Photo By Staff Sgt. Shawn Weismiller | Staff Sgt. Richard Robison, Nangarhar Agri-Business Development Team, Forward...... read more read more
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FORWARD OPERTING BASE FINLEY-SHIELDS, Afghanistan -- Twelve Missouri Air National Guard Airmen help make up the security forces team responsible for providing protection to the Nangarhar Agri-Business Development Team here.
These Airmen are part of a larger unit of Army National Guardsmen who are tasked as SECFOR assets supporting the ADT mission. One of the ADT responsibilities is to visit sites and ensure projects are being constructed according to specifications. On these trips, the SECFOR team provides the ADT with the necessary convoy to safely travel out to project locations.
"We get them out there safely and provide them with 360 degree security," said Senior Airman Eric Moe, deployed from the Missouri Air National Guard. "Their focus needs to be on the construction and the contractors and keeping up good relations. This limits them from seeing potential risks. That's where we come in - we take that factor out of their hands so they can concentrate on their mission."
Without the SECFOR team, the ADT mission could potentially be a project dead in the water or not nearly as far along as it is.
"If they weren't here, we wouldn't go," said Army Maj. Denise Wilkinson, Missouri National Guard Joint Force Headquarters. "They ensure the grids we have are accurate and put plans of action together so we can get out to our sites safely."
This is a non-traditional role for a security forces Airman. While there are opportunities available for Airmen to be involved in outside-the-wire operations, they are relatively few, said Staff Sgt. Daniel Salcedo.
"Many of the deployments for security forces Airmen are sitting in guard towers 14 hours a day or working at entry control points," said Sergeant Salcedo, a native of St. Joseph, Mo. "This job is completely different from what I am used to because I get to have a lot of control on route selection and I'm a truck commander on missions that take me and my team outside the wire."
There are many challenges to providing security to the ADT while out on site visits, such as providing security in a village full of curious children and adults as well as contractors working on the projects.
"A lot of local nationals are often at the sites. This can present a possible threat, especially if one of them is not necessarily there to work," said Sergeant Salcedo. "We really have to be on our toes wherever we go, because we always draw quite a crowd."
Another challenge is choosing routes that are accurate, accessible and can support the width and weight of mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles.
"We are responsible for selecting a good route so that the ADT gets where they need to go," the sergeant said. "We also make sure everything goes as planned and the vehicles are properly stocked so that when we leave, we don't have any hang ups."
The roads here range from varying states of ruin, to newly paved roads by the provincial reconstruction teams to dried-up riverbeds or sheep trails.
"You've got to be meticulous driving around here," said Airman Moe, who has served as both a SECFOR gunner and driver. "The roads aren't built for MRAPs or Humvees so you have to know what your limitations are and you have to know how to make things work."
Still subject to terrorists acts, the team always has to be on their toes - even on short missions to and from nearby military encampments. On one mission while the convoy was just outside the Forward Operating Base Finley-Shields gates, the last vehicle in the convoy encountered a potential vehicle-borne threat.
"I was the gunner in the rear vehicle of a convoy when I spotted a vehicle that wouldn't back off," Airman Moe said. "I tried signaling the driver off but he kept getting closer so I finally received permission to fire a warning shot."
Events such as the warning shot, in addition to recently losing a entire PRT truck crew to an improvised explosive device, have reiterated to the servicemembers here that while things may be improving and seem peaceful, vigilance needs to be maintained at all times.
"It had been so quiet and calm when we first got here that I don't think a lot of us really saw this place as hostile or threatening," Sergeant Salcedo said. "But then something like that happens and it makes you see things in a way you didn't before."
Even though the team has seen the ugliness that war creates, they have also discovered that the ADT mission they help secure brings hope.
"I like to see that we're out here trying to help the Afghans," Airman Moe said. "One thing I have seen when coming out to these places is how family-oriented they are. They really care about their families and the people in their villages - it makes you believe that good things are in store for them."
When the SECFOR team goes out on their missions, they get to interact with the children of the villages. If they find the right balance between providing security and being friendly, then quite possibly they can build better relations in the future.
"We like interacting with the kids," Sergeant Salcedo said. "Hopefully when they grow up, they will have a good memory of Americans and what we're doing here for them."
| Date Taken: | 06.18.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 06.18.2009 02:44 |
| Story ID: | 35268 |
| Location: | FORWARD OPERATING BASE FINLEY-SHIELDS, AF |
| Web Views: | 381 |
| Downloads: | 310 |
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