Monday, May 18, 2009
I'm on another bumpy Afghan road, in an armored SUV with three other guys from Chicago, watching the countryside go by through bullet-proof glass, listening to The White Stripes' "7 Nation Army."
If I had a dime for every time I've said that..
It's a different road than the one I came up on- and a much different set of circumstances (see earlier blog). The Chicago trio has come up from Camp Phoenix, near Kabul, to pick me up at Bagram Airfield. They would have come yesterday, but "intel on road conditions changed." That's all they told me at the time. Today I learned what that means.
First- let me tell you a couple of things: Illinois has a huge troop commitment here. It's the reason I came over. This is the largest deployment by members of the Illinois National Guard since World War II. The even bigger story is what they're doing. These guys are mentoring and retraining the Afghan National Police and Afghan National Army- forces known as much for their ability to fight (as Russia found out in the '80's) as for their level of corruption and disorganization.
These statements are my own and not endorsed by the US Army, but are generally regarded as fact- and so far I've seen nothing here to contradict them. In fact, I've experienced some of that disorganization first-hand. Maybe some more on that later...
Suffice it to say, there's a huge Illinois story over here. A Chicago story. I've been shooting it. I'm tripping over home-town men and women who are making major sacrifices and a huge difference here. The work they're doing with the local police and army will shape the future of this country. The humanitarian work, well.. I can't wait to get back and show you. But I have a lot of ground to cover before then.
So- I'm at the wrong base, essentially, and these guys are going to come and get me. Then they're not. Turns out the "intel on road conditions" that changed was that four soldiers from Georgia and one civilian contractor were targeted by an improvised explosive device, an IED, about 20 miles from here. It blew their armored Humvee to smithereens and sent the soldiers to the hospital. One was treated and released. Three were injured badly enough to require immediate airlift to Germany. All will survive. One was blown out through the Humvee's turret, fracturing his pelvis. Had he been properly strapped-in, per Army regulations, he almost certainly would have died. That's how it goes. Sometimes breaking the rules works out. Speaking of the rules- all of this information, as of this writing, has not been made official-- so officially, I can't tell you about it. But I'm here, so I am.
That IED attack meant I had to spend the night at Bagram's "Hotel California"-- media housing. I had my own room with cable TV and a nice meal in the biggest chow hall I've ever seen, complete with a curry bar. That's not a joke. There's also a Dairy Queen and pizza delivery. Why wouldn't there be? Twenty-thousand people or so live and work there. It's a combination of military personnel and civilian contractors, and the number changes all the time. The Hotel California served my desperate need for sleep just fine, but I couldn't wait to leave.
Bagram's a busy place; with secret missions launching from its flight-line at all hours- 300 yards from where I slept. But I can't report on them. There are poppy fields and mine fields on the outskirts of the base. I have shots of those, and of the mud-walled villages nearby- gutted by bombing runs during the Soviet invasion. Good pictures. Not what I'm here for.
What I'm here for is that Illinois story I was talking about- and I found it during that long armored SUV ride with those three guys from Chicago, as we talked about home and looked out over the nomads and their camels, a pair of M-4 rifles lightly rocking against my leg.
Very soon, I'm leaving on another trip, with some different Chicago guys and a young pediatric nurse from Springfield. This trip's going to be a lot more serious; they had my blood typed today. We're heading toward the Pakistan border, a place called Khaki Jabar, and Taliban country.
I'm on another bumpy Afghan road, in an armored SUV with three other guys from Chicago, watching the countryside go by through bullet-proof glass, listening to The White Stripes' "7 Nation Army."
If I had a dime for every time I've said that..
It's a different road than the one I came up on- and a much different set of circumstances (see earlier blog). The Chicago trio has come up from Camp Phoenix, near Kabul, to pick me up at Bagram Airfield. They would have come yesterday, but "intel on road conditions changed." That's all they told me at the time. Today I learned what that means.
First- let me tell you a couple of things: Illinois has a huge troop commitment here. It's the reason I came over. This is the largest deployment by members of the Illinois National Guard since World War II. The even bigger story is what they're doing. These guys are mentoring and retraining the Afghan National Police and Afghan National Army- forces known as much for their ability to fight (as Russia found out in the '80's) as for their level of corruption and disorganization.
These statements are my own and not endorsed by the US Army, but are generally regarded as fact- and so far I've seen nothing here to contradict them. In fact, I've experienced some of that disorganization first-hand. Maybe some more on that later...
Suffice it to say, there's a huge Illinois story over here. A Chicago story. I've been shooting it. I'm tripping over home-town men and women who are making major sacrifices and a huge difference here. The work they're doing with the local police and army will shape the future of this country. The humanitarian work, well.. I can't wait to get back and show you. But I have a lot of ground to cover before then.
So- I'm at the wrong base, essentially, and these guys are going to come and get me. Then they're not. Turns out the "intel on road conditions" that changed was that four soldiers from Georgia and one civilian contractor were targeted by an improvised explosive device, an IED, about 20 miles from here. It blew their armored Humvee to smithereens and sent the soldiers to the hospital. One was treated and released. Three were injured badly enough to require immediate airlift to Germany. All will survive. One was blown out through the Humvee's turret, fracturing his pelvis. Had he been properly strapped-in, per Army regulations, he almost certainly would have died. That's how it goes. Sometimes breaking the rules works out. Speaking of the rules- all of this information, as of this writing, has not been made official-- so officially, I can't tell you about it. But I'm here, so I am.
That IED attack meant I had to spend the night at Bagram's "Hotel California"-- media housing. I had my own room with cable TV and a nice meal in the biggest chow hall I've ever seen, complete with a curry bar. That's not a joke. There's also a Dairy Queen and pizza delivery. Why wouldn't there be? Twenty-thousand people or so live and work there. It's a combination of military personnel and civilian contractors, and the number changes all the time. The Hotel California served my desperate need for sleep just fine, but I couldn't wait to leave.
Bagram's a busy place; with secret missions launching from its flight-line at all hours- 300 yards from where I slept. But I can't report on them. There are poppy fields and mine fields on the outskirts of the base. I have shots of those, and of the mud-walled villages nearby- gutted by bombing runs during the Soviet invasion. Good pictures. Not what I'm here for.
What I'm here for is that Illinois story I was talking about- and I found it during that long armored SUV ride with those three guys from Chicago, as we talked about home and looked out over the nomads and their camels, a pair of M-4 rifles lightly rocking against my leg.
Very soon, I'm leaving on another trip, with some different Chicago guys and a young pediatric nurse from Springfield. This trip's going to be a lot more serious; they had my blood typed today. We're heading toward the Pakistan border, a place called Khaki Jabar, and Taliban country.
hey tom i'm praying for ya! when will you be back? please be very very careful. p and also i am going to ask you to say thank you tot he troops on my behalf. i have an old class mate of mine who is in iraq. i have thanks him for his services but its not the same! but please be very careful. be safe. :o)
Hey Tom,
I think you are doing a great thing out there. Keep up the good work. You have no idea how many people who have loved ones out there are getting a little piece of mind. P.S. Tell my brother (CSM Mark Bowman) that we love him and "stay safe"! :)
Thank you again and praying for all of you!
Is it possible to share your segment online and include the names of the soldiers you are riding with? I missed yesterday's segment and I just caught a piece of todays piece. My son has been in Nuristan since October 2008 and many of his friends from the Chicago area are also in various locations throughout Afghanistan. I would love to see them or even hear their names mentioned. Thank you for doing this story. It is important that we don't forget our troops and not to lose sight of what they are doing there.
Tom,
Thank you for shinning a bigger light on the fact that the Illinois Guard has taken such a large mission. Aside from reporting in some of the hometown papers, it seems no one realy knew we were gone. Thank you for opening their eyes.
Hi Tom
I am an Army Mom and want to thank you for your reporting. Please tell our troops we send our deepest Thank you for all they are doing and thier families sacrifice, as they keep all of us in America safe and ensure our freedoms.
Can you let us know if the troops need anything, like fly strips, baby wipes, or whatever and we can put boxes together to send.
Thanks again for all your reporting.
Proud Army Mom,
Marge Walsh
Be careful Tom, and thank all the soldiers for what they do! And thank you so much for reporting on all the various things going on there! It really gives us a well rounded view of what needs to be and is being done over there! God bless!
My husband has been in Asadabad in the Kabul province since October 2008. It's awesome to hear that people are making it known what our soldiers are going through over there. We can never thank them enough for what they are doing. My husband is missing seeing our 2 month and 20 month old daughters grow bigger and never complains about it. Just continues to do his job and complete his mission for being there. Please thank all the soldiers for their time and commitment.