Afghan interpreter dreams of becoming U.S. Special Forces Soldier

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN

04.26.2009

Story by Staff Sgt. Marie Schult 

U.S. Forces Afghanistan

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KABUL, Afghanistan — It is a means to an end and darn good dream. That is how it sounds when an Afghan interpreter, known as James, lays out his plans, goals and dreams at a coalition firebase in western Afghanistan.

"The career I want to have for my future life is to join the U.S. Army and come back here as a United States Special Forces Soldier," James said.

In his eyes it is the best way to help his country and fight the War on Terror.

James has been working with USSF Soldiers since he was 18 years old. He learned English in high school and has been putting those skills to good use in the last five years, helping the coalition communicate with good guys, bad guys, those on the fence or those who just do not care. James is more than just an interpreter with a penchant for action. He supports poor families in Kabul, sends other people's children to private schools, listens to country music and sports a cowboy hat.

"He knows the language [English] better than all the other interpreters combined, and he knows all about American culture. Just look at his room ... it looks like a college dorm room," said a Special Forces intelligence sergeant who works with James.

The room quip is not entirely true. His room is immaculate, and his clothes are hung and spaced in his closet; however, what is true is his value to the team.

"He's substantially responsible for any success I've had out here," the intelligence sergeant said about James' ability to truly understand what is needed of his language and cultural skills. "He conveys what's in your voice, not just your words," added a Special Forces weapons sergeant.

Although being a skilled interpreter pays well, James is quick to point out that he could be making much more working behind a desk doing translations all day. Initially, it was all about money. James wanted the funds to go to college, so he took a job as an interpreter and figured after a year he would go to school. That did not quite work out.

"When it was time for me to quit and go back to normal life and continue my education there was something in me that made me realize that the job I was doing was what I wanted to do," James said.

The idea to become an SF operator sort of snuck up on him, but since he realized his dream, he has been dedicated.
"After the first few months that I started doing this job, I started to like it and have a lot of interest in what the U.S. military is doing. From that time to now, it's always been there — with every passing day it's been growing," James said.

The team that he works for fully supports his dream.

"You don't have to question his loyalty ... he's been blown up, and he's been on more missions than any person on this camp combined. I go home, but he stays here," said the weapons sergeant.

"He did every operation with us, and, at the time, he was the youngest interpreter, but he was the best one," the weapons sergeant added.

James put his green card application in and is simply waiting for approval. He has numerous letters of recommendation espousing his loyalty, dedication and remarking on his valorous deeds for USSF. Even with all of this, he knows the reality.

James understands that the best laid plans do not always work out. Happily, he has a plan B and C. Plan A is to go straight into the USSF training program.

"If I can't go directly to the [Special Forces] program, then what I'll do is go talk to a recruiter and go to the regular Army and work my way up to the SF," said James confidently.

"If option one doesn't work option two for me would be to go back to my education and hopefully become a journalist because that is what I originally wanted to do," James said. "But my personal preference and my dream in life is to become SF."

James said he attributes being well-grounded to the lessons he's learned from his family.

"They have explained to me how it's important to achieve and aim for what I really want in my life. Life is once and you never come back," he said.

"I have been threatened for my life for working with the Americans multiple times," James said. "I just didn't give it any importance. With the job I have, [I] have to pretty much risk it in order to pursue."

James is not only dedicated to the USSF Soldiers with which he serves. He is dedicated to the people of his country as well.

James recalled a time when he and his wife were eating dinner one night. A young boy came by their table begging for money. James invited him to sit and bought him dinner. Then James and his wife "adopted" the boy's family after learning his mother was a widow supporting four daughters and a son by herself. James and his wife are paying for the mother and the two oldest daughters to take sewing classes, enabling them to become seamstresses. They enrolled the boy into a good school, and he is also being tutored after school at an automotive repair shop to learn a trade.

"My main message for the people, especially Afghans, is that you can rely on other people, but rely on yourself the most. Don't only wait for others to make a difference. Be proactive, take initiative and start it with yourself," he said before telling another story.

He once found two sisters who were injured in an airstrike. The younger sister was recovering in the hospital in Kandahar while her sister was in Kabul.

"I knew she [the younger one] wouldn't like it in that hospital because of the food, and she would be lonely, so I took her home," he said.

She stayed at his parents' house until she was well enough to go home with her father.

Judging by his actions, James is a special kind of person, one who does not have to be asked to do the right thing.

"To go join the military, that makes him a different breed of person," said a Special Forces team leader.

James wants to serve the country he is going to and, through that service, better serve his own country in the only way he knows how, by becoming a special forces Soldier, the SF team leader added.

For now James said he is happy helping out in any way he can. One minute he is on the phone coordinating with local leaders for the SF team, and an hour later, he sits in the back of an armored vehicle happily waving goodbye as he heads out on a combat reconnaissance patrol with his friends and teammates.