ZHARAY DISTRICT, Afghanistan — Soldiers milled around in the creeping light of dawn, staging, July 31, in Zharay district of Kandahar province, Afghanistan for a two-day mission led by the Afghan National Army’s 1st Kandak, 3rd Brigade, 205th Infantry Corps and supported by Afghan Local Police, Civil Order Police and U.S. soldiers.
The soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment were heading out on Operation Tolosha Dorost, or Continued Dominance, the first major operation in their area since the ANA took the lead for operations in Kandahar Province during a ceremony July 1.
“The Kandak operations officer sat down with us and the [Civil Order Police] and led the planning,” said Maj. Neal Mayo, 2-508th PIR, 4th Brigade Combat Team executive officer. “The ALP in Sartak heard about the operation and wanted to take part as well. The Afghans truly led, planned and executed the mission. We did support them and, you know, we mentored them, but they led it.”
Focused on rooting out remaining insurgent safe havens, the mission is a continuation of efforts by the 1st Kandak and the 2-508th PIR to remove the insurgent presence in the area, said Mayo. The 1st Kandak was also hoping the increased security would enable more local governance, a priority for the 3rd Brigade commander, Brig. Gen. Ghulam Murtaza.
The mission included U.S. enablers like an explosive ordinance disposal team, but they were there only to support the ANA enablers who also took part.
“4th Kandak sent two ANA EOD teams,” said Mayo. “As we were planning the mission, they recognized they’d need EOD so the kandak send a request to their brigade with a formal request for engineer teams. Their guys partnered with ours the night before the operation and, on the ground, the ANA did the work.”
The improvised explosive devices found on the mission were destroyed by the ANA while U.S. EOD technicians watched over their shoulders.
“The ANA guy is the one actually exploiting the IEDs,” said Sgt. Edward B. Tilley, an EOD team leader attached to 4th Brigade Combat Team. “We’re just here to support them. They don’t usually do it like we do but they’re trained and working so we stay in the back. We’ve had to help him with reporting but that’s about it.”
For the guys on the ground, the ANSF in the lead meant their role had shifted to support.
“We’re supporting them, so it’s Afghans entering the compounds and leading the patrols,” said Staff Sgt. Daniel Damschen, a platoon leader in D Company, 2-508th PIR. “We work in their plan.”
| Date Taken: | 08.02.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 08.06.2012 13:36 |
| Story ID: | 92724 |
| Location: | ZHARAY DISTRICT, AF |
| Web Views: | 834 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Fury soldiers support ANSF led operations, by SGT David Nye, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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