General Doug Pritt: The Holiday Season

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

TASK FORCE PHOENIX WEB SITE
GENERAL PRITT'S BIO

First Thirty Days in Afghanistan
July - August 2006 in Afghanistan
Afghan Culture
Five Great Days in Herat
November, 2006 Update
Christmas Eve 2006 Message
Afghans Prevent Suicide Bomb Attack
Dubai Media Interviews
May 2007 Update

SPECIAL PHOTO COLLECTION Photos Provided by General Doug Pritt

The following update was received from Doug on February 4, 2007:

Dear Family and Friends.

Here is the next installment in my attempt to capture some of the aspects of Service in Afghanistan.

The Holiday Season, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day, provided a unique experience for me and most of the other members of our team. For most it was a first time experience, but for many it was De Ja Vu. There are over 200 Soldiers who are on their second tour in Afghanistan and of course there are many Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen and even a few of our Civilians who served in Iraq. We also have 15 Veterans of the Vietnam war in our Task Force who have experienced separation from loved ones over the holidays.

Being apart from family and friends is clearly the most difficult aspect of this deployment. That separation is even more pronounced during the holidays because it is traditionally a time spent with family and friends. The holidays here in Afghanistan take on a special meaning for several reasons:

   The contractor staffs at the locations large enough to have contracted food service go to great lengths to make the environment more festive with elaborate decorations and special meals.

    The care packages and gifts from home arrive by the truck load on a twice a day basis. At one point there was a reported 60,000 pound backlog of mail at the airport.

    Many of the Afghan National Army (ANA) senior officers sent cards, made special greetings and even gave small gifts for Christmas.

    All the visitors made this, by far, one of the busiest times in terms of briefings, social events and traveling. Between 16 November and 1 January I took 25 flights and my Personal Security Detachment did over 200 missions, which included escorting me and many visiting dignitaries. There was a significant increase in visitors and entertainers willing to come and share the holidays in a remote part of the world. The visitor list was extensive so the following only captures the two star Generals and above that visited during the Holiday period: The Governor of Oregon; Governor of Utah; Adjutant Generals from Oregon, California, New Jersey, Kansas, Utah, Minnesota; The Minister of Defense for Romania; The Vice Chief of Staff for the Afghan National Army; Senators McCain, Collins and Thune; Congressman Kirk; The US Ambassador to Afghanistan; The Commandant of the US Marine Corps; The US Forces Command Commander; The Supreme Allied Commander Europe; The Chief of Staff of the US Army; the first ever USO Show to visit Camp Phoenix; LTG Kicklighter; and LTG Reno.

We had a great time with the Governor of Oregon as we took him to three different sites and he was able to see hundreds of Soldiers from Oregon. He has his own Commander's Coin and handed out more than I could count. He also sent 1,100 packages from Harry and David for the Soldiers and
Airmen from the Oregon National Guard to have at Christmas. His trip was a good one for our Soldier's morale and I was very impressed with the way he interacted with everyone. He told me he changed his mind, positively toward the US involvement in Afghanistan, based on his visit here. Every
person he talked to told him we can win the war here as long as we don't quit early. (See Photo of Governor Kulongoski above)

During all the activity, I received a phone call one day at about 1145 informing me the Minister of Defense and the Minister of Interior wanted to stop by for lunch and talk about some policy issues. In my wildest imagination, I would never have thought I would be eating lunch with arguably the two most important Ministers in Afghanistan and discussing National Policy. They are certainly not your everyday drop in lunch guests.

In addition to the above visitors we conducted the first ever Logistics and Medical conferences in the history of the Afghan National Army. We have found hosting events like this at Camp Phoenix is much better than going to other places because we have better areas for parking and a larger meeting facility. It also helps our team members here feel more in contact with the Afghans, as many of the people don't have too many chances to get off the compound in conjunction with their normal duties.


We also held a Change of Command for our Logistical Task Force; an Activation Ceremony for our new Air Force Wing; a Senior Commander's Conference (we now have 32 Colonels assigned to the TF); a Regional Police Assistance Team Commander's Conference; departure ceremonies for
our French Soldiers; graduations for Command and General Staff College, Battalion Commanders Course and Basic Training; the first ever Saint Barbara's dinner in Afghanistan with Artillery Officers and Soldiers from six different countries participating; a best partnership award program; three Road Shows where we travel to the regions and met with hundreds of Village, District and Provincial Elders; two Task Force Phoenix Town Hall meetings and way too many other ceremonies to mention.

I attended a dinner at the International Security Assistance Force Headquarters where the protocol is to rotate chairs every 15 minutes so you get to meet and talk with more people. I also attended a dinner at the Minister of Defense's home, which is far from a mud hut. It is a beautiful home that he pointed out belongs to his wife and informed us she was born in the home. I also had dinner with General Abizaid the day before Thanksgiving. General Abizaid is the Central Command Commander
and has overall responsibility for both Iraq and Afghanistan. We provided him a briefing on how the war is going so it wasn't much of a social event, but it was educational for me. I enjoyed the experience and had some time to talk with him about future operations and the role of the National Guard in Afghanistan. In addition to these key activities I attended a wide variety of other social events.

I had an enjoyable and unique Thanksgiving. Colonel Bob Elliott, one of my very best friends for over 34 years, and I traveled by helicopter with MG Rees, The Adjutant General from Oregon, and three other National Guard Generals from other States, to visit members of our Task Force serving in some of the Forward Operating Bases (FOBs). We then flew back to Camp Phoenix where we served the evening meal to over 1500 members of our Task Force. The Thanksgiving decorations were fantastic and the dining facility won the first place prize for all of Afghanistan for the decorations. (see photo 10 Phoenix Mess Hall) It was an enjoyable experience and a memorable day with clear skies, snow capped mountains and an opportunity to visit with the most exceptional Warriors a person could ask to serve with.

Christmas day was a relaxing and fun-filled time. It started snowing Christmas Eve, so we had a White Christmas with plenty of snow ball fights. We had about 9 inches of snow and it continued to snow off and on all day on Christmas so traveling by air was out of the question and travel by vehicle was also an adventure. As a result of the weather, I went to the Kabul Military Training Center and had lunch with Colonel Jim Lyman, another dear friend, and all the Warriors in his command who mentor the largest concentration of Afghan Soldiers anywhere in the country. After lunch I returned to Camp Phoenix and helped serve dinner in our dinning facility.

I spent New Years Eve and Day traveling with the Afghan Minister of Defense in celebration of the Islamic Holiday - Eid. Eid is a three day observance focused on sharing with your family and the poor. Some Afghans, the more wealthy ones, purchase a goat, sheep or cow and divide it into thirds. One third for personal use, one third for extended family and one third for the poor. In the days proceeding Eid we saw a large increase in the amount of livestock on the streets being sold. The already crowded roads were cluttered with animals being herded to areas alongside the road so they could be sold, butchered and taken away by wheelbarrow, bike or car.

Our goal for the two day trip was to visit ANA Soldiers in as many locations as possible in the Western and Southern portions of Afghanistan. The trip was an enjoyable experience and afforded me the opportunity to visit our embedded trainers serving in some remote locations. These isolated locations are where the most critical work of Task Force Phoenix occurs. The Embedded Training Teams (ETTs) coach, teach and mentor the ANA Soldiers while they perform their combat
patrols and check points against the enemy. The ETT's work is difficult, demanding and dangerous. At the same time it is the most rewarding task for our team because of the bonds established between the Afghan Soldiers and our ETTs. In many cases the Afghans risk their lives to protect our Warriors from harm. Seeing them is well worth the effort it takes to get to the remote sites.

We traveled by both fixed wing and helicopter so we spent considerable time moving between sites. Standing Operating Procedures are for the helicopters to fly with the gunner doors open, so it was very cold because of the cold temperature and the wind. I promised myself I would not say a word about the cold conditions because I had on six layers of clothing and Minister Wardak only wore his Battle Dress Uniform with no coat. He did tell me a few days later that he was cold on the last helicopter flight when we flew from Shamulzai, a remote mountain site, to Kandahar. On one flight we
flew over the Nabahar Valley which was totally engulfed in clouds. It was a beautiful sight with rugged snow capped mountains rising above and a sea of clouds in the valley below.

The Minister is a hero in Afghanistan and was greeted at every location by a formation of Afghan and US Soldiers. He presented awards to some of the Afghan (ANA) Soldiers and a $10 bonus to all of the ANA Soldiers. We also had him present some awards to the US Soldiers. It was a unique experience for the US Soldiers to have the Minister of Defense for Afghanistan pin on their awards and all of them said they appreciated the special treatment. We visited one remote location I had previously visited in June where an Afghan Infantry Company is located. During my previous visit, the company formation looked like a grab bag of uniforms and you had to look hard to find two Soldiers in the same uniform. For the minister's visit the Soldiers were all in the same uniform and you
had to look hard to find any minor discrepancies. They represented themselves like a professional fighting force and displayed a great deal of enthusiasm. The ANA are indeed getting better and traveling to the remote locations reinforces the progress being made. At every location the Soldiers looked good and were pleased to see the Minister, I expect some of their motivation was because of the $10 bonus, but I feel their admiration for him is genuine. He was highly decorated for his accomplishments in fighting the Russians. He also attended Airborne and Ranger Training in the United States. At one Battalion level FOB we visited, the Minister promoted the Battalion Commander on the spot based on our recommendation that he was deserving of the promotion. He said it was the
first time he had taken such bold action in promoting someone that way, but in this case it was the right thing to do. The Officer had been serving as the Commander for over 8 months and was still waiting to be promoted. He is an excellent commander and when the Minister promoted him the entire unit
cheered for him. The Minister is a very eloquent and motivational speaker so it is enjoyable to listen to him.

The FOB at Shamulzai was amazing because it is located within the local bazaar. We attracted lots a attention when we landed and the entire town, at least all the men, turned out to watch us depart. The Minister took the opportunity to talk with the people and had their rapt attention the entire time he spoke. (See photo 19 Colorful Hats). It was a great two days and an experience I will long remember.

We gave the priority for leave over the Holidays to our junior enlisted warriors with families. For most of our team, the Holidays were a time spent in a remote part of the world in unique circumstances. With our 13 Coalition partners living on the same FOBs the holidays did afford an opportunity to see how other countries celebrate Christmas and New Years Eve. It was also a time of personnel reflection because there was no time to sit, relax and enjoy the moment. It was a normal work day
for almost every member of the team and the fast operating pace we are accustom to didn't change.

In closing, my impressions for the Holidays spent away from family and friends are profound. While all of us longed to be home with family and friends sharing the quality of life we have come to enjoy, we all maintained our focus on our mission out of respect for each other and a commitment to something bigger than ourselves. Serving in Afghanistan certainly makes us appreciate the abundance of blessings we enjoy as Americans. Our service here has confirmed the knowledge that every day is special and precious.

Love Doug