Combined forces clear insurgents from Logar

LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan— Historically, Logar province has been a Taliban stronghold. Almost all Afghan and Coalition Soldiers who have entered the province in the past have come under attack.

Looking to change this, Soldiers of Company B, 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, Task Force Black Scarves, assisted Afghan National Security Forces during a five day mission in support of Operation Shamshir Oct. 17—21.

The goal, according to U.S. Army Capt. Michael Roesler, of White Bear Lake, Minn., Co. B commander, was to disrupt insurgent activity, facilitate Afghan governmental control, as well as expand ANSF influence.

Landing in the middle of the night just outside the village of Kut Kay, the combined forces took their first enemy contact.

“It was a pop shot with an AK-47 assault rifle or a PK [machine gun],” said 1st Lt. Laurent Lundy, of Everett, Mass.

After the enemy quickly broke contact, the troops went ahead and cleared the location; finding a large weapons cache.

“We found approximately 13 rocket-propelled grenades, 23 detonators, three RPG boosters, several feet of detonator cord and a few sticks of TNT,” said Lundy.  “It was the biggest one we have found so far since we have come to Logar province. It felt pretty good, the guys were excited and you could see it in their eyes.”

The second day began early with the goal of clearing the area inside the Maani bazaar. Once again, the unit came under enemy fire. While a team was in the bazaar, an RPG struck a hillside near an over watch team; landing just five meters from the element.

“Everybody was stunned right at first, so we hopped over our makeshift fighting position and took cover down the other side of the hill,” said Spc. Benjamin Brock, from Ankeny, Iowa, a sniper with headquarters platoon. “We got everybody together and figured out everybody was all right, then we went back up and tried to get eyes on whoever shot the RPG.”

The Soldiers returned fire, later intercepting insurgent radio chatter saying they killed one insurgent and injured another.

Speaking with locals in the bazaar, Afghan National Army Capt. Hukmyar Namutllah, commander of 3rd Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Brigade, ANA 203rd Corps, appealed for peace.

“[Let us] seize the opportunity to end the destructive influence of the Taliban and to embrace the opportunity that the government of Afghanistan is providing for them,” he said. “It is up to you. It is your responsibility to make this positive change for the future.”

Day three began establishing an outpost above the village of Omarkhel. After occupying a hilltop, Black Scarves Soldiers took contact early that morning from the west and a ridgeline from the northeast that overlooked the entire area. What ensued during the fire fight was a unique display of firepower that they could deliver.

With a .50-caliber machine gun mounted on a six-wheeled vehicle, and a grenade launcher mounted on another, the ANA and Black Scarf Soldiers returned fire. Forcing the fight, they moved quickly to claim the ground the firing had come from. While there were no bodies recovered, insurgent radio chatter reported they killed two Taliban and wounded one.

With memories of the previous day’s fight still fresh, the Soldiers headed out early to a small village called Azurkhel. With the high ground well covered, the forces moved in to quite a different mood than the day before.
   
“Kids came out to greet us, the elders and the rest of the villagers came out to greet us,” said Lundy. “We were able to maneuver easily about in the village, which is typically not the way it goes.”

With the villagers’ cooperation, the clearing operation began and ended in a relatively short period of time.

“[The ANA] were actually sitting and breaking bread with the locals, which is a good sign,” said Lundy. “Nonetheless, the threat remains the same. We (did) have chatter (that day) saying that they are going to try to shoot down a helicopter and continue attacking Coalition forces.”

Lundy’s words proved ominous and, once again, they took contact.

“Some Soldiers were on a ridgeline west of the village of Azurkhel when they started receiving fire from about five enemy insurgents from the south; four to six hundred meters away,” said 1st Sgt. Todd Bair, of Bountiful, Utah. “There was a small amount of intermittent fire going back and forth between the U.S. Coalition and insurgents, which lasted about an hour.”

“We did end up shooting an insurgent in the leg that was on a motorcycle fleeing the area with a weapon,” Bair said. “Later on the ANA destroyed the motorcycle.”

Afterwards, the forces moved on to their last task, the village of Muchkhel, just a few kilometers away. That afternoon, an outpost was secured from an old set of ruins in the village. The forces spent the rest of the evening there without incident.

On the final day, the mood around the camp was much more upbeat than the previous four days. The men were ready to finish their mission and return to Forward Operating Base Altimur for a hot shower and a warm meal. Laughter could be heard all around the camp as the Soldiers recanted stories and told jokes.

While the ANA and Black Scarf Soldiers made their rounds clearing the village, Roesler purchased a sheep from the village cleric. Afghan troops bought vegetables and bread, and began to prepare dinner.

“I think things like this go a long way in our relations with the ANA and the people,” said Roesler. “It shows them that we aren’t much different than they are. I think this actually makes us a little more human to them.”

While the troops could almost see the helicopters coming to pick them up, the insurgents weren’t ready to let them go so easily. Shots rang out and once again, the Black Scarves took action. Rolling the .50-caliber and the grenade launcher into position, they returned fire.

As the insurgents ran for cover, darkness settled in and the forces prepared to come home.

While his company took enemy fire almost every day, Bair was happy that all his Soldiers returned unharmed.

“The biggest thing for all of us is that we took a lot of contact during the last four days and everybody’s okay. No injuries or scrapes and that’s due to individual Soldier discipline.”