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    Utah Guard unit reflects on successful mission

    Chief Warrant Officer 3 Richard M. Brusik

    Photo By Lt.j.g. Bryan Mitchell | This is a photo of Chief Warrant Officer 3 Richard M. Brusik.... read more read more

    CAMP MARMAL, AFGHANISTAN

    01.15.2014

    Story by Lt.j.g. Bryan Mitchell 

    ISAF Regional Command North

    CAMP MARMAL, Afghanistan – City management is challenging under the best of conditions.

    Place the city in the shadows of the rugged Hindu Kush Mountains amid a massive drawdown of residents and equipment.

    And call the city Camp Marmal, a sprawling military outpost home to thousands of troops from around the world all focused in their unique ways on supporting a mission to train and assist the Afghan National Security Forces.

    The Utah National Guard 204th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade (FWD) arrived in Afghanistan during a time of monumental transition and was tasked with managing the headquarters base of the largest regional command in this Texas-sized country.

    All with about 35 soldiers.

    Now, with only days remaining in country, they’re training their replacement and reflecting on their accomplishments.

    “If I could talk to the people of Utah, I would tell them that they should be very proud of your sons and daughters. They’ve done amazing work,” said unit commander Lt. Col. Paul W. Rodgers. “The state should know they produce as fine a Soldier I’ve seen anywhere and they’ve been equal to everything we’ve asked of them.”

    Rodgers, 48, of Surprise, Ariz., is the unelected yet officially recognized “Garrison Commander” of Regional Command-North while the several dozen troops under his command provide all the logistical and managerial to operate the base.

    His troops manage the contractors who keep the dining facilities humming around the clock, ensure the wells keep pumping so the high desert base remains hydrated and maintain a steely eye on security to ensure residents stay safe.

    And as the drawdown of military assets accelerates here, they’ve served as a central management point for the massive logistical challenge of redeploying hundreds of millions worth of gear and thousands of troops.

    “We’ve been asked to do a lot here and I’m proud to say our Soldiers have risen to every challenge,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Richard G. Thalman. “It’s expected of us being from Utah to bring a high level of professionalism and commitment and from ISAF (leadership in Kabul)on down we’ve been recognized for our work here.”

    In an extraordinary land defined by breathtaking vistas and staggering poverty, this is no ordinary base.

    Officially managed by the German military, home to a diverse a collection of Soldiers, airmen, sailor and Marines found anywhere on the planet and situated on the outskirts of the largest and most prosperous town north of Kabul, Camp Marmal is an education in coalition operations.

    It’s a place where you can hear a half a dozen different languages before breakfast and the residents are just as like to travel between the office, their tent and the gym by bike as they are by tactical vehicle.

    And presently, its base buzzing with troops working tirelessly to withdrawal military forces.

    1st Lt. Doug J. Spencer served as the officer in charge at Forward Operating Base Kunduz during its dismantling and eventual handover to Afghan forces last fall.

    Kunduz may not be as well known to Americans as cities like Fallujah and Kandahar, but it was here in northern Afghanistan that American troops fired the first shots on the Taliban government that harbored Osama bin Laden.

    Seizing the Kunduz plateau was the first step in the eventual overthrow of the Taliban and the ongoing 13-year war that has followed. The base there was one of the last smaller outposts housing coalition troops here in the north.

    Closing the base served as a symbolic shift for coalition forces eager to turn the security of the country over to their Afghan partners.

    “I knew that Kunduz had been the focus of a lot of U.S. efforts here for a long time and it was strategically an important place, but I was focused on the task at hand,” Spencer said.

    The 37-year-old Mt. Pleasant, Utah, soldier said the mission was a lesson proved to be a lesson in personal and professional growth.
    “The greatest challenge was realizing what my strengths and weaknesses are and how I can overcome my weaknesses so that as a team we can succeed,” he said.

    With the mission complete, Spencer can now reflect proudly on the work.

    “It was an amazing feeling of accomplishment, working very long days to start and finish a lot of challenging tasks, but to know we met the goals of our higher command to shut down Kunduz was very satisfying,” he said.

    Staff Sgt. Timothy L. Madsen, 28, served as a supply sergeant on Camp Mike Spann, another small outpost home to coalition. Named in honor of the first American killed in Afghanistan, the austere base abuts Camp Shaheen, home to the Afghan National Army’s 209th Corps.

    Soldiers there played a vital role in training and advising Afghans to lead the fight against insurgents and criminals.

    Madsen recalled the language barrier between coalition troops and their Afghans partners as particularly challenging.

    “You learn a lot about how much you can say without words,” he said. “I learned to talk a lot with my hands and my motions and over time you get a flow with people and we all work to get the job done.”

    Madsen, also of Mt. Pleasant, Utah, is also flush with pride for playing his part in closing down combat operations of America’s longest war.

    “Actually seeing, physically seeing every day, what a difference we were making was huge,” he said. “Form the day we got here to the day we left, there’s such a difference and you can sit back and really appreciate your hard work.”

    Master Sgt. Kim S. Peterson was the friendly face thousands of coalition troops saw in line at the dining facility each day. When he wasn’t coordinating coalition nutrition Peterson was inspecting water collection points and overseeing hundreds of thousands of dollars in support contracts.

    The 43-year-old Richfield, Utah soldier enjoyed the pro bono cultural education the deployment provided.

    “Kosovo, Mongolia, Bosnia, Croatia, Belgium, Sweden, Dutch and all the local nationals (Afghans),” he said. “I can’t imagine anywhere else where I would get to work with so many different people. It’s been an amazing experience and one I won’t ever forget.”

    Chief Warrant Officer 3rd Class Richard M. Brusik echoed Peterson’s sentiment.

    “I found it amazing how well we all worked together considering our backgrounds,” the 41-year-old Salt Lake City soldier said. “Between the Afghans we work with, the coalition forces and all of the other Americans, there were so many different kinds of people to coordinate with.”

    Professionalism and a duty to the mission overwhelmed any differences.

    “At the end of the day, we all wanted to get the job done and so we found a way to meet in the middle to succeed,” he said. “It was a very gratifying thing to be part of.”

    Capt. Kyle D. Newman mastered the fine art of making it up on the fly.

    As the base closure lead for U.S. forces here, the 26-year-old Ogden, Utah soldier took pride in his ability to improvise and compromise to accomplish his mission.

    “It was a different job every single day. I had to make contacts to figure out where all this stuff goes and then invent ways of getting it all done,” he said.

    He was responsible for the redeployment or transfer of authority of $5.3 million in buildings and $8.6 million in personal property.

    In sum, the Utah Soldiers were responsible for the return or divesture of more than $200 million worth of gear and managed millions more in contracts.

    The accomplishments and esprit de corps remind Rodgers why he’s hoping to stay in the Utah Army National Guard as long as they’ll have him.

    “The most courageous and honest things I’ve seen in my life have been done by Soldiers,” he said. “Just being around these Soldiers is a reward in and of itself.”

    Now, with of the awarding of nine Bronze Stars, 14 Meritorious Service Medals, and 12 Army Commendation Medals already complete, the unit has its collective eye set on a bigger target: home.

    Newman is eager for a late Christmas celebration with his wife and two kids at Bear Lake.

    “Everyone is talking about tropical vacations or going to the beach, but I just want to get snowed in,” he said.

    Spencer wants to get out on the water. The frozen water.

    “After the standard reintegration tasks are over, we’ll get a week of ice fishing. Then I’ve got a list of lengthy honey-dos I’m actually looking forward to,” he said. “And after that, more ice fishing.”

    Thalman’s not into specifics. Except making up for lost time.

    “I just want to spend time with my family,” he said. “I don’t care what we do as long as we’re together.”

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 01.15.2014
    Date Posted: 01.16.2014 05:10
    Story ID: 119238
    Location: CAMP MARMAL, AF

    Web Views: 770
    Downloads: 0

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