February 21, 2010
Hello again from Spin Boldak,
I think the spring time weather has finally arrived here in southern
Afghanistan. Our week started off bitter cold, but by Friday the
temperatures had returned to the 70's during the day. The forecast for
the foreseeable future calls for lows in the mid 40's with highs in the
mid 70's. I am hopeful this weather pattern will remain for an extended
period of time, but I know by April the heat will begin to return.
The big "shura" is knocking on our door; we will execute this event
tomorrow, the 22nd of February. The intent of this event is to update
all the local leaders on what has been accomplished together over the
past seven months. The focus is really an "eye to the future" - looking
to what we can accomplish together once again over the next few months.
Based on the rapport that has been built throughout the district and the
willingness to work together, I have large expectations as we finish out
our rotation in Spin Boldak. I believe we have set the table very well
for our follow-on brothers to further secure and develop this area of
southern Afghanistan.
This past week's operations led to a new type of IED - one never seen
before in the Kandahar province. Not only was the IED itself unique,
the location of the IED was different for us as well. The IED was found
on the underside of a commercial truck parked inside the Spin Boldak
Customs lot, an area we often frequent. Other than this one event, our
week consisted of our normal framework operations from the security,
governance, and a development perspective.
As we look to the future, Task Force Saint will be hosting an Afghan
Security Forces shura in the next two weeks, as well as a shura for a
sub-district called Taktepol (Pronounced: tack-ta-pole) during the month
of March as well. We will also begin our own mini training school for
our security force partners (five day course, conducted on the FOB).
The beginning of March will also see a large influx of visitors, to
include the return visit of General McChrystal, the commander for all of
Afghanistan. Finally, mid March will also see the start of serious
redeployment planning and preparations, to include future FOB expansion
to accommodate a larger presence in this area.
The "Heroes of the Week" are listed below for your review.
B Troop/8-1 CAV (BEAR CAV):
SGT Curtis Webb of 3rd Platoon, originally from Illinois, has been in
the Army for five years and currently serves as a Dismount Team Leader
and NCOIC for his Platoon Leader's Stryker. He is an enthusiastic and
vital member of the Grizzly Platoon, charged with training and helping
with the planning of all dismounted operations. Recently, he helped his
platoon train, plan, and execute a two-day operation to observe and
secure a key route vital for local commerce and traffic. SGT Webb and
his wife Jamie recently welcomed their first child into their family.
C Troop/8-1 CAV (CLOAK):
SPC Soliday is Cloak Troop's Hero of the Week. As a mortar man, SCP
Soliday handles the operation of the mortar tube and additionally serves
as a dismount on the Troop's small kill team (SKT). His positive
attitude, exemplary work ethic and dedication to the team make him
essential to both fire support and SKT operations. No matter how tough
the conditions, SPC Soliday can be relied upon to perform his duty. His
actions reflect great credit upon himself, Cloak Troop and the United
States Army.
D Troop/8-1 CAV (DAKOTA):
SGT Selesnew is a tactical site exploitation NCO who has contributed
greatly to Dakota Troop recently. He displays outstanding
professionalism and aggressively pursues indicators of Taliban presence
when he exploits enemy objectives. SGT Selesnew maintains a database of
all the evidence collected for the brigade and meticulously gathers
information forward in sector during offensive operations. He is a "go
to" NCO who links enemy evidence and turns it into intelligence worthy
of driving future targets. Recently, his team captured and translated
numerous enemy documents while conducting operations in Helmand
Province. He carefully captures the information and correlates the data
for the brigade staff. SGT Selesnew is an outstanding NCO, consummate
professional, and vital member to the Dakota team.
HHT/8-1 CAV (HOSTILE):
The HHT Hero of the Week is SGT Nathan Carlisle. SGT Carlisle is the
NCO in-charge of the Squadron TAC. He is responsible for manning,
training, and resourcing the crews for the Squadron Command group. Over
the last week, the TAC vehicles have been going through a maintenance
upgrade which has made SGT Carlisle balance the maintenance requirements
for his vehicles and personnel while ensuring all missions for TAC
vehicles were supported and accomplished. SGT Carlisle's dedication to
Hostile and the Blackhawk Squadron made him this week's HHT Hero of the
Week.
B Battery/3-17 FA (BULLDOG):
Bulldog's hero of this week is CPL Myers. CPL Myers has stepped up to
the challenge of being a section chief and has really helped Bravo
Battery succeed in completing our mission. His experience and knowledge
was very important to the manual computations that were required to
process multiple simultaneous fire missions and produce great results.
Overall, CPL Myers has really shown his leadership capabilities and
potential to do great things for the United States Army.
As I stated in earlier updates, we have decided to have our tour in
Afghanistan captured by a local artist in Washington. The artist is
currently working on a sketch, which we should be able to review in the
upcoming weeks. If you desire to purchase a print, our initial ordering
period runs through March 15th. God bless.
Sincerely,
LTC William J. Clark
Commander
Task Force Saint
"SAINT 6"
