Photo By Sgt. H. Marcus McGill | Sgt. 1st Class Douglas Queen, the platoon sergeant for 2nd Platoon, Alpha Company, 1st...... read more read more
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MAIWAND DISTRICT, Afghanistan -- Paratroopers from, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division recently played a significant role in an air assault mission conducted in Maiwand district, Kandahar province, Afghanistan.
“The overall goal of this mission is for us to better know the people down south. They have been under the thumb of the Taliban for as long as the Taliban has been around. Recent operations have confirmed a strong Taliban presence and we are going there to root them out,” said Lt. Col. Philip Raymond, Battalion commander for 2nd Battalion, 321st Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.
While the mission featured many 4th BCT, 82nd Abn. Div. soldiers, the planning for the operation slated a majority of the manpower to be comprised of Afghan National Army and civil order police.
Despite the fact that getting different factions of the Afghan National Security Force to work together can sometimes be tricky, the leaders of this mission had no problem seeing the need for teamwork.
“The Afghan army and the [civil order police], we are all Afghan. We are from one country and we want to come together and work together with each other and we can bring peace to Afghanistan on each other’s shoulders,” said Lt. Col. Babakhan Hassani, the commander for 2nd Kandak, 3rd Brigade, 205th Infantry Corps, Afghan National Army.
According to Capt. Daniel F. Gwosch, the Company commander of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th BCT, 82nd Abn. Div., the role of his men was to hold a blocking position for the overall clearing operation. Sixteen ANA soldiers who are stationed with Alpha Company joined in on the efforts.
“This was the first time they had been on an air assault,” said Gwosch. “The best thing that I saw was the way their leaders got down into the weeds and were very involved with planning before the mission.”
According to Gwosch, he can certainly see great strides in the ability of the Afghan troops.
“I was really impressed with the way the ANA platoon leader was able to take over his troops and make sure they were doing the right thing at all times. This was a larger group for him and they maintained a good, positive attitude throughout the entire time period. They were able to accomplish exactly what they had to do on a daily basis,” he said.
After an air assault into a nearby field, Gwosch’s men and their ANA counterparts marched about 1000 meters through knee deep mud. Every single soldier, whether they were an American medic or Afghan grunts had to help move the element to the strong point.
Spc. Benjamin W.T. Reynolds, 2nd Platoon, Alpha Company, provided multiple examples of what was accomplished during the 48-hour operation.
“Because our intent is to complete the missions in combination with ANA and integrate them into the fight, we saw some real positives,” he said.
Reynolds pointed out that the ANA were an important part of the mission and that they did their part to carry out the operation.
He went on to add that the fact that the enemy fired upon the established strong point and no one was hurt was positive for the mission.
“We came out unscathed and it’s always good to live to fight another day,” said Reynolds.
He even suggested that taking fire actually even presented a positive during the mission.
“We learned key information about spotter and sniper location we otherwise wouldn’t have known,” he said.
Raymond echoed the importance of the role the Afghans played in this mission.
“It’s our team, our big team that that is going to win this thing,” he said. “To have American forces, and different factions of ANSF all working together for the common success of the country shows that this country wants to be free.”
When asked why missions like these were important and how he felt about the pending U.S. withdrawal of troops, Hassani’s response was simple.
“We need the help of the American people and hope that we are not left alone in Afghanistan. This place is now the center of the enemy of the entire world. Before leaving we need training. If they don’t forget us we can defeat the enemy,” he said.
Based on what the Alpha Company troops who are responsible for their training had to say, they may be well on their way to being able to do just that.
| Date Taken: | 04.04.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 04.15.2012 09:37 |
| Story ID: | 86773 |
| Location: | MAIWAND DISTRICT, AF |
| Web Views: | 195 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, US, Afghan teamwork takes fight to Taliban, by SGT H. Marcus McGill, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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