http://operationgive.c5host.com Operation Give : Blog http://operationgive.c5host.com/frontlines/2007/3/23/a-soldiers-letter/ A Soldier's Letter        Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2007 06:08:34 -0600Subject: 23 March 2007 Friday, March 23, 2007Hi All,Life has been a little exciting around here the last two weeks, but nothingto extraordinary. I will say that the Spring Offensive is underway.We recently did an operation out in a valley close to here. It was an all day mission with the Afghan National Army, some Afghan National Police,Romanian Forces, Special Forces, US combat forces, and some ETT's. Wesurrounded villages and then searched them. There were six villages they searched. It took all day long. I was with LTC Slaughenhaupt in the commandpost located outside of each village searched. We would sit and wait forthem to clear the villages and move on to the next village. As soon as they would clear and move we would move forward also. There was littleexcitement.There was some excitement, don't get me wrong. At one point we were sittingan open field. We could see for a couple miles in each direction. We had just positioned ourselves and I got out of the vehicle. The ANA with uspointed to some men moving through a field off in the distance. There was agroup of ANA soldiers maneuvering towards the men. I was standing outside the Hummer watching them trying to locate the men of whom they were talking.Next thing I know the ANA out in the field fired a shot at them with a highcaliber weapon. Their rules of engagement are a little more relaxed than ours. I guess the men panicked and ran. This caused the ANA to fire a rocketpropelled grenade at the men. That makes quite the bang, even at 500 yardsaway. Once the men began to run the ANA opened up on them with a machine gun. By this time I was in a kneeling position with my rifle in case the ANAbehind me decided they wanted to get in the fight. They were a good 500yards away. I still could not see at whom they were shooting. The four men got away. We assume they ran up a river bed back towards the village.After a while we found out the Taliban had escaped the village and had eyeson us sitting in the open. They were maneuvering to hit us with something. We showed them, we moved. It would have taken mortars to hit us. We werequite a ways away from any kind of hill, riverbed, or terrain that wouldhave masked any close approach by the Taliban.The blocking force we had on the other side of the valley did manage to have a little excitement. While in position watching the villages they took firefrom a cave that was up on one of the mountain sides above them. TheRomanians were not happy with that. They opened up with their high caliber weapon loaded with high explosive rounds. If someone managed to make it outof that cave they would have been in a world of hurt.The missions are not without comedy. One of the captains inside the villagereported that a man in a black cape (meaning Afghan Robe) was escaping and they were in pursuit. He then realized how funny that sounded and tried toredeem himself. It was too late. Someone had already told Rosco P. Coltrainnot to kill him it was Batman and he is on our side. We asked if the man had a big "T" on his chest for "Talibanman." Poor Barrett still has not livedthat one down. A day or two later at staff meeting CPT White took a pictureof Batman and put a big "T" on his chest and gave it to LTC S. in a targeting folder of the latest high value target.I am happy to say that we made it through the day without any injuries. Thesad news is someone tipped off the Taliban of our operation and they got outof the area before we even rolled in. The village elders would not say anything, but we found that kids can be bribed very easily. They will spilltheir guts for a little candy. We were so mad to find out there is a leak inthe ANA forces.The day was nice and it was crappy by way of weather. The sun would shine then the winds would pick up. The clouds would move in and make itmiserable. It was a cycle that lasted all day long. When we headed back toApache that afternoon the wind was blowing. It had not rained in quite some time so the moon dust was back. We were covered in dust by time we arrivedat Apache. It was good to eat some dinner and get in the shower.The rains came that evening. It rained off and on for two days. It managed to settle the dust down, but once again everything is back to a mud hole.The sun came out yesterday and it was a clear warm day today.The 21st was the Muslim New Year. We started the day off with a smallcelebration with the ANA. They had some speeches and then had the celebratory man dance. I told you about the man dance in my letter when Iwent to Kabul. Some of the ETT's with me said that the Afghans have norhythm. I am glad I am not the only one that notices this.We returned at 1230 for lunch with the ANA. It was the typical lunch of rice, beef, chicken, vegetables, flat bread, and a pudding. I ate verylittle. The Afghans can put away the rice. They would fill the plates clearfull of rice expecting us to eat it. I just was not in the mood for rice. I did try the pudding and it wasn't bad. I think it too was made of rice. Ididn't dare eat too much of it for fear of the after affects.The Afghans drink the whey (SP?) off cheese. It is a common food for theAfghans. I had been warned to not eat it because it is nasty. The ANAleadership was trying to convince LTC Slaughenhaupt to drink it. Hal and Iwere down there chuckling. He kept looking at us shaking his head. After he tried it guess who he stuck in the hot seat to try it. Yup, you guessed it,Hal and me. He brought the bowl down and sat it between us and said, "No, Iinsist these two have the opportunity to try it." Okay, I couldn't laugh at him and refuse to try it myself, so I did. Talk about nasty! It tasted likeyogurt fermented to the extreme. One taste of that made me swear off evertrying that again. I still have to question from where the dairy product came.The Spring Offensive is definitely under way. There have been a number ofattacks on coalition force's convoys, ANA, and ANP the last couple of days.There were two attacks on Highway 1. It was a pretty bold move. They took on a big convoy. On one of the convoys a bullet ricocheted and hit a US soldierin the Kevlar helmet. I heard it gave him a concussion. I did get a reportthat he is doing better.I week or so ago the boss was planning to do a nighttime bunker rehearsal. We have so many new people on the FOB we need to practice how to react torocket attacks and direct fire attacks. LTC S. and the Sergeant Majordecided to do this bunker rehearsal in the dark to make people realize it is a challenge in complete darkness.I was talking with Sergeant Major (SGM) Ortiz around 7:45 pm. I asked him ifhe was going to do the rehearsal that evening. He said no. He then told methe boss is going to do it at 4:00 am. I thought he was pulling my leg. He told me to ask him myself. The boss came in the room so SGM asked him whattime he was going to do the drill. The boss signaled to me with fourfingers. I told him we can't do that because it interrupts my sleep. I also thought we should do it at that time because I had received reports aboutpossible rocket attacks on our FOB. I wanted to make sure everyone knew howto react. The boss thought about it and asked the SGM if we should do it now. The SGM said yes. The boss said okay and told him to hit the siren. Heset off the alarm and we called everyone to the bunkers. This was around7:55 pm. I was glad he did the drill.I went to my B-hut and got my gear on to play the game and returned back to the TOC to find everyone there playing the drill. We started doing ourchecks and waiting for people to call in with their accountability. Peoplewere coming and going.As I was standing in my office I thought I heard a whistle that sounded exactly like a rocket. I thought to myself, "What was that?" It sounded toofamiliar. I have mentioned in past emails that I will never forget the soundof a 107mm rocket in flight. I thought someone was mimicking the sound. Sure enough, one of the towers called in and said there was an explosion nearLagman. My classified phone rang and it was the S2 cell at Lagman asking ifwe heard the explosion. I told them I heard the whistle. Jay then told me that one rocket had just hit outside there perimeter at Lagman. All hellstarted braking loose. Our little drill just became the real thing.I got on the loud speaker and told everyone to stay inside the bunkers that our drill just became "real world." The big laugh after that was the IntelGuy called that one! The boss kept saying to me, "I am not going to hear theend of this for the next six months." I told him, "Not this one." At that time I became the resident expert. The boss asked me what I thought weshould do; because I have been here before during rocket attacks. I told himhow long to wait then I told him to have everyone man the walls in case of direct fire.After we felt the danger had passed we stood everyone down. Kevin White andI started running from wall to wall telling everyone to stand down. Wedidn't want to announce it over the loud speaker so the Taliban could hear we were no longer at the ready stage. The key leaders then went to themeeting room for an After Action Review (AAR).The boss started the meeting off by saying, "I am going to get this outright now and say Brent called this one." That is when Tex responded by saying, "That confirms Brent is Taliban."What makes people a little nervous is I have been fairly accurate latelywhen it deals with threats, weather, or gut instinct. I appreciate the factthat I have had good intelligence reports. The Arghendab River claimed another couple of vehicles last night. I toldyou about the river in an email back in December. If you remember the emailwe decided to cross the river early in the morning with night vision goggles in order to avoid an attack.Some of our ETT's and coalition forces have been delayed returning to FOBLane because of the level of the water due to spring run off. The teamdecided that they would be able to cross it yesterday. They tried and failed. A seven ton ANA truck crossed and bogged down in the river. One ofour Hummers was right behind it. The Hummer also bogged down in the water.They called for another ANA seven ton to come down and help them retrieve the vehicles. I don't know all the details, but I do know that they hookedup the Hummer to a seven ton and started to pull it out. They did okay untilthe seven ton driver turned the wrong way and hit a huge hole; which pulled the entire seven ton truck under water with the Hummer in tow right behindit. All that is showing now is about six inches of the top of the seven tonand some antennas. They tried to pull them out, but they are hooked together. Luckily, no one was hurt.I sat down with my ANA counterpart yesterday and asked him his views ofAfghan history and to explain to me why the Taliban have such a strong holdon the people. I found out that it is a vicious circle. I asked him how come the Taliban have so much control now and 30 years ago they were a minority.He explained to me that the Russian invasion and turmoil of Afghanistan gavethe Taliban the upper hand.The radical Islam faith (Taliban) was able to crush the Mujahadeen fighters after the war with Russia because of the constant fighting and losses theMujahadeen took again the Russian. It is kind of like Iran right now. Therewas a power vacuum. The Taliban were able to let the Mujahadeen do the fighting and weaken them to the point when the opportunity came along theTaliban crushed the Mujahadeen fighter and stepped right into power.Once the Taliban were in control they forced the people to practicereligious rules. The Taliban oppressed the people so much they becameuneducated, religious radicals, and ignorant to science, technology,history, and advancement. The country of Afghanistan took a huge stepbackwards. The people cannot read so they cannot study the Quran and really understand their religion. They have to listen to the radical, falseteachings of the Taliban Mullahs. It is pure brainwashing. They teach thatanything done to further the cause of "Islam" is okay in the eyes of Allah even though it is against the teachings of the Quran.Under the Taliban rule they fought poppy growth and drug trade. Now theyneed the poppy money to finance their cause. The uneducated poppy growershave been taught by the Taliban that the western countries are here to take over Afghanistan like the Russians did. In order to fight this they musthelp the Taliban; which includes taking down the current AfghanistanGovernment. The Taliban pay them money to grow their poppies and also help fight the coalition forces, because it is necessary for the growth of Islam.The Taliban also give money to the local Mullahs and they preach the Talibanreligious message. When the farmers see the drug eradication efforts it reinforces the Taliban anti-western propaganda. The poppy production in thiscountry has risen 600% in the last year. The Taliban's informationoperations is much more aggressive than the coalition forces' information operations. The more we fight and kill the Taliban the more we reinforcetheir movement. That is why the coalition forces are working so hard torestore power, water, education, and economic trade under the current Afghan Government; in order to give them credibility and establish a freeAfghanistan.It was an interesting lesson he taught me. I am no expert on Afghan historyso I cannot verify all details. By looking around I tend to believe a lot about what he taught me. The good news is we are making small steps and theTaliban are losing ground day by day. It will be a battle that will lastmuch longer than we want to admit. It will take money, time, security, and education. Many of these people have little to no education.I passed the seven month mark in country a couple days ago. We are on thedownhill side of this mission. I will be going on leave soon back to thestates to see my family and spend a little time at home. I am excited to seemy children. It will be ten months away from them when I return home on.... Fri, 23 Mar 2007 18:58:00 EDT http://operationgive.c5host.com/frontlines/2007/3/29/news-from-iraq/ 3/29/2007 - KIRKUK REGIONAL AIR BASE, Iraq (AFNEWS) -- The Iraqi airforce is taking off once again with the help of U.S. Air Force Airmenwho serve with the Coalition Air Force Transition Team in Iraq.At IAF Squadron 70 in Basra and IAF Squadron 3 in Kirkuk, Iraqi airmenfly intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions over oil pipelines and other areas of interest, all the while keeping an eye outfor insurgent activity."They protect the oil pipelines and infrastructure, and perform generalcounter-terrorism and intelligence gathering," said Maj. Gary Lyles, CAFTT intelligence and surveillance program manager. "They have the gameplan, and now they are starting to run with the ball."At IAF Squadron 23 located at New Al Muthana Air Base in Baghdad, Iraqiairmen fly C-130E aircraft missions to deliver troops and cargo insupport of the Iraqi government. As the largest and most seasoned IAFsquadron, Squadron 23 has about 45 aircrew, 120 maintenance and 130support personnel assigned. "The C-130 program is the most advanced," said General Hoog. "It's beenin place for two-and-a-half years, and we've been training Iraqi pilotsside-by-side with our Air Force advisers. They fly each and every day doing cargo missions, and they are already flying troops in from Basraand Irbil.".... Thu, 29 Mar 2007 19:01:00 EDT