By Vincent J. Curtis
Date: 5 Dec 10
Dateline: Forward Operating Base Kushamond
Hajj Wadi is a village located nine miles west of FOB Kushamond. It consists of three to five qualots, and has a population of about thirty people who subsist by tending goats. When it was visited earlier in the week by US forces, no men were found. Hajj Wadi should be the farthest thing from a strategically important place, except that the Taliban use it as a stop over point as they travel east and west. The Currahees are trying to disrupt the travel plans of the Taliban by denying them use of this place.
The Currahees is the name given to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division. The two infantry battalions of the 4th BCT are the first and second battalions of the 506th Infantry Regiment. The First Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Dave Womack, has stationed an infantry company, Charlie company, nicknamed “The Gunfighters”, at FOB Kushamond, commanded by Captain Andrew Hill.
Last night, the Currahees sent out another patrol from FOB Kushamond to Hajj Wadi in the hopes of catching the Taliban asleep and unawares. The patrol was based upon 1st Platoon, Charlie company. The patrol consisted of six vehicles, five of which carried four men each, and a sixth which carried six men. On the patrol were 4 soldiers of the Afghan National Army (ANA), one interpreter, or ‘Terp’ as they are called here, one reporter, and twenty-two Currahees under the command of Second Lieutenant Matthew Jones, 23, of Jacksonville Florida. The patrol was to travel at night across country to avoid setting off IEDs on the way. It would navigate to the village and surround it before dawn. At dawn, the patrol would dismount, and with the ANA forces in the lead search the village for weapons and Taliban.
The vehicles the patrol used are called MATV, for mine-resistant all-terrain vehicle. This twelve ton behemoth, built on an Oshkosh chassis, is the ultimate in four wheel drive. Despite its weight and height it is extremely cross country capable. It boasts heavy armor, shaped to deflect the blast of an IED away, and a turret which can mount either a machine gun or a automatic belt-felt cannon that fires 40 mm grenades and is called an ‘area suppression’ weapon. Inside is sophisticated electric gear that enables cross country movement at night with lights out. A GPS informs the driver of his exact location and enables him to navigate at night without a map. He also has a night vision display which enables him to see the ground around him, in 2-D. The driver of my vehicle was PFC William Stratton, 19, of Lockley, Alabama. The gunner of the vehicle has a display which mine , PV2 Jesse Questad, 20, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, nicknamed “Q-Ball”, likened to a video game. It is a combination of night vision and heat signature device that enables him to observe all round the vehicle to a distance of several kilometers, night or day, and he can pinpoint a distance to an object to within a meter. Our patrol departed the FOB at about 11:00 p.m. and arrived at Hajj Wadi at 4:00 a.m. Along the way, gunner Questad spotted only a couple of dogs, one fox, and one motorcyclist in the distance.
Cross country here is extremely rough. The land is extensively cultivated, and the irrigation system means there are earthen speed bumps or ditches every twenty yards or so. There was also a wadi to be crossed along the way, and with high banks and a soft bottom presented a formidable obstacle even to the MATVs. The patrol progressed at walking speed practically the entire way.
The trip out was not entirely uneventful. The lead vehicle had to put out foot patrols to find a good spot to enter the wadi and to get out. The wadi’s banks were steep, and only skillful and careful driving kept the top-heavy MATVs from turning over going in and coming out of the wadi.
As the patrol moved into its final waiting position, one of the vehicles reported that he was “over on his side.” To have a vehicle out endangered the mission. It would a long time before a recovery vehicle could arrive, and having not enough vehicles would enable any Taliban to escape through the hole in the perimeter. Losing a vehicle and the Taliban would not impress the locals with American strength.
The driver was surprised by an obstacle in the dark and was stuck with two wheels in the air. The vehicle was almost over but was balanced precariously. Pausing to think, and inspecting the obstacle carefully, the driver planned his escape. By locking all four wheels, using an extra low gear, and steering just so he managed to slide his MATV off the obstacle without going completely over.
That crisis over, it was time to wait. Waiting and boredom occur frequently on patrols like this one. Two hours would pass before the patrol made its final move into the village. In my vehicle to escape the boredom Jones, Questad, Stratton, and I played knowledge games, such as matching a movie actor’s name to each letter of the alphabet, and then a game of trivia questions. When those petered out, we listened to music from Jones’s i-pod over the vehicle’s intercom. At five minutes to H-hour Jones, was informed by the tactical operations center that two F-16 fighter jets, call signs Viper two-five and Viper two-six, were on station and available in case we needed assistance. We dismounted and moved in.
The patrol’s approach to the village went undetected, and this time more than a dozen surprised men were found in the village. The ANA searched the qualots and brought the men out along with their families. As the search progressed, everyone was tense and alert. With all the doors and corners of the qualots, a Taliban could come out firing at any time. When shooting starts, the situation can get out of control in a hurry. Only when the search was completed and the situation understood did the tension relax just a little.
The first man that was caught was photographed, fingerprinted, and his name taken by the Currahees, first to be checked against the database of known Taliban, and also to add identities and biometric data to the database. All this was done in real time with hand-held devices that possessed wireless satellite links. If a Taliban was among the men found in the village, we would have known within five minutes of taking his data. The wife of the first man and her children sat huddled together in the dark against the wall of their qualot and looked on as his biometric data was taken. As the search progressed, the ANA gathered the rest of the men together into one place. The village elders and some younger individuals were questioned both by the ANA and by 2nd Lt Jones through the Terp named ‘Mikey.’
Besides the individual, there were two distinct groups caught up in the search, corresponding to two distinct qualots which made up Hajj Wadi. The elder of the first group said plainly that Taliban do come and go through his village on a weekly basis; that they ride two to a motorcycle, pointed out the quarters they stayed in, and gave the names of two that he knew. In his bearing and facial expressions, he looked like a man who just wished to left in peace. He understood that there was a struggle going on, and in a temperate way wanted no part of it.
The women of this group sat huddled together with their children against the wall of the qualot and shivered in the cold. They eyed the proceedings carefully. When it became clear that nothing bad was going to happen, they trickled back into their homes. It seemed that the women’s presence was a sign of weakness and submission of the village to us, and when that signal was no longer necessary they returned to whatever warmth their homes offered.
As the women shivered, the men built themselves a fire from dried thornbushes, which they lit with a match. The men and boys grouped around the fire and soaked up its warmth. The men were identified one by one and questioned; but the elder of this group was questioned in front of everyone. He spoke so that all could hear.
The second group, only of men, was gathered around the village mosque, and was handled, and behaved, largely like the first. This group’s elder seemed to have something to hide and was probed by 2nd Lt Jones. The probing did not provide useful information, but it did indicate to all the US forces were on to them, being the second visit in a short time. The predator drone threat is known even out here, and to be under surveillance means paralysis or death to the Taliban. If they move, they get killed from the sky; and if they don’t move they cannot spread their influence. The village, being watched, is too dangerous for the Taliban and for villagers who might become collateral damage from a missile strike, and consequently don’t want the Taliban around.
The morning was extremely cold and everyone was happy when it was time to head back. The villagers sought the warmth of their homes, and we of our vehicles.
Though no weapons or Taliban were found, the mission was ranked a success because it probably, for a while, neutralized the village as a Taliban asset; and neutralization of the threat is the mission of the battalion. In addition, the database of biometric information was increased and may prove useful in the future.
-30-
No comments:
Post a Comment