SMA

Sergeant Major of the Army Preston visited Camp Eggers on 24 July. We took him out to see primarily ANA sites. While visiting KMTC, the ANA facility east of Kabul, our up armored bus had a trouble getting up the hill leading into the gate. After touring around the facility we returned to camp, had a town hall meeting for the Army personnel and then had an E-9 dinner. Very nice indeed.

Talking with the SMA after he coined me. That is the CSTC-A CSM in the middle.

The E-9s of Camp Eggers with the SMA.

Leave

I went on leave in early July. The process of getting home was a little painful, but worth the effort. First I convoyed up to Bagram and spent the night in a huge "VIP" tent (I am a Sergeant Major ya know). The next morning, I flew out of Bagram, however, not before some little Air Force pogue tried to give me a hard time. The little shit was an E-5 and was given some authority in who gets on the freedom bird and who does not. Well, he thought incorrectly that he was going to muscle me around. So after tightening his shot group, I boarded a C-17 and flew to Kuwait. HOLY CRAP, what a desolate, dirty place 128 degrees!!! Shindand and Shouz did not have squat on this place. We landed in a military airport, Ali al salaam I think and then took buses over to a pseudo military-civilian airport to pick up a charter MD-11. The people of Kuwait drive American SUVs, ya know, Texas limos-Suburbans. We were escorted by some joker with an old M-60 machine on the back of a Taliban Toyota (pick up truck). The other escort was a Kuwaiti police officer driving an American made police car. We had to drive with the curtains closed so that no one knew who we were, HA! Despite the extra ordinary security security pre-cautions, the escort was late and we sat on the side of the road for at least 1/2 an hour. A huge RPG or VBIED magnet. Survive Afghanistan and get wasted on the side of a highway going home on leave.

A hardened hangar destroyed in the first Gulf War.

Scenic Kuwait

From Kuwait we flew to Leipzig, Germany and hung out in the terminal for about an hour. The next leg of the journey was Atlanta, Georgia for me and everyone who had a final destination basically east of the Mississippi River. After about 6 hours in Atlanta I flew home.

15 June 2008

Flew out to the sunny environment of Shindand in western Afghanistan. Shindand is half way between Herat and Farah. Upon landing, we had a tour of the Afghan Commando Battalion barracks and living area. The place was squared away and the Afghan commandos looked like certified killers. Shindand is an old Soviet airport and is located in a very remote and desolate place. It was hotter then hell and the wind was like opening the oven and sticking your head in, but not as dark. They have what is called the 120 day wind out there. The period between June and September is blast furnace time.

We jumped on HMMVs and checked out an irrigation project and agriculture school on the far side of the airport. They even had two fish ponds and beehives. It is amazing that anything grows out there. After touring the Agriculture school we convoyed down to Shouz, south of Shindand about 1.5 hours. If there could be a shittier more desolate place then Shindand, Shouz is it. We were looking at a ANP training site for a bunch of police from Helmand Province. Apparantly, these guys were causing some problems and their way of protest was to crap on the floor of their living quarters. They also utilized non-potable water to drink and washed their feet with the bottled water??????!!!!!!! Takes all types I guess. They were living in tents which was a temporary solution until the adjacent ANCOP compound could be completed. By in large, despite the poop, the training was going pretty good. The instructors were some DynCorp dudes and some very young looking Marines.

Bee Hives

Irrigation project, check out the background, utter desolation.

Two things really sucked about the trip. The week before I visited Konduz and ate some local chicken. The old Afghan quick step was still dogging me on this trip. The 2 hour plane ride and the hour and a half convoys were a real treat. What is especially nice is the fact that the HMMVs have air conditioning, not for the humans, but for the electronics. So the air blows just cool enough to keep the equipment from overheating, but is just warm enough to have a river of sweat pool in the crack of my ass. Also forcing my to embrace the "suck" was a new piece of equipment I was trying out. I was issued a under the body armor mesh shirt to ease the discomfort in the 120 degree heat. Well, I had an allergic reaction to the fire retardant crap they wove into the shirt. So at least I know I will not die of burns, but die slowly of skin cancer.

Essa and Essrar

We recognized Essa and his brother Esrar for bravery. While driving to work, they saw a suspicious individual. On their own initiative, they pulled over and followed the guy. He turned out to be a suicide bomber who they detained. Not to many people can say they captured a live bomber.

Babur's Garden

Babur was the founder of the Moghul Dynasty which lasted for hundreds of years. Of all the territory he acquired, Kabul was his favorite city. He built these gardens here in the 14th century and according to his wishes, he was buried in his garden as well.

These are some of the many roses found the garden. In the background is the remnant of one of the original trees.

Here I am sitting at the base of the garden. The entire site is terraced into the side of a mountain. The line in the middle of the picture leading to the top is the irrigation channel.

This is one Babur's ancestors buried next to his tomb.

The turret in the background is the terminus of the Kabul Wall and is where the noon gun is located.

Another one of the original trees located throughout the site.

Looking out over Kabul, in the distant background you can see the blue dome of a mosque.

A small mosque built inside of the garden by Babur's son, who by the way had the Taj Mahal built in India.

Here is the tomb of the man himself. The picture does not do full justice for the tomb. The marble on top of Babur's tomb is actually a shade of green.

Chapahar District

A GAO (Government Accounting Office) team came to Camp Eggers in order to conduct research on a report of the ANP training. We flew them down to Chapahar District, Nangahar Province so that they could see a FDD (Focused District Development) trained district in action. We got down there alright, it was what followed that will go down in legend.

We flew down on UH-60 Blackhawks escorted by this AH-64 Apache.


The Chapahar ANP District HQ is set on high ground, fortified by hesco barriers and wooden guard towers. The ANP live in either connex boxes or tents. This is a shot of the kitchen, with the proud cook posing for me.

I climbed up one of the guard towers and took this picture of the surrounding area.

After checking out the ANP District PHQ, we drove down to the village of Chapahar, which is basically this street. The storm you see brewing in the back ground turned out to be our nemesis.

This is LTC Doust with an old .303 Enfield turned in under the United Nations DIAG program. Basically, the locals are encouraged to turn in weapons for money. Of course, not a single one of the weapons were of the modern assault rifle type. Most did not function, and the Afghans here believed this pitiful collection of antiques justified a multi-million dollar dam and irrigation project. The compound we were in, is rumored to be Osama Bin Laden's hooch before we forced him into the Tora Bora region, south of Nangahar Province.

Well, the helicopters picked us up on time, even though we were late. As soon as we boarded we were informed that a storm front had moved in and we could not fly back to Kabul. So we were dumped off at FOB Fenty located at the Jalalabad airfield.

Since we did not want to spend the night in J-Bad we asked the DynCorp guys if they could drive us back to Kabul. Only problem was, the road was closed in the mountain pass. So we got our PSD from Camp Eggers to meet us on the far side of the closed portion of the road, after the DynCorp guys dropped us off on the J-Bad side. We had to walk about two miles with the GAO guys in tow to the far side of the road construction.

The following group of pictures were taken along the route to the mountain pass.

Here is where we got dropped off on the J-Bad side with a huge group of very curious Afghans.

Here we are walking up the road. When folks like the GAO come around people usually get nervous. We just make them walk, because thats, "How we roll."

May 08 Kabul to Qalat

In early May, we travelled from Kabul all the way down to Qalat in Zabul Province. Our travels took us through 4 provinces; Kabul, Wardak, Ghazni, and Zabul. We inspected police check points and headquarters along the way.

This is the animal bazaar on the outskirts of Kabul city. They sell sheep, cattle, chickens and camels and probably other types of mystery meat.

We drove by this Kuchi settlement in Wardak Province. Yes, those are camels in the fore ground and asses in the background.

Deputy Minister Mangal talking to ANP at the Wardak Provincial Police Headquarters

Located across the street from the Wardak ANPHQ is this ANP training site built and run by the Turks. In the background, which cannot be seen is a sheep herd. During the course of our visit, the sheep found two land mines the "hard way." There is also a Turkish PRT (Provincial Reconstruction Team) located in Wardak. We were invited to eat lunch with the Turkish officials. They provided us with outstanding hospitality.

Here is a sheep herder and his flock. The expert "boxing in" of the photo on the left was done by yours truly.

"Back blast area is NOT clear!!!!" This ANP is doing the correct thing by facing out, however, he would have wiped us all out with the initial shot from his RPG.

Stopped at this green zone in southern Wardak Province. The compound in the rear has seen better days. What the Afghans forgot to tell us at the time, is this particular spot is a traditional ambush point for the Taliban. And we stopped to look at it, duh! Generally, the Afghan Taliban will try and avoid hitting us when there are civilians around. So, if you no one is around there probably will be trouble.

The Afghans are very efficient in their own special way. Yes, that is a bus loaded with people with a SUV and a shipment of tires on top. And, yes there are people riding in the SUV. It is not unusual to see people riding in the rooftop luggage racks of all types of vehicles.

This is a ANP checkpoint on Highway 1. Many of the checkpoints are really battle positions just like this one. Trenches and sand bags are the norm. The green connex in the back ground is where the police live. We call it a "Cop in the box." At least the thing gets the police out of the elements. These checkpoints are attacked regularly. We easily lose twice as many ANP as we do Afghan Army soldiers. The ANP is the front line of the fight against the insurgency.

The Taliban conduct illegal checkpoints on the highway and shake down truck drivers for cash. This is what happens when you do not pay. Moments later the Taliban re-engaged this area with small arms fire.

This is the gate between Ghazni Province and Wardak Province. It is also a ANP check point.

Here is Col. H. my Texas buddy and I in the Ghazni Provincial Governor's house. We spent the night here and much to my surprise discovered that the Ghazni Governor is from New York. He was born in Afghanistan and moved to Long Island where he owns a real estate business. He shared his Hooka Pipe with us. The Governor assured me it was only tobacco, just so ya know.

Here is one of the challenges of securing the Afghan highway system. This guy is the member of a illegal security company. These guys heist convoys of trucks and charge them for safe passage. Of course many times, you are paying them off so that THEY will leave you alone. This situation got a little tense when we pulled them over and proceeded to disarm them.

Here is an example of what a bunch of dumb asses the Taliban are. They tried to blow up a bridge that they regularly use themselves. They also tried to blow it up at the strongest point of the bridge, right where the bridge meets the ground. All they succeeded in doing is blowing a hole in the bridge. Talk about chopping your nose off despite your face.

Final destination, Qalat ANPHQ in Zabul Province. That is the Qalat fortress in the back, on the high ground.

From Qalat we turned around and went back to Kabul, and drove through a wicked dust storm. We blew through one large daisy chain IED, which luckily did not explode. We also passed the ancient walled city of Ghazni, which is the mound in the back ground.


This is one of two "Towers of Victory" just east of Ghazni. It is a minaret built in the 11th century. It was built by Sultan Masud who was the successor to his Father Mahmoud. The founder of the short lived Ghaznivid empire, which stretched from Iran to the India and places in between. Notice the burned out Soviet APC in front of the tower.
Here is another ANP checkpoint. Basically, another fortified bastion with hesco barriers and sand bags. It is built around the remains of a old compound.



The truck in the back ground is a "jingle truck", the work horse of the Afghan economy. They are usually precariously over loaded. It is not unusual to see one lying on its side along the road. They are called jingle trucks because of the decorative chains hanging from the bumpers. Obviously they "jingle" when in motion.


A close up of a jingle truck. In addition to the chains the trucks are very brightly decorated.