Chief Wiggles’ Operation Give Blog

Hi All,
In my last email home I told you I was at Kandahar (KAF) for a few days.
Well, my few days turned into almost two weeks. It felt like Gilligan’s
Afghanistan.
A few days after arriving at KAF I received an email from the leadership
here at Apache telling me that I was extending my stay at KAF so I could go
to the capital city of Kabul to escort newly trained Afghan Soldiers (ANA)
back down to KAF do be distributed throughout the 205th Corps.
There is a reason for assigning me this mission. The story is out of the
last graduating class over 30 ANA deserted before they could get them to
KAF. The Corps nor the ETT leadership wanted this to happen again so they
assigned a couple of us to escort them back to KAF. Was I happy about this
assignment? No! Here I am the senior intelligence officer for the Brigade
and suddenly I am in the personnel administration business. Four of us
received this lucky assignment.
I always tease anyone that was airborne qualified and ask them why they
would jump out of a perfectly safe airplane. It was made perfectly clear to
me on my way to Kabul. I was on a British C-130 with my colleagues. We
stopped at an Airbase in the Helmand area called Bastion. As we landed they
opened up the rear hatch of the airplane. I though the landing was a big
rough. As they spun the plane around and shut down the engines the British
soldiers were preparing to unload. How many of you have ever heard someone
say, “Everyone off the plane we have a fire!?” For the first time in my life
I heard those exact words. The crew was opening up both doors on each side
of the plane. I grabbed my rifle and backpack and headed for the door on the
right side of the plane. Guess which side the fire was on. You got it, the
right side of the plane. I jumped out the door to the ground in a cloud of
smoke. It seems as though the brakes heated up when landing. They had the
fire extinguishers out and the fire engines were on site; which makes me
wonder how long they new about this little problem.
So here we were in the heart of the Taliban Territory (Helmand Province)
sitting out on the side of the flight line while the British tried to
determine their next move to get us out of there. Because of the issue with
the plane it would take hours to fix it. The regulations state we could not
fly back on it to KAF until it was deemed safe by the technical experts.
Luckily, there was another C-130 on the flight line loading that was ready
to go. The RAF personnel ran over to the other runway and worked a deal to
get us and our luggage back on the plane headed back to KAF. Within 90
minutes we were airborne again back to KAF. The question of when we will get
to Kabul was on our minds.
We landed at KAF and a RAF female ushered us off the plane to the next
plane. Within a short time we were airborne again to Kabul. By this time it
was dark.
As we approached Kabul I could see the city lights. It is a different world
compared to southern Afghanistan. Kandahar City is dark due to the lack of
electricity. Kabul is lit up and slowly making progress. That just goes to
show you the Taliban influence on the south has caused severe set-backs in
modernization.
We exited the plane upon arrival at Kabul International Airport and were
met by the people from the training center. They showed us to the vehicles.
Another surprise awaited me. They were going to drive us to Kabul Military
Training Center (KMTC) in regular SUV’s. That is a shock to me. For the last
five months I have been riding around in up-armored vehicles. Needless to
say I was a little nervous. Again, the difference between Kabul and
Kandahar.
We arrived at KMTC around 9:30 pm, ate a sandwich, and hit the sack. It had
been a long day with a lot of flying.
The next morning we prepared for the day and decided to get some breakfast.
We were told the graduation had been moved up a day so we were looking
forward to getting to work and get these guys back to KAF. As we sat eating
breakfast in the dining facility we heard what we thought to be an explosion
outside. We all stopped eating and looked at each other. Sergeant Felix
looked at me and said, “Yes Sir, I heard it too.” We looked around and
everyone was still eating like nothing was going on. A minute later the
sirens started. That is when all chaos broke loose, except for us. We
sauntered on over to the bunker while there were people running around us. I
guess Kabul doesn’t get hit very often with any kind of mortar or rocket.
That morning someone launched a mortar that hit next to the mosque and
another one near the depot. These people were in complete panic. We must be
use to it. We took our place in the bunker until the all clear was given. It
was a big deal around KMTC.
At 1:30 pm we walked over to the KMTC Parade Grounds for the graduation.
The graduation was underway. It wasn’t supposed to start until 2:00. Colonel
Lyman was not happy when he arrived and the graduation was underway. Once
again the Afghan mentality superceded common sense and they just started
when they wanted to start.
As the graduation started I kept looking for the guy in the tuxedo and black
top hat that was running this circus. The six member band played on the pass
and review. I am sure there was a Kazoo in there somewhere. Then each
graduating company would march by. Now, I have been accused of being “overly
Caucasian” but I don’t hold a candle to the Afghans. Marching is quite the
chore for them; especially since they march with arms and legs flying. They
all did their pass and review to the sound of the kazoo and drums. We then
saw a spectacle of the “man dance” where a drummer comes out and the Afghan
Soldiers do some kind of dance. I don’t think rhythm or coordination is a
requirement to part of this group.
The next morning I found myself seated on an Afghan bus with Chief Griffith
and forty other ANA Soldiers. No, not an up-armored vehicle, not an armed
escort, but an Afghan bus. I could just see the investigation into my death
and the army leadership explaining to my wife why I was on an Afghan bus. I
am happy to say we made it to the airport without any issues. That is where
the fun began.
Let me tell you, trying to keep 193 ANA in line is like trying to nail Jello
to a tree. I was in charge of 60 ANA. I made it very clear that they were to
clean up after themselves and stay close. Trusting them is where I went
wrong. We had guys out wandering around on the flight line, making a mess of
the restrooms, and leaving a disaster wherever they stood. They did not like
me very much because I kept making them clean up their messes.
We boarded a Canadian C-130 with the 60 ANA and were airborne by 1:00 pm. I
held up a barf bag and showed them how to use it in case they get sick. They
all laughed and shook their heads. A bunch of them kept eating and drinking.
It was all smiles until started descending. That is when the barf bags were
a desired item by two or three of them.
We arrived at KAF with no problems an hour early than expected. I had the
Canadians call my Corps Headquarters to let them know we were on the ground.
They didn’t waste any time getting the vehicles over there to load them up
and take them to the ANA Camp. I breathed a big sigh of relief when we
dropped them off. I also swore revenge on Gerald and Adam for sending me on
that mission.
I think I spoke in my last letter about the large amount of people at KAF
right now due to the new people coming in and the seasoned veterans going
home. Bed space is a hot item on KAF right now. We were lucky to get bedded
down. The problem came with getting back to Apache with all the rest of the
new guys that just arrived in country assigned to 2nd Brigade. It would be
days before I would return.
The night before I returned to Apache I was in the tent talking with Chief
Griffith and Major Andy Price. We were talking about families, scouts, and
our kids. That was when we heard the whistle and explosion. We knew exactly
what it was. We all hit the floor. Chief Griffith laughed at us because Andy
and I were diving for the same place on the floor. He said, “There is an
entire tent here and you two are diving for the same four square feet of
space.” We stood up and ran out the tent to see the smoke a block away. The
Taliban launched a rocket that hit down by what we call the white house.
Thirty feet to the right and it would have taken out the white house. That
is where our logistics and administration people work. Another rocket hit
out near the runway. Luckily there was one minor injury. It will take years
for me to forget the sound of an incoming rocket. I have heard it enough. I
counted it up in my head and I have been rocketed or mortared over a dozen
times in my six months in country.
I mentioned that the new guys are at Apache. They are all Regular Army. They
have come in ready to show us how it is done. Anyone in the military knows
the contention between the active duty forces and the reserve forces. The RA
guys are having a hard time with the fact we are not an operational force.
We are embedded transition teams. These guys are having a hard time making
the transition. These guys have served in Iraq and Afghanistan as fighters.
Now they are mentoring and cannot make the mental transition. Plus, there is
a bunch of them. We have been running on a skeleton staff for the last six
months. Now, we have more people than we know with what to do. We are
tripping over each other. I volunteered to go home. That fell on deaf ears.
I am happy. I get to stay here at Apache as the Brigade Intelligence Officer
(S2). I have a Captain that works for me and I will receive an Air Force
person in a couple of days. My job is to be the senior guy over the S2 cell,
but my focus is to mentor the ANA while CPT Green will concentrate on
running the intel production of the shop. In some ways it is a load of my
shoulders. My cohort Adam Robinson has the same responsibility with the
Operations Shop. He is the senior guy but he concentrates on mentoring more
than anything. Adam told me upon my return the new team chief, LTC
Slaughenhaupt, kept us two here for continuity. Adam really wanted to go to
the 2nd Battalion (Kandak) with the rest of the Utah guys. I did too, but I
knew the chances were very slim due to the amount of Majors they have there.
I didn’t know what the future held for me and it really bothered me, hence
my bad demeanor in the last email. I am happy to have a job I know.
This week we break the 50% mark for time in country. It is nice to see the
end in sight. Granted, six months is still a long time, but with leave and
outprocessing I will have a little over 4.5 months left here at Apache.
Leave will be a month away from Apache. When I return I will have a little
under 90 days before they start the process to get us out of here. It is
nice to have an end in sight. The hard part will be getting through the
Spring Offensive with the Taliban. I am not looking forward to the upcoming
months. The coalition forces have had some good success lately. I hope the
trend continues.
Thank you to all those who have helped my family in my absence. My mom told
me I have a lot of IOU’s to fill upon my return home. I don’t know if I
could ever make it up to everyone that helped us out
All is well here right now. I will keep you informed as the adventures
continue.

Regards,

Brent