Book Review: "On Afghanistan's Plains"

Book Review: "On Afghanistan's Plains" by Barry Alexander

A common criticism of contemporary war literature—at least the stuff that gets mass-market, big media attention—is that so much of it seems to focus on kinetic "kill" narratives, such as those of snipers and SEAL teams. Beyond communicating the tactics, heroics, and sacrifices of a few individuals on the battlefield, some would argue, stories such as "American Sniper" and "Lone Survivor" do little to expand our understanding of the wars we have sent our soldiers to wage on our behalf.

War is bigger, of course, than body counts and battlefield actions. For the past 15 years, in Iraq and Afghanistan, armed forces have been engaged in various attempts to stabilize and legitimize whole countries. Our national narratives have been targeted toward nation-building, not just killing bad guys.

To tell such a complicated collective story, we need diversity in form: memoirs and movies, poems and plays, operas and dance. We need diversity in perspective: not just stories of generals and grunts, but of medics and military police, of aviators and truck drivers. Finally, we need diversity in voice: the notes of allies, civilians, and even our enemies should be added to our wartime chorus.

Memoirs such as Barry Alexander's "On Afghanistan's Plains" and movies such as the Danish-language "Krigen" ("A War"), deliver on all three counts. They expand our potential understanding of our own wars, beyond the expected kill-kill-bang-bang, beyond our soldierly stereotypes, beyond our U.S.-centric tunnel-vision.

In a 20-year career, British soldier Barry Alexander served as both enlisted and officer, and on deployments to Bosnia, Northern Ireland, Sierra Leone, Iraq, and Afghanistan. In 2007, he deployed to Southern Afghanistan's Helmand Province. There, he enjoyed a privileged position from which to observe the modern battlefield, not by class or rank, but by function. Alexander's duties as a nursing officer variously located him at cutting edge of the fight; with the A.T.V. used to shuttle wounded back to the company medical tent; and with the battalion-level trauma center. The unit's leadership also circulated medical personnel to different locations within its area of operations, so Alexander takes the reader to more than just a single combat outpost.

Alexander delivers his war story with straight-faced humor, straight-forward insights, and more than a few poetic turns and bits of color. Consider, for example, this application of coalition gunfire and wit:

The bombs hit their target, the orange flicker of the explosion engulfing the hilltop, followed a split-second later by the sound of a thousand roof slates crashing onto a marble floor as a column of thick black smoke and dust climbs into the sky. There is a silence for about thirty seconds before the sound of a lone AK is heard firing in impotent anger in our general direction. We figure that if the guy can survive that amount of ordnance being dropped on his head, he probably deserves to live.

Veterans of other armies will enjoy learning British military lingo. What today's U.S. soldier calls a "Dee-FAC" (short for "dining facility"—and what older soldiers would call a "chow hall") is to Alexander and his mates a "cookhouse." When casualty notifications are being made back home, rather than finding themselves in a "communications blackout," the British troops go into a posture of "minimisation." Rather than "redeploying" to their hometowns, returning U.K. soldiers go through period of social decompression called "normalisation." It is fun to compare and contrast the jargon.

It is in the translation into plain language the tactics and techniques of countiner-insurgency ("COIN") that Alexander most serves the reader, placing his personal experience of Afghanistan and war into expanded operational context. In one passage, for example, he puts a patrol into Kajaki Olya into the dictates of "Clear, Find, Defeat, Reassure":

Our job is to […] clear the village, find any enemy and defeat them, thereby reassuring any local civilians that the Afghan government is providing them with security and that NATO forces have the ability and willingness to take on the Taliban. This tactic is known as 'cutting the grass.' The idea is that each of the District Centres forms the centre point of an 'ink spot' […]

Additionally, Alexander's prose offers occasional pearls of pithy wisdom, some of which seem ideal candidates for posting on garrison office walls. Two favorites of mine:

• "The enduring folklore of foreign armies operating in Afghanistan tells us that we can borrow an Afghan, but we will never be able to buy him."
• "There is nothing worse for morale and professional reputation than seeing medical personnel fall ill."

Having spent nearly 246 pages and a vicarious 6 months in Afghanistan with the author, however, my greatest delight was to discover that his post-war reflections transcended into poetry. And not just the poetry of the ages, but his own.

I should have been tipped off, of course, by book's title, which is rooted in Anglo-Afghan history and the poetry of Rudyard Kipling. The memoir title alludes to Kipling's 1895 poem, "Young British Soldier." During one battle, Alexander writes: "I am surprised to hear a lance corporal quoting Shakespeare: 'Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing' […] I reply that Kipling would be more appropriate, reciting 'When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains' […]"

(Personal note: British reservists, apparently, quote Shakepeare and Kipling. In my own experience, deployed U.S. citizen-soldiers are more apt to quote movies, such as 1993's "Tombstone.")

Later, I realized that I'd first encountered Alexander's words in "Heroes: 100 Poems from the New Generation of War Poets," a 2011 anthology I frequently recommend to writers and readers of modern war poetry. In the last chapters of his memoir, Alexander tells of how and why he started to write poetry, and places a few of his published works into further context. "Writing the poem ['Care Under Fire'] proves cathartic," Alexander writes in his memoir, "and I feel that it has helped exorcise some of the demons that stayed behind to fight a rear-guard action following my time with the psych."

On social media and elsewhere, he calls the "Care Under Fire" poem the seed that grew first into an essay, called "Raid on Mazdurak," and subsequently into his book-length memoir. The poem ends with this stanza:

In camp, a debrief, rifle cleaned, med kit replenished and scoff
Minimise in force—can’t phone home; even if I could, what would I say?
Sleep comes hard, tears are shed, images of the wounded on my mind
A prayer for the boys on patrol tomorrow and the ones that are left behind

In summary: "On Afghanistan's Plains" delivers much-needed new perspective, context, and salve for the modern soldier's soul. I highly recommend.

*****

"On Afghanistan's Plains" is available in print and e-reader formats, including paperback and Amazon Kindle.

Two New Films Report on Afghan War, 2007 & 2011

Two new documentaries hit store shelves last week, each potentially key to updating viewers' on how U.S. troops have fought in Afghanistan in recent years. The first, "Korengal," is a companion to the 2011 Academy Award-nominated "Restrepo," by film-makers Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington. Both films follow a platoon of 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.) soldiers in Eastern Afghanistan's Kunar Province in 2007.

The second new documentary, "The Hornet's Nest," compiles the Emmy-winning experiences of father-and-son journalists Mike and Carlos Boettcher, during a year-long embed in 2011 with 3rd BCT, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Kunar Province; and Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, Eighth Marines in Southern Afghanistan's Helmand Province.

(Readers of the Red Bull Rising blog may remember the special place "Restrepo" had in the 2010-2011 deployment of the Iowa National Guard's 2nd BCT, 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division to Eastern Afghanistan. As the feature film neared its 2010 National Geographic Channel release—and recognizing that the Iowa troops were heading to potentially similar terrain later that year—the film's media relations crew forwarded a preview copy of "Restrepo" for use during the unit's pre-deployment training.)

Where "Restrepo" depicts the daily challenges faced by a small group of soldiers, without much time for analysis or reflection, "Korengal" offers space enough to let its subjects (and its viewers) breathe. The content is often just as dramatic as that of the first film, but now, we hear and see the soldiers' struggles to render meaning from their experiences. Topics range from dealing with boredom and adrenalin, to racism and tattoos in the military.

Watching "Korengal" feels like finally catching up with some old Army buddies. The soldiers are a few years older now, better groomed, and better fed. But you can see how Afghanistan is still a constant in each of their lives. Some apparently continue to serve.

The dramatic peak of "The Hornet's Nest" involves Operation Strong Eagle III, which took place in March and April 2011. The helicopter-borne "air-assault" operation reportedly involved 400 U.S. troops and 300 Afghan National Army soldiers, on a search for Taliban targets that included al Qaeda leader Qari Zia Rahman. (For an ABC News report on the operation, including text and video, click here.)

Both "Korengal" and "The Hornet's Nest" depict in high-definition the dangers created by steep slopes, lack of cover, and highly motivated enemies. And, through the lenses of each of their respective reporting teams, also come the stories of the journalists themselves. "We only do this to make a difference," 60-year-old Mike Boettcher tells the camera near his film's completion. "That's why you constantly keep going back. Keep fighting, keep trying to tell these stories. Otherwise, my whole life's been for nothing ... You know something? It's been for something. It has."

Where "Korengal" probes the interior motivations and reactions of its subjects, "The Hornet's Nest" goes further afield in its exterior explorations. Viewers hear the angry buzz of incoming sniper attacks, and witness detonations of Improvised Explosive Devices (I.E.D.) through soldiers' windshields. They see the grim-faced courage of soldiers, searching for mines with hand-held devices, and running to aid of their wounded comrades. The scenery ranges from the hard-scrabble mountains and lush valleys of Eastern Afghanistan, to the sandy, marshy lowlands of the south.

In short, each of these new documentaries provides a key piece toward promoting viewers' understanding, not only of the who-what-where-and-how of soldiering in Afghanistan, but of the intellectual and moral ground we inhabit today.

Watch these movies, before America pulls up stakes.

Watch these movies, to remember the tolls taken, and prices paid on our behalf.

*****

Purchase "The Hornet's Nest" on DVD or Blu-ray, or via streaming services.

Purchase "Korengal" on DVD and Blu-ray, or via streaming services.

Purchase "Restrepo" on DVD or Blu-ray or via streaming services.

"Restrepo" co-producer Tim Hetherington was killed in April 2011 while covering conflict in Libya. A documentary of his life and work, including his experiences in Afghanistan, has also recently been released via streaming media. Purchase "Which Way is the Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington."

Scenes from a Memorial Motorcycle Ride

More than 250 riders participated in the Third Annual Donny Nichols Memorial Ride and Poker Run, which originated in Shell Rock, Iowa last Saturday morning, Aug. 30.

On a gray Saturday morning alongside a small Iowa river, more than 200 motorcycles and their riders assemble a rolling memorial to U.S. Army Spc. Donny Nichols, killed in action in Eastern Afghanistan in 2011. There are hugs and handshakes, laughs and raffles, drinks and food. There are also still a few tears. And, of course, the more-than-occasional sound of two-piston thunder.

Located along a river with which it shares a name, the town of Shell Rock, Iowa, pop. 1,296, boasts an picturesque downtown. The main drag is a few blocks of brick storefronts, comprising a couple of bars, two hair salons, a daycare, the Solid Rock Baptist Church, and city hall. On this day, both drinking establishments post signs welcoming bikers in for breakfast. The sky is overcast, which, I am told, isn't necessarily a bad thing. Fewer sunburns that way, one of the riders says. There is enough wind to wave the flag. Occasionally, the sun knocks though the ceiling. In all, good weather for a memorial event—partly sunny, with dark cloud bunting.

Memorial to Army Spc. Donny
Nichols located at Waverly-
Shell Rock High School,
Waverly, Iowa.

Donny Nichols, 21, was killed April 13, 2011 in Laghman Province, when an improvised mine detonated under the vehicle in which he was traveling. There's a memorial stone to Nichols now, located on the grounds of Waverly-Shell Rock High School, from which he graduated in 2009.

Equally important in maintaining his memory, however, is an annual memorial motorcycle ride and poker run his friends and family run in his name. This year marks the third such event. Each year, the event raises funds for a different patriotic charity or veterans'-related cause. This year, it was Flags for Freedom Outreach, a Lake of the Ozarks, Mo. non-profit that supports and remembers wounded soldiers during recovery and reintegration.

In the pre-ride gathering are two service animals associated last year's fund-raising beneficiary, Retrieving Freedom, Inc., a Mississippi- and Iowa-based non-profit that trains service dogs for use by military veterans. Together with their trainers, yellow Labrador "Valor" and black Labrador "Bender" win hearts and minds while circulating through the crowd.

Registration takes place on a sidewalk outside of The Cooler. ("The HOTTEST place in town," according to a sign.) There, volunteers take registrations, and sell T-shirts, bandanas, and other fund-raising merchandise. They also sell tickets for a "50-50" drawing—the winner takes half, with the remainder going to charity.

The "Forward Operating Booth" of 34th Inf. Div. Assoc., which donated
$5 for every "Red Bull" emblem displayed by passersby.

Across the street, members of the 34th Infantry Division Association are conducting a free raffle for two "Red Bull" division flags. Nichols was a member of Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment (1-133rd Inf.), which is located in Waterloo, Iowa and part of the 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division (34th Inf. Div.).

In 2010-2011, the Iowa National Guard's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Inf. Div. (2-34th B.C.T.) deployed more than 3,000 troops to Afghanistan. News reports noted it was the largest deployment of Iowa soldiers since World War II.

Justin Foote signs a "Red Bull"
flag donated by the 34th Inf.
Div. Assoc. to the family of
Donny Nichols.

At the group's new "Forward Operating Booth," 34th Inf. Div. Assoc. members chat up other "Red Bull" soldiers, past and present. In addition to the flag-raffle, the group donates $5 for every "Red Bull" image—patch, tattoo, membership card, T-shirt, whatever—displayed by ride participants and attendees.

Ashlee Lolkus of Johnston, Iowa, who was a public affairs soldier during the 2010-2011 deployment to Afghanistan, is part of the association's outreach team in Shell Rock. "We're looking for new ways to celebrate our 'Red Bull' history, from WWII North Africa and Italy, to 21st century Afghanistan and Iraq," she says. "Donny's story is part of that tradition, and we're proud to help remember him."

Members of the event's road management team sported high-visibility
T-shirts featuring a "Red Bull" emblem.

Wearing a high-visibility yellow T-shirt with a "Red Bull" on the back, Ken Halter is part of the road management team for the event. The team rides ahead and helps block cross-traffic, when necessary. Halter, who is also a member of the Patriot Guard Riders, was part of the team that helped out with Nichol's funeral procession. "This is just kind of what we do," he says. "Serve the soldier, and the soldier's family."

Local law enforcement officials also help out along parts of Saturday's route, a round-trip that includes stops in Shell Rock, La Porte City, Waverly, and Waterloo.

Emcee J.R. Rogers

Using a microphone and speaking from a sidewalk curb, J.R. Rogers of Denver, Iowa, formally opens the event. "The numbers [of riders] are always very impressive here," he tells the crowd. "I'm in awe of them every year. And ... it always looks pretty bad-ass when we roll in together."

("The Red Bull [emblem] is again incorporated into the ride," Rogers says later in his remarks, "not only as a tribute to Donny, but to his brothers and sisters who continue to serve in uniform.")

Rogers calls the crowd's attention to the family and friends of U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Davis, 19, killed in Southern Afghanistan's Helmund Province on May 7, 2010. Some of them wear kelly green T-shirts from their own memorial ride in Perry, Iowa, conducted earlier in August.

More formalities: Those gathered in the street recite the Pledge of Allegiance–there's a large flag hanging from the side of the building–and Pam Hart of Allison, Iowa sings the U.S. National Anthem. There is a quick drawing for the name of the first 50-50 winner, and then the riders begin to mount up for the day's ride.

Jeff and Jeanie Nichols ride a three-wheel Harley-Davidson painted out
as a tribute to Donny Nichols.

Donny's parents, Jeff and Jeanie, ride to the front of the formation in a Harley-Davidson three-wheeler painted out as a tribute to Donny. Depicted on the vehicle are stars, stripes, and pictures of Donny and his military awards. Just over the license plate is painted a banner, which reads, "Riding in tribute to Specialist Donny Nichols."

Suddenly, there is something like a rumble of thunder. The riders collectively roll out, surging toward the next stop. Together, they become a pulse, a connection between towns and people, a memory of a storm.

They will be back. Remember.

TV Sitcom About British EOD Team is the Bomb-diggity

Producers of "Bluestone 42," a 30-minute sitcom about a British Explosive Ordnance Disposal (E.O.D.) team operating in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, have announced a Christmas-themed special will air on December 23.

The 8-episode series debuted in March 2013 on BBC Three. A second season is reportedly also in production for 2014.

Click here for a short teaser video on YouTube. (Note: NOT suitable for work, due to profanity)

The series takes its name from the team's callsign, "Bluestone-Four-Two." The radio-correct pronunciation of "42" is the first of many military details the writers get right. You might even say that "Bluestone-42" has achieved the Holy Grail of military comedy: It's smart, snarky, and smacks of the real deal downrange.

The cast of characters, for example, will be funny and familiar to military veterans: Cpl. Lynda Bird is a hard-charging one-of-the-boys, who takes her job as the squad's electronic countermeasures (E.C.M.) expert—the "bleep"—very seriously. She also has a softer side, however, and develops an emotional attachment to "Arthur" the robot.

Female chaplain Maj. Mary Greenstock fights off the romantic advances of Ammunition Technical Officer Capt. Nick Medhurst, as well as an unhealthy love of gambling, while handing out sweets and spirituality. She also organizes morale-building events.

Cpl. Christian "Millsy" Mills loves to create graphs, After-Action Reports, and paperwork that is both necessary and unnecessary.

Privates "Mac" and "Rocket" pass the downtime by inventing extreme sports such as "Total Fencing Deluxe", or by arguing about topics such as the true purpose of a rifles' bipod grip while on guard duty.

There are more characters, but you get the idea ...

Some of the accents and allied-army jargon are occasionally a bit hard to parse, but the language used in the series has neither been dumbed-down or cleaned-up. It is, in fact, refreshingly realistic. The troops joke openly about bodily functions and self-gratification. They engage in all sorts of ribbing and ribaldry, and often push the joke beyond the tasteful or appropriate. For all the childish behavior, however, the characters also act like soldiers, apologize as necessary, and drive on with the mission.

The vibe, in short, is equal parts "Generation Kill" (2008), "M*A*S*H" (1972), and "Bomb Patrol Afghanistan" (2011).

The show even gets the atmospherics correct: The doors are plywood. The furniture is rubbish. The heat is unbearable. The missions and menus are repetitive. Only your teammates can help you get through the days downrange, and they're being insufferable, too.

Oh, and there's profanity. Lots of profanity. Definitely not suitable for (civilian) work. Some of it is even understandable through all the brogue. And all of it is appropriate.

The BBC Three website offers plenty "Bluetooth 42" promo clips on its website, as well as wonderfully detailed supporting materials. Consider, for example, this gallery of letters from home, or candid shots of the characters.

For fans in the United States, the series is available only as an imported Region 2 DVD. Full episodes might be available, however, through a search of YouTube or other video sites.

Boonie's Haiku Contest Winners Announced

The winners of "Boonie's Haiku Contest" are announced below. More than 50 entries were considered.

During judging, names were removed from entries. The judges looked first for strict adherence to the 17-syllable format (lines of 5-, 7-, and 5-syllables) specified in the contest rules, then moved on to consider questions of how the poems evoked nature and deployed military life. The best created a surprise of recognition.

First place goes to Mariecor Ruediger, who will receive a $200 boxed set of "China Beach," soon to be released for the first time on DVD. (Due to music rights issues, it was never released on VHS.) Here is the winning entry:

One bare Huế tree
Shields a tower position;
Home is far away.

The judges said: "We liked how the reader is left to determine whether the tree shades the guard tower, provides cover for it, or potentially blocks its view. We also liked how the poem suggested Vietnam."

Second place goes to John Mittle, who will receive an autographed and personalized edition of David Abrams' 2012 novel "Fobbit." Mittle is a contributor to The Duffel Blog.

From dusk until dawn
fighting from my cozy desk,
Bronze Star on the way.

The judges said: "The 'on the way' cracked us up! So did the sudden idea of the Bronze Star as either wishing star or morning star."

Third place goes to Joseph Davidovski, who will receive a "Blue Falcon" coffee mug designed by Doctrine Man!!

Sandstorm blocks out sun
Birds, vics, talibs stay quiet
Still the slides march on

The judges said: "Anyone who has weathered the 'red air' of a no-fly situation will recognize how nature can stop everything but PowerPoint and a staff meeting."

One entry, from tgdrakes, practically created its own category, generated by the power of its laugh-out-loud gravitas. It will be appropriately (?!) recognized with a separate Doctrine Man!! Blue Falcon coffee mug.

Sh-- in the shower?
Why in the f--- would someone
Sh-- in the shower?

The judges said: "Profound. Profane. And, in many ways, a nearly perfect description of the challenges of FOB life."

*****

Honorable mentions included the following, presented here in random order:

By Mariecor Ruediger:

Bleak like grim winter,
Combat makes me spring then fall:
This ain't no picnic.

The judges said: "This one sneaks up on you, like old age and bad knees."

*****

By NavyOne:

Sprint in a flightsuit
Long tarmac, rip my crotch
Warm Iraqi breezes

The judges said: "This is an effective reminder of why 'going commando' is never a good idea, even when wearing Nomex. It also makes us want to sing the theme to 'Born Free'!"

*****

By Travis Martin, founding editor of The Journal of Military Experience:

OD green stretches
White salt stains: Chalk-lined soldiers
Echo restless sleep.

The judges said: "Anyone who has spent a hot, sweaty night on a transient-tent Army cot will recognize the salty-shadowy outlines evoked by this writer."

*****

By Nate Didier:

COP Kalagush night
Raining rockets again right?
Commando will fight!

The judges said: "Rhymes and references to Red Bull territory downrange in 2010-2011 Afghanistan! In this case, 'Commando' is a 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment call sign. 'Attack! Attack! Attack!'"

*****

By mil-blogger America's SgtMaj:

Silly pogue don't know
Gunslingers don't drink lattes
Macchiato sir?

The judges said: "Eskimos allegedly have 17 different words for snow. We imagine there are also 17 different ways to pronounce the 'sir' in this poem, each with its own unique flavor. And sprinkles of sarcasm."

*****

By Tim Kindred:

My mind thinks of home
I'd love a beer and Maid-Rite
Not an MRE

The judges said: "Bonus points for using juxtaposing an acronym and a much-beloved Midwestern brand!"

*****

By Scott McDaniel:

Where is the Kandak?
Alone at the command post.
Oh, it's Thursday night!

The judges said: "We think this lonely letter from an Embedded Training Team member is potentially the first time that 'Man-love Thursday' has been recorded in Western war-poetry!"

*****

By Jim Keirsey:

Eight deployments down
most surreal thing I've seen is
KAF's TGIF

The judges said: "This is the most adept use of acronyms we've seen! And it alludes to the carnival vibe some got from seeing a T.G.I. Fridays restaurant on a downrange boardwalk."

*****

By Raj Bose:

POWs
Nodding a smile to the guards
Through the barbed wire fence

The judges said: "This, like the Mona Lisa, was nicely ... enigmatic. And universal."

*****

By "Dark Laughter" at The Duffel Blog:

This summer sandstorm
Couldn’t blind the first sergeant
To my day-old shave.

The judges said: "This is beautiful! It places the reader in both time and place, and also feels a bit like a Burma-Shave ditty."

*****

By Krystal Miga:

Oh it’s you again
Working, living, together
It’s like we’re married

The judges said: "This writer found a memorable new way to evoke the ideas of 'Groundhog Day' and the 'downrange spouse.' If you have to ask what that means, don't ask."

*****

Finally, a bonus quasi-entry from cp3002, commenting at Tom Ricks' "The Best Defense" blog:

An empty Rip-It,
held to your ear in Helmand
sounds like the ocean.

The judges said: "Marines love the sound of the sea!"

*****
Note: This content regarding military writing is underwritten by Victor Ian LLC, a military media and gaming business. The business publishes Lanterloon, an eclectic lifestyle, technology, and military blog; has a physical retail storefront called "Dragons and Dragoons" located in Colorado Springs, Colo.; and hosts military-writing workshops and other events under the "Sangria Summit" brand name.

Hometown News ... from Downrange

Love it or hate it, a deployment turns an overseas patch of dirt into something akin to a high school, or a hometown. You spend a lot of time on the same ground, with the same people, doing a job that no one understands, speaking jargon and language foreign to anyone who doesn't wear the same uniform. There are inside-jokes, pep rallies, and lots of rules to follow. Some bonds are made, some friends are lost. Then, one sudden day, you leave.

Everyone leaves it behind, but everyone deals with it differently. Some people want to forget it all. Some people can't help but remember. Some people want to relive the stories of glory and war, over and over again.

Still others try to hold on in a different way, and keep an ear tuned to what's happening back in the old neighborhood. If you've ever wondered whatever happened to the star quarterback, the class clown, or the prom queen, you know what I'm talking about.

So it is with me. In 2003, I deployed to Egypt as part of a multinational peacekeeping force. I saw a lot, learned a lot, made a lot of friends. I had experiences I would have never had unless I'd joined the Iowa National Guard. Ever since, I have had an interest in political and cultural happenings there. I didn't realize I was so transparent until my grade-school daughter started checking out library books on ancient Egypt, and the lives of children who live there today.

"Someday, Daddy, can we go to Egypt together?" she often asks me.

Inshallah, Sweet.

The National Guard is something of a small community, too. There are interstate rivalries, to be sure, and occasionally quirky differences in character and capabilities. Given that the National Guard is now considered part of an "operational" reserve—one routinely called upon to augment active-duty forces—rather than as a "strategic" one of last national resort, keeping track of which brigade is doing what mission has become a little like following hometown sports.

Readers of the Red Bull Rising blog, for example, will remember that the Iowa National Guard's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division (2-34th B.C.T) was the second U.S. National Guard brigade ever to deploy to Afghanistan as a "battlespace owner"—and the first to be configured for that mission from the start.

Following the Red Bull is one of the reasons I continue to take an interest in all things Afghanistan. And Iraq.

In 2009-2010, Vermont's 86th BCT had successfully transitioned from its role as the headquarters of Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix to become a battlespace owner.

Currently, Oklahoma's 45th Infantry "Thunderbird" BCT is in Eastern Afghanistan, operating on some of the same ground as their Vermont and Iowa predecessors.

In 2011, another Red Bull brigade—the Minnesota National Guard's 1-34th BCT—deployed to Kuwait and Iraq. At the last minute in 2011, some elements of Oklahoma's 45h BCT were diverted to Kuwait to serve alongside the Red Bull. After U.S. troops left Iraq in December 2011, the Red Bull remains in Kuwait to serve as part of a 15,000-soldier regional reserve.

Jonathan Raab is a New York National Guard soldier currently on his second deployment. In 2011, New York's 27th Brigade Combat Team had been preparing for deployment to Afghanistan. The brigade went as far as the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif., before taking an unprecedented pause over the December holidays. Thousands of citizen-soldiers were caught in a limbo between mobilizing and deploying. As Raab wrote in a December 2011 essay published by Stars and Stripes:

They told us we were not going to Afghanistan, but that we might go elsewhere. The new rumored deployment date was far enough down the road that I’d run out of money well before then; I had just enough time to find a new job or a new place to live, to get settled back in with my friends, family and girlfriend, and to get on with life before having to let go of everything and everyone all over again.

Raab has since learned he will deploy not to Afghanistan, but to Iraq, in a mission similar to that currently performed by the Red Bull and Thunderbird soldiers there. Raab has a blog called "With a Bible in My Ruck," which I hope will continue. Consider this recent excerpt:

This is a non-combat mission. We'll be training and pulling guard duty for a year. Am I happy that my comrades won't be coming home killed or maimed? Yes, praise God for that. But as an infantryman and a soldier, I can't help but feel like I don't have utility in a peacetime mission. I feel unnecessary. I feel like I'll be in football practice for a year with no chance to get in on the game. That's irrational, I know. But there it is.

I wouldn't be honest with you if I told you that I wanted to go at this point. My article in the Stars and Stripes 'Ruptured Duck' Blog sums up how I feel about the situation and its uncertainty. Ever since we were cut loose in November, I used that time to find work and plan for my life. With this deployment, however, that's over. I'll be going overseas for a mission that I did not want or volunteer for, and I'll be returning to an even more difficult job market.

For more official detail on missions and units comprising the 27th BCT deployment click here.

In yet another sign that the National Guard fight is changing in Afghanistan, Arkansas' 39th BCT was recently notified that its pending deployment has been cancelled.

Deployed with the Ohio National Guard's 37th Infantry "Buckeye" Brigade Combat Team (I.B.C.T.), "Old Blue" is a senior non-commissioned officer (N.C.O.) with 29 years of experience. He's on his third deployment to Afghanistan, and his third military blog, "Afghan Blue III."

He's previously served as a trainer with Afghan National Police (A.N.P.) in Kapisa and Nuristan Provinces. He's also had eyes on Helmand Province in Southern Afghanistan, where he worked with British soldiers.

Like Raab in Kuwait, Old Blue has found himself pursuing a different mission than the one for which he and his buddies had prepared. The brigade to which he is assigned will not be conducting "full-spectrum operations"—a term that includes everything from humanitarian assistance to finding and killing bad guys—but will instead be performing "security force assistance" (S.F.A.)—advising and resourcing their Afghan counterparts. (It could be worse/better: Some Buckeye soldiers were diverted to Bahrain.) Still, he is a believer in counterinsurgency ("COIN"), and sees his new role as part of a process. He writes:

My quest in Afghanistan parallels my nation’s quest; finding a new role in an increasingly globalized world. [...] [I]f the United States can assume the role of mentor, advisor and enabler of development, perhaps future conflicts can be avoided altogether. Insurgencies can be avoided and terrorism prevented from developing.

In the meantime, I will do what I can to help speed success in Afghanistan. I believe that success can best be accomplished through the adaptive and intelligent practice of population-centric counterinsurgency.

I am the father of four children; two girls and two boys. I live in Cincinnati, Ohio. My intent is that someday my children will visit Afghanistan as tourists, not as soldiers.

Inshallah. And roger that.

*****

Both the "With a Bible in My Ruck" and "Afghan Blue III" blogs have been added to a "News & Views from Downrange" blog-roll on the right-hand side of Red Bull Rising. Both writers have also been featured on Garry Trudeau's/Doonesbury's "The Sandbox." If you know of other blogs written by citizen-soldiers currently downrange, please recommend them to: sherpa AT redbullrising.com.

Film Fest: 8 Docs About War in Afghanistan

Military operations in Afghanistan continue to enjoy some long, hard looks from documentary film makers. These projects provide viewers the opportunities to virtually walk the ground, to experience second-hand some of the emotions and frustrations that soldiers face daily.

In the spirit of a past Red Bull Film Festival blog-post, here's a quick list--alphabetical and chronological by year of release--of recent and upcoming Afghan-themed documentary projects:


"ARMADILLO" (2010)

This film depicts the 2009 experiences of a Danish army platoon located at Forward Operating Base Armadillo in Southern Afghanistan's Helmand Province. Earlier this fall, the film premiered in the United States on the Public Broadcasting Service's (P.B.S.)"P.O.V." documentary series.

The film is subtitled, and rich with post-production saturations of color and manipulations of sounds. Some critics argue that the film blurs the line between truth-telling and entertainment. That said, the soldiers' opinions and daily life are presented without obvious editorial comment, starting with good-byes to friends and family, landing in unforgiving country, and grinding through daily battles, boredom, and emotional fatigue. The troops are regularly frustrated by an enemy who seems always just out of reach, until a fateful and successful ambush of Taliban forces.

As the POV website notes:

Whether they go over the line in killing wounded Taliban is in the eye of the beholder, and the soldiers immediately begin justifying their actions to themselves. The wounded men moved and who could take a chance that they weren’t reaching to detonate a bomb? There is even a suggestion that the shootings were mercy killings for men dying slowly. The most potent aspect of the men’s solidarity in the face of criticism is their own accusation: How could anyone who was not there presume to judge them?

Such questions are guaranteed to generate thought and discussion. There is a lesson-plan based on the film for use by educators.

Internet Movie Database (I.M.D.B.) listing here.

See preview trailer online here.

To be released on DVD Oct. 18, 2011.

*****

"THE BATTLE FOR MARJAH" (2010)

In February 2010, in Afghanistan's Helmand Province, U.S. Marines, Afghan, and other forces launched Operation Moshtarak, the largest military operation since the start of the Afghan war, and the first major move since the Obama administration had announced plans to send an additional 30,000 troops to that country.

Centerpiece to the effort was the town of Marjah, a town of 80,000 people in Southern Afghanistan's Helmand Province. The film explores the efficacy of U.S. forces "clear, hold, and build" strategy, as well as the effects of engagement rules intended to minimize civilian casualties.

Journalist Ben Anderson spent two months embedded with the Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment. Four months after the success of Operation Moshtarak, Anderson returned to Marjah to find the troops fighting for a shrinking zone of control. "Marines fight battles," press materials quote one marine. "They don't fight wars."

IMDB listing here.

Recently released in DVD and Blu-ray combo-pack.

*****

"RESTREPO" (2010)

This is the proverbial 155-millimeter artillery round of Afghan war documentaries. In 2007 and 2008, author Sebastian Junger and photographer Tim Hetherington repeatedly embedded with a company of active-duty soldiers of the U.S. Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team in Eastern Afghanistan.

Red Bull Rising blog readers will remember that "Restrepo" was previously nominated for an Academy Award in the documentary feature category, and was a 2010 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize recipient.

Recently, the film garnered two additional awards: an Emmy for long-form news coverage and another for editing.

Click here for a June 2010 Red Bull Rising review of "Restrepo."

IMDB listing here.

View preview trailer online here.

Available on DVD and Blu-ray.

*****

"SHEPHERDS OF HELMAND" (2010)

Deployed to Southern Afghanistan's Helmand Province in 2008, an Embedded Training Team (E.T.T.) comprising 17 Oregon National Guard soldiers was tasked with mentoring an Afghan National Army battalion--a "kandak." Instead, they found themselves assigned to an Afghan counter-narcotics battalion, with whom no U.S. team had ever before worked. The team spent three months in daily firefights out of Patrol Base Attal. One charismatic captain was killed by Improvised Explosive Device (I.E.D.) in September 2008. Two other soldiers were wounded in that attack. The next year, thousands of U.S. Marines deployed to the area. Directed by Gary Mortensen.

IMDB listing here.

See preview trailer online here.

Available on DVD here. Fifty percent of proceeds go to support Honored American Veterans Afield (H.A.V.A.), a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting disabled veterans with the healing process by facilitating their participation in outdoor sports.

*****

"THE TILLMAN STORY" (2010)

In 2004, National Football League player Pat Tillman was killed by friendly fire while serving as an active-duty U.S. Army Ranger in Eastern Afghanistan. Along with his brother Kevin, Tillman had enlisted following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2011. Military leaders and politicians subsequently sought to subvert the truth, as well as Tillman's wishes against being used for propaganda purposes, whether living or dead.

While lacking the richer explorations of Tillman's personality, drive, and beliefs that can be found in two previously published books—Jon Krakauer's "Where Men Win Glory" and Mary Tillman's "Boots on the Ground by Dusk"—the documentary is no less damning of military and governmental sins of omission and commission following Tillman's death.

IMDB listing here.

Available on DVD and Blu-ray.

*****

"BOMB PATROL: AFGHANISTAN" (2011)

Not a feature documentary, but rather a 10-hour cable television reality series. The high-definition production follows an 8-member U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (E.O.D.) from stateside training to deployment in Northern Afghanistan.

Previews and press-talk for the show promise plenty of explosions, robots, and helmet-cam video. Could this equal "Hurt Locker" (2008) meets "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare"?

Premieres Oct. 25 on the video game and technology-heavy G4 channel.

Click here for website.

*****

"PATROL BASE JAKER" (2011)

This film tells the story of the U.S. 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment during the unit's 2009 tour in Southern Afghanistan's Helmand Province. Originally built in 2008 by the British Army's Task Force Helmand, Patrol Base Jaker is now an expeditionary base maintained by U.S. Marines.

The film premiered May 2011 at the G.I. Film Festival in Washington D.C., where it won best documentary.

In an August post on the film's Facebook page, director David Scantling is preparing final cut for a Nov. 10, 2011 theatrical release. The movie will also be released on DVD/Blu-ray and Internet/iTunes venues around that same time.

IMDB listing here.

See preview trailer online here.

*****

"HELL AND BACK AGAIN" (2011)

Theatrically released earlier this month, this Danfung Dennis film flips between 2009 events in Southern Afghanistan with Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, and the subsequent homecoming of 25-year-old Marine Sgt. Nathan Harris. According to press materials: "When Sergeant Harris returns home to North Carolina after a life-threatening injury in battle, the film evolves from a war exposé to the story of one man’s personal apocalypse. With the love and support of his wife, Ashley, Harris struggles to overcome the difficulties of transitioning back to civilian life."

Notably, Dennis chose to avoid a traditional soundtrack in the film. "There isn't an orchestra playing when you're running through a battlefield," he said in a recent interview with National Public Radio. "There isn't, you know, huge drums. It's just pure terror." In place of music, Dennis and sound designer J. Ralph manipulated sounds found on the battlefield. "The sound of gunfire, the sound of crying, it's often that you'll hear these sounds and you'll see these images in your mind as if they were a memory," Dennis told NPR. "But they become so intense that you actually stop seeing what's around you and you stop hearing it."

The film received the World Cinema Jury and Cinematography prizes at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

IMDB listing here.

See preview trailer online here.

Minnesotans Help Afghans Help Themselves

After I posted some reactions last week to a Minnesota Public Radio multimedia package regarding the 34th Infantry Division Headquarters recent return from Iraq, one attentive Red Bull Rising reader pointed out the work of two Minneapolis Star-Tribune employees filing stories from Afghanistan.

Reporter Mark Brunswick and photographer Richard Sennott spent four weeks in country in late 2009, and filed a series of stories, photos, and videos from Northern Afghanistan earlier this month. The two focused on covering two units--Duluth's 114th Transportation Company, and a 12-solider Embedded Training Team (ETT) working in the Northern province of Samangan.

In Part 1 of the series, "Winning the battle of Ayabak," Brunswick describes the challenges faced down by the ETT: corruption, illiteracy, lack of hygiene, and lack of professionalism in the Afghan National Army. Upon their arrival, the Minnesotans found 100 Afghan soldiers living in filth, without adequate shelter or food service facilities.

It's the ETT's job to help train and professionalize Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), so that they can fight their own battles and police their own country.

The Afghan base commander was living in a room with heat, electricity and a TV that provided a snowy but passable picture while his soldiers suffered outside. [Maj. Robb] Mattila, of Sartell, decided to risk violating a fistful of military and cultural taboos. The no-nonsense onetime college ROTC instructor put his finger in the Afghan officer's chest and demanded action.

"I told him that I was going to take his heater away if he didn't get things right for his men," Mattila recalled.

Mattila's group of Minnesotans is paired with a group of Croatians, so the ETT apparently goes by the more-European moniker of "Operational Mentor and Liaison Team" (OMLT)--pronounced "omelette."

In Part 2 of the series, "Repeat tours take their toll," Brunswick discusses how soldiers work within a world of multiple deployments and risk of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). That topic alone is worth more exploration and examination, which I'll hope to get to in future posts. For now, suffice to say that it's an extremely worthwhile read for soldiers, friends, and family facing a deployment.

In Part 3 of the series, "Whose war is it anyway," Brunswick tells the story of illiteracy and incompetency in the Afghan ranks. A country with an illiteracy rate of 70 percent, he notes, can't support an Army capable of operating and maintaining all the new materiel being pushed to them, much less read the manuals.

In addition to illiteracy, there are the barriers of corruption, and bigotry, and even history:

The Russian influence is evident everywhere. Many soldiers still wear Russian winter coats. Russian-provided Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles are the predominant weapon. Lower-ranking officers remain hesitant to issue an order unless it's handed down to them directly from their commander, reflecting the hierarchal nature of the Soviet military.

Ethnic and religious divides also split the Afghan army. A low-level soldier might bypass his chain of command and seek a leave from his top commander because both are from the same ethnic group. Corruption is rampant in some areas, with supplies stolen for resale. Soldier pay is being increased to $240 a month from $180, but the Afghan "cash men" assigned to handle payrolls pocket some of the cash or charge fees to hand out pay. Even when the pay comes through without a problem, it can pale against what the Taliban is offering for service on the other side of the firefights.

[...]

"When you start out, you usually ask yourself how many touchdowns are we going to score before we go home," said Maj. Robb Mattila of Sartell, the commander of the Guard unit. "With this assignment, we're hoping to move the ball ahead, maybe, five yards when we're done."

In short, Brunswick and Sennott's efforts are in the best vein of American journalism: They tell it like it is, without sugar-coating or spin-control, and without losing faith in the hometown boys and girls we've sent to do the job. That's not a bad investment--Minnesota Post commentator David Brauer estimated the Star-Trib only spent about $6,000 on the trip. (He also complimented the package as "gripping but not mawkish.")

Do yourself a favor, and click over to read the whole package.

Related article: Read a Feb. 20 New York Times assessment of Afghan forces based on recent Marine-supported operations in Marja, Helmand Province here. The title? "Marines do heavy lifting as Afghan Army lags in battle."

The 'Mouth of the Dragon'

In a particularly powerful piece of reporting earlier this week, freelance journalist Michael Yon describes the death of U.S. Army Spc. Adam Ray, 23, in Afghanistan's Helmand Province. Ray was killed, and others injured, while checking culverts for Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Here in the American Midwest, culverts are as common as cows and crops. The pipes crossing under our roads allow water to pass from one ditch, creek, or field to another. "In safe countries," writes Yon, "drivers pay as little attention to culverts as we would to telephone poles."

In the war zone that is Afghanistan, life and limb depend on noticing normally mundane things like culverts. They are a favorite hiding spot for the Taliban to plant bombs intended to kill Americans driving the roads. Hundreds, even thousands of pounds of explosives can be stuffed inside, launching our vehicles into the sky, flipping them over and over, sometimes killing all. And so, in some areas, soldiers on missions must stop dozens of times to check culverts for explosives. Since we do this every day in front of thousands of Afghans, they know our patterns. In addition to planting bombs in culverts, they plant mines and other bombs near culverts, to get men who stop to check.

Every year, my neighborhood's homeowners association has to pay someone to clear the branches and brambles away from our drains and culverts, in order to prevent flooding. That's about all the thought we give them. Think about worrying about every culvert you and your friends drive over every day, or sticking your face into one or a hundred such holes, in order to seek out explosives.

A recent Missouri National Guard news release described the efforts of U.S. veteran Mike Woodgerd, now working as a contractor in Afghanistan, helping to install "Solerno boxes" onto road culverts. "Every time our guys have to dismount and actually look into those culverts, they are staring into the mouth of the dragon," Woodgerd told Army Sgt. Jon E. Dougherty.
The metal devices help prevent emplacement of IEDs, which helps keep soldiers away from the mouth of the dragon. Recently, Woodgerd was working in Khost Province with a route-clearance unit from Missouri. The National Guard-approved news article describes the action:

[Army 1st Lt.] Miller's platoon took just four hours to deploy the first two boxes, an operation that immediately drew the attention--and concern--of local Afghans. Shortly after the combat engineers began working, an elder from a nearby village ventured out alone to check on the commotion. He was met by Miller and by Army Capt. Bryan Sayer, commander of the 1141st [Engineer Company, Missouri Army National Guard].

It seems he was primarily concerned that the devices would impede or cut off the flow of water through the culvert--water that is vital to farming in this arid environment. But the soldier-diplomats quickly assuaged the elder's concerns by explaining that the denial system would hinder insurgents but not hamper the flow of water.

Part of the plan to keep the boxes in place depends on the trust and support of the local people, who need to know they are being put there to help protect them as well as U.S. and NATO forces. Soon after, crowds that had gathered at the periphery began to close in on the American soldiers, the elder's acceptance serving as the icebreaker.

Please click over to Michael Yon's website, and read the rest of his article about Ray. His final, Ernie-Pyle-like paragraph is heartbreaking in its mundanity. It's also something that I wish I could've written, and hope I never have to. Yon works for himself, by the way--you can keep him in business by donating to the cause. We need more eyes on the ground like his.