FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, Afghanistan - For the local Afghan workers of Forward Operating Base Salerno, the day began like any other.
"That day started out just as any other day. I was just checking up on my Soldiers making sure that they had everything they needed," said Sgt. Wayne Bauer, 725th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division.
In the early morning hours, approximately 7:24 a.m., local workers waited at the front gate of FOB Salerno. In an instant, fire, debris, smoke and confusion overtook the scene as a car bomb detonated among the workers.
"The blast from the explosion knocked me on my back. I got right up but everything seemed to slow down ... it was surreal. That's when I began to direct my Soldiers where to go and what to do," said Bauer.
Once the dust settled, protection force soldiers for the Khost province, and International Security Assistance Forces from 4th BCT moved in to secure the area and make sure the threat was over.
Moving behind cover, the combined forces swept through the area and set up a security perimeter.
"When the attack happened, my Soldiers went right into action," said Commander Arif, commander of the Protection Force in Khost. "They immediately began securing the area and helping out the wounded."
Following closely behind the securing forces were Soldiers with stretchers.
"The Khost Protection Force started moving causalities for the scene of the explosion to the hospital," said Bauer. "Some of the KPF were wounded themselves but they stayed in order to help out."
Approximately 30 minutes after the attack, all casualties were transported to the hospital on Salerno for treatment.
As a result of this attack, seven local Afghans were killed and 21 were wounded.
Back at the scene of the attack, Khost policemen were left to pick up the pieces of debris and carnage left over.
In the days following the attacks, life for the local workers for FOB Salerno slowly began to revert back to normal thanks to increased security measures by KFP and ISAF soldiers.
"It took a few days for all of the adrenaline to wear off," said Pvt. Nathan Martin, Company A, 725th BSB, who was manning his weapon system when the attack happened.
"All of us are even more alert now since the attack happened," said Bauer, "We have stepped up our security and we [ISAF and KPF] will do everything it takes to prevent this kind of attack from happening again."
Reiterating what Bauer said was Arif, who echoed the commitment by the ISAF forces.
"No matter what the terrorist try to do to hurt the people and Government of Afghanistan, we will always be there to stop them," said Arif.
Now, a little over two weeks after the attack, there has been no other attempted direct attack on FOB Salerno or the workers from the surrounding areas that come to work there.
Even though some of my soldiers were wounded, they continued on with their mission," said Arif. "The people of Khost don't have to worry about their security because we will fight the terrorists until the last drop of our blood is gone."