Subscribe
Recent heavy rains in Paktika province left a wake of death and destruction, claiming hundreds of lives and destroying or damaging thousands of homes and structures.
After the floodwaters receded, Afghans were left trying to repair and rebuild what they could. When a few locals from the village of Begwal attempted to conduct repairs to an underground well, it collapsed, trapping at least one man under the rubble.
The villagers immediately went to nearby Combat Outpost Zormat and asked for assistance.
Soldiers of 3rd Platoon and Headquarters Platoon, Company C, 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry (Mountain), 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team quickly mobilized to answer the desperate call.
“When the local nationals came to us for help, they thought at least three men were trapped in the well,” said U.S. Army Capt. Dan Newman, company commander, Co. C, 3rd Bn, 172nd Inf. (Mountain), 86th IBCT. “We gathered our mountaineering equipment and about 30 Soldiers and headed off to the site.”
Joining the team in the rescue mission was a squad of Afghan National Army soldiers who came along to assist with security and help deal with the crowd of locals at the scene.
“When we arrived there were about 200 villagers standing around the well,” said Newman. “When speaking with them and trying to assess the situation, it was determined that all but one of the workers had escaped.”
One of the immediate challenges the team faced was simply explaining to the locals what they wanted to do and why.
“The language barrier was definitely an issue,” said Newman. “The villagers were a bit confused about what we were doing in the beginning. They wanted us to bring in heavy equipment, but we did not want to do that until we had thoroughly assessed the stability of the ground around the well.”
The well itself was approximately 30-feet deep and 10 to 15 feet wide.
Once it was determined that the well was stable enough for the soldiers to conduct the operation, Newman and U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Carryl E. Davis, squad leader for 2nd squad, 3rd Plt., Co. C, 3rd Bn, 172nd Inf. (Mountain), 86th IBCT, donned harnesses, established a rappel point and descended into the well.
Using shovels, hard work and sheer determination, the two men began the arduous task of trying to dig down to where the missing man was last seen.
Not long after descending into the well, the two Soldiers were surprised to see a local Afghan man, believed to be the missing man’s father, enter the well from an outside tunnel connected to it. They gave the man a shovel, and together the three of them set to work.
“We spent about an hour and a half digging, trying to find the missing man,” said Davis, a native of Boscowen, N.H. “After digging down about six feet and not finding anyone, we still had no indication of where he was. At that point, we realized that this was not going to be a rescue operation, but unfortunately would be a recovery operation.”
“Once this became a recovery operation, we pulled all of our soldiers out of the well,” said Newman, a native of Merrimack, N.H. “We wanted to let the Afghans recover the body out of respect for their culture and customs.”
In order to speed up the recovery, the team brought in a civilian contracted excavator from the FOB and used it to dig deeper into the well.
Not long after the excavator began work, the body was found and recovered.
Although it was not the result the soldiers had hoped for, they were still proud to have assisted the villagers.
“It would have been a lot better if we could have saved the Afghan,” said Newman. “But there was some satisfaction knowing that we were able to help a grieving family have some closure.”
Despite the outcome, the villagers seemed happy to have the unit’s assistance. “They definitely wanted and needed our help,” he said. “In the end, they were very thankful.”
“This was an important mission for us,” said Newman. “This is our district, and we take ownership of it. To be in a position to help out the local villagers in an operation like this shows our versatility. It’s just one of the skill sets we have, and it demonstrated our willingness to do what it takes to help out the best we can.”
| Date Taken: | 08.27.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 08.27.2010 15:15 |
| Story ID: | 55270 |
| Location: | PAKTIKA PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: | 89 |
| Downloads: | 5 |
This work, TF Avalanche conducts rescue, recovery mission, by SFC Brent Powell, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
LEAVE A COMMENT