Notes From Across The Pond

Jeremy Riegel
HHC 173d STB
JBAD PRT
APO, AE 09310
November 29, 2007

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Afghanistan Update
Thursday, November 29, 2007 12:26am EDT

Everyone,

Thanksgiving Day has came and gone, but I certainly still have much to be thankful for. We are entering out eight month of combat on this deployment, and are almost to the half way point. While we have sustained several IED attacks in the past month, I have yet to lose a Soldier or have any casualties that were not returned to duty very quickly. We continue to make progress in fighting the counterinsurgency and building the capacity for the Afghans to govern themselves. Also, Dana took command of HHC 173d Brigade Support Battalion, a large step in the career of an Army Officer.

The Thanksgiving Dinner meal put on by my Dining Facility was superb. It wasn’t quite mom's/grandma’s home cooking, but it was pretty close. Turkey, prime rib, and ham were the featured entrees, with all the fixing to go along including green beans, corn on the cob, potatoes, dressing, shrimp, salad and sweet roles. Desserts were plentiful, cake, four types of pie, and five kinds of ice cream. Of course, I ate way too much and had to return several hours later for dessert, but I did get my pie. My cooks did a great job, and were recognized with coins by BG Votel, the 82nd Division’s Deputy Commanding General for their meal.

The past month we have focused our efforts on training the ANP in vehicle check point operations, or VCP’s. We have constructed several VCPs in key areas along the border to reduce the illegal smuggling of both weapons and other prohibited items (sugar, cooking oil, timber, etc. are illegal to import from Pakistan). Likewise, we have trained the police to conduct vehicle and personnel searches at multiple levels. For the ANP soldiers, we teach them the physical steps of the searches, as well as the indicators to look for in vehicles that may have bombs inside. At the leader level we teach them how to plan the VCP operations, as well as choosing good locations for temporary/hasty VCP’s and how to train new soldiers on the tasks.

The ANP soldiers usually pick up the tasks fairly quickly. The planning, however, takes a bit more effort to pick up. We joke that the Pashto word for planning is “planning” because it’s a foreign concept for Afghans. However, we show them how we conduct operations, which is by putting a plan together, briefing all the soldiers on that plan, conducting rehearsals with everyone involved, and conducting an after action review after the operation. Afghans are perfectly content to just do the execution portion.

IEDs occurrences have increased, but thankfully most of them have been found and turned in by locals. Of the few detonations we have had most have been on ANP or completely random. Of the two that have detonated in my Battalion's AO, all of my Soldiers have been saved by the protective armor of the vehicles and the personal protective equipment we wear. The few minor injuries have only been scrapes and bumps. I have had some equipment destroyed, but the Soldiers are all okay. This is fine by me, I can buy a new truck; I can’t buy a new Soldier.

The population continues to take the lead on driving the insurgents from the villages. As activity has increased, the village elders and government leadership has become more outspoken against the insurgent activity. Rightly, they claim that Coalition Forces are here to help the country and rebuild Afghanistan, that we are their friends not their enemy. In several cases villagers have taken up arms against the Taliban and told them if they didn’t leave, the villagers would kill them. This is success!

In other big news, ten days ago Dana took command of HHC 173d BSB. This is the first time a husband-wife have commanded together in combat in the 173d Airborne Brigade. Although not confirmed, we also may be the first husband-wife command team in the history of the 173d. I am very proud of her and know she will do great as a commander. I just hope I can support her half as well as she has supported me in my first year of command of this company.

I continue to receive an outpouring of support form people back home. To everyone who has sent boxes, THANK YOU! One box or ten, big box or small, every contribution helps. Since the last update, I’ve received at least fifty boxes of donations for the Afghan kids. While the guys who pick up my mail aren’t always thankful, the thousands of Afghan kids we’ve been able to reach out to certainly are very thankful. Pens, pencils, candy, small toys, and beanie babies remain the best items to send. Regardless of the quantity you are able to send, I will make sure it gets passed on to the Afghan children.

The last school we conducted a drop at had approximately 2,000 kids. In the morning they taught the boys, girls were in the afternoon. We passed out several pens/pencils and erasers to each of about three hundred girls, and left several boxes more for the teacher to distribute to other classes and the boys the following morning. While the girls were a bit nervous with our presence at first, they were thankful for the items and accepted with open hands and big smiles. While it may seem like a small contribution, it is a valuable contribution to the diplomacy of the great US of A, and sets a good example and gives hope for the children of this fledgling democracy where education has been stifled for over a generation.

I will do the rest of the story telling with pictures. I hope you all had a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving Day, and were able to spend some quality time with your family and friends. If you have half as much to be thankful for as I do, then you are truly blessed.

Jeremy

PS, our address changed, then changed back, and is now changed back to the first change. Anything sent to either address should make it to me. For clarity, the new address is:

Jeremy Riegel
HHC 173d STB
JBAD PRT
APO AE 09310