General Douglas A. Pritt: First Thirty Days

This is a special page set up to follow General Douglas Pritt's deployment to Afghanistan as Commander of the Joint Task Force Phoenix. Doug is a member of the Salem Kiwanis Club. We await the safe return of Doug and his troops.

Brigadier General Pritt (l) reviews troops while Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski (m)
and Lt. General Russel Honore (r) look on. Photo Courtesy of First U.S. Army

The following letter was received from Doug on 7/15/06:

I have been in Afghanistan for 30 days so I thought I would give you a quick update on my activities.

I arrived on 11 June after stops in Bangor, Maine; Germany and Manas, Kyrgyzstan. In Bangor I was able to see a friend I served with in Germany back in 1981-1983. He is a member of the Bangor Police Dept so I called him and he came right over to the Airport to see me.

On arrival in Afghanistan it looked much the same as during my trip in January minus the snow of course. It is still a dry barren land with poor roads and now plenty of dust and wind along with 100 degree heat.

In my 30 days here the focus has been on getting out seeing as many task force members as possible. I have made 28 flights (both fixed and rotary wing) and more convoy moves than I care to remember. Here is a brief summary of places I have visited so you will get a feel for the variety of places our personnel are assigned. Mazar-e-sharif and Konduz in the North; Herat and Shindand in the West; Kandahar and Lashkar-Gar in the South; Jalalabad, Ghanzi, Qalat, Khowst in the east. This is not an all inclusive list just the major cities you might be able to find on a map. Suffice it to say we are in every major town and village in Afghanistan.

The variety of conditions our team members serve in is amazing. Some, like the 2,000 plus that live here at Cp Phoenix, have every convenience you could want. Most of our embedded trainers live in good conditions where the US Army has built multi-million dollar facilities for the Afghan National Army. Some of our team live in mud huts and wouldn't trade places with anyone. The people in mud huts live with the Afghans, eat their food and share the everyday life of an Afghan Soldier. For the
most part they are located in remote areas hours away from the nearest US Soldier and in a few cases they live in places only accessible by air.

While I was in Mazar-e-sharif we had dinner with the governors from the region in a 2,000 year old fort that was once a prison. In Jalalabad we met the governor of the province, who is one of the richest men in Afghanistan. I asked my interpreter how he made his money and he said through smuggling. The palace he lived in is nicer than the Presidential Palace.

In the Kabul area I have been able to travel to several places for a variety of briefings events and ceremonies. We train and mentor the palace guards so I was able to travel to the Presidential Palace and walked the grounds. The ANA also have a band and we mentor them as well. They need lots of help so I am seeing if we can get someone from our Band in Oregon to come over and work with them.

There is no way to adequately describe the scenery as even pictures don't do the mountains justice. In the east when we traveled to some remote sites where the Taliban have been operating we saw a river that looked like it was at flood stage. I asked one of the residents if the level of the river was normal and he informed me it was very high for this time of year. He said there had been plenty of snow in the
mountains and the late runoff had caused the high river level. I remarked I didn't see any snow on the mountains I could see. He informed me the mountains were several hundred kilometers away and were anywhere from 19,000 to 22,000 feet in elevation.

In one day we visited 3 locations and the temp was 120, 121, and 140 degrees. Unrelenting heat. We flew in a helicopter with the doors open and it was like standing behind a jet engine. It was so hot and with the wind from the flight I had to put my hand in front of my mouth to breathe. The only thing worse was the other helicopter kept the doors closed and the people on the other helicopter were even hotter. We kept the doors open on both helicopters on the next flight. They always fly with two helicopters in case one has an emergency and is forced to land the other helicopter and crew can protect the one that goes down.

I was able to travel to the Khyber Pass. One of the places on my must visit list while I am here in Afghanistan. It was a great experience. I have read a great deal about the Khyber Pass and it more than lived up to my expectations. It is beyond rugged and after seeing it I can understand why the Afghans could defeat the British so easily there on two different occasions. We flew in to the nearest Forward Operating Base and then went by UAH to the actual boarder. At the boarder there was a great deal of traffic, both people and vehicles. From the boarder crossing point you can see the road winding back and forth up very steep and rugged terrain to the top of the pass. We conducted a meeting right at the boarder with the Afghan Boarder Police for about 1.5 hours. When we came out I remarked that the traffic was still backed up for miles. The Police Chief we were meeting with said, of course we stop traffic while you are here. They had stopped traffic at one of the major crossing points for the entire time a Canadian General and I were meeting with the Police to talk about security in the area. I felt bad about all the people and vehicles being inconvenienced, but it was no big deal to the Afghan or Pakistan Police. All along the road leading up to the boarder were vendors selling every spare part you can imagine including complete truck engines. There were hundreds of engines just sitting on the ground in rows waiting for a stranded traveler. When we landed at the FOB, I was met by a Captain from the North Dakota National Guard who commands an Air Defense unit that used to be part of the 41st Brigade. His unit had been mobilized to provide site security. He had volunteered
his unit to go with the 41st to Afghanistan but NGB had said no. He told me at the time he would find a way to get here during our deployment and he sure did.

We conducted our Transfer of Authority ceremony on 4 July 2006 at 0900. I was very impressed by the number of people who attended. The minister of defense was here along with too many Afghan Army Generals to count. The ANA Band played and provided some entertainment for the crowd. The
best part of the ceremony, in my mind, was the rehearsal the evening before. We were just getting ready to start the rehearsal and it started to rain. The first rain in Kabul in many months. As the rain came down a bright rainbow formed and made a perfect arch backdrop to the square where the ceremony would be conducted. Then a lighter rainbow also formed and we had two rainbows. One bright and one faded. I told the group it was a perfect symbol. The bright rainbow representing the 41st Brigade, as the new team coming onto the scene and the fading rainbow representing the 53rd Brigade as they prepared to return to Florida and complete their mission. The folks from the 53rd said it was the first rainbow they had seen in their year in Afghanistan.

Someone in our Task Force is in contact with the enemy everyday. Most days we have less than 10 enemy contacts, but it varies greatly. Friday is the religious holiday so the activity level typically drops off on Fridays. Unfortunately 24 hours after taking command we suffered the loss of a very fine Soldier from Indiana. He had been here for almost 10 months and had been serving at an outpost with a high level of enemy activity. You can see Pakistan from 3 of the 4 outposts the unit mans and the site is very remote. I flew to the location in about 45 minutes from Gardez, but to drive from the same location takes almost 8 hours, because of the mountains and road conditions. It is also an area where
each time the unit moves over the mountain pass they get ambushed so the process of getting enough Afghan Security Force to protect and clear the road takes several days. The Soldier killed was a 1SG and this was his third combat tour. He also served in Panama and Desert Storm as a member of the 2nd Ranger Battalion. He left the Army 10 years ago and became a Police Officer in Indiana where he lived with his wife and 3 children. He volunteered for the mission because he wanted to serve his country after 9-11. I flew to the site and we conducted services for him with the Soldiers he served with. We also conducted services at the Brigade Headquarters and here at Camp Phoenix. He had many friends who will miss him and remember him always for his kindness and willingness to take time
to teach others, including the Afghans. It was a very sad day for us and brought home the harsh reality of the war we are engaged in.

We have started our Humanitarian Assistance Program and early indications are very good. We have identified projects we can do in the areas around our FOBs and we have selected 2 orphanages in the Kabul area we will adopt while we are here. LTC Sundquist had a meeting today with the head of all the orphanages in Afghanistan so we may even do some things on the National Level. We have already delivered school supplies to several schools and provided medical care to hundreds of children and adults.

All of the Soldiers in our Brigade HHC have been fortunate to have a volunteer Soldier's Angel adopt them. Mine is a wonderful lady who happens to run a non profit organization in California and is willing to help out with Children's Medications, which are in big demand here. As an interesting side note her daughter is starting at Willamette University in Salem this Fall.

Because our unit is headquartered in Portland, members of the unit here in Afghanistan taped the opening of the Indy car race in Portland for a National TV audience. We did the "drivers start your engines" instruction with a big group of Soldiers in front of the flag pole. It was a fun experience and gave the Soldiers an opportunity to send personal messages to family members back in Portland. The messages were supposed to by shown at the race; although I could never get confirmation that it actually took place.

A few observations about the country and I will close as this is much longer than I anticipated: There are more nomadic tribes than I expected. Lots of goat, donkey and camel herds can be seen as we fly over the many expanses of waste land. There are large agricultural areas near Herat, Mez and Jalalabad. Water is not an issue in these areas as they have large rivers and where they have canals for irrigating and crops grow very well. Corruption is rampant. I will tell you some stories in my next e mail. I have eaten many Afghan meals and had no issues with the food. I will admit I don't drink the water or dairy products. The people are very friendly and the children are enthusiastic to see us. Afghan greetings include big hugs and I have had one 2 star general hold hands with me as we walked to dinner. Thank goodness I had been told what to expect or I am not sure how I would have reacted.

It is a great mission and our team is doing great things. Time goes by quickly as the day starts at 0530 and usually ends around 2200 (10PM). It is now 2150 so I am going to call it a night and close by thanking you for all your prayers for our task force. I do appreciate your support. I do take care and always have a security detail making sure I don't do anything silly.

Love Doug