Photo By 1st Lt. David Morgenstern | First 1st Lt. David Morgenstern, an Air Support Control Officer with Marine Air...... read more read more
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MAIN OPERATING BASE LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan - Last time it was a boom that shook the walls and had me diving for my body armor. This time I never heard a thing.
Not a hundred yards from where I was sitting this morning, safe inside the Joint Operations Center (JOC) in Lashkar Gah, an Afghan soldier killed two British soldiers before being shot himself. Thanks to the bravery of those soldiers and their fellow guards, however, he failed to breach our perimeter and continue his killing spree. Point of pride: one of my Marines was also among the first to respond and secure the gate.
Within an instant the entire base was notified. I can’t describe in detail our procedures in an event like this but I’m sure you can figure it out. Inside the JOC, every bone in my body burned to escape and help respond, but while Marines may be famous for running to the sound of the gunfire, we’re also not known for abandoning our posts, wherever they may be. I stayed put.
Just as I strapped on my flak and kevlar and sat back down, a unit miles away which had been in and out of contact all morning declared a TIC – troops in contact. This is the highest level of immediate air support request. The unit was now in sustained heavy contact and taking casualties.
I worked furiously to get them air support, which arrived quickly. Situation reports were flowing rapidly – heavy, small arms, and machine gun fire, rocket-propelled grenades, multiple firing points, friendly forces unable to maneuver. You can imagine the scene.
But there’s one thing you may not have imagined. The unit was ANA – Afghan National Army.
It is challenging to keep these two almost simultaneous events in perspective. On the one hand, you have a large number of Afghan soldiers in fierce combat against our mutual enemy; on the other, a lone gunman who murders two friendlies.
Objectively, I know the former is a better indicator than the latter, by weight of sheer numbers if nothing else. In these types of operations, numbers matter. The mission is hearts and minds, not heart and mind. But I confess that emotionally, it can be difficult to maintain that perspective. The losses are often more painful than the victories are gratifying, especially when the one is so proximate and the other relatively distant – or when, as we heard today in another “green on blue” incident, the victim is an American.
…
Well, I’m sure I had more to say on that, but it was right there that I was interrupted, at a few minutes to midnight. All hands report to work stations with full combat load.
Jump out of cot and into cammies and body armor, insert magazine, grab Lance Corporal and go. Turns out it was a false alarm. Now midnight has passed, today is tomorrow, and at the risk of leaving a thought unfinished above, I’m ready to put yesterday behind me.
| Date Taken: | 04.06.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 04.16.2012 03:43 |
| Story ID: | 86797 |
| Location: | MAIN OPERATING BASE LASHKAR GAH, AF |
| Hometown: | CONWAY, NH, US |
| Web Views: | 221 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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