A Story Still in Progress...

Friends/Family/Acquaintances (Soon to Be Best Friends)…

Well, here I am in Kandahar Afghanistan and I find myself repeating the mistakes that I swore I wouldn’t repeat the last time the Army sent me to an exotic and exciting location; Tikrit, Iraq. That mistake is namely…losing touch with those who I care about and wish to keep in touch with.

I won’t make promises, I’ve tried that before, but hopefully with this tool I can keep in better touch with my friends and family. If nothing else, maybe you can get a glimpse of the wonders that await you on your next vacation to the Kandahar and Helmond Provinces of Afghanistan.

God has been very good to me while I have been here. My unit, the 1st Battalion of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment (part of the historic 82nd Airborne Division) arrived in Afghanistan in late January 2007. We were supposed to head to the mountains of the East, around the town of Naray; closer to Chitral, Pakistan than basically anywhere else.

Within a day of our arrival, we were diverted to Kandahar Airfield, near the city of Kandahar. Kandahar is the “capital” of what some would call Pashtunistan. The Pashtuns are the largest tribe in the world, and the general inspiration for the Taliban. Their rivalry with the other ethnic groups that compose the rest of Afghanistan has dominated much of Afghan history.

As you could imagine, such a profound change meant profound change for both the men with whom I am privileged to serve as well as myself. Our arrival in Kandahar was neither planned nor expected, so it took quite a bit of poking and prodding to get ourselves a place to live and the equipment we needed.

With sufficient time and help, we were able to pronounce ourselves equipped and ready for the mission and we embarked on our first trip to the hinterlands, a region called Ghorack in the Kandahar Province of Afghanistan.

During that mission, the enemy was dormant; he decided to watch us from within his blanket of protection: the civilians. Though we made contact on a regular basis with the population and we disrupted the enemy’s work, he chose to hide. This is the kind of work that is frustrating, because you know the enemy is there, but good nonetheless. When the enemy hides, you have the ability to bolster the poor people of the town and support the government.

Our next two missions, in Sangene and Heyderabad, Afghanistan were interrelated. Sangene had been a safe-haven for the Taliban and a big part of their scheme to intimidate and control the population. As part of the largest NATO Operation in Afghanistan, with the help of some helicopters and a Battalion of Infantrymen, we were able to retake the city and install the Afghan National Army as the real arbiters of power.

Finally, we visited the little hamlet of Heyderabad. Though along the road between Sangene and Gereshk, this little town was not too significant from a mapmaker’s perspective…well to a Western mapmaker. The Taliban had the area on their map and had again enjoyed sanctuary. Once again, with the introduction of an Airborne Infantry Battalion, there were a lot of Taliban homes that suddenly became available for new occupants.

We were glad to assist with spurring the real estate market.

Now we are back, and I can only thank the Lord for His goodness. I have had soldiers hurt, but He has given us great success and we have not have any permanent injuries or deaths.

My thanks to all who have kept us in your prayers.

As a final word for those with whom I have not kept in good touch, a word about my job; I am the commander of Charlie Company, and Infantry Company in the 1st Battalion of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment that is a part of the 82nd Airborne Division in the United States Army. An Infantry Company Team, as we call them when deployed, consists of about 140 men.

The men of my company are the “men on the ground.” The soldiers who compose Charlie Company are where the rubber meets the road; they search homes, capture terrorists, as well as befriend locals and secure doctors who help treat the sick.

As you can imagine, such a range of skills requires extreme discipline and the ability to be both aggressive and patient.

I have nothing but extreme respect for the soldiers of my company; they live in difficult physical conditions and have to do things that men are not supposed to have to do.
Thank you for checking in to my life via this blog. I hope to keep it up to date and to hear from you…

John