Photo By Staff Sgt. Edward Siguenza | Spc. John S. Sked of Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 294th Infantry Regiment, Guam Army...... read more read more
CAMP STONE, Afghanistan - Just before sundown, a handful of Guam Army National Guardsmen are prepping for a 12-hour mission. It'll soon be dark, and in most cases, majority of personnel stationed here will be asleep shortly.
But not these Soldiers from Guam's Alpha and Foxtrot Companies, 1st Battalion, 294th Infantry Regiment. This is when they commence a specific mission, one not chartered when Guam initiated its Operation Enduring Freedom campaign May 2013.
About a half-dozen Guam Guardsmen serve as Camp Stone's eyes of the night. From a control room, they track entry control points (ECPs) as well as areas beyond the outer gates. It's in this room where they become part of the first line of defense for approximately 1,500 military and civilians housed within the compound.
"We keep track of everything that goes on in our sector," said Sgt. Markus N. Manabat, Alpha Company squad leader. "Our main mission is to keep everything safe for everyone here. We work with a lot of the civilian security, but we keep eyes on areas they're at and not."
And this is just at night. During daylight, Alpha and Foxtrot Soldiers assist Delta Soldiers at the ECPs, where vehicles and people enter Camp Stone. Most of the time they're in towers, but they'll get several calls to conduct searches or to simply let people and vehicles through.
Manning ECPs is a role Task Force Guam earned aside from its personal security, guardian angel and security forces roles normally conducted throughout Afghanistan. But it's just at Camp Stone where it’s done every day and night. Close to a dozen Guam Guardsmen are strictly assigned to ECP missions. Each Soldier adapted to extra training needed to conduct this mission, Manabat explained.
"It's like when you have to search a vehicle. There's a certain way to do it, and there are things you have to follow before you get to the vehicle," he said. "We had to learn how to run these (perimeter) cameras, how to use the system to navigate around the compound. There are other things we had to learn to do this job."
There's a process each Soldier follows in the event of a life-threatening action. What helps, they said, is a Quick Response Force (QRF) is nearby, and that group is usually more of the Guam Soldiers.
"If we can't handle the situation, we call our brothers," said Manabat.
Part of their nighttime security role is to patrol the compound. They roam the perimeter at different hours, checking Kabul Balkh Safety and Security (KBSS) guards and their immediate needs. They check if buildings are locked and secured. They assure no fences or outer structures have been tampered. Their responsibilities include turning on outer lights and making sure equipment, such as a vehicle scanner, are working and ready when needed.
The Guam Soldiers have befriended several KBSS guards since their responsibilities interact, said Pfc. Ricky T. Rivera Jr., Alpha Company's designated marksman. They are both key lines of defenses and they often operate at same hours.
"We communicate with them as best we can since we serve the same purpose," Rivera said. "We watch out for each other."
Multiple cameras surround Camp Stone. The Guam group monitors a lot of them. Some are so technical, they track any type of movement from miles away and in the thickest of darkness, Manabat explained.
"We can spot a threat long before the threat knows he's been spotted," he said.
| Date Taken: | 09.01.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 10.02.2013 09:39 |
| Story ID: | 114591 |
| Location: | HAGATNA, GU |
| Web Views: | 377 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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