Maintenance window scheduled to begin at February 14th 2200 est. until 0400 est. February 15th

(e.g. yourname@email.com)

Forgot Password?

    Defense Visual Information Distribution Service Logo

    Red Bulls describe experience at Bad Pech

    Red Bulls describe experience at Bad Pech

    Photo By Master Sgt. Ryan Matson | U.S. Army Capt. Kevin Hrodey, left, from Pleasant Hill, Iowa, the commander of Company...... read more read more

    LAGHMAN PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN

    07.05.2011

    Story by Staff Sgt. Ryan Matson 

    Combined Joint Task Force 1 - Afghanistan

    LAGHMAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan - As U.S. Army Capt. Kevin Hrodey and U.S. Army 1st Lt. Elliott Henderson sat under a cammo net stretched between a Hesco barrier and a connex, June 30. They were all smiles, knowing it would be one of their final days before going home. The small, shaded area acted as the “lounge” at the Bad Pech District Center.

    The two soldiers were the last Company B soldiers to leave the Bad Pech. The district center had served as home to Hrodey, Henderson, and the other Soldiers from Company B, 1st Battallion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, Task Force Ironman, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, TF Red Bulls, for the last two months. It was one of the most remote assignments in all of northeastern Afghanistan, requiring the soldiers to sleep in hand-dug fighting position holes for the first three to four weeks after arriving there early May.

    “We got dropped off here in the middle of nowhere on a platuea,” Hrodey, the Company B commander, said. “When we got here, the Hesco barriers were just being added; the perimeter was pretty much concertina wire. Our guys were living in fighting positions on the border.”

    Still, Henderson said, the soldiers loved it.

    “Out here is the mission we always wanted,” Henderson said. “We’re getting out into a new environment. The terrain here is a challenge in and of itself, and we’re working with a totally virgin territory and starting something from scratch.”

    For the previous six months before arriving at the district center, Hrodey’s soldiers enjoyed what they called an “easy” and even “boring” assignment at Torkham Gate, on the Pakistan Border, providing gate security there. They enjoyed a nice chow hall, working toilets and showers.

    All that changed in early May when Company B left for the Bad Pech. The district center was born in early April at the end of Operation Bullwhip, the largest air assault conducted by the 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell, Ky., during their year deployment to eastern Afghanistan. During Bullwhip, 101st air assets air-assaulted Iowa National Guard troops from the 133rd Inf. Regt. into the Galuch Valley, a known insurgent stronghold, now home to the the district center.

    During the operation soldiers cleared the valley and established the D.C., which began as a joint security compound, with members of the Afghan National Army, Afghan National Civil Order of Police, Afghan Uniform Police and National Directorate of Security all occupying the small, remote compound which bordered a health clinic. Hrodey said his company enjoyed working with these Afghan forces the past two months.

    “I think the biggest reason the soldiers have enjoyed this mission is it allows them more interaction with their International Security Forces Afghanistan partners and the citizens of the valley,” Hrodey said. “We meet daily with the district subgovernor, the ANP commander, the ANA commander, the ANCOP commander, the NDS and all the local village elders.”

    Hrodey said the center has become recognized as a form of government in the valley where villagers meet and speak with subgovernor Haji Alif Shaw, who also works in the D.C.

    Though the 133rd’s soldiers swept through the valley without contact, seizing large amounts of enemy weapons before establishing the district center during Bullwhip, the enemy maintains a presence in Galuch Valley. Hrodey said the D.C. is still often attacked by indirect fire, as many forward operating bases and combat outposts are throughout eastern Afghanistan, and Company B soldiers also fought off a complex attack. However, the thought of even occupying the area before Operation Bullwhip would have been an impossibility.

    “I’m very proud of the things that Bravo Company has been able to accomplish,” Hrodey said. “To say that we were here at the beginning during the elevation of a government with our ISAF partners is something I’d like to look back on and see the progress 10 or 20 years from now, knowing we were there in the beginning.”

    Hrodey and Henderson said the company enjoyed adopting a more traditional infantry role at the Bad Pech, patrolling the villages and area of operations around the district center with their Afghan counterparts. At Torkham, most of the unit’s patrols were mounted, but here that was not the case. They said a particular highlight was climbing one of the bordering 6,500 foot mountains on a 15 kilometer movement one day.

    The conditions at the center have improved since the soldiers arrived in Bad Pech. No, there are no showers or latrines. However, where there were once only holes in the ground, Soldiers now sleep in air-conditioned tents and have internet connection and resources to call home. And Hrodey said they wouldn’t trade their time here for anything in the world.

    “It’s gonna sound funny but turning this place over to Company A, 1st Battalion, 61st Cavalry Squadron (the replacing unit) is going to be bitter-sweet,” Hrodey said. “On one hand, I wanna go home and see my wife and family, but I’d like to see the progress here continue. I plan on staying in touch with our counterparts and seeing what happens next.”

    Hrodey said working in the field is what makes the infantry unique.

    “This was what everybody’s idea was of what we should or would be doing as an infantry company here in Afghanistan,” he said. “The terrain, the living conditions – a lot of my guys today still have a hard time wiping a smile off their faces. The motivation level has been pretty high since we’ve been out here.”

    LEAVE A COMMENT

    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 07.05.2011
    Date Posted: 07.05.2011 15:04
    Story ID: 73255
    Location: LAGHMAN PROVINCE, AF

    Web Views: 926
    Downloads: 14

    PUBLIC DOMAIN