Will134

RIP The following are people I served with here in Afghanistan who were killed in action (go to the links for autobiographical info): ... read more

-10 days till Afghan national elections. The Georgia National Guard (48th)deployed record numbers of soldiers to Afghanistan-most of them took over ARSIC East, the eastern portion of Afghanistan encompassing the regions occupied by Illinois national guardsman. Unfortunately, our rip-out date was extended a few weeks so we could provide support out west while waiting for the 82nd to come in and take over. After the Georgia guys arrived in Camp Clark, I flew to Gardez and then to Kabul, where I settled at Camp Blackhorse for 7 weeks training and mentoring a new crop of Afghan soldiers, the 207th RCC (Route Clearance Company). From there we formed a 200+ vehicle convoy and drove from Camp Blackhorse by Kabul, to Camp Stone in Herat province next to the Iranian border, a journey along the ring route that ... read more

-114 days till Afghan national elections My next assignment was a 3 week mission at Spera Combat Outpost. It sits on top of a small mountain surrounded by a bunch of taller mountains along the Pakistan border. There isnt much available, we have to cook our own meals and the living conditions arent great, but most of the guys that get assigned there seem to like it. Two PBS reporters for Frontline came with us and covered the entire mission. It is scheduled to air in October. I was very busy, as I was seeing both ANA soldiers and locals brought up to our camp in need of treatment. We were attacked a few times and had an incident in which a troubled ANA soldier shot up some of his fellow soldiers. One of the ANA ... read more

The best part of my deployment here is our humanitarian aid missions. Each week, we take donations sent to us by U.S. citizens, and give them to locals in the area. We also give each person a physical exam and treatment if needed, and give them medications they ordinarily wouldn't be able to receive. Most of the patients are children, and they get excited about the smallest things that I have always taken for granted. Many of them were camera shy, and probably hadn't seen one before. I'm always left wondering what is going to happen to these people. And you will never see any of this on your local news.... read more

-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 ... read more