From Afghanistan

Coming off the events of the day, all I wanted to do was get to my cot before my shift for tower guard started at one in the morning. All I was thinking as I unlaced my shoes was if this was any indication of what it is going to be like at the new Forward Operating Base (FOB) I was on the ride of my life. I hoped for a few hours of sleep before starting fresh the next day.

My head had just hit the pillow when I heard one of the guards yell "incoming." Next was a large swoosh and my tent shook from the rocket flying ten feet above at a low angle. I sat up and started putting on my shoes and gear. I distinctly remember thinking "don't rush so you don't forget something," because with rockets and mortars there is a luck of the draw impact area. I heard everyone running and yelling orders but for some reason everything slowed down for me.

I got to my vehicle and noticed that my other team members had arrived at the same time and were looking for me to make a decision. I looked around to see another vehicle leaving the FOB so I yelled for everyone to get in and follow the vehicle out. We raced out and it hit me that this is neither my FOB nor my command. So I radioed the lead vehicle and found it was the commander and told him I was now in his convoy and to update me.

He was more than happy to have another vehicle responding and explained that the rocket was fired 4-6 kilometers from the FOB and we were going out to the site to engage the enemy. I took his lead since he has been rocketed numerous times prior to my arrival and he would know what to do better than I would. So at the safest, fastest speed possible we raced across the desert.

I took assessment of the vehicle count and realized the police had two vehicles of their own chasing down the Taliban with us and I was proud to see them take responsibility of the situation. For those who don't understand why I was proud, the police here will often run from any conflict and because they do, the enemy will often take advantage of that and count on it. But these police know that rockets and mortars have no conscience and will just as likely kill them and innocent people as a soldier.

The commander explained to me via radio that if they didn't chase after the rocket site, the Taliban would continue to rocket us. Now you would think that the situation on hand would take precedence in my thoughts, but ironically all I could think of since I knew we would have a 15 minute drive was that this was cutting into my sleep cycle and I wanted to call shenanigans.

We got out to the site or perhaps more accurately, the alleged launch site since it was dark and all we had to go on was someone back on the FOB wall radioing us saying left or right from where they remembered seeing the rocket depart. My gunner yelled, "small arms fire three o'clock." So we took off in that direction to hit the attack head on.

The firing stopped, so without any other immediate danger to chase after, the commander gave the directive to shut off the vehicles and turn off the lights. This way we could hear and use our night vision goggles and get the upper hand on any Taliban in the area. After a quick ten minutes, another round of small arms fire was shot in our direction, but instead of jumping to conclusions, the commander requested the Afghanistan National Police (ANP) to check out the situation since one of their police checkpoints was in the area.

Upon returning, the ANP explained the gunfire was coming from the police checkpoint. They had thought that we were the Taliban and had started firing on us. You have to appreciate the police at these checkpoints. Imagine a small container gutted and placed in the middle of nowhere about 10 miles from anyone. We have come to call these checkpoints "Cop in a Box." These police are in constant fear since the Taliban see them as easy targets and gunfights ensue on an average of once a week. To make matters worse, these police are undermanned, have no communication and their ammunition is so limited that they have to be precise on every shot. There is little they can do when they are outnumbered and outgunned.

Every soldier feels for these "Cops in a Box" when they pass them, knowing if it were us, we would never allow ourselves to remain exposed as they are. But if you talk to them, they will tell you, "It is what it is." They know this is their life and they are trying to make their country a safer and better place. This commitment comes at the cost of imminent danger.

So we turned around knowing all we had done was deter the launching of follow up rockets for the moment. Later on we learned that this action had been a direct retaliation to the Humanitarian Assistance (HA) drop we did earlier in the day. The HA drop was given to a village that the Taliban had used as a hiding place previously when there had been other rocket attacks. This is the part of the story where you're asking yourself why give them assistance if they support the Taliban. It's not as black and white as that. In reality the village is incredibly poor and the Taliban have guns and don't mind killing the villagers if they resist, so there is really little choice. The aid serves several purposes. Most obviously - it supports the poor who are truly in need. It also communicates that the American military is not here in their country to take over - we're here to help. Finally, assistance sends the message that the villagers don't need to look to the Taliban to have their needs met. The villagers are then able to question why they would help the Taliban, who kills innocent people without hesitation. They ask themselves why the Americans are willing to help the starving people without threats or demands. The community begins to see that with their assistance - even anonymously - regarding what they know of the Taliban, we can better act to protect them.

When we returned to the FOB I began to debate with myself whether it was even worth it to go to bed since my shift was scheduled to start in 2 hours. I decided any sleep was better than none since the constant threat of attack leaves you catching catnaps when you can. There is really no such thing as restful sleep here because when you do get to lay down, you try to stay as dressed as possible because you have to be up and out of the compound as quickly as possible if you're attacked.

A much too short a time later, I was getting up for guard shift and realizing that I really need to stop watching action movies prior to going to bed, because all I could think about was this FOB was under constant attack and here I am as the new guy. It's like the Star Trek episodes where Captain Kirk says, "Okay let's go - Bones, Spock and you, the new guy." It's always the new guy that died on that show. So when I replaced my partner on the wall I said, "My name is Ian - don't forget it and I'm not the new guy." He responded with a puzzled look as we switched positions.

You also realize on the wall that in every action movie the sniper takes out the tower guard with a silencer first before scaling the wall. That thought doesn't give me warm fuzzies. But it does insure that I am very alert and constantly scanning my fields of fire. You don't need coffee when you can't come down from an adrenaline rush from a rocket attack.

One day and this ride does not look like it is going to end. On the bright side, time goes by fast when your adrenaline is rushing but then you become a junky waiting for the next rush of adrenaline to happen. I often wonder if it is the same for the ANP. But today they showed me we are in this together and it is only together that we will get through it. It is a small step, but trust is high on my list of priorities out here in no man's land. I also know if I can trust them, then the people they are protecting can trust them too.

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