Task Force Spartan FET members train for mission success

KHOWST PROVINCE, Afghanistan – To boldly go where no man has gone before is an understatement to a group of paratroopers within the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, Task Force Spartan.

U.S. Army 1st Lt. Jennifer Simmons, TF Spartan Female Engagement Team officer in charge and 24 other females are assigned to build a relationship with women and children in Khowst and Paktya provinces, since they are a vital source of information that could assist Afghan and Coalition Forces in the fight against terrorism.

Female Engagement Teams, whose origins started during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, were created to engage or interact with women and children, who are a critical part of the population in those regions.

Simmons said it’s challenging having two-woman teams per platoon spread out between both provinces.

It’s harder to get everyone here for training and keeping an eye on everyone to make sure they’re being used properly or if there are issues that need to be addressed,” Simmons said.

Simmons also explains some of the other challenges the FET face when patrolling with the infantry units.

“The terrain can be a factor,” Simmons said. “They may or may not go up hills or just long distances in general. You never know what type of situation you’re going to get in, so you need to be able to climb a wall with your full kit. [Since] we are attached to line units we do not want to place ourselves or our comrades in a position where we are the weaker link because of physical fitness.”

There are also advantages to being a member of FET, Simmons said.

“We can interact with 50 percent of the population that the males cannot even look at, so we have that access. We can also get that information a woman is willing to share with another woman. On [one team’s] first mission, their battle space owner said in a Situation Report that the most significant information came from the FET.”

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Chanice Morgan, a special electronic devices repairer assigned to C Company, 1st Battalion (Airborne), 501st Infantry Regiment, Task Force Blue Geronimo, Task Force Spartan  is attached to the Focus Targeting Force.

“We search for high-value targets,” Morgan, a native from Cincinnati, said. “When we go into the homes, I have to go in and engage the females. I try to find out things about the person we are looking for.”

Morgan found out at the Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, La., that she was going to be a FET member during the upcoming deployment.

“I went through a month of training at JRTC and Fort Richardson, Ala.,” Morgan said. “That kind of prepared us. It gave us the basic idea of what we’d be doing.”

Despite the training, Afghan culture was a different environment than what Morgan was used to.

“The culture is so different than ours. [I’ve seen] big animals in the house like cows and chickens running around,” Morgan said.  “It’s just different.”

U.S. Army Spc. Shawnte Rollins, a rield artillery surveyor assigned to B Company, Task Force Blue Geronimo is also a FET member and said some of the Afghan women want to speak to them. 

“Sometimes we have to ask politely to leave,” Rollins, a native from Elkhart, Ind., said. “They just don’t want us to leave. A lot of times we will talk about their health and their family.”

“I love my job,” Rollins said. “When I first went through the training I wasn’t sure how it was going to work with me, [because] I never worked with women like this before. I love the FET team. I believe it’s a good idea for the Army to keep it going.”