Local soldiers ‘awesome’ in Afghanistan

Speaking at length Saturday with a Barrow Journal reporter about his battalion’s “phenomenal” performance, Smith said with tears in his eyes: “I wish that the American people, in this case the citizens of Georgia and Barrow County, could truly understand how great these guys did.”

A DIFFERENT WORLD
The first challenge for the soldiers was to adjust to the country’s altitude and climate.

All of Winder’s soldiers had arrived in Afghanistan by June 1, 2009, flying into the international airport in the nation’s capital, Kabul.

“It was hot,” Smith said. “It was smoggy, hazy.”

The troops then were transported a couple of miles away to Camp Phoenix for a 3-5 day transition period before heading to Gardez in eastern Afghanistan.

“When we got to Gardez, which sits at about 7,600 feet above sea level in a valley, the air was clean, crisp,” Smith said. “It was still hot, but it was less hot, and there was no humidity.”

Gardez, he said, is the kind of place that most often comes to mind when one thinks of Afghanistan.

“There’s mountains and qalats, which are walled compounds that the Afghans live in. They are all over the place.

“It’s tan, sandy, with green trees. It’s actually pretty nice.”

However, at an altitude one-half mile higher than Denver, Colo., taking in enough oxygen was the first order of business.

“You could definitely tell you were not at sea level from an oxygen standpoint,” Smith said. “We had one older guy that had problems with that, but he eventually got used to it and stayed with us the whole time and came home with us.”

THIS MISSION
The battalion spent the first month replacing an American military operation that had been cobbled together from three branches of service.

“Our mission was we were bringing in a unit, a formal army unit, to do what was previously being done by ad hoc collection of individuals,” Smith said.

“That was one of our earliest challenges, wrapping our Army processes and standard operating procedures around something that was kinda muddling along previously. It had evolved into this non-traditional way of doing logistics and personnel.”

The Winder-based HHC or Headquarters Company then was responsible for managing the battalion’s 900-1000 soldiers who then began mentoring the Afghan police and army and the border police in logistics, operations and personnel, Smith said.

Winder’s Echo Company supported the companies in the battalion by maintaining equipment, delivering supplies and cooking.

Some soldiers with special skills were temporarily moved from the HHC and Echo companies to the other companies to serve as scouts, snipers, medics, mechanics and cooks, Smith said.

The biggest logistical challenge was the scope of the operation over four provinces that together were about the size of South Carolina, he said.

“One of the main things that we talked about before going was that everybody in the organization would have to be able to make moral, ethical and legal decisions in a decentralized environment,” Smith said.

“In an area the size of South Carolina, you need leaders who understand right and wrong and how to operate within the commander’s intent to get something done.

“In many cases, they were, by air, hours away and, by ground, in some cases days away. For the most part, literally 99 percent of the time, everybody did that from the company commanders and first sergeants all of the way to individual soldiers.”

One of the highlights of the deployment was the battalion’s involvement in mentoring security forces for the August 2009 re-election of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Smith said.

“In all the areas where we had guys, it went as smoothly as something in Afghanistan can go. We maintained security so the enemy wasn’t blowing up polling sites.”

Then, in late October or early November, the mission changed.

“The change was the result of Gen. (Stanley) McChrystal coming in,” Smith said.

“He started to change how entire coalitions were conducting operations; it was for the better.

“He put us in charge of the province of Paktya and allowed us to consolidate our companies, which was good from a force-protection standpoint.”

Each company then took responsibility for a portion of the province and handled everything in the area, Smith said.

“They incorporated state department representatives in their team, civil affairs engineers in their team, representatives from USAID development people for building roads and schools and stuff like that, as well as additional intelligence collection people,” he said.

“So at the company and platoon level, those guys had all these different capabilities that none of us had been trained formally to do by ourselves individually…

“All of our guys dealt with mayors, town leaders, police chiefs, tribal leaders in a very complex environment of interpersonal relations. They were ambassadors.”

Effectively handling the complex mission required maturity and quick thinking, Smith said.

“They had to think, ‘What is this guy’s motive? Is he really representing the tribe, or is he just out for himself so the Americans give him stuff?’

“It’s very complicated. I called it ‘interpersonal chess’ because it was like trying to figure out all the pieces of this thing, and of course the board changed every day.

“It was very, very interesting.”

The guard’s citizen soldiers met the new challenge, having been prepared not only by the army but also by their lives, he said.

“It required a different skill set. It required spontaneity and wisdom that these solders had gained from just living life.”


DEATH STRIKES EARLY
While everyone from the outset understood the mission would be dangerous, the degree of the risk became clear only three weeks after the troops’ arrival in Afghanistan.

1st Sgt. John D. Blair, 38, of Calhoun was killed June 20 by a rocket-propelled grenade that struck his vehicle.

“He was fighting, was a gunner on one of our vehicles, and had fired 80 of his 100 rounds, killing two, when he was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade,” Smith said. “He died instantly.”

Three months later, the same Lawrenceville company lost another leader.

Army Staff Sgt. Alex French IV, 31, of Milledgeville was assigned to the Lawrenceville company when he was killed Sept. 30 in Khowst.

“It was a suicide vehicle with improvised explosive devices, a car full of explosives,” Smith said. “It flipped the 26-ton vehicle 90 degrees onto its left side. Staff Sgt. French was sitting on the passenger side of the vehicle, as the vehicle commander, which was next to the driver. He was killed immediately.”

However, everyone else manning the vehicle was spared serious injury, because French that day had made sure they were wearing all of their protective equipment, were properly strapped in, and were positioned correctly, Smith said.

“When I look at that situation, tragic though it was in that we lost Sgt. French, even in death he was displaying what a great leader he was for his guys. It was a real tribute to him. He was a popular leader and he was capable.”

A third sergeant, from Newnan’s company, is still undergoing treatment for a severe brain injury sustained in combat, Smith said.

“He was wearing a helmet, but the bullet got him under the helmet and did a good bit of damage. Everybody was surprised he made it. I was told later that when they brought him in at the emergency room at Bagram Hospital at Bagram Air Force Base, the neurosurgeon said it it weren’t for the medic and how he had bandaged up his head, he probably would not have made it.”

Asked if the incidents intensified his concern for the safety of the men and women under his command, Smith said they did.

“I was worried about everybody from day one. But one thing I was not – I was not surprised. It was really just a matter of time.

“You can do everything possible from a risk-mitigation standpoint, and we do, but this is a dangerous business.”

None of Winder’s soldiers lost their lives or received catastrophic injuries during the deployment.

“I frequently say we were very lucky but we make our own luck,” Smith said.

“We had good leaders who made sure the soldiers did things to standard, and we had good soldiers who think.

“This is a thinking man’s or woman’s situation. And our guys were great at it.”

Smith added: “I think the National Guard is greater at it than the rest of the army.

Our guys have another life, another skill set. They are a little older and theoretically more mature. And they do great at dealing with Afghans because of that maturity.”

EARNED RECOGNITION
Two soldliers from Winder’s HHC company that were assigned to other companies during the deployment came back with special recognition.

Staff Sgt. Alden Williams received a Bronze Star Medal for outstanding service as a medic. He had just completed his physical therapy degree at the time of his deployment last spring.

Cpl. Corey Speck has been nominated for a Bronze Star Medal with a V for valor for saving the life of a Polish soldier.

The soldier had been shot several times by Taliban fighters on Sept. 10, 2009.

Speck, the only American soldier on hand, pulled the wounded soldier to safety and tended to his wounds while continuing to fight.

Smith said he is “tremendously proud” of his entire battalion’s performance.

“There was very little I actually did personally, but the idea of setting that kind of tone for the organization and having the organization execute it in such adverse circumstances successfully makes me very proud.”