Word from the front

One of the nice side effects of the internet is rapid access to the commentary of troops in the field. The military is grappling with issues of operational security - but there are plenty of contractors and hangers on who are free to blog.

I've been following Free Range International for awhile now, and it's a trip. You learn things.

Like - how not to meet with Afghan leaders and deliver food and medicine:

The [US] force rolls into the town on MRAP’s with full battle kit, a bunch of “H[umanitarian] A[id]” aid bags full of tea packets, soccer balls and school supplies, two terps [interpreters], some medical staff, and no plan.  For those of you who have never been to Afghanistan let me clue you into a fact – the last thing in the world these people need is tea.  They have plenty and they hate Lipton tea bags because they suck – that is like rolling into a Mexican border town and giving the locals packets of cocaine and boxes of 5.56 ammo – they have enough of that shit … although the thought counts for something I guess.

The [meeting with the town leader] doesn’t go well.  The locals bum rush the supplies, the medics have no female terp and are also getting overwhelmed to the point of panic by people who no doubt have a ton of problems such as infected sores, intestinal parasites, malaria etc.. which the Americans could easily treat if they had the time, patience and a clue.  They see a young man snapping pictures with a cell phone – something Afghans do all the time – and interpret this as possibly hostile activity so they scan him with the BATS (Biometric Automated Tool Set)  and erase his cell phone.  Of what possible relevance these cell phone pics could be remains a mystery to me.    Young Afghans taking cell phone pictures is what one expects to see and is therefore not a “rule of opposites” scenario.

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Let me provide the yellow.  In order to do [Key Leader Engagements] you need to engage the “key leaders” in a manner consistent with your objectives.  If your objective is to provide aid and make new friends how should the company commander present himself?  I vote for he drives in with his terp in an unarmored SUV; sits down with the local elders and asks permission to come in with his company and also for their help distributing some supplies. You ask him to provide male and female interpreters as well as supervisors to assist with the distribution of aid and you agree to the rate for these folks.  You both agree exactly how the MEDCAP will go and pay for supervisors – both male and female to do that too.  Leave the security outside the village and walk in without all the body armor – side arms or slung rifles are  no big deal they are a fact of life in this country.  The visit is supposed to be about trust and you can only show trust with actions …. not words.  If the elders do not hold up their end of the bargain you leave.  It is that simple – Pashtunwali cuts both ways and if they won’t play ball they should get the stick … or just be ignored.

You also learn about defending fixed locations:

[We] are looking at a ridge line some 600 meters away which is the attack point for...gunmen who fire on this post regularly.  There are four [Afghan National Army] soldiers and four [Afghan National Police] policemen manning this position and they have a Hummer mounted M60 machinegun, and RPK machinegun and their rifles for defense.  Apparently the bad guys tend to attack  in the evening when the ANP re-supply truck arrives with chow and they have wounded at least two ANP policemen this month.

What is frustrating to guys like [us] is the fact that we could easily sort out this threat with a good machinegun squad and a mortar – manned by proper infantry.  An American squad with a sharp squad leader would be perfect for a job like this.  The reason why American infantry is so effective is that their machineguns come with tripods and T&E’s which are traversing and elevation mechanisms.  Machineguns are deadly in the defense because you can dial them in using a map, range finders, a little math and test firing.  There are five different firing spots on the ridge across from this position and each of them should be dialed in on range cards so that the leader calls out a target designator when he wants to shift fire.  The machinegunner than dials that target in on his T&E and he can rock and roll.  A mortar which has been placed in properly can do exactly the same thing – register the targets allowing for first round hits which saves ammo and pumps up the troops.

You also get cross links to blogs like Afghan Quest - which write about how the army hasn't changed much. The guys that do stuff get hassled by the guys who don't.