General Douglas A. Pritt: July - August 2006

Sorry for the long delay in providing another update. As usual I have been traveling and find myself with little time to finish this update. I plan to send smaller updates more frequently.

For this update I will recap some key events that took place between 12 July and 12 August. In some future updates I will focus on some additional topics like: 

Life at Camp Phoenix – Our living conditions

It's a small world - Meeting people I know and people from Oregon

            Mentoring the Afghans – What this really means

            Community Building and Humanitarian Assistance – Making a

difference to the Citizens of Afghanistan

If you have a specific interest area or subject you would like me to address please let Susan know and I will see what I can do. I have also provided Susan some pictures so if your computer has the capability to receive large files let her know and she can send you some photos of me, our activities and Afghanistan.

On 12 July the final elements of the 53rd Brigade, Florida National Guard, left Afghanistan. They had been delayed on more than one occasion for several days so they were anxious to leave. We completed our Transfer of Authority on 4 July so they didn't have much to do the last week. I was very impressed with the way they conducted themselves as they were very polite and didn't continue to coach us and make suggestions. I expect after a year of being in charge they were more than happy to let us have the helm and cool their jets for a few days. Many of them made last minute purchases at the bi-weekly bazaar that takes place here at Cp Phoenix. (I will talk about the bazaar when I send an update focused on life at Cp Phoenix)

Photos from Afghanistan Courtesy of General Doug Pritt

On 14 July we had a Military and Civilian Awards Ceremony at the French Embassy. It was a very nice setting as the grounds had green grass, lots of large trees, including pines, and a swimming pool. It was a big event with about 1,200 people in attendance so I met many of who’s who in Afghanistan. Many of the ministers from the Afghan Government Agencies attended so it was also fun to get to meet a few of them. The other embassy staffs and Ambassadors were invited and I was able to talk with several of them once I was able to identity who they were. The minister of defense was there along with the Chief of Staff of the Afghan National Army (ANA). They asked me to provide an emergency re-supply of ammunition to one of the ANA units because they had just received a call saying the unit was under fire and about to run out of ammunition. As it turns out, that was not the case and the US unit located with the ANA validated they had plenty of ammunition. My guess was the ANA commander wanted some attention drawn to the fact the unit was being attacked or he saw an opportunity to get some additional ammunition, as a result of the enemy attacks, and wanted to strike while the iron was hot. The request did bring me back to the reality of the situation and point out the irony in this party setting. We arrived wearing body armor, which we left in our vehicles and then went through a metal detector. Once we were inside it was like we had stepped into a different world. The food and beverages were exceptional, soft music being played in the background and a very festive and colorful environment, to include Peacocks walking through the area. At the same time our Security Detail was on watch outside the Embassy looking for anyone suspicious, wanting to harm us. I also thought of our Warriors out in the far reaches of Afghanistan living in mud huts or fox holes facing an uncertain night of rocket attacks or ambushes. It felt very strange to be at a party while members of our task force were on the front lines in harms way. One other oddity was the fact that there was only one other US Officer present, a Major from International Security Assistance Force, so my group of 3 (myself, LT Merritt and CSM Conley) were in the minority for sure. One of our goals is to build partnerships and relationships with our Coalition Partners. My feelings were torn between the ironies of being at a party forging new relationships with many of the countries that are assisting our efforts in Afghanistan while my Warriors were in harms way. As we discussed our surreal feelings I realized this party was a sign of progress. It couldn’t have taken place a few months ago and the fact that many of the leaders of Afghanistan were comfortable with their ability to provide a safe and secure environment was a positive step forward.

I was interviewed by National Geographic on 16 July for a 2 hour TV special they are doing on Afghanistan. It will show sometime next winter, Jan-Feb 2007. They have no idea if I will actually be in the final product as they were doing lots of interviews and the topic covers all of Afghanistan, not just the Afghan National Army. One of the people on the team was from Kenya so we talked about our travels there. He wants Susan and  I  to come to Kenya for a visit and says the wildlife is even better now than when we went in the early 1980s. The interview went very well and after we were finished and they were packing up to leave,  the cameraman thought of another question so they unpacked and set up again so they could get my answer on tape. Their focus was on how well the ANA are doing and did they have enough forces to defeat the Anti Government Elements. I am not sure how current the information will be in Jan-Feb as I expect there will be some very significant changes by then.

Flying from Kabul to Farah on 17 July I was on a small aircraft so I was able to get a good view of the terrain. We were flying high over a brown barren landscape with a ribbon of green winding its way through the rugged mountains that have been stripped of all trees and all but the hardiest plants. Goats, sheep, camels and donkeys could be seen frequently. They were being herded by Nomads, called Coochies, who roam these hills and take the animals to the few places where they can eat what little vegetation that has survived the harsh sun, winds and months on end without water.

Photos from Afghanistan Courtesy of General Doug Pritt

On 23 July I took a trip to the Lumberyard, a Forward Operating Base (FOB) occupied by a portion of an Infantry Battalion from the 10th Mountain Division, an Afghan National Army unit with our Embedded Training Team and a Tactical Human Intelligence Team. The name (Lumberyard) comes from the huge timbers stock piled throughout the area. At the FOB there were cut timbers well over 3' in width. The largest living tree in the area had a diameter of no more than 9". The area had once been a dense forest of Pine and Cedar trees over 100' tall. Since the early 1980s, logging, cutting and selling the trees has been the primary source of income for the residents of the region. Now there are only a few trees standing and with no reforestation plan the areas future is not good. These remaining trees are at the very tops of the tallest mountains in the area, about six to seven thousand feet. I am sure these trees would also have been cut down except for a ban by the government on the further cutting of any of these trees. The Taliban currently operate in the area and have killed 4 people who worked at the FOB as laborers. As a result of these murders the rest of the workers refused to work for two days. After two days they talked to the Army Commander at the FOB and then they came back to work saying the Taliban couldn't stop them. These are rugged people who live in a remote valley with difficult access to the outside world. As a result they are very independent. They are not strong supporters of the Afghan government and they dislike the Taliban greatly. Not unlike some places in the US, the thing they want most is to be left alone. The area is so remote there are no police or other government agencies close by. The restriction on tree cutting only works because they can't sell the lumber in Afghanistan and the timbers are so big and expensive they are easily recognized at the boarder checks points. Even with the ban and little chance they can get the trees out of the country. There are a few people who occasionally risk the punishment and try to smuggle the timbers out of Afghanistan so they can sell them. When I asked what happens to the smugglers who get caught I didn't get a straight answer so I am not sure what really does happen. Based on the difficulty in traveling through the area I doubt if smuggling is attempted very often.

Helicopters landing at the Lumberyard are frequently fired at. All flights are escorted by attack helicopters that can respond immediately to any enemy activity. When I got on the helicopter, for my flight to the FOB, the pilots said "you might want to keep your helmet on as we have been fired on the last five times we have flown to this site". The pilots of course had my attention so I asked if it would be better to be sitting on my helmet. The pilot said no, because the mountains are so high they are usually firing down at us. The Soldiers at the Lumberyard fired mortars at past enemy locations and other areas of expected enemy activity before we arrived to get the bad guys to keep their heads down.

Living at the Lumberyard is difficult because of the rugged terrain and Spartan conditions. The ANA along with our ETTs and Soldiers from 10th Mountain Division conduct joint patrols everyday. The altitude and steep terrain take a toll on the US Soldiers. The ANA do very well; amazingly they all seem immune to fatigue and no matter where they come from in Afghanistan they have lived in similar conditions and adapt easily to the environment. Of course it helps that they don't carry the extra 30-50 lbs of Individual Body Armor (IBA). This area is called the Korengal Valley and you can only get to the Lumberyard by helicopter. Even now, in mid July, the river is too high to ford and there are no bridges here. Once the river can be forded re-supply convoys will travel the steep and very narrow road and of course be subject to ambush at all times. Everywhere you go it is easy to see why the Afghans have been so successful at defeating their enemies throughout history. This place is an ambush heaven.

One flight I took into a mountainous area we followed a narrow gorge with a beautiful clear water river. We landed at an LZ that had been rented by the 10th Mountain Division so the unit could be re-supplied. To say it was a remote location would be a huge understatement, but the final location for the unit is even further up the mountain pass. From where we landed the unit hired donkeys to move their supplies to the location of their actual FOB. A small element of the unit remained at the LZ to provide security. The LZ was adjacent to a small village consisting of 5 buildings. One was a hotel and restaurant, of sorts, and one was a health clinic operated by Sweden. When we landed there were approximately 100 males watching us. I didn’t see one woman the entire time we were at the village. The ANA Corps Commander and I went into town and talked with the Elders and the ANA Soldiers. The US Soldiers who had lived for 17 days in fox holes would go into town to buy supplies but didn't remain in the small village for long periods of time. The ANA on the other hand set up their headquarters at the edge of town and their kitchen was located in one of the small buildings at the end of town. The small ANA and US task force planned to be at this site for another 30 days, when they were scheduled to move to their new FOB. The new FOB consists of rented mud huts and some plywood buildings we hire the locals to construct, after we fly the material in to the site. The final FOB site, also located next to the river, is a better location because they can develop a better LZ and enhance their re-supply operations. Every Soldier we talked to, ANA and US had a great attitude and felt like they had the best assignment in Afghanistan because they were on the forward lines looking for Taliban and Al Queda.

On 27 July, I attended the graduation of the first Mountain Warfare training course in Afghanistan. You would think with all the mountains they have here the last thing the Afghans would need is mountain training but they do. Graduation included a demonstration of their skills and it was very impressive. One portion included the rescue of an injured Soldier by another Soldier. The injured Solider held on to the back of the Soldier doing the rescue. The Soldier performing the rescue single handedly rappelled down the entire mountain with the injured Soldier on his back. He received a special award as the top graduate in the class. The Italians teach the course and the Colonel in charge said the students were very good and four of them were exceptional. The commander invited us to send some US Soldiers to the next course. After graduation we went to the Italian base for lunch. We of course had pizza. It was my first pizza since I arrived in Afghanistan. Lunch was very good and we have invited the Italian Colonel to Cp Phoenix for a meal.

I attended the Portuguese Medal Parade Ceremony on 29 July at the Kabul Multi National Brigade (KMNB). KMNB is just down the road about 4 miles from Cp Phoenix. It is a rough road so it takes about 10-15 minutes depending on traffic. The Portuguese ceremony was to award the Soldiers their medal for service in Afghanistan. The Soldiers are the Quick Reaction Force (QRF) for the International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF). The actual ceremony was very interesting and I was asked to present one of the medals to the Command Sergeant Major of the unit. We had a luncheon after the ceremony and the food was interesting and there was a wide variety. I wasn’t sure exactly what it was, in all cases, but most of it tasted good. The lunch took place in their dining facility called the Bat Cave. The unit is a Commando unit so they are like our Special Forces units. The Soldiers are very physically fit and have some high speed vehicles and equipment that is very specialized and works well on the rough roads we have here.

As you can see from the above summaries, I have been traveling a great deal and when I am back at the headquarters I find myself attending more meetings than necessary. I must admit the meetings and events with the Afghans and Coalition partners are sometimes very exciting. No shortage of opinions and the Afghans are not afraid to speak up. We have more countries sending Soldiers to join our team so I have been meeting with several senior representatives from other countries to work out the details of their contribution to our mission. I enjoy the ideas and views they express and feel the diversity of thought is a great developmental opportunity for all of us. We (US) do not have a lock on all the good ideas.

We are also stepping up our operations with the Afghans to assist in the development of some small projects to help the people in some of the smaller villages. We get several million dollars to drill wells for water, build schools, clinics and roads. Our goal is to engage the Afghans so they participate in some way with the project. We want them to be involved and perhaps learn a skill they can use in the future. In the future I will send a special update focused on these projects and our Humanitarian Assistance efforts.

My best to everyone.

Doug