Members of 1st Platoon, Blackwatch Co., 2-1 Infantry, look for a downed “Raven” UAV from another battalion near Hutal village, along Highway One, in Kandahar. The Raven is rather small – it weighs a only few pounds, and has a four foot wingspan, and is particular useful with infantry operations.

Lt. Nicholas Privette leads members of 1st platoon, the “Roughnecks,” on cordoned search through nearby Hutal village, looking for insurgents that may be holed up in the area.

Spc. Anthony Hernandez sets up his 240 in a wagon at the entrance of an alleyway while on patrol with 1st platoon, the “Roughnecks,” Blackwatch Co., 2-1 Infantry, near COP Rath in western Kandahar.

(On a semi-related note, these kind gentlemen in the Roughnecks, gave me a warm room in a genuine building last night. Let’s just say, the last few nights previously were rather cold – generator issues – without heat in the tent, despite a woolie cap, clothes and a sleeping bag. Kings among men, to say the least…..)

Members of 3rd platoon, Bravo Co., 4-23 Infantry have decorated their Stryker with a favorite deployment theme – and as they told me, “because they like pirates.” Then the rest of them chimed in, chuckling, to explain further, “Yeah! Ass pirates!”

Sgt. Timothy Guichard (right) prepares to leave on a patrol, going to a nearby village to ask locals about IEDs that have been planted in the area. I think Mr. Fury would be proud.

Pfc. Israel Lupercio, Pfc. Nicholas Santos, and Spc. Kain Perkins, part of the Route Clearance Patrol – the anti-IED road sweepers, with the 4th Engineers, 576th Engineer Co., play spades while relaxing before their patrol early the next day.

Sgt. Mikael Barrow, with 2-1’s Blackwatch Company, exits a nomad’s hut after searching it on a patrol with Afghan police in Maywan district, Kandahar. And, yes, mustaches are basically required in this unit.

The sign posted (lower left) at one of the gyms on FOB Ramrod:

THE MANS GYM

-Open to the public

-Open 24 hrs

Rules

-No posing

-No standing around chatting while real men lift

-No whining about lack of equipment, real men make do

-Profanity highly encouraged

-Grunting and gutteral sounds of pain highly encouraged

"I'll love you forever."

Quietly working, Steve Yoczik and others volunteer their time on Veterans Day, painting walls at a Washington, D.C. Veterans home.

Spc. Michael Holt, with 2-1’s Blackwatch company, prepares to mount his Stryker before an early morning mission in western Kandahar.

]]> http://militarytimes.com/blogs/line-of-sight/2009/11/11/morning-truck-ride/feed/ 0 http://militarytimes.com/blogs/line-of-sight/2009/11/10/cell-phone-man/ http://militarytimes.com/blogs/line-of-sight/2009/11/10/cell-phone-man/#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:17:19 +0000 Chris Maddaloni http://militarytimes.com/blogs/line-of-sight/?p=997

While we were on the way to visit the nearby Afghan National Army base, someone spotted a man watching military movements, making calls on a cell phone. The Strykers were quickly diverted, and troops went from one abandoned house to next  to look for him. He was spotted running into a cluster of fruit stands, shops, and a mosque – but, natch, disappeared just as fast.

The SLDN (Servicemembers Legal Defense Network) held a memorial service in honor of Veterans Day at the gravesite of Tech Sgt. Leonard Matlovich, "one of the first to challenge the military’s exclusion of GLBT people from the armed forces," at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009.

A little Afghan girl watches soldiers search a compound for suspicious materials in Luy Karez, Kandahar.

In the village of Luy Karez, searching compound to compound – an IED hotspot for the area.

]]> http://militarytimes.com/blogs/line-of-sight/2009/11/08/sound-system/feed/ 0 http://militarytimes.com/blogs/line-of-sight/2009/11/07/tatooine/ http://militarytimes.com/blogs/line-of-sight/2009/11/07/tatooine/#comments Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:59:47 +0000 Chris Maddaloni http://militarytimes.com/blogs/line-of-sight/?p=978

Afghanistan is a complicated place, and although grammar police may hate mixed metaphors, this place is rife with ‘em… Last time, in Zabul, I keep thinking of the Wild West. But western Kandahar is definitely all Star Wars. About four people today on the patrol with the 2-1’s Blackwatch all mentioned Tatooine to me. Take my word for it, around here, you can’t understate all often this place evokes a little slice of Hollywood fantasy gone rogue.

Soldiers move their bags in the middle of the night from storage to prepare for deployment to another FOB – as one of them put it succinctly, “They don’t tell me where! They just tell me to move.”

Members of the 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry regiment pause at a memorial service at FOB Ramrod for Pfc. Brian Bates, 20, from Gretna, La. He was killed in Kandahar last week by an IED while driving a Stryker on patrol.

Jaak Aaviksoo, Estonian Minister of Defense, at the Estonian Embassy in Washington, D.C. on Monday, November 2, 2009. Estonia has soldiers in Afghanistan, but this time they are on the Afghan's side. Much different than 30 years ago.

John M. McHugh, 21st Secretary of the Army, speaks during his Arrival Ceremony at Conmy Hall, Ft. Myer, VA, on Monday, November 2, 2009.

A roadside air compressor for your tires in Kabul – they are a common sight on roads that aren’t in total gridlock (i.e., traffic circles)…. the roads are so bad that the taxi driver said he fills his tires up to three times a week.

Vintage British empire weapons, collected from across the Af-Pak region, on sale at the Gandamack Lodge in Kabul. Ask about the WW1-era Morris machine gun in the back, still fresh from the factory, with original grease and oil in the stock. And yes, for a few hundred bucks, they come with bayonets – but do they fit in a Fed Ex box?

A door gunner in a Chinook in Afghanistan last June – and Sean and I are on our way back to Zabul, via Kabul first.

5/20/09: A young shepherd in the mountains near FOB Baylough in remote, central Zabul Province, Afghanistan – if you want, check out his tunes.

06/11/09: Hundreds of new members of the ANP graduate from a 16-week long training course at Camp Scorpion in Kandahar. They are issued new weapons, a Hungarian rifle similar to AK-47’s.

5/19/09: Sgt. Trent Barnes from Bravo Company, 1-4 Infantry, calls in a 120mm mortar attack on hills nearby where insurgents are gathering to attack near FOB Baylough, Zabul province.

6/6/09: The end of result of this mission – another angle of the new ANP recruit, Atam, who is helping search the remains of a Taliban KIA from the night before. A planned assault by PMT Viper on village occupied by the Taliban had been called off due to rough terrain – but the helicopter escort  intercepted a few Taliban fleeing on motorcycles, still carrying their weapons.

05/25/09: Police Mentoring Team Viper’s XO, Staff Sgt. Sean Tremblay, from Williamsburg, Va., prepares to search a building in Kadu, in Afghanistan’s southern Zabul province. It’s remote even by Afghan standards, where villagers have mistaken U.S. forces for being Russian.

Right after Afghan National Police have swept through the village, Tremblay follows close behind. “It’s their country, we’re just escorting them. I’m going in to double-check,” he said. You look for things that may be out of the ordinary for a village, like binos or two-way radios. There is no law against owning them, but it gives you an idea of what you’re dealing with.”

Sean Naylor and I will will be reporting again from Afghanistan in about a week, so I’ll be posting some pictures this week from our last trip that didn’t get posted last time. We’ll be retracing our steps in Zabul province, and perhaps some other districts – we’ll see as our embed develops….

___________________________________

June 6th, 2009: Spc. Derek Houser, 26, from Church Hill, Tn., a machine gunner with Bravo Company, 1-4 Infantry, runs to his bunker guard position during a rocket attack at FOB Baylough in the mountains near Qalat, Zabul Province, Afghanistan. “I heard the first one come in, and grabbed my kit and started running,” Houser said. “Your training just kicks in.” It was the first time the base had been attacked in almost six months.

Houser – whose estimates that he’s been mortared about 40-50 times -paused briefly for cover behind a Hesco bastion. “I heard the whistle of the second one, and started to watch them walk the rounds in, to see what pattern they were going in. It was about average – four rounds – but they were a pretty good team to get one inside the wire.”

Graham McGinnis from Cape May, NJ shows off his racing outfit at the start of the 2009 Wilderness Challenge outside of Fayetteville, Wv.  “Basically I run for comfort” states McGinnis.

On stage at the AUSA annual meeting and exposition in Washington, D.C., on Monday, October 5, 2009.

An international group of military attendees at the opening ceremony of the AUSA annual meeting and exposition in Washington, D.C., on Monday, October 5, 2009.

The start of the Brigade of Midshipmen Dress Parade at the Naval Academy the day before a Navy vs. Air Force football game. Nearly all of the class, around 4000, participate in the ceremony – it’s done before every home game.

Rob found some pics in April of Iranian snipers on parade, so I’ll respond with this week’s parade gem… ashame the weapons don’t match:

Militiawomen receive inspection in a parade of the celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, in central Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 1, 2009 (Xinhua/Liu Dawei).

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates hosts an honor cordons to welcome Israeli Minister of Defense Ehud Barak to the Pentagon.

Staff Sgt. Nate Ford from Fort Benning, Georgia taking a break during a blood timeout at the 2009 U.S. Army Combatives tournament at Fort Benning.  He came in second to Sgt. Joe Clark from Fort Lewis, Washington in the Flyweight division.  The blood on his shirt appears to have mostly come from Clark.

On the Al Basrah Oil Terminal, the Iraqis live in what the Americans call "The White House."

CE2 Carl Harms helps pull in a load of food from a supply ship at the Al Basrah Oil Terminal off the coast of Iraq on Wednesday, August 12, 2009.

Army Linguist Payam Abrarahadi, 22, from Tehran, Iran, examines his naturalization certificate after a citizenship ceremony at the Pentagon.

Capt. William Goodman, Navy Nurse Corps, fills out a 16-page survey after checking in his gear at the Warrior Transition Center at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, on Tuesday, August 11, 2009. Capt. Goodman spent four months in Kuwait and two-and-a-half months in Khandahar during his IA (Individual Augmentee) tour.

Flight deck crew does a FOD walk in 120+ degree heat (and high humidity) on board the USS Reagan (CVN 76), underway in the Arabian Gulf. I will do my best to never complain about the heat again after watching these kids drag chains, move aircraft, do maintenance and refuel planes with tutrtlenecks, long sleeves and float coats on, the sun beating down and the heat of jet engines to top it all off.

Free weights at the outdoor gym on the Al Basrah Oil Terminal.

Just to give an idea of scale...the smallest is an Iraqi defender (right), a dhow, and a VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier.)

The crew of a RHIB (rigid hull inflatable boat) get a treat - a case of root beer - from the Al Basrah Oil Terminal off the coast of Iraq on Tuesday, August 11, 2009. The RHIB was from one of the many small boys surrounding the terminal.

Release the RHIB from the ramp on the back of the Coastal Patrol Typhoon in the North Arabian Gulf.

FOD - Foreign Object Damage. This Sailor holds up a tiny piece of something that he found on the deck of the USS Reagan. Videographer Colin Kelly just got back from Afghanistan where he flew in an Afghan National Army Air Corps MI-17 helo after hearing about the maintainer replacing the fuel filter and dropping all kinds of FOD under the bird.

Fitness equipment is spread out all over the USS Reagan (CVN 76), some inside, some outside, allowing Sailors to work out close to home or close to work, or as far away from it all as they can get.

The Al Basrah Oil Terminal is covered in scars from shrapnel, mortars, bullets...the salty sea air turns the jagged edges to rusty, brittle acne that catches your soles and sleeves and pant legs and slowly weakens the structure.