FREEDOM WATCH

Once again - I'm using information from one of Will's team-mates' blogs. (Charles Durrant) Sometimes it's a little more information than I get from Will. It's nice to be informed about how well things are going, because sadly, YOU'LL NEVER HEAR ABOUT ANYTHING POSITIVE GOING ON BY WATCHING THE NEWS!!

Every month or so the U.S. Department of Defense publishes an Afghanistan-specific magazine entitled Freedom Watch. Will's team made the August 11, 2008 issue.

the story page:

The text:

Camp Blackhorse soldiers help build Afghanistan’s future

by Petty Officer 1st Class Shawn D. Graham

CSTC-A Public Affairs

KABUL, Afghanistan — Across Afghanistan, wherever U.S. forces are deployed, whether conducting combat operations alongside coalition forces in the east and south or security and stability operations in the west and north, they do so from forward operating bases.

U.S. Army Capt. Richard Roberts’s team of senior NCOs from Camp Blackhorse, trains and mentors the Afghan National Army’s 4th Kandak, 3rd Brigade, in the construction of FOB Spike, located near the Naghlu Reservoir in lower Kapisa Province.“Our job is to train and advise the Afghan National Army in all aspects of FOB building,” explained Roberts, who is the Embedded Training Team officer-in-charge.

“Our job is to train the leaders and NCOs so that they understand how to build and defend forward operating bases themselves.”

“My team has truly been embedded with the ANA,” Roberts said. “For nearly two months, we’ve lived on a combat outpost with a platoon of their soldiers. The ETTs were the only U.S. presence on our makeshift compound.”

The team members are an eclectic mix of Army National Guard and Army Reserve Soldiers. In civilian life they are teachers, self-employed business owners and full-time students.

The 4th Kandak is a combat engineer unit, with three companies, a weapons company, and a headquarters company. An additional line company is located at the site being constructed.

“Generally classes in the morning are taught by the ETTs, and classes in the afternoon are taught by the ANA,” said Army Master Sgt. Charles Durrant. “We typically meet with the Kandak commander after formation to discuss any issues or problems. Throughout the day, the trainers are meeting and working with their companies.”

“But one thing to remember,” Durrant added, “no day is a typical day with the ANA. It can change dramatically with little or no notice.”

Afghan soldiers operate large excavators and bulldozers, flattening the terrain, making it suitable for future buildings and placing large sand-filled barriers. Operating on the top of a plateau, the equipment operators are always mindful that there is no room for error. Every time machinery moves, it is only several yards from a 1,000 foot drop.

“The ANA have faced all the challenges in stride,” said Army Master Sgt. Kent McClure, the project's senior non-commissioned officer-in-charge. “This FOB will help bring stability to the entire region. We’ve merely shown them the way; they are the ones doing the work.”

Kandak soldiers are also building roads in the area and conducting leader engagements, where they meet with local elders and chiefs of police to discuss security and development projects. They also assist Coalition troops in locating and destroying established enemy fighting positions.

“Every mission that we go on is augmented by the ANA,” Roberts said. “This allows the citizens of Afghanistan to see members of their army working professionally with Coalition forces. It contributes to a sense of overwhelming pride in their government, and they see their army progressing and succeeding in ushering out the Taliban.”

Their progress was evident July 26, when Afghan soldiers from the 4th Kandak accompanied the combat engineer unit on a combat mission which destroyed five enemy fighting positions. ANA soldiers assisted in the preparation and detonation phases of the operation.

“The soldiers in 4th Kandak learn combat skills fast. Training them and letting them handle explosives, and teaching them to respect it, will help strengthen their ability and national perception,” Durrant said.

“We’re getting the ANA to a point where they can be self-sufficient,” Roberts said. “We pass all our experience and knowledge on to them. They do for themselves, and it is working.”

This is the link to the magazine: