Courtesy Photo | U.S. Army Lt. Col. James Vizzard (right), of Fort Knox, Ky., the commander of the 1st...... read more read more
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KHOWST PROVINCE, Afghanistan – As the soldiers and civilians on Forward Operating Base Salerno, Afghanistan, go about their days, there is a group of soldiers who are constantly at work to ensure the safety of everyone on the FOB.
The FOB is protected by a series of towers and small outposts manned by U.S. soldiers and members of the Asia Security Guard, a private security firm.
The ‘Hellions’ of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, TF Duke, conduct weekly patrols to inspect all towers and outposts around the FOB to ensure they are properly manned and maintained.
During one such patrol, the Hellions brought U.S. Army Lt. Col. James Vizzard, the commander of 1st Bn., 6th FA Regt., from Fort Knox, Ky., who assessed the capabilities of the defenses in order to identify what shortcomings existed and how to correct them.
That mission resulted in a follow up mission to resupply the personnel manning the towers and outposts with better equipment.
“We like to check up on the ASG,” said U.S. Army Capt. Adrian Chen, the Hellions’ commander from Coral Springs, Fla.
“We check up on their infrastructure,” he added, “during the most recent check we discovered one of their living areas did not have a working water container. We are working through the ASG site leader to resolve this issue.”
The Hellions usually make the trip on foot, so they can also talk to the local populace along the way.
“When interacting with the locals, you get to see what the people are dealing with and how they feel about us,” said U.S. Army Pfc. William P. Bentz, an automatic rifleman with the Hellions from Billings, Mont.
“You are actively engaged when you go out on foot patrols, and actually see what is protecting us,” he said.
Even when not out on patrol, the Hellions are still hard at work in the Base Defense Operations Center continuously monitoring the security and intelligence situation in order to anticipate and pre-empt any future attacks against the FOB.
“Our job in the BDOC is to keep watch over the FOB, and make sure everyone is safe,” said U.S. Army Spc. Christopher J. Samuels, a radio operator in the BDOC from Houston.
| Date Taken: | 04.20.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 04.30.2011 13:56 |
| Story ID: | 69628 |
| Location: | KHOWST PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: | 642 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Committed to defend: ‘Hellions’ ensure FOB Salerno’s safety, by MSG Ben Navratil, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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