Sabari

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-217 days till Afghan national elections

Like many of the other camps in Afghanistan, Camp Clark is a mixture of different branches of service. Most of the people here stay on the camp, but a few of us have to leave to go on missions. I was usually tasked on what is called 'Thunder missions', which has a select few of us (usually 8-10 people) travel with Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers to remote towns looking for Taliban for 1-2 weeks at a time. Each mission, we consult with the local elders and try to get any information we can. It is purely on an informal friendly basis, and the goal is always to leave a positive impact on any of the locals that we meet. Our first thunder mission was to Sabari. Just getting there is a task in itself, because you have to go up via route Alaska, a road infamous for being littered with IEDs. I have went up this road probably 10 times and each time a vehicle in our convoy has encountered an IED. It usually takes 5-6 hours just to travel 20 miles because movement is so slow. After we got to Sabari there were mortar attacks almost immediately. Within 30 minutes of my arrival, an ANA truck hit an IED and we had to give medical attention and medivac 3 casualties. Each day there were either mortar or rocket attacks, and one patrol to a remote village ended up in a major assault on our convoy as we tried to leave, but fortunately no one was injured.

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Photos

On patrol
Im pretty easy to spot-I always have that huge aid bag strapped on me.

Rest
Takin a break for pictures

Puppy Power
My other kryptonite.

Talking to locals
We go into each village and befriend the locals and try to find out if they have heard or seen any Taliban. Im the one on the left that looks like Im getting ready for a space walk.

hair dye
I still havent figured out why they dye their children's hair like this.

convoy
Leaving for another mission

air support
When we go into a village that we think is threatening or need help during an attack, we usually get air support from Kiowa helicopters, which provide reconnassaince and direct fire support. We are leaving after just being bombarded with rockets and mortars. The Taliban usually let up when they see aircraft of any kind.

another patrol
Heading into another remote village

medevac
Treating a soldier for shrapnel in the head-most of the pictures taken today weren't fit to publish here.

local boy
I try to keep candy on me so I can give it out to any of the kids I run into

Blackhawk
Medevac leaving for Salerno

Sundown
Its been a long day, but the scenery is always nice to look at

smoke
smoke is used for landing the medevac chopper today, and the roto wash makes everything much more difficult to manage.

recon
A kiowa checking out the area before we move in.

donkey
Donkeys are an important animal for subsistence in the Afghan way of life