Update from LTC Clark

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"