Guardian Angels set-up shop at Gamberi

AFGHANISTAN

08.27.2013

Story by Sgt. Margaret Taylor  

4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division Public Affairs

LAGHMAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Guardian Angels from 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, Task Force Boar, move into their new home at Forward Operating Base Gamberi to continue thier mission of protecting Security Forces Advise and Assist Teams in Afghanistan.

With the moon still bright overhead, a convoy of trucks, loaded with U.S. Army Soldiers and equipment, rumbled out of the gate at Forward Operating Base Fenty, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, Aug. 23.

The trucks’ route wound through the narrow, twisted streets of Jalalabad – streets quiet in the early morning darkness. The city gave way to open countryside as the convoy headed northwest, crossing into Laghman Province.

Just as dawn was turning the sky a hazy purplish-pink, the trucks pulled up to their destination: Laghman’s FOB Gamberi.

Soldiers clambered out of the trucks once they parked in the motor pool and began unloading bags and crates, tied to any available space on the vehicles’ exterior. Almost as soon as the gear hit the ground it was hoisted on someone’s shoulders and carried off to the billets.

Within an hour of arriving, Company B, 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division Soldiers had finished moving into their new home.

Members of the unit are Soldiers who protect Security Forces Advise and Assist Teams when they are mentoring their counterparts in the Afghan National Army’s 201st Corps. These protectors are called guardian angels. Moving marks a new chapter in the unit’s ongoing mission in eastern Afghanistan.

“The purpose was to relocate the company from FOB Fenty to FOB Gamberi so we can provide guardian angel support here on the FOB, as well as next door on the [Afghan National Army] side for all the SFAAT advisors that operate out of here,” said U.S. Army Capt. Matt Russell, commander, Company B, of Greenville, S.C.

Russell said the primary responsibility of a guardian angel is to protect fellow Soldiers from the threat of an insider attack.

Insider attacks occur when an enemy infiltrates the Afghan National Security Forces and turns on American, legitimate ANSF or other coalition personnel.

“[We] provide security whenever we’re around ANSF forces to deter the insider threat,” he said. “It’s a good deterrent, and [the ANSF] know that it’s a problem – it’s a threat against them as well – so they work in conjunction with us and use their guys as well.”

U.S. Army Cpl. Joshua Gonzalez, dismounted team leader, Company B, of Olathe, Kan., is in charge of a guardian angel team. He said he and his guys watch and listen, paying close attention to what is being said and done around them.

“[We’re] just seeing if people are acting shady, if they have bad attitudes, or if something’s going wrong,” Gonzalez said. “It’s nothing crazy.”

But it is very important.

• Date Taken: 08.27.2013
• Date Posted: 08.27.2013 11:06
• Story ID: 112667
• Location: AF