Line of Sight

Running Down a Devil

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A U.S. Army Soldier from Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry runs towards a dirt devil in Qalat, Afghanistan, on Aug 13, 2011. The soldier is at a firing range in Qalat to zero in weapons with his Company. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Master Sgt. Jeffrey Allen)

Tea Time in Qalat

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A local standard – nuts, raisins, and no almonds left during a copious tea time with some Afghans in Qalat.

IED – Found

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An EOD team member wires up a IED (right) found a road off Highway One, near Qalat, to be detonated – this one was a five gallon bucket made with fertilizer.

Intro to Acronyms 101

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Spc. Benjamin Miller, from Delta Co., 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry, a National Guard unit from Salem, Illinois – attached for security detail for PRT Zabul – leaves the bunk room to clean truck parts in the late afternoon in Qalat, Afghanistan.

PRT stands Provincial Reconstruction Team, which is sort of an umbrella organization system for USAID, State, DOJ, Agriculture, the military, etc. to work with local governments on rebuilding the country. Some, but not all of them, are under ISAF – International Security Assistance Force – the NATO-led, multi-national security and development mission that is in charge of RC(S) – Regional Command South, which is made up of Kandahar, Helmand, Uruzgan, and Zabul provinces. I will leave out PRDC, QRF (tricky, there are two kinds), CSP, LGP, and CAP for now.

Patrolling Outside of Qalat

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Sgt. Joshua Schniers, from Delta Co., 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry, a National Guard unit from Salem, Illinois – a security escort with PRT Zabul – keeps an eye on a patrol at a village outside of Qalat, Afghanistan. The squad are investigating who set off an IED close to their base – and pass out flyers with hotline tips and hand-crank radios so the locals can get information from sources other than the Taliban.

Old Russian BTR Troop Carriers

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Old Russian troop carriers formerly used by Romanian soldiers to do patrols on Highway One in Zabul province, now in the backlot. They’ve since been upgraded to uparmored Humvees.