kandahar, they came with a laundry list of objectives, the first being Garmser. The town was used by the Taliban for a number of strategic reasons:
First, it was a hub for terrorists coming across from Pakistan into Afghanistan. Here they would be fitted with equipment, trained and then pressed into service against the British. Once they got experience under their belts, the fighters would then be sent to other areas of the country. While there are homegrown fighters among the ranks, foreigners, including Iranians, Arabs and a majority of Pakistanis make up their ranks.
Second, Garmser is a major hub for drug trafficing that supports the insurgency. The area’s best roads snake away from Garmser toward Farah and then onto Iran. This route is what the coalition believes is the main route that supplies Iran, and then Europe, with heroin from the world’s top-producing region.
Finally, the road that heads southeast out of Garmser, toward Pakistan, is the only viable road from the Helmand River Valley into Pakistan. The coalition believes this road is the primary route that supplies the region’s insurgency with weapons and supplies. This road is also the main focus of the Marines’ current assault. “This is an artery and we did not realize that when we squeezed that artery, it would have such an effect,” said First Lieutenant Mark Matzke, the executive officer of Charlie Company told the New York Times in late May.
What’s next for the Marines is now the big question. Since the 24th MEU relies on its air assets, which are based at Kandahar Air Field, operations will most likely remain in the Helmand, Kandahar, Oruzgan and Zabul Province areas. There is also a strong chance the Marines will find themselves in Farah Province where large areas of that province are under complete control of the Taliban. In particular, Bala Buluk and Bakwa districts are considered Taliban havens.
Wherever the Marines end up, it is a near guarantee that it will be wherever the largest concentration of Taliban are located in Regional Command South. The Marines are not in Afghanistan to hold ground, but are there to take as much ground as they can with the understanding it will be turned over to suffiicient, more permenant forces… providing those forces are available.
Soldier of Fortune Article Made Public
Jun 3 at 10:10am by David Tate
The folks at Soldier of Fortune have decided to make my article public. So at the link below, read the story, behind the story, of how one artillery unit has helped shape the battlefield south of Baghdad, which includes the killing of top AQI commander, Abu Jurah!
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