Afghanistan Notebook

Raindrops keep falling on my hooch

Friday was a rainy day at Camp Phoenix as troops make their way
across Patriot Square.

This has been an unusual day at Camp Phoenix.

That’s because it has rained all day.

In fact, we’ve had a steady drizzle the last 24 hours.

I mention the weather because the area seldom gets so much rain in one dose. Kabul’s annual rainfall total is about 11 inches. In the past 24 hours, we’ve been ”deluged” with .7 of an inch.

Things are bound to get worse as a mix of sleet and snow is predicted for tonight. But by Saturday Kabul will be back to it’s good, ol’ sunny self.

The rain has been so steady today that for the first time since they arrived back in May some S.C. troops put on their rain gear.

They’re even more grateful that they didn’t ship the gear back home with their spare uniforms, boots, and coats.

Although the weather tends to keep one inside, I don’t mind.

I’ve read a little, worked a bit, and even watched a movie.

There’s something comforting to hearing the splattering of raindrops on the steel roof of my hooch.

It reminds of sitting on the back porch at home when a rainstorm passes through greater Dentsville.

In a few weeks, I’ll be back to enjoy those summer storms. And I certainly won’t complain about the rain.

 

Running the roads of Afghanistan

Every once in a while, a S.C. license plate can be spotted on a humvee around these parts. As you might imagine, the humvees are being driven by members of the S.C. National Guard's 218th Brigade Combat Team.
Above, is the humvee of Capt. Jason Cain, commander of SECFOR's Charlie Company. Cain, of Charleston, snapped this shot of his truck parked at Camp Hughey, in Jalabad.
Back in South Carolina, Cain's unit is part of the 1st Battalion, 118th Infantry, and headquartered at Union.
To the left is a shot of one of Bravo Company's truck parked at Kandahar Airfield. The soldiers bolted on the S.C. plates shortly after they arrived in Afghanistan. The plates are definitely attention-getters as the trucks roll through the heart of Taliban-friendly Kandahar Province. Bravo Company, also a unit of the 1-118th, is headquartered at Fountain Inn.

218th troops back medal for Brits

Soldiers of the South Carolina's 218th Brigade Combat Team have lent their support to a London paper's campaign to honor British troops.
As hard as it may seem to be believe, the British military doesn't award a medal to personnel who've been wounded or killed in enemy action.
The Purple Heart, awarded to U.S. personnel, was instituted by the first general of the Army -- George Washington.
The Daily Mirror has taken up the cause to see that British troops receive a similar honor.

Here's the Mirror's story quoting members of the 218th:

"Sgt Brian Craft, Colonel Ed Kornish, Sgt Major Andrew Bolt and Major Bill Connor agree that the American Purple Heart medal awarded to US soldiers killed or wounded in action is seen as vital to troop morale and the families of those who die. Sgt Craft, 30, summed up their feelings by saying: "No American soldier out here can believe you guys don't already have a similar medal." Sgt Major Bolt, 42, added: "I've seen what reaction people have to the Heart in the US. I've also seen how British soldiers work out here and they really are great professionals, who lay their lives on the line."

The paper also reports that 89 British troops have been killed in Afghanistan since 2001; 174 have died in Iraq since 2003.

Check out the following link:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/ourboys/news/2008/02/19/us-troops-in-afghanistan-back-the-mirror-s-medal-campaign-89520-20324181/

Salute to the Cav

Members of 2nd Platoon pose for a picture after a recent ceremony.

Take a close look at the images. They may be last you’ll see of a member of the S.C. Army National Guard wearing a Stetson.

That’s right, the cavalry is going away.

B Troop, 202 Cavalry is being decommissioned as part of the Guard’s transformation and reorganization.

Here at Camp Phoenix, about half of the soldiers in Delta Company, which is under the SecFor Battalion, are members of the Beaufort-based unit.

Serving as an armored scout unit was B Troop’s primary mission.

But as part of the 218th Brigade Combat Team, the soldiers have handled an assortment of missions from convoy operations to intel gathering to presence patrols. Almost every day they venture outside the wire.
In September, B Troop, which traces its lineage to before the Revolutionary War, will be out of business. An MP battalion is being stood up in the Cav’s place.

Wearing a Stetson is just one thing that sets the cavalry apart from the rest of the Army.

True to their heritage, the troops also wear spurs.

But first they must earn them.

To wear silver spurs, a soldier has to march 15 miles with a 35-pound rucksack, pass a 50-question test on the unit’s history, and be familiar the all the weapons the troop uses.

A cavalryman earns his gold spurs by going into combat with the unit.

As this deployment for the 218^th Brigade Combat Team winds down, various units are handing out awards.

These images are of the 2^nd Platoon’s award ceremony, which was held at the RRF (Ready Reaction Force) shack at Camp Phoenix. The troops were awarded the Army Commendation Medal or Army Achievement Medal.

Back in May, I wrote a feature about riding along with the 2^nd Platoon. A video is posted on the S.C. at War page.

 

 

Wild about Harry

Prince Harry with Capt. Dylan Goff of Columbia. Look closely and you'll see
the prince is sporting a beard, something that appear in the photo op images released
to the news media. (Photos courtesy of Dylan Goff)

Before this gets to the Fleet Street press, thought we'd publish via the blog some more pictures of  Prince Harry hanging with the S.C. troops.
The above phone shows the prince posing with Capt. Dylan Goff of Columbia.
Goff said the picture was taken near Musa Qaleh in Helmand Province, a hotbed of Taliban resistance.
"Harry was serving as a joint tactical air controller providing close air support for my team of U.S. mentors and ANP (Afghan National Police) clearing the villages and tunnel complexes in the area," Goff said in an e-mail.  "We met afterward and I was able to speak with him briefly and have the picture taken."
At left, is a picture of the prince and Sgt. 1st Class Lamar Johnson, who's the team sergeant of Goff's police mentor unit. Johnson's a member of the Georgia National Guard and hails from Atlanta.
Goff, a graduate of The Citadel, was in his third year of law school when he was called up for the Afghanistan mission.
Last week, The State ran a story about Harry meeting another Citadel alum, Lt. Col. Bill Connor, of Orangeburg.
The prince spent 10 weeks in Afghanistan and his whereabouts had been embargoed until the Drudge Report broke the story.
After the world knew where Harry was, the British military decided to pull him out of Afghanistan. Commanders feared that the Taliban would target the prince, exposing him and his fellow soldiers to greater danger. In other words, the prince would be a "bullet magnet."

Catching up with the notebook

This may be one of the dirtiest and nastiest places on Earth, but it also can be
one of the most scenic. This is a pic of the snow-covered mountains south of Camp
Phoenix. The camp's outside wall is in the foreground.

Heartfelt thanks

The pundits say Afghanistan is the forgotten war, lurking somewhere in the American subconscious as the country grapples with what to do next in the bloodier and unpopular Iraq war.

And, after being here for almost a year, it’s possible to think that even you have been forgotten.

But that isn’t the case for S.C. National Guard troops. Families, friends, neighbors, churches, and businesses across the state have jumped in to back the troops of the 218^th Brigade Combat Team.

“Tell everyone back home how much we appreciate their support,” Staff Sgt. Clyde Waddell told me the other day as we talked outside the PX.

“It means a lot, it really does,” his voice choking.

Then Waddell, a Vietnam veteran, put his hand on my shoulder and fought back tears.

“I’m sorry,” he said, shaking his head.

There was no need to apologize.

Making a difference

When I was back home for a break, one of the most frequent questions folks I fielded was whether “we” were making a difference.

“We,” I inferred, was the U.S. military and its coalition partners.

It’s a tough question to answer because in Afghanistan nothing ever is what it seems.

For every negative statistic and fact, you can counter with a positive.

But the other day while convoying back to Kabul from Bagram, I thought we had taken a different route. The road seemed different than the one I had traveled about eight months ago.

As we approached Kabul, I noticed that small businesses and villages had sprouted from the ground.

The commanders say the best measure of how well a counterinsurgency is working is whether the people feel secure. If they feel secure, they will open businesses and build houses.

Apparently, in that stretch of the Kabul-Bagram Road, a difference has been made.

War costs going up for Taliban, too

What the Taliban and al Qaida are paying people to fight for them is another way to gauge how the war is going.

Pay for a Taiban fighter is up to $600 a month from just $60 a few years ago, said Command Sgt. Maj. John Harrelson, the brigade’s senior enlisted leader.

The going rate to plant a bomb is $500 to $1,000, and suicide bomber’s family earns $10,000.

The Taliban’s costs have increased because it has to recruit foreign fighters from places like Chechnya Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, added Harrelson, of North Myrtle Beach.

Don’t expect the Taliban to go broke, though. Most of its money comes from the country’s illicit drug trade. And, with Afgahnistan producing about 95 percent of the world’s heroin, the Taliban won’t be running out of money any time soon.

 

Gotta wait in Kuwait

Right now, I’m sitting in the MWR tent at Camp LSA, Kuwait and doing what seems to come naturally in covering the military – waiting.

The camp is part of the Ali Al Salem Air Base complex near Kuwait City where troops wait to catch a plane that’ll take them home or to war.

I left this place at the end of October after covering the first six months of the 218^th Brigade Combat Team’s yearlong tour in Afghanistan.

Now, I’m back for the 218^th’s last couple of months in Afghanistan.

I’ll get to a few places in Afghanistan where I haven’t been before, visit more troops, and cover the 218^th’s redeployment to the States. The unit’s 1,600 soldiers are due back in May. Some 200 already are home.

Of course, the story won’t end there. The State plans to stick with the troops as they make the transition from a world that seems locked in biblical times to one of shopping malls, high-speed Internet and indoor bathrooms.

And, we’ll track the soldiers’ ability to return to a “normal” life of not having to wear body armor or duck into a bunker after a mortar attack.

So, the ol’ blog is back in business and we’re ready to keep you updated on the 218^th’s progress.

All I need to do is wait for the next flight to Afghanistan.

Snow on a cold tin roof

First, my apologies for not keeping up the blog.
I returned home Nov. 1 and have spent much of my time working on other projects, visiting family, reading and golfing.
But I'll be heading back to Afghanistan in a few weeks and feel it's time to slip back into the groove.
There'll be more offerings in the future. Right now, time for a little weather report courtesy of Lt. Col. Mike "Nuke" O'Neill, of Goose Creek.
"This picture shows the weather that we have been having lately," O'Neill said in a recent email that included a shot of snow on the corrugated steel roof atop a B-hut at Camp Phoenix in Kabul.
"Snow that has fallen on the roof melts and slides down during the day, and re-freezes at night," O'Neill wrote.  "Just thought it would be a unusual picture."
BTW, daytime highs in Kabul are in the mid 30s, and at night it slides down into the mid teens.

Memo to the troops

I first saw this list last week on a door of one of the gazillion commands at Kandahar Airfield. I thought about copying it in my notepad so I could post, but got diverted and went off to do something else.

Well, retired Col. Angelo Perri has come to my rescue.  He forwarded the list in an e-mail. I've included Col. Perri's remarks. Enjoy.



"For those of you who may doubt which Branch of the Military is the most dedicated!!!!Regards..ANGELO"




Subject: : Rules of the Military

Marine Corps Rules

1. Be courteous to everyone, friendly to no one.
2. Decide to be aggressive enough, quickly enough.
3. Have a plan.
4. Have a back-up plan, because the first one probably won't work.
5. Be polite. Be professional, but, have a plan to kill everyone you meet.
6. Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun whose caliber does not start with
a "4."
7. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammo is cheap. Life is
expensive.
8. Move away from your attacker. Distance is your friend.
(Lateral & diagonal preferred.)
9. Use cover or concealment as much as possible.
10. Flank your adversary when possible. Protect yours.
11. Always win. There is no unfair fight.
12. In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or
tactics. They will only remember who lived.
13. If you are not shooting, you should be communicating your intention to
shoot.
14. You can only have too much ammo if you are swimming or on fire.


Navy SEAL's Rules

1. Look very cool in sunglasses.
2. Kill every living thing within view
3. Adjust speedo.
4. Check hair in mirror.


US Army Rangers Rules

1. Walk in 50 miles wearing 75 pound rucksack while starving.
2. Locate individuals requiring killing.
3. Request permission via radio from "Higher" to perform killing.
4. Curse bitterly when mission is aborted.
5. Walk out 50 miles wearing a 75 pound rucksack while starving

US Army Rules

1. Curse bitterly when receiving operational order.
2. Make sure there is extra ammo and extra coffee.
3. Curse bitterly.
4. Curse bitterly.
5. Do not listen to 2nd LT's; it can get you killed.
6. Curse bitterly.

US ARMY RECON

1. Slip silently into area of operations.
2. Kill anything that moves or breathes.
3. Sneak out of area of operations.
4. Haul ass to the LZ for the pickup.
5 Call in heavy artillery and an air strike to cover up infiltration
activity.
6. Destroy all maps and reference materials.
7. Play dumb when you return to firebase.

US Air Force Rules

1. Have a cocktail.
2. Adjust temperature on air-conditioner.
3. See what's on HBO.
4. Ask "what i s a gunfight?"
5. Request more funding from Congress with a "killer" Power Point
presentation.
6. Wine & dine 'key' Congressmen, invite DOD & defense industry executives.
7. Receive funding, set up new command and assemble assets.
8. Declare the assets "strategic" and never deploy them operationally.
9. Hurry to make 13:45 tee-time.
10. Make sure the base is as far as possible from the conflict but close
enough to have tax e xemption.

US Navy Rules

1. Go to Sea.
2. Drink Coffee.
3. Deploy Marines

Hunker in the bunker

Trucks, cars and humvees kick up plenty of dust at Kandahar Airfield.

For the past 10 days we’ve been down at Kandahar Airfield visiting S.C. National Guard troops and soaking up the sights, sounds and, er, smells.

The soldiers, members of the 218th Brigade Combat Team, appear to doing well. We spent some time at Forward Operating Base Scorpion, which is about five miles outside the gate. Then we rolled up to Qalat to visit the police mentoring team that Capt. James Smith, D-Richland, is a member of.  We also covered a humanitarian aid mission at a village near Kandahar City, which is in the buckle of the Taliban belt.

Probably some of the most important work that’s going on in this part of Afghanistan is happening at Scorpion. It’s a regional training base for the Afghan army and police.

The Afghan army appears to be on the way of becoming a formidable force that the Taliban prefers to avoid.

The police, though, are struggling. They’re poorly trained, equipped and – for the most part – poorly led. An average of 10 cops are killed each week in the line duty, the victims of ambushes and direct assaults on checkpoints and stations.

It’ll be the job of the mentoring teams of Task Force Phoenix, which is under the 218th’s command, to fix the problem. No less than the security and future of Afghanistan depends on the mentors’ efforts.

Anyway, this entry is supposed to be about Kandahar or KAF, as it’s known in the world of military acronyms.

KAF is the second-largest base in Afghanistan, which a mix of U.S. and coalition troops. There are folks here from just about every NATO member, making KAF an eclectic brew of languages, cultures and uniforms.

(Or the lack of uniforms. Some countries allow their soldiers to wear civilian clothes when their off-duty. For example, the other day in the chow hall I spotted a female soldier wearing a pink jacket with an assault rifle slung over her shoulder.)

The sights here range from the various tactical vehicles that roll up and down the base roads to the different aircraft that launch from KAF’s runway: F-16s, Tornadoes, C-130s and C-17s, to name a few.

Then there’s the whop-whop-whop of Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters shuttling troops in an out of the base all day long.

By comparison Bagram Airfield, with its tree-lined streets and shopping center complete with rug shops and a Dairy Queen, looks like a base back in the States.

The only thing missing at Bagram is a golf course. I “grilled” Brig. Gen. Bill Hyatt, the wing commander at Bagram and former boss at Shaw Air Force Base, about this apparent oversight. He assured me that there are plans to build a putting course on the Air Force compound at Bagram.

Of course, there are some drawbacks to KAF.

Since Sunday, a suicide bomber reportedly drove through the gates and onto the base. Then the base was motared Tuesday night, and twice on Wednesday. And I understand there was a rocket attack about three weeks ago.

No one was hurt and there was no damage.

The troops here, though, seem to take these attacks in stride. On Tuesday night, we hung around the bunker and talked about the baseball playoffs and college football.

On Wednesday night, back-to-back attacks meant about 2½ hours in the shelter. Movies seemed to be the No. 1 conversation topic that night and the Jason Bourne series and “Borat” topped the list of favorites.

As you might imagine, troops resort to some pretty dark humor to cope with the stress.

On the wall of one shelter, someone has painted several rockets. Beneath each rocket is the date of an attack. It reminded me of the “bombs” I’ve seen painted below the canopy of fighter jets. 

The smells at KAF, though, are a bit tougher to laugh off.

For some reason, it was decided to build troop housing near the sewage treatment ponds. Depending on the wind, the smell at this end of the base ranges from rancid to merely putrid.

But like the mortar attacks, the troops have a way of coping with the stink through humor. Apparently, according to an assortment of sources, some troops are contributing to a prize fund that’ll go to whoever dares to swim across the sewage pond. The jackpot is about $5,000 and so far there have been no takers. Stay tuned.

Then there’s the dust.

It’s everywhere and it seems to clog every pore in the body. Sometimes you need a Brillo pad when it’s time to scrub up.

The dust, though, isn’t necessarily the downside of having a base in the desert.

The roads at KAF are gravel. That means hundreds of vehicles – humvees, buses, SUVs, cars, and trucks – kicking up clouds of dust around the clock.

The command tries to keep the dust down by setting the speed limit at 10 mph and twice a day the roads are watered.

Given that water in these parts is more precious than U.S. dollars, seems like a good investment to go ahead and pave the roads.

Or maybe – if there are no takers – the troops will use the prize fund for the sewage pond swim and pay to pave the roads.

 

High praise for a tough job

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD – As Maj. Gen. Stan Spears headed to the terminal to catch a flight back to Kabul, he was stopped by Col. Tom McGrath.

McGrath, commander of the regional command that’s training the Afghan police, handed Spears a letter.

The S.C. National Guard adjutant general had just spent several hours here being briefed on the Guard’s No. 1 mission – the training of the Afghan police.

It’s a job that Brig. Gen Bob Livingston and commanders of the Guard’s 218^th Brigade Combat Team were handed just days before they deployed to Camp Shelby, Miss., to start training for the Afghanistan mission.

The briefers told Spears what they were up against. They made no effort to paint a rosy picture or say the politically correct things.

They had a tough job in a part of the country that remains mostly in the hands of the Taliban and insurgent fighters.

McGrath, though, wanted to let Spears know what he thought of the efforts of S.C. Guardsmen. They’re citizen soldiers who just a few months ago were building houses, repairing cars, teaching children and running businesses.

Although he was near the end of a long and grueling trip, Spears smiled and shared the letter with everyone around him. Here's what the colonel had to say:

“On behalf of the men and women of the Afghan Regional Security Integration Command-South (ARSCI-S), I thank you and the state of South Carolina for taking the time to visit Afghanistan.

“I am so proud to be commanding such committed, hard-working and heroic Americans in a combat environment. You’re presence has had an extremely positive and enduring impact on the men and women of the ARSIC-S team. They are extremely hardworking and committed to making a difference in the fight against terrorism.

“Once again, thank you for traveling such a long way and spending time with the troops. Your kindness on our behalf is sincerely appreciated. Such expressions of support go a long way toward boosting morale and making the time away from family and friends easier to bear.”

 

South Carolinian helping build Afghan bridge

(U.S. Army Photo by Capt. Ashley Dellavalle)

An Afghan soldier and a member of the U.S. Army's 70^th Engineer Battalion pound a  post into the ground as they build a concertina wire fence to protect the bridge jobsite in Jaji.  Afghan and U.S. troops will build the bridge together, too.

Not all South Carolinians in Afghanistan are in the National Guard's 218th Brigade Combat Team.

So, to make sure the Palmetto State gets its due, there's an article from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, which is running a combined joint task force that includes Afghan forces.

I've boldfaced the name and hometown of the S.C. soldier. If you're interested in more news about the 82nd in Afghanistan, a link is at the end of the article.

The following article details work on a bridge in a mountain pass near Camp Lightning, in Gardez.

Constructing the cornerstones of the Jaji bridge

 

By Army Cpt. Ashley Dellavalle

TF Rugged Public Affairs Office

PAKTYA PROVINCE, Afghanistan –U.S. Army Engineers began construction of a bridge at Jaji, a small village in eastern Paktya Province near the Pakistani border Sept. 9.

Soldiers with the 864^th Engineer Battalion stationed out of Fort Lewis, Wash., were tasked to clear the land around the site and emplace the abutments for the future bridge. 

“Our mission is to construct the ramp entrance and abutments that will act as footers for the bridges,” said Army Staff Sgt. David Austin from Charlotte, N.C., the platoon sergeant overseeing the project. 

The abutments are constructed out of Hesco bastions.
“I helped dig the hole with our Hyex. Then, we stretched out the Hescos.  We are going to place gravel in the Hescos and level it out. The 70^th [Engineer Battalion] will put in the Bailey Bridge,” said Spc. William Burr of Chesterfield, S.C. 

The site of the future bridge lies in a valley. Just on the other side of the river, Soldiers of the 864^th Eng. Bn. are also building a small fire base for Coalition forces. Without the bridge, it is almost impossible to get vehicles to the base. 

The crossing is also a prevalent supply route for locals Afghans.  Just a few miles away, through the passes of the mountains, lie the Pakistan border, where many of the locals conduct trade. 

“This route is impassable for the locals without this bridge.   It is both the main road to Pakistan [from this area] and the primary means for access to the firebase,” said Austin.

        “We are doing this for the community,” added Burr. 
        “The bridge will help the economy of the Afghan people by increasing their trade capability,” said Austin.
        The 40-foot military bridge will be constructed by the Engineer Soldiers of the Afghan National Army in conjunction with the 70^th Engineer Battalion, of Fort Riley, Kan., in the next few weeks.  The Afghan and U.S. Engineers trained together on bridge emplacement at Bagram Airfield. 

        Currently, the same platoon that will emplace the bridge is assisting the 864^th Engineers with security of the site.

        Just two weeks ago, the bridge site was the location of a tragic incident where three Soldiers of the 864^th Eng. Bn. were killed by a suicide bomber. 

        “We are saddened from our loss,” said Austin. “The Soldiers are raising their standards and awareness on the jobsite.”

        The Soldiers of this unit will build the bridge in the name of their fallen Soldiers and never forget these Soldiers helped build the cornerstones to the bridge.

For more news and information about the 82nd, visit www.cjtf82.com

Lawyers, Guns and Money

S.C. Guard JAG Capt. Daniel Dickert ready to rock 'n' roll.

Wonder if the late singer/songwriter Warren Zevon had this image in mind when he wrote  "Lawyers, Guns and Money"?
In the turret of an armored  humvee is Capt. Daniel Dickert, a military lawyer with the S.C. National Guard's 218th Brigade Combat Team.
I took this picture the other day when I was at Camp Blackhorse visiting Charlie Company of SECFOR and getting ready to cover a convoy operation to Kunar Province. And, frankly, I couldn't resist getting a shot of a lawyer behind a machine gun.
Keep in mind Dickert's regular job is mentoring the JAGs of the Afghan forces.
But while I was walking through the camp, I spotted him in the turret as he as some other troops were preparing for a short convoy run to another base.
Anyway, we first met last February down at Camp Shelby, Miss., when I covered the 218th's train-up for Afghanistan. I shared a desk with Dickert and the other JAGs back in a corner of the brigade's headquarters.
Not only did the JAGs go through all the combat training, but they also handled their day-to-day business like writing wills, conducting investigations, and cranking opinions.
Looking at the picture, it struck me that if Dickert ever is a judge, one had better not mess in his courtroom.

Bidding au revoir to the French

 

 

French troops participate in a recent transfer of authority ceremony at

Camp Phoenix. The French train Afghan army officers.

One advantage of being at a place like Camp Phoenix is that you get to meet troops from other nations who are here to train the Afghan military.

The Palmetto State, represented by the S.C. Guard’s 218^th Brigade Combat Team, has the largest group here. But it isn’t unusual to bump into Brits, Romanians, Italians, etc., at the chow hall.

Overall, 13 countries contribute troops to Task Force Phoenix VI, which is charged with training Afghan security forces. The 218^th commands the task force.

One of the largest contingents at Phoenix is from France.

About 40 French soldiers live in a section of the base appropriately named the “French Quarter.”

One of the French Quarter’s most distinguishing features is a small rose garden. That’s no small feat considering that the base is built on a gigantic concrete pad. (BTW, the nickname for Camp Phoenix is “the rock.”)

Also, I understand that the French enjoy fresh croissants and real butter on Friday mornings.

French soldiers at Phoenix are members of the Epidote Detachment. Their job is to train and mentor Afghan platoon and unit commanders, as well as staff officers.

Overall, the French have about 1,100 soldiers in Afghanistan and have not wavered in their commitment since first sending troops here in 2003.

So the next time you hear someone mention “freedom fries” instead of “French fries,” just remember that the French are here, too, pitching in to help the Afghans secure their country.

 

 

A coward's way to fight

Of all the stuff that has happened over here in the passed four months, there’s one thing I can’t comprehend.

And that’s the age of a suicide bomber who drove his car into a convoy of S.C. National Guard troops near the gates of Camp Phoenix.

Forensics indicated that the attacker was a 13-to-14-year-old boy, said Brig. Gen. Bob Livingston, commander of Guard’s 218^th Brigade Combat Team and Task Force Phoenix.

That estimation, as I understand, was based on an examination of body parts, the largest of which was the child’s right forearm. Investigators found it on the roof of a pharmacy a few hundred yards from the blast.

The incident happened a month ago and four S.C. troops were injured. Three returned to duty and the fourth had to be evacuated to the military hospital in Germany. He’s now at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

The blast killed two people – the bomber and a truck driver.

I have a hard time reconciling is how any organization could be so sick, so depraved, so cowardly to let a child blow himself up in order to do its killing.

What got me thinking about the attack again was another bombing incident. This one happened Friday morning at the Kabul airport, about three miles from Camp Phoenix, where I’m based.

The blast killed two Afghan soldiers and wounded a dozen people. Press reports didn’t mention the bomber, but we can assume he or she died, too.

 The reports added that the Taliban, taking a page from insurgent tactics in Iraq, is relying on the suicide attacks and roadside bombs to kill Afghan and foreign troops.

The latest attack prompted me to do a little Googling. While most of us might wonder what prompts someone – whether they’re 14 or 40 – to turn themselves into a human bomb, there has been plenty of research on the subject.

Called “suicide terrorism” by the academicians, the tactic has grown dramatically in the past five years, largely the result of the war in Iraq.

Here’s an excerpt from a story published by the University of Texas. It’s based on the research of a faculty member:

"From a cost-benefit perspective, suicide terrorism is quite effective,” said Dr. Ami Pedahzur, associate professor of government at The University of Texas at Austin and a terrorism expert. “A suicide bomber with an explosives belt kills on average four times as many people as an attack with a delayed detonation device or a shooting attack.”

In fact, data from the U.S. State Department show that while only three percent of all terrorist incidents in the world employ suicide bombers, these attacks account for 48 percent of all fatalities.

The success rate is high because the bomb is, in effect, a “smart bomb” that can modify the exact location and timing of attack based on a real-time assessment of the target. In Haifa, Israel, for instance, a suicide bomber stopped from entering a busy shopping mall simply walked 100 yards up a hill from the blockade and detonated himself in a popular, congested restaurant killing 15 people….

“People’s initial reaction to a suicide terrorist is to think the person is crazy or a religious zealot, but that’s not the case,” said Pedahzur, who just released a book on suicide terrorism. “Most suicide bombers see themselves as soldiers carrying out a mission to inflict damage on the enemy.

The UT article added:

While the use of suicide terrorism can be traced back as far as the 11th century, the rise of this tactic in modern times can be traced to Lebanon and Iran in the 1980s. While this tactic spread to groups east and south of these countries, it did not move west. This migration has to do with a number of preconditions that must exist to aid suicide terrorism.

“In order for suicide terrorism to be a viable alternative, there must be a culture that supports, even glorifies, death, a sense of supreme hopelessness and an asymmetrical alignment of forces where a small group is confronting a much larger and more powerful force,” explained Pedahzur.

In a community that either is, or perceives itself to be, oppressed by the reigning powers and where an improvement in the situation seems impossible, dying in a suicide attack is seen as an honorable way to help one’s community while ensuring eternal salvation.

Here’s the hyperlink if you want to read more:

http://www.utexas.edu/features/2006/terrorism/

So it’s possible that the youngster who attacked S.C. troops saw himself as a soldier of the Taliban cause.

But that doesn’t square with what I’ve read and have been told about Afghan culture. And that is Afghans do not support suicide tactics. Indeed, most Afghans denounce the Taliban. 

Just maybe the boy had no choice. After all, a growing problem in this country is drug addiction among the young.

Back in June I went on a foot patrol with S.C. troops through a nearby village. On our way back to Camp Phoenix, we stopped at a factory ruins.

The soldiers believed teenagers from the neighboring villages were hiding in the ruins and doing drugs.

Where did the kids get their drugs? Most likely from the Taliban.

The Taliban gets the kids hooked and then forces them to attack foreign and Afghan troops – and kill themselves in the process.

Lt. Plowden Dickson, of Charleston, said the Taliban approach is simple.

“If I got you hooked on a substance, I can convince you to put a bomb over there.”

Shindand Dandy

At home on the back porch, Staff Sgt. Joe Nealey, left, visits with Sgt. 1st Class William Shipman, of Summerville.

After three months in Afghanistan, I thought nothing could surprise me.

But then I went Shindand, a proverbial garden spot in the western province of Herat.

A U.S. military camp is there, next to an Afghan army post. Less than a mile away, is a former Soviet air base that’s being built back up for use by coalition forces.

What’s surprising is to see all the lush greenery. After being in Kabul for a stretch and spending time in the desert, I wasn’t sure anything green -- besides pond scum -- grew in Afghanistan.

At Shindand, the U.S. troops – some of then from the S.C. National Guard – are housed in a former Russian officer quarters. The building looks like an old college dorm, with high ceilings and a long, long hallway.

The camp includes a lush lawn with a running trail, rose gardens and a birdhouse that’s under construction. The troops’ gym is a glass-walled building in the middle of the lawn, next to an aviary that’s being rebuilt.

“This is a wonderful place,” said Staff Sgt. Joe Nealey, of Loris. “You’ve got grass. You’ve got a nice back porch to sit out on and you’ve got indoor plumbing. It’s like being at home.”

Nealey is the cook at one of the few bases around here that’s not served by KBR.

And, after tasting Joe’s cooking, I'd say the soldiers at Shindand may be the luckiest guys in Afghanistan.

I first met Joe at Camp Shelby, Miss., when I was covering the 218^th Brigade Combat Team’s preparation for the Afghanistan mission.

At the time, Joe was serving as an aide to Command Sgt. Maj. John Harrelson, of North Myrtle Beach. The kitchen, though, is Joe’s domain.

Joe and Alex check on of her pups.

One night at Camp Shelby, we took a break from the mess hall offerings and were treated Joe’s chicken bog. Another night, Joe grilled steaks. Outstanding.

As luck would have it, our tour of the camp and agriculture center ran long and Joe just happened to have some extra steaks on the grill.

Anyway, getting back to Joe. He certainly has made a home for himself. He has a standard-sized bedroom – no cramped hooch like we have at Camp Phoenix – that’s furnished with a desk, bunk, closet, micro fridge and night stand. There’s even internet and cable.

Joe even has a dog – a white-and-black mixed breed he calls Alex.

Alex just had seven pups, which she keeps under the back porch.

Alex was at the camp when Joe arrived six weeks ago. And, Joe claims Alex is friendly only toward Americans.

“If someone other than an American comes up here, she’ll eat them up,” Joe said.

Well, there isn’t much more to this tale other than I wanted to write something up about Joe and include some pictures of him, Alex and the camp.

Also wanted to show you another side of Afghanistan.

It is, after all, a unique – and sometimes surprising – place.

View this photo

Here's another shot of the grounds.

 

 

 

Got the Kabul by the horns

The sagas of military air transportation
Part 4

The latest installment of flying mil air is almost a dream.
We left Camp Stone at the appointed time, reached the airport in a matter of minutes, sat around for less than an hour and hopped on small passenger plane. Then we flew to Bagram Airfield, said good-bye to a couple of passengers, and took off again for an 8-minute flight to Kabul.
Less than seven hours after leaving Camp Stone, I was back in my room at Camp Phoenix Monday afternoon unpacking the duffel bag. That sure beat the four-day, 19-hour ordeal of getting to Herat.
More important, the aircraft was comfortable. It offered leather seats and plenty of legroom compared to the red nylon netting and cheek-to-jowl seating arrangement of a C-130 transport plane.
But maybe all this comfort and efficiency was due to the fact that the flight back to Kabul had been outsourced.
I perused the laminated card with safety instructions and discovered we were flying on Presidential Airways. Just the name made me feel like I was a VIP.
Then, I noted the two-man crew was wearing uniforms of Blackwater Aviation, a subsidiary of Blackwater USA.
Blackwater is the North Carolina contractor that handles a lot of work once done by the military, such as providing security for U.S. government officials in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Most of us had never heard of the company until March 31, 2004 when insurgents captured and murdered four of the company’s employees in Fallujah, Iraq. You may remember the photo of their corpses hanging from a bridge.
According to various reports the CIA has hired both Presidential and a sister Blackwater company, Aviation World Wide Services, to fly suspected terrorists to torture camps in Europe.
Presidential was criticized by National Transportation Safety Board investigators following a November 2004 plane crash into the side of a mountain in Afghanistan that killed three U.S. soldiers and the three-man crew.
An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board found that “the crew deliberately avoided the standard route and took a joy ride in another direction, eventually becoming trapped in a canyon and slamming into a mountainside,” the Virginian Pilot newspaper reported.
I must say, though, that our crew seemed to be seasoned and professional. There was no short-cut through the mountains and, thankfully, no joy-riding.
Presidential provided us with a very decent ride.
Just wondering, though, if they offer frequent flyer miles. I’d like to sign up.

Hooray, we're in Herat

The sagas of military air transportation

Part 3

 

Our “lucky” day was Tuesday.

Maj. John House, the public affairs chief for Task Force Phoenix, and I showed up around 7 a.m. for the three-mile trip to Kabul International Airport.

Two hours later we were there.

This time, though, we were told twe had seats. But we were going to have to wait. The plane wasn’t leaving until 3:30 p.m. That meant sitting around Air Force One lounge for six hours until we checked in around 2:20 p.m. and then another hour in the “waiting” room.

Air Force One, you see, is just a lounge. You don’t have to be stuck at the airport waiting on a flight to enjoy the facilities.

It has fairly comfortable seating, a big-screen TV, coffee shop, snack bar and the greatest invention known to man: Wi-Fi.

So, I caught up on e-mail, read The State online, and checked on various press reports from Afghanistan.

Then for the next six hours I tried to calculate if it would be quicker to walk than fly.

Kabul to Herat is about 400 miles. Figuring I might cover 40 miles a day – at an agreeable amble of about 3.5 mph – I’d get there in 10 days. Then I remembered that I’d also have to lug my computer and duffel bag. Walking no longer was an option.

Mind you, being stuck at the Kabul airport isn’t the end of the world. On the military side, there’s an outstanding dining facility with a menu that leans toward European fare. That’s because the base is home to several contingents from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which has joined U.S. efforts here.

But you can only hang around in the dining hall so long enjoying fresh bread and real butter. Other troops have to be served.

The afternoon wait seemed to go a little faster. I spent the time shooting the breeze with a group of Guardsmen from Massachusetts, who also were headed to Herat. We talked about their Boston Red Sox and my Chicago Cubs. Red Sox fans are very understanding of Cubs. After all, they had gone 86 years without winning a World Series until 2004. The Cubs haven't won a world championship since 1908.

Even after we checked in and boarded the Air Force C-130, I still wasn’t convinced we were on our way.

Too many things could happen. The airplane could break. The Herat airport could close. Or we all could be kicked off so the plane reassigned to an emergency airlift mission.

But once the plane rumbled down the runway and the wheels rolled up into the fuselage, I figured that maybe this time would be for real.

The flight went smoothly and about 80 minutes later we were at our destination four days and 14 hours later.

We’re all now at Camp Stone, which is a joint base about 15 miles from the Heart airport, and have had an opportunity to get out and see the country as well as visited with friends.

My experience traveling mil air isn’t out of the ordinary. Everyone in uniform has a similar tale, if not more frustrating. It’s just a fact that traveling around a combat zone is a bit challenging and you have to be ready to deal with delays and disruptions.

In other words, be flexible.

Or, as the troops say, “semper Gumby.”

 

 

 

Jingle truck, jingle truck, jingle all the way

One thing about the Afghans, they have a sense of humor.

Take jingle trucks.

Because most of the roads in Afghanistan are either dirt trails or narrow, twisting gravel paths up the side of a mountain, the mighty 18-wheeler that reigns on U.S. interstates is useless.

So the Afghans use medium-duty, 10-wheel transport trucks. Most of them are made by Mercedes Benz.

Before most trucks hit the roads, the owners paint colorful mosaics of sunrises, roses and birds on the sides, tailgate, and spoiler dome on top of the cab.

I asked an interpreter if the pictures had any historical or religious significance. He assured me they were “just pictures.”

The inside of the cab is usually decorated with Persian rugs and artificial flowers. Tassels and beads hang from the mirror and sun visors.

The truck gets its name because the owners also attach a curtain of small chains to the bumpers and sides. When the truck hits a bump, the chains “jingle.”

What’s amazing about the Afghans is their ability to load stuff into the trucks. I’ve seen stuff piled into beds and then a car strapped on the top. Shoot, they even strap cars on top of buses.

I’ve read some blogs that say posting a picture of a “jingle” truck is gratuitous. But I had never seen one before and figured the same for most readers.

So here you go. Gratuitous pics of jingle trucks:

I spotted this one parked in a lot along Jalalabad Road while out on a foot patrol with SecFor

troops. Below is close-up of the skirts on the side of the bed.

I liked this guy's tailgate.

This dashboard cover is made beads. Look closely and you'll see that the seat cover also is made of the same bead work.   

Off again, on again, off again

The sagas of military air transportation

Part 2

Right now, I’ve been waiting for a couple of days to catch a flight to Herat. Chances are I’ll be waiting a few more days.

My latest experience with the military air transportation system began Friday morning. Maj. John House, who’s the public affairs chief for the S.C. Guard’s 218^th Brigade Combat Team, told me that our plans to fly to Herat were on hold. Apparently, there wasn’t enough room on a flight scheduled to leave Saturday.

So, I sort of ambled through the day. All my stories and photos for the weekend papers had been filed and I was taking it easy, working on a couple of articles for later in the month.

A few hours later, House told me to pack. It looked like we were on for Saturday morning. So I quit writing and started stuffing stuff into my bags.

Show time for the convoy, which would haul us to Kabul International Airport, was 6:30 Saturday morning. So I woke up about 5:30, got ready, ate a bowl of cereal at the DFAC, Army lingo for dining facility. Then I dragged my bags over to the Welcome Center, the rendezvous point for all travelers leaving Camp Phoenix.

Keep in mind that we had to show up at 6:30 to reach the airport, which is about 3 miles away, to make our check-in time of 7:30 a.m.

Yet, in the grand scheme of the movement, allowing an hour to travel 3 miles is about normal. Anyway, we reached the airport in plenty of time, checked in and waited.

And waited.

And waited. 

Around 9:30 a.m., we learned that we had been “bumped.” That meant we would have to try for another day.

Unfortunately, when you’re in a combat zone you can’t hail a cab and ride back to the base. We had to convoy back to Camp Phoenix. So we hung around “Air Force One,” the mil air lobby at the airport.

This isn’t a bad place as far as U.S. military facilities over here. Instead of a big, open tent that has no air conditioning, Air Force One features the look of a well-worn fish camp. I watched the tail end of “March of the Penguins,” which was on the big-screen TV, and then headed to the PX.

After killing about an hour wandering through the shops, I returned to the lobby. Then we killed another hour, reading, napping and eating lunch. Finally, around 12:30, we were ready for the return trip to Phoenix.

So, about 1 p.m. or 6½ hours after we left Phoenix, I dragged my bags back to my room.

House went to his office and checked on other flights. Sunday was out, he told me. So I slept in to 6:30.

This morning House sent me an e-mail saying to be ready to go Monday. Not a problem – the bags already were packed.

A few hours, later, House called and said Monday was no-go. Maybe later in the week. Not a problem, the bags will stay packed.

Quoting a standard remark of military life, I told House that I would “remain in a state of rigid flexibility.”

House said, “Semper Gumby.”

It was a take-off on the Marines Corps’ semper fidelis, meaning always faithful.

The Army’s version – always flexible.

Fix it real good, please

The Sagas of Military Air Transportation

Part 1

The next time you go to the airport and need to be there a couple of hours early to clear security, consider yourself lucky.

You could be flying mil air.

Mil air is shorthand for military air. And some time ago, in the history of how the military moves people, some wise guy coined the phrase, “hurry up and wait.”

It’s just a fact of military life that when there are thousands of people to move everyday on X-amount of aircraft, you’re going to have to be patient.

And patience doesn’t come easy for everyone, particularly those who face daily deadlines.

The delays happen for good reasons. Evacuating the wounded, moving troops downrange to the fight, and transporting food, water and ammo always will top the list.

Occasionally, airplanes break. You want the crews who fix them to have the time to do a good job.

For example, earlier this month I tried to catch a flight from Bastion Airfield to Kandahar Airfield, which is about 40 minutes by air.

Traveling with me was Chaplain Roy Butler, of Columbia. We left FOB Tombstone around 7 p.m. for a 15-minute trip to Bastion, which is operated by the Royal Air Force.

British troops wait along with yours truly to catch a flight at Bastion
Airfield. We spent about an hour here. The temperature was 120
degrees in the shade of the nylon cover.

The trip, for some reason, took about 45 minutes. Next, we sat in an allegedly air-conditioned tent for about two hours, sweating along with more than 50 British troops. Buses took us to an outdoor holding area, where we spent about a hour waiting to be told that the flight had been cancelled. An RAF representative said the plane had diverted to Kandahar because of a mechanical problem. Repair crews were at Kandahar, not Bastion, he explained.

We’d give it a go the next day, as the Brits say .

So we returned to Tombstone and got reacquainted with our bunks.

As it turned out, we marked July 4 in the company of the Royal Air Force ground crews.

“Shall we throw some tea into the hot tub,” a British officer cracked. No kidding, the Brits have a hot tub at their base.

The next day everything clicked and we got to Kandahar about 19 hours later than planned, but just in time to christen the new dining hall. On the menu was the All-American meal of hamburgers and hot dogs.

In a way, it was pay back. Though I won't blame the RAF for the delays, it's worth noting that Brits stationed at Kandahar had to eat at the same dining hall.

Next installment of "Sagas": Off Again, On Again, Off Again

Gamecock, Tiger fans find common ground

Being in a combat zone can change people, even if one’s a Gamecock and the other's a Tiger.

Turns out that Maj. Mike Harmon, the embedded training team chief at FOB Apache, and his executive officer, Maj. Harry Bird, are fans of the state’s rival universities. Harmon roots for Clemson, and Bird bleeds garnet and black for USC.

But when it came to inheriting the call sign or nickname for their training team, both agreed a change was necessary.

Their predecessors from Puerto Rico referred to the training team as the “Hurricanes.” But Harmon, of Lexington, couldn’t fathom using the nickname one of the Tigers’ biggest ACC rivals, the Miami Hurricanes.

So he and Bird, of Charleston, agreed to change the training team’s nickname to the Dragons.

Everyone seems to be a happy camper for now. But the start of football season is still a couple of months away.

Going for a Sunday drive

 

Being Sunday, it seemed like a good day to go for a drive.

So, Company B commander, Capt. Joe Bullwinkle, of Irmo, invited me ride in a convoy up to Forward Operations Base Apache.

Apache is outside the town of Qalat, some 100 miles northeast of Kandahar Air Field, in southern Afghanistan.

A group of soldiers from the S.C. National Guard'€™s 218^th Brigade

Combat Team is at FOB Apache. Half are in Bravo Company, a couple of troops are from the brigade'€™s logistics task force and the rest are members of an embedded training team. The trainers mentor Afghan army units in the field.

About the size of a city block, Apache is next door to an Afghan army base and near the ruins of a castle built by Alexander the Great.

The Afghans, though, don'€™t seem to revel in history like South Carolinians. While most of castle walls appear intact, a cell phone tower and radio tower stand inside the confines.

Anyway, the troops say they'€™re doing well. And, despite its remoteness, Apache is a good place to be stationed, they say.

"€œEverybody'€™s OK and everybody'€™s doing fine,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Gilliam, of Union. “We’re looking forward to doing a good job up here and going home.”

We’ll have more about the troops at Apache in future articles.

Paradise in the middle of nowhere

I’ve found paradise and it’s nothing but rocks and sand, miles and miles from nowhere.

It’s where wild camels roam and mud huts dot the horizon. And, the front lines of the Afghanistan war are just beyond.

This place of enchantment is known around here as Forward Operation Base Tombstone.

A few dozen Navy and Army folk here, including a squad of S.C. National Guard troops, like it plenty. But this isn’t what most people would consider paradise.

The afternoon temperatures reach 120 degrees and the base lacks basic troop amenities like Internet in the barracks, cable TV, a bank of telephones for morale calls, and an ATM machine for cash to shop the PX.

Tombstone’s advantage, the troops say, is that it’s so small, remote and inhospitable that any officer above the rank of 0-6 (navy captain or army colonel) seldom visits.

Or, as the troops put it, Tombstone is a long way from the flagpole.

The personnel here are a mix of Navy, active Army and Guard. Next door to Tombstone is a British army base, and next door to that is a training base for the Afghan army. The airstrip at Camp Bastian, which is run by the British, is about a 15-minute drive across the desert.

Work, though, comes first at Tombstone. The Guardsmen are members of the Fountain Inn-headquartered Bravo Company, 1^st Battalion, 118^th Infantry. They handle base security and escort convoys, which often deliver humanitarian aid to Afghans.

The sailors are helping train the Afghan army.

Tombstone is in the middle of Helmand Province, about 120 miles from Kandahar City. The area is along-time hotbed for the Taliban and insurgent forces.

Still, the atmosphere on the base is relaxed. When they’re not on duty, service members can wear civvies like T-shirts, shorts and sandals to the chow hall or MWR computer room.

The troops like to rave about their dining hall, which is run by KBR. The food isn’t much different than any other base. What make it special is that most of the staff and troops are on a first-name basis.

A big, flat-screen TV, tuned to ESPN or the news channels, occupies one corner of the dining hall. And, there’s plenty of room for everyone to visit while enjoying their meal.

At larger bases like Camp Phoenix and Kandahar Air Field, the dining halls are huge and most of the troops gobble up their food and then split, making room for another wave.

Even the hooches earn good reviews. Each man’s cubicle is about 9 feet by 9 feet. At some bases, two soldiers share a room about 7 feet by 7 feet.

“It’s nice to have what we have,” said Sgt. John Jessee, of Chester, a member of the infantry unit. “It’s OK that I have to walk a few feet to another building to use the Internet so I can have more living space.”

 

Below is a link to a picture looking east toward Highway 1. A quarry is in the foreground.

 

 

View this photo

Do I hear Echoes?

Another benefit about being here at Kandahar is that there’s an international flavor to food choices and even how one goes about relaxing.

For example, there’s a restaurant on the base called Echoes run by an European Christian troop support group.

I ambled into Echoes the other day after learning that it offered Wi-Fi, enabling me to connect my laptop to the Internet.

Echoes also is a fine place to take it easy.

It has knotty pine paneling, beamed ceilings, marble-topped tables and rattan chairs. A stereo is tuned to deejay rock ‘n’ roll shows from the U.K. and Germany.

And the Internet speed was blazing compared to what’s offered at the MWR computer lab.

Anyway, Echoes seemed to be the most “humane” place I’ve been since arriving in Afghanistan.

The last place that was as comfortable on the eye and senses was the USO Club at Camp Virginia. It’s where we arrived after two days of flying from Mississippi to Kuwait on the first leg of our trip to Afghanistan.

The club had subdued light and big, cushy sofas.  Having slept about four hours in the previous 48, I sat down in one of the sofas, stretched out and dozed off.

I woke up long enough to stumble to a dusty tent and stretch out on a cot.

Home, sweet home.

Chewing the fat with troops

The chow hall is literally the melting pot of Kandahar Air Field.

The facility has only booths with four seats so when it gets crowded you seldom dine alone.

Since Wednesday I’ve broke bread with two Bulgarian soldiers, a Canadian contract employee and a Dutch soldier.

Tonight, I went to dinner with an Air Force major whom I share a room with here at the base. But he was born in the Fiji Islands and grew up in California. So I guess that makes him another cross-cultural or at least a cross-country acquaintance.

Although one of the Bulgarians could speak English, they weren’t much for conversation.

The Canadian was a woman from Quebec whose son is in the Canadian army. She worked it out so she could be at the base the same time he's here.

She also is sort of a mini-U.N. A native of Germany, she met and married a Canadian soldier and moved with him to Quebec.

Quebec, of course, is the French-speaking province in Canada. That meant she had to learn French to communicate with friends and neighbors. She’s also fluent in English.

So I mentioned that I had just seen the Michael Moore flick, "Sicko." We then had an engaging conversation about the Canadian health care system.

The Dutch soldier was just as impressive. At 23, he has been in the army five years.

He offered tips about traveling in Europe -- stay out of the big cities -- and we talked at considerable length about the Dutch military. Although his country has about 1,000 troops down in Afghanistan, none are in direct combat roles, he said.

While most folks might think that’s a good deal, the soldier was frustrated. He’s a truck driver and can only drive inside the fence at the air base.

He’d prefer to go outside the wire, as they say, and drive in convoys. “That’s what I’ve been trained to do,” he said.

Here we are in Kandahar

Fifteen minutes out of Kandahar everything inside the transport plane went black. Seconds later, the pilot started a series of banks and dives just in case someone on the ground launched a rocket.

Inside the plane, there was no concern among the 20 passengers -- about half military and the rest  civilian. Everyone seemed to be a veteran of these combat maneuvers.

The soldier next to me slept as did the contractor at the other end of the row.

About all I could see inside the plane were tiny, flashing green lights of electronic gear and moonlight streaming through the C-130’s portholes.

Being that this is a combat zone, the preferred mode of transportation from Kabul to Kandahar – a distance of about 300 miles – is an airplane.

First, it’s much quicker – about 65 minutes by air versus eight hours by ground. Second, it’s safer. There are no roadside bombs for a plane to dodge and the Taliban doesn’t have an air force.

I flew here to visit troops of the 218^th Brigade Combat Team stationed in these parts and report on the work they’re doing.

Sixty soldiers of Company B, 1^st Battalion, 118^th Infantry Regiment represent the largest group in the vicinity of Kandahar Air Field. There also are some officers in the regional command of Task Force Phoenix, and a few dozen S.C. soldiers are in support jobs like computer and radio technicians.

Most of the 250 soldiers in the embedded training teams, including about 70 from South Carolina, are – as military folks say – down range, working with the Afghan army and police.

The base is about 15 miles from Kandahar City. Although it’s desert, mountains are in all directions.

This place, though, is hardly a frequent destination for travelers.

Globalsecurity.org, a Web site that tracks military issues, says the base is “one of the most remote, landlocked and desolate places the Army has ever tried to build a combat base.”

But its location makes the base “a perfect hub” for troops to go into the mountains and hunt down Taliban and al-Qaida forces, Globalsecurity added.

The base is run by the Canadians, who’ve built a hockey rink with an artificial surface that can be used year round. This, of course, is hardly hockey country given that the summertime high usually is over 110 degrees.

Also in an area called the “Boardwalk” is a Tim Horton’s. It's the Canadian version of a Starbucks. I haven’t tried the coffee yet, but locals offer rave reviews.

There’s also an international feel to the base, which is the second largest in Afghanistan. Approximately 10,000 U.S. and coalition service members are stationed here representing more than a dozen nations. U.S. personnel include the Army, Air Force, Marines, and Navy.

Besides military personnel, there are hundreds of civilians who work for contractors on the base. The civilians, too, come from an assortment of countries.

Although, I’ve been here less than 48 hours, it strikes me that everyone seems to get along just fine.

Now, if only the world outside the gates would be that way.

 

Catching up with the notebook

It isn't the mall, but every Friday Afghan merchants peddle everything from sunglasses to Persian rugs at Camp Phoenix.

Troops who shop the weekly bazaar at Camp Phoenix have become quite comfortable with bartering. That’s out of necessity because Afghan merchants don’t put a price tag on anything.

So if you’re interested in a rug, the negotiating might go like this:

You: “How much is the rug?”

Merchant: “How much is it worth to you?”

Sometimes, the merchant will give you a price. It's definitely a battle of wits.

If you low-ball, the merchant’s bound to laugh it off and say you’re making a joke. And, if you offer too much, he’ll compliment your deal-making prowess.

All transactions are cash and the Afghans prefer U.S. dollars. The local exchange rate is 50 Afghanis for $1.

There no receipts, no paper trail of a transaction. All deals are sealed with a handshake.

But if you have to make a return, no questions asked. The Afghans want your business and know word-of-mouth is good advertising.

I'm still working up the courage to barter for a Persian rug, but I’ve splurged on DVDs. For $2, you can buy the latest releases. And, in some cases, you can buy flicks that have just been released in the States. That’s a better deal than Blockbuster. Besides, you own the video.

Of course, there might be some copyright issues and possible federal prosecution.

But as one might say, what happens in Kabul stays in Kabul.

Holy Hooah!