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PAKTIKA PROVINCE, Afghanistan – There’s a saying in Afghanistan that translates, “Don’t thank God before you eat.”
It’s better to say grace afterward, because you never know what may happen before you finish your meal, said Afghan National Army Col. Abdul Qadir, commander, 3rd Kandak, 2nd Brigade, 203rd Corps.
He explained the phrase as members of Security Force Advisory Team Green 3, 14th Infantry Battalion, 2/10 Security Forces Assistance Brigade, joined him for a lunch of rice, bread, meat and tea at Combat Outpost Zerok, May 23.
Moments later, an incoming mortar round blasted into the helipad not far from the team.
Another followed it, and then another.
Seventeen rounds hit Zerok as 3rd Kandak and American Soldiers left their meals half eaten and took up defenses at the outpost.
The Americans got on the radio and called in air support. The ANA manned their own mortars and returned fire, the outgoing blasts mixing with the explosions of incoming fire.
During a brief lull in the attack, the ANA quickly left the compound to hunt down the enemy and secure the villages surrounding Zerok.
The Americans continued to monitor the skies for incoming fire.
It was the second day of Operation Zafar, a 10-day security patrol into Afghanistan’s Nikeh distict.
Through days of fighting, the ANA engaged in long, heated battles against extremists. The ANA had not had a significant presence in the district for nearly five months.
They found a lot of enemies to clear out.
Despite the resistance, the ANA cleared dozens of villages, removed improvised explosive devices from the road and secured the district with minimal intervention from American forces.
“I have very good soldiers in 3rd Kandak,” Qadir said. “Sometimes I think I need to pick up my soldiers and put them in my pocket, because they are doing a very great job.”
As American forces accompanied the kandak mainly as advisers, most of the patrols and fighting fell to the 3rd Kandak throughout the operation.
They proved very efficient at it, said 1st Lt. John Pfiester, executive officer, Green 3.
“The ANA are hasty and deliberate when they react to contact,” Pfiester said. “They gain fire superiority within seconds of taking contact. This is very typical for the ANA to react in a firefight.”
Insurgents harassed the ANA almost every day of the operation, but the infantrymen of 3rd Kandak pushed them back into the mountains every time.
“They can’t stand in front of my soldiers,” Qadir said.
In each firefight, insurgents fought until the ANA gained a foothold against them, then ran back into the mountains behind the protection of their improvise explosive devises, Qadir said.
During one 4.5-hour fight in Nikeh, 3rd Kandak hit seven IEDs while battling the enemy.
They took no casualties.
Far from demoralizing the ANA, the heavy resistance only brought out the ANA’s combat prowess, Pfiester said.
“This mission has showed us that the ANA are not afraid to go into any area knowing that there will be enemy contact,” Pfiester said. “The kandak went into an insurgent stronghold, the insurents fired everything they had at the ANA and the ANA overwhelmed them with fire superiority, causing the enemy to fall back.”
While the ANA’s route clearance vehicles patrolled the roads for IEDs, the kandak’s infantrymen patrolled ahead of them on foot, clearing villages as they went.
Before the mission was half over, 3rd Kandak had already walked more than 30 km.
Many of them wore sneakers, because they don’t have combat boots.
“Sometimes they walk so far you can see blood on their shoes, but they do not complain,” Qadir said. “They do not say they are tired. We should say that they are very tough soldiers.”
When they weren’t out fighting or patrolling, the ANA shared meals with the Americans, handed out water and food in the villages, and conducted shuras – town hall meetings – to gauge local opinion and assure the villagers the ANA would make the district secure.
Their dedication to making their country secure goes beyond Nikeh District, Qadir said. Even in sneakers, they are prepared to fight in mountains, caves or in the desert.
“As long as we kill the enemy, we don’t care where we fight,” Qadir said.
| Date Taken: | 06.06.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 06.06.2013 12:45 |
| Story ID: | 108167 |
| Location: | SHARANA, AF |
| Web Views: | 214 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, ANA thrives on combat efficiency, by SGT Mark VanGerpen, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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