'Veterans Gardening Day', Cedar Rapids, March 28

An information-filled "Veterans Gardening Day" will be conducted 9 a.m to 4 p.m., March 28 at the Veterans Memorial Building in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The FREE event will include speakers, hands-on classes, a spaghetti lunch and seed packets.

The address of the building is: Veterans Memorial Building, 50 2nd Avenue Bridge, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401. The building is located on May's Island, in the middle of the Cedar River.

Army Brig. Gen. Craig Bargfrede, who commanded the Iowa National Guard's 734th Agri-business Development Team (A.D.T.) when it deployed to Eastern Afghanistan's Kunar Province in 2010-2011, will provide keynote remarks.

Other presentations will include experts and insights into fruit tree cultivation, accessible gardening, and sustainable agriculture.

Media attention is increasing noting the potential roles of veterans in feeding Iowa families through small- and large-scale agriculture. For example, check out this recent story titled "From War To Plow: Why USDA Wants Veterans To Take Up Farming", and efforts such as the Farmer Veteran Coalition.

Tickets for the Veterans Gardening Day lunch are available at EventBritehere.

A Facebook event page is available here.

After a $20 million renovation in 2014, the reopened Veterans Memorial Building is now home to the Iowa Veterans' Welcome Center, Midwest Military Outreach, and other veterans-service organizations, and contains office, exhibit, meeting, and performance spaces.

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."

Cheers from the Summit!

I hit the ground in Denver last night for the first Sangria Summit: A Military Writers' Conference. Even before the conference started, I'd engaged in multiple world-changing, mind-blowing, paradigm-shifting conversations.

I quickly posted to Facebook: "Send ammo ... and hyphens."

There are lots of people here from the Internet. We recognize each other, even if we've never met. I quickly lazed in on John Homes, creator of the lewd, crude, and nearly always on target "PowerPoint Ranger." If you're not familiar with the webcomic, think "Beatle Bailey" meets "South Park." He'd just pulled a cross-country convoy of one—New York to Colorado, immediately following a 4-day National Guard drill. Some people embrace the suck, others drive it.

The Denver Press Club, by the way, the scene of our mixer for early conference arrivals? Full of history, artifacts, and stories. An original Ralph Steadman print. Clubby caricatures on the walls. An old Rocky Mountain News newspaper box, repurposed as a boom-box stereo cabinet.

And, most importantly: An open bar. (Yes, our hosts ensured that sangria was available.)

There, I met Antonio Salinas. He's a U.S. Army officer currently stationed at Fort Carson, Colo., a former Marine, and author of a memoir of his time leading soldiers in the Pech River Valley of Kunar Province, Afghanistan. "I kept a journal," he says over beers. "I wrote my notes with the ringing of enemy rounds still in my ears." He wrote a memoir called "Siren's Song: The Allure Of War", and is working on a project based on his post-deployment struggles.

"Some people drink, some people do drugs, some people work out and lift weights," Salinas says. "I became a womanizer ... It's kind of memoir, kind of erotica."

"Fifty Shades of Olive Drab"? I'd buy that. So would a lot of other people.

I found another friendly face and voice, however, whom I had met previously: Ted Engelmann, an U.S. Air Force veteran, world-traveler, story-teller, and writer-photographer (pass the hyphens!) whom I'd first met at this past summer. We both attended the inaugural Military Experience and the Arts Symposium at Eastern Kentucky University. While continuing his research into how other cultures perceive the Vietnam War, he's also hatching plans to embed as media in Southern Afghanistan next year. Just goes to show you: "Big Army, small world."

Bonus: During a break this morning, Ted just handed me a copy of "Objects for Deployment," an experimental book he'd published in 2011 through the Veterans Book Project.

More news as it happens, and as I'm able to write. Send ammo and hyphens. After all, "before the gardens, must come the fighting."

And the sangria must flow.

Notes from an Arts Conference

"People here need to realize they're not in the military anymore. They don't have to go to every class. They can give themselves space and time, if they need it," says Vera Roddy. Roddy is Air Force veteran from Wisconsin. Her Desert Storm battle-buddy's last name is Wild, so they refer to themselves as Rowdy and Wild. Rowdy's the only one who shows up to my second class—I'm teaching a basic course on mil-blogging—and doesn't even think she's in the right place. I put away the PowerPoint, and instead we compare notes.

In a place like this, every conversation is a gift.

The Fourth of July has fallen on hump day, a Wednesday, a middle of the week kick-off to three days on the Richmond, Kent. campus of Eastern Kentucky University. (Home of the Colonels!) The event takes place for three days from July 5 to July 7. Approximately 100 military veterans and activists, writers and poets, visual and performance artists have come together for the inaugural Military Experience and the Arts Symposium (M.E.A.S.).

The low-key, communal nature of the event is no accident. We have three squares. We have cots and roommates. We have hot or cold running water, although never at the same time. The vibe is part summer camp, part boot camp, and part workshop. Three days of presentations and performances, classes and conversations.

By the end of the week, insights and observations litter the floors like spent cartridges, and my go-to-war notebook is in tatters.

I meet Ryan Koch, a student and freelance writer from Eastern Iowa. He first joined the Iowa Army National Guard as part of the 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment (1-168th Inf.)—a 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division unit—before he went active-duty and found himself in the 101st Airborne Division. He chats up my patch, and I chat up his. He was in Afghanistan the same time as the Red Bull in 2010-2011, and tells the story of encountering a few National Guard buddies while downrange. Big world, small Army.

I meet Suzanne Asher, executive director of Veterans in the Arts, a St. Paul-Minnesota-based (that's also Red Bull territory) non-profit looking to connect veterans with fine-arts practitioners. One of their objectives: To enable and empower art that's informed by war, but not necessarily formed by it. One idea I cheekily half-pitch to them? Underwrite a poet laureate or artist-in-residence position for the Minnesota National Guard. I'll volunteer to cover down on Iowa. And Jason Poudrier—OIF veteran, high-school teacher, and cuttingly funny war poet—can cover Oklahoma.

I meet Ted Englemann, a writer, photographer, and itinerant educator, who's spent the past 30 years negotiating the spaces among the United States, Korea, Australia, and Viet Nam. ("'Vietnam' is a war," he says, "'Viet Nam' is a country.") His passion is called "One Soldier's Heart." He calls Denver, Colo. a home base, because he rents a storage facility there. During chow one night, we learn that we have traveled similar paths in Afghanistan.

I meet Scott Lee, who drove a Bradley in Desert Storm and now drives a blog about living with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (P.T.S.D.). By the end of the conference, he has connected with Clayton Murwin, a Virginia-based graphic artist, editor, and founder of the non-profit Heroes Fallen Studio Inc. Their potential collaboration? A comic-strip based on Lee's attempt to train his dog as a service-animal.

In a workshop regarding descriptive techniques, Joshua Bernstein drills attendees on sense-memories from their times in the military. What are the smells, the tastes, the sounds you associate with war? Diesel and excrement rank high on our lists, as do chopper blades and rubber steaks. "It's amazing, but even with the Internet and people on the moon, how unchanged the experience of using an entrenching tool is—or carrying a rucksack," Berenstein observes. Among veterans, even the unfamiliar sounds familiar. Experiences cross borders. Bernstein, for example, served in the Israeli Defense Forces (I.D.F.). When he says "gunfire sounds totally different when heard in a foreign country," heads around the room nod north and south.

An evening's performance by Roman Baca's Exit12 ballet troupe explores themes of identity, revolution, and homecoming. The dancers move in ways familiar to any soldier. Baca's choreography is peppered with a military vocabulary of movement: A low-crawl ... someone taking a knee ... the hands-on-body technique we use to search our prisoners. I will never again view drill and ceremony in quite the same way.

Eastern Kentucky University instructor of English Jacqueline Kohl issues her workshop a point-by-point checklist for finalizing a manuscript. She calls it a "dash of the drill sergeant." Indeed, it is a reminder of what every pilot and squad leader already knows, and what every writer should remember: Pre-combat checklists work.

As important as these tools and insights are, however, it is Rowdy who unlocks for me an unexpected and recurring theme. As important as all the frisson and friction, the interconnection and shared "up with veterans" experience, is the quiet consideration of the spaces in-between. In Ron Capps' class on dialogue, the question is: "What's not being said?" In Ami Blue's class on deep-reading poetry, the question becomes: "What's missing?" In a discussion regarding art therapy, the presenter asks: "Who or what is not in the picture?"

"People here need to realize they're not in the military anymore ..." says Rowdy. "They can give themselves space and time, if they need it."

In a place like this, every conversation is a gift, meant to be opened.

2012 Condition of the Iowa Guard Speech

Echoing the tradition of the U.S. presidential "State of the Union" address to Congress, the state of Iowa engages in a series of annual speeches from various governmental leaders. The best known is the governor's "State of the State" address—now more likely called the "Condition of the State" in public and in the press—to Iowa legislators. The state supreme court justice annually delivers a "Condition of the Judiciary" speech. In what may be a practice unique to the Hawkeye State, the highest ranking officer of the Iowa National Guard delivers a "Condition of the Guard."

In 2011's Condition of the Guard address, Maj. Gen. Timothy Orr spoke of more than 3,000 Iowa National Guard soldiers deployed to Afghanistan and elsewhere. Those soldiers included the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division (2-34th BCT) and the 734th Agri-business Development Team (A.D.T.). Orr is the adjutant general of the state of Iowa, and a former commander of 2-34th BCT. In this week's 2012 address, Orr reported that, for the first time since 2001, most of the Iowa National Guard's approximately 10,000 soldiers and airmen had returned home.

Orr also talked about the National Guard as a cost-effective supplement to active-duty military forces, celebrated developing state military partnerships with Kosovo, and pointed to employment and education efforts that support citizen-soldiers and veterans.

The complete text of Orr's Jan. 18, 2012 address appears below.

****

'PERFORMANCE AND PROMISE OF OUR HOMETOWN MILITARY – THE IOWA NATIONAL GUARD'

It is indeed an honor and a privilege to be here today and report on the condition of our Iowa National Guard, an organization that continues to be “Mission Focused and Warrior Ready.” With the exception of about 90 soldiers and airmen who are currently mobilized as individual deployers, nearly all of our personnel were home for the holidays. And for the first time since 2001, I can report the Iowa National Guard does not have any units currently deployed overseas.

Last month, the final contingent of American soldiers departed Iraq, bringing to a close this extraordinary chapter of American military history. As in previous military campaigns and conflicts, the Iowa National Guard played a prominent role and served with honor and distinction.

I am so proud of those who served and sacrificed in Operations Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn. They helped liberate and secure a country and gave hope to millions of Iraqis. Getting to this day was not easy. It tried our political and military leadership in ways unseen since the challenges of Vietnam. Despite these extraordinary circumstances, the men and women who served there did not falter. They carried out their duties day-in and day-out, many on multiple deployments, to ensure mission success.

Company B, of the 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion, our last Iowa National Guard unit deployed to Iraq, returned home in November after flying more than 7,100 hours in support of Operation New Dawn. As the last CH-47 "Chinook" helicopter unit in Iraq, Company B played a critical role helping to remove personnel and equipment in support of the President’s efforts to have all American forces out of Iraq by the end of 2011, transporting 49,000 passengers and over four million pounds of cargo and equipment on more than 1,800 missions.

We thank the more than 7,000 Iowa National Guard soldiers and airmen who served in support of these operations. And to their families who sacrificed in order that our Warriors may serve, we are eternally grateful for all they have done and endured.

Success in Iraq came with a heavy price. We will always honor and remember the brave Iowa National Guard warriors we lost there, our Gold Star families, our wounded warriors and all those whose lives have been forever changed by the adversity of war. We are grateful that so many were willing to serve and sacrifice in spite of these challenges. It is a testament to the character and values of the men and women who serve our state and nation in uniform.

I am so incredibly proud of our Iowa National Guard family—our soldiers, airmen, families, employers, volunteers, and our communities. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude for all they have done to make a difference in this noble endeavor.

The deployments of the last 10 years were unprecedented in recent memory as nearly 15,000 Iowa National Guard soldiers and airmen mobilized for overseas contingency operations. These missions demonstrated the performance and promise of the Iowa National Guard which is truly your hometown military. Tough, reliable, resilient, adaptable and above all, ready when called—the Iowa National Guard played a vital role in helping defend the Nation during a critical time in our history.

Though busy overseas, we did not lose sight of our most critical mission—homeland defense and support. In fact, we responded to numerous disasters both here in Iowa and across the country that were often exceptional in both size and scope. In doing so, we fulfilled our statutory and constitutional responsibilities to help defend the nation and provide the governor with a state emergency response force.

We are able to protect communities here in Iowa and help defend the United States overseas for approximately one-third the cost of active-duty soldiers and airmen, making the National Guard the “best value for America.”

Two weeks ago, President Obama outlined his Defense Strategic Guidance for sustaining U.S. global leadership in the 21st Century. Based on this guidance, U.S. defense priorities are being reviewed. Part of this process will include looking at the mix of active and reserve component forces. In doing so, we must ensure the National Guard continues to play a vital role as an operational complement to our active duty services.

The most logical option for the nation to preserve its military capability, capacity and depth in times of fiscal constraints is through continued reliance on the National Guard. To do this, the National Guard must remain a modern force, capable of rapidly mobilizing, deploying and integrating into ongoing and future contingency operations.

Since the founding of our republic, the United States has been and continues to be a “militia nation.” This tradition is embedded in our culture and enshrined in our Constitution. With the exception of the large standing military necessitated by World War II and the confrontation with the Soviets during the Cold War, we have traditionally maintained a small active duty force backed up by a strong militia, the successor of which is today’s National Guard.

We are fortunate that [Iowa] Gov. [Terry] Branstad currently serves as the co-chair for the President’s Council of Governors. The council provides a forum for governors to exchange views, information or advice with the Department of Defense, Homeland Security and other federal agencies concerning matters of mutual interest regarding National Guard, homeland defense and civil support activities. This council is intended to strengthen the partnership between the federal, state and local governments to better protect our nation, and provide governors, who serve as the commander and chief of the individual state National Guard forces, a voice in the process.

One way we hope to support and adapt to the changing environment is through the National Guard’s State Partnership program (SPP). The March 2011 selection of the Iowa National Guard with the Republic of Kosovo, as the newest state partnership program in the National Guard, will enhance civil and military relationships and strengthen partnership capacity between the United States and Kosovo. The current focus of the program is on noncommissioned officer and officer development activities as well as cooperative initiatives in the disaster response and emergency management arena.

Partnering with Kosovo is a natural fit for the Iowa National Guard and the state of Iowa. Our relationship with Kosovo is not new, over the course of the last 10 years we have deployed hundreds of Iowa National Guard soldiers there as part of NATO’s peacekeeping security force. The most recent unit, Company C, 2nd Battalion, 147th Aviation, returned home from Kosovo in April, where they successfully flew more than 150 missions supporting 15 different NATO countries. One of their greatest accomplishments was building strong relationships with Kosovo communities by providing English instruction to local students and helping them with college entrance requirements.

Our goal is to build a “Whole of Iowa” to “Whole of Kosovo” relationship. An example of this approach would be in the area of education where the state of Iowa is a national leader. The Iowa-Kosovo SPP is off to a fast and productive start with engagements with the Kosovo Security Forces, Kosovo’s minister of Defense, Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs, Agriculture, Health and Education. We currently have conducted over 12 exchange events with Kosovo since March 2011.

One of our near-term goals is to establish a sister-state relationship and foster several sister-city relationships to further enhance this partnership. Working with our communities and the Iowa Sister States’ program, we want to establish relationships that will be of mutual interest to the citizens of Iowa and Kosovo.

Today, I am pleased to introduce Maj. Gen. Kadri Kastrati, the commander of the Kosovo Security Force, who is with us this morning as my honored guest. I asked him to be here today to help highlight this critically important relationship, observe our legislative process and meet some of our key leaders.

Please join me in giving Gen. Kastrati a warm Iowa welcome.

Gen. Kastrati, thank you for making this journey to join us here today. We are honored to be partnered with Kosovo and we look forward to a strong and productive relationship in the years ahead.

Since its inception in 1989, the Iowa National Guard’s Counter Drug Task Force, which is federally funded through the Department of Defense, has played an important role in helping reduce both the supply and demand of illicit drugs in the state of Iowa. It adds value to our communities by making them safer, leverages unique military skills and dual-use equipment, and serves as another example of the performance and promise of your hometown military.

By providing professional, military analytical support to federal, state and local law enforcement agencies throughout the state, we have assisted with thousands of cases leading to nearly 1,700 arrests and the seizure of over $38 million in illicit drugs as well as more than $1.7 million in cash and assets. Our Counterdrug Aviation Detachment helicopter support section provides aerial reconnaissance and surveillance, integration, and command and control to support law enforcement drug interdiction efforts.

The Midwest Counter-Drug Training Center, located on Camp Dodge, provides critical training at no cost to law enforcement officers, military personnel, and prevention and treatment professionals. Last year, the Midwest Counter-Drug Training Center conducted 340 courses, training over 13,000 students from across the United States. This program is especially important for small or rural law enforcement agencies that do not have the funding to pay for this type of training.

A year and a half ago, we deployed nearly 3,000 Iowa National Guard soldiers from every corner of the state to Afghanistan for our largest deployment since World War II. This deployment, which took nearly one-third of our force, was a tremendous undertaking for our entire organization. We pulled soldiers and units from across the state to augment the 2nd Brigade, [34th Inf. Div.], relied heavily on our state headquarters and other supporting commands to assist with mobilizing soldiers, moving equipment and taking care of families while their loved-one was away. It was truly a statewide effort.

The 2nd Brigade, [as] Task Force Red Bulls, conducted a complex mission in a very challenging part of the world. For only the second time in recent memory, a National Guard brigade combat team assumed responsibility for “battlespace” in Afghanistan. From the relative peace of Panjshir province, to the complex operations of Bagram Air Field and the instabilities of Laghman Province, Iowa National Guard Soldiers distinguished themselves in accomplishing their mission.

They participated in one of the largest airborne assaults and clearing operations conducted by the 101st Airborne Division, doing so without suffering any battlefield injuries. They established a new district center in the Galush valley bringing security and government services to a remote population threatened by Taliban insurgents.

They hunted down and removed high value targets from the battlefield, helping to lessen roadside bomb and rocket attacks on our forces. They worked to train Afghan soldiers and police officers, doing so with the unique skills that only a citizen-soldier can provide.

With only a few hours to prepare, they flew into a dangerous corner of Nuristan Province with their Afghan National Army partners to reclaim a police station overrun by Taliban insurgents. Though outnumbered, these Red Bull soldiers fought off a determined enemy force for more than eight hours. Reinforced by U.S. Special Forces and Afghan Commando elements, they retook the district center, and suffered no friendly casualties.

When the call came out to secure a downed helicopter, it was Iowa Red Bull soldiers who responded, helping to stop insurgents from overrunning the crash site and allowing friendly forces to recover the crew.

And perhaps most importantly, TF Red Bulls led the way in developing transition plans for much of its area of responsibility including Panjshir and Parwan Provinces as well as the Mehtar Lam municipality. These were critical steps in preparing these areas to assume greater responsibility for their own security, development efforts and governance.

While Task Force Red Bulls was securing its corner of Afghanistan, the 734th Agri-business Development Team, also known as Task Force Hawkeye, was busy conducting operations in Kunar Province. This joint Iowa Army and Air National Guard team initiated or expanded demonstration farms in six different districts; they implemented Veterinary Outreach Sustainment Programs which helped Afghan veterinarians treat nearly 40,000 head of livestock; they underwrote the planting of more than 70,000 trees for orchards and reforestation; they facilitated, or conducted training of hundreds of Afghan men and women on tree nurseries, orchard planting, greenhouse growing, row crop production, veterinary professional development, and basic livestock care; they funded cash-for-work canal cleaning projects that made possible the irrigation of thousands of acres of agricultural land; and through their Female Engagement Team launched a range of micro-entrepreneurial projects for Afghan women including soap-making, in-home sewing and small-scale poultry production.

Because of the unique nature of the Ag Development Team’s mission, several Iowa organizations provided support to their deployment by assisting them with pre-mobilization training and reach-back capability while they were in Afghanistan. I want to mention and thank the following organizations for their assistance and support to this important mission:

• The Iowa Department of Agriculture
• Iowa State University
• Living History Farms
• The Agribusiness Association of Iowa
• The Amish community in Edgewood, Iowa
• Coe College
• Cutting Edge Martial Arts in Washington, Iowa, and
• White Oak Vineyards

The 132nd Fighter Wing was also busy supporting overseas contingency operations. They provided five, F-16 aircraft and 54 airmen to assist another fighter wing with its Air Expeditionary Force rotation to Afghanistan and sent 34 expeditionary combat support airmen to 11 locations in Southwest Asia.

This past year, the wing flew more than 3,700 hours, which is 103 percent of their allocated flying hours, doing so with the lowest funded maintenance package in the Air National Guard. Because of this, they have the second lowest cost per flying hour compared to all ANG F-16 units and are the only Air National Guard wing to reduce energy costs four straight years. Perhaps most impressive and important is their safety record. They have amassed a phenomenal record of nearly 94,000 flight hours without a serious mishap and have one of the best maintenance groups in the Air Force as demonstrated by winning the 2011 Air National Guard Maintenance Effectiveness Award.

The Des Moines Airbase’s 132nd Distributed Training Operations Center provides daily tactical Distributed Mission Operations training events on 18 types of weapons systems to nearly 70 different sites across the country. Last year, this one-of-a-kind capability supported 4,700 events, trained 9,600 war fighters and fulfilled over 20,000 training requirements, providing a significant cost savings to the Department of Defense training budget.

In Sioux City, the 185th Air Refueling Wing built on its outstanding record by winning the Airlift Tanker Association's Maj. Gen. Stanley F.H. Newman Award for being the best tanker wing in the country.

They deployed 370 airmen in support of contingency operations at 24 overseas and two stateside locations including two simultaneous deployments to Al Udeid Air Force Base in Qatar and Anderson Air Force Base in Guam. As one of the first Air National Guard units tasked to support hostilities occurring in Libya, they flew nearly 590 hours during 65 missions in which they provided more than two million pounds of fuel to aircraft supporting Operations Odyssey Dawn and Unified Protector.

They conducted three, two-week Aero-Medical Evacuations missions out of Bagram Air Field. helping to evacuate 177 wounded warriors from combat operations in Afghanistan. They also flew three air evacuation missions stateside, safely transporting 75 critical care patients throughout the United States, and executed seven missions in the Pacific theater evacuating more than 100 injured patients from that area.

While we are grateful so many of our Iowa National Guard Warriors have returned home after a busy year of deployments, we must not forget those still recovering from injury or illness related to their mobilizations. More than 100 of our wounded warriors are still receiving medical care, either at military treatment facilities across the country or from health care providers in their local communities. For us, these deployments are not truly over until the last of our wounded Warriors return home. It is our solemn obligation to keep faith with those who served and sacrifice and ensure they receive all the support and assistance they require.

On the domestic response front, we provided Iowa National Guard assistance to combat unprecedented flooding along the Missouri river. While not our largest state response mission, it was by far our longest, lasting more than 100 days. During the course of this emergency, we put nearly 1,000 soldiers and airmen on State Active Duty to assist.

Starting in May, we provided a UH-60 “Blackhawk” helicopter through a mutual-assistance mission to help local authorities place large sandbags in the Dakota Dunes area of Southeastern South Dakota.

In support of the Homeland Security Emergency Management Division, we set up a Joint Task Force and dispatched Iowa National Guard alumni to coordinate with county-level civilian emergency managers and officials. We also dispatched Critical Infrastructure Assessment Teams, which consists of uniformed National Guard personnel familiar with civil constructions topics, to provide assessments on ongoing infrastructure issues.

Starting June 4, levee breaches in Missouri required the mandatory evacuation of 600 citizens from Hamburg, Iowa. We provided helicopter support to place sandbags to shore up the failing levees. On June 10, we provided Iowa Air and Army National Guard personnel to monitor levees in Sioux City and Pottawattamie and Mills Counties. By the mid-August operational peak, we had approximately 284 Guard members on duty to support civil flood response efforts. When five inches of rain and hail in the Council Bluffs area caused local flooding, we provided six high-water tactical vehicles to assist with emergency rescue operations, helping to evacuate 24 children from a school bus stalled in four feet of water, as well as seven people and two pets.

One reason we’ve been able to maintain our position as a national leader among our fellow states is because of our National Guard Educational Assistance Program (N.G.E.A.P.). This critical recruiting and retention tool helps ensure our readiness. Without it, we couldn’t have mustered the necessary personnel to meet all of our overseas and in-state mobilization requirements over the last 15 years. NGEAP is also a great benefit to our soldiers and airmen. Each year approximately 1,100 to 1,200 of our members attend Iowa colleges and universities through this program. It keeps young people here in the state and through their service in the Iowa National Guard helps deepen their Iowa roots. We greatly appreciate the assistance provided by the Governor, the legislature and the Iowa College Student Aid Commission to ensure we help to meet the education needs of our Iowa National Guard Warriors in exchange for their service to our state.

Most of our members come back from deployment and return to what they were doing before they left. They return to work, go back to the farm, enroll in school or pursue new opportunities. However, some find this transition difficult. They may have been unemployed or underemployed before deploying or returned to find their positions eliminated due to the economic downturn. Others may simply want a new challenge after their deployment experience. Whatever the reason, nearly 10 percent of our returning Warriors are looking for work. And we have an obligation to help.

Working with the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (E.S.G.R.) and our Job Connection Education program, we are actively working to assist our soldiers, airmen and their spouses to find gainful employment. We have partnered with Iowa Workforce Development and local human resource management groups to assist our members. Through this process we have developed a one day course designed to assist returning service members searching for work. We assist them with writing resumes and cover letters in order to translate their military experience into meaningful civilian skills. We work on interviewing techniques and practice interviewing skills and we prepare them for job fairs.

Through our partnerships with Iowa Workforce Development, we have placed computers kiosks in our armories to assist our members with finding and applying for job openings. Last October we supported with other state and federal agencies a veterans’ job fair and have begun posting job openings, targeting veterans on websites like the National Guard’s Jobs Connection Education Program and Employer Partnership.

Despite our largest deployment since World War II and the lengthiest state mobilization in recent memory, the Iowa National Guard continued to demonstrate the performance and promise of your hometown military. Regardless of the challenge, we will remain “Always Ready and Always There” for the citizens of our great state and the defense of America.

The future remains uncertain. As the challenges of the last 10 years fade, new ones are sure to emerge. Budget constraints and shifting priorities will impact how we operate and what we are asked to do in the years ahead. Despite these challenges, the Iowa National Guard will remain “Mission Focused and Warrior Ready.”

On behalf of our soldiers, airmen and their families, I want to thank you for this opportunity to provide an assessment of the Iowa National Guard. We are so grateful for the continued support we receive from the general assembly, the governor, lieutenant governor, and the citizens of Iowa.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

Strangers in Strange Lands

Somewhere in the Sherpa family video vault, there's a Vietnam-era film introduced by John Wayne, in which a younger version of my dad briefly appears. No, it's not "The Green Berets." Rather, the film depicts the life of C-130 Hercules crews flying tactical airlift missions. "Klong Hopper Airlines," they called themselves.

Dad appears toward the tail end of the program, just after a shot of someone apparently ringing last call at an unidentified drinking establishment. Mugging for the camera, he smiles and says something sarcastic like: "Vietnam? Beautiful country! Sure, I'd come back ... in 20 or 30 years!"

Regular readers of Red Bull Rising blog have already heard the story about how I got a combat patch for peacekeeping duty. Along with 500 other Iowa National Guard troops of the 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry "Ironman" Regiment (1/133rd Inf.), I deployed to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula as a member of the Multinational Force and Observers (M.F.O.).

Our mission was to "observe and report" on military aircraft, vehicles, and vessels in the border areas between Egypt and Israel, in accordance with the Camp David Accords of 1978. At any time, a significant portion of the unit were located in squad- or platoon-sized observation posts, scattered across the desert.

Our contact with the local bedouin was minimal. Our contact with the people of the Egyptian "mainland," for lack of a better term, was even less. Still, we met repair technicians and cafeteria workers when they came to our bases, and met shopkeepers, restaurant owners, and tour guides when during our time off. Part of our mission, our U.S. task force commander told us, was to see the world and meet the people.

I'm sure we spent plenty of our paychecks, too, out on the economy. That was part of the mission, too.

Out in the desert, we weren't allowed to use any technology not in existence when the treaty was written--no frequency-hopping radios, no night-vision goggles, totally old-school. And our live ammunition was locked up where we could get to it, but only if we really, really, really needed it. That level of need was characterized as "only if you want to start (or react to) an international incident." At one observation post, some classical wag had spray-painted the red ammo container with the label "Pandora's Box."

I think of Egypt often, particularly when I hear hometown talk of pulling U.S. troops out of this country or that. After all, by the time of our rotation, our little low-key peacekeeping force had been performing a seemingly "temporary" mission for 25 years and counting. U.S. troops--mostly National Guard--are still routinely deployed there.

While most of our military buildings were portable trailers, however, ritzy Red Sea hotels had sprung up on the sands just outside the ranges of our machine guns. The peace and stability created by our presence--not just U.S. troops, but soldiers from Canada and Colombia, France and Fiji--created an opportunity for economic development.

Opportunity for whom? That's another question, one way above the pay-grade of this former citizen-soldier. Still, how much corruption and control can the average Joe or Jaan tolerate before he takes to the streets?

Egypt boasts the second-largest Arabian economy; only Saudi Arabia's is larger. Bringing in more than $10 billion (U.S.) annually, some 11 percent of the Egyptian Gross Domestic Product (G.D.P.) is based on tourism. Whenever terrorists have wanted to hurt the Egyptian national government, they have targeted tourists with guns, bombs, and kidnapping attempts. I wonder how tourism will fare with a full-blown popular uprising in the streets. Already, air-travel into Egypt has been curtailed. The pyramids have been cordoned off. The streets of Cairo, always surging with people, are now flooded with them.

My 6-year-old daughter Lena often asks me about my short time in Egypt, and regularly checks out library books about pyramids and mummies. She's particularly taken with one photo book, which depicts the daily life of a little girl in modern Egypt. She'd like to visit someday, she says. I'd like to take you there, I tell her. It is a fascinating place, rich with history, and full of friendly, creative, and hard-working people. The people don't always think or act like we do, I say, but living and working with them was certainly never boring.

Given the current unrest in Egypt, I hope that my handful of former colleagues are OK, and that their families are OK, and that tomorrow brings them a better world. Inshallah.

Last December, a member of the Iowa National Guard's 734th Agri-business Development Team (A.D.T.), currently deployed to Afghanistan, quoted a provincial subgovernor named Mahmood: “I hope you provide us enough help so you can leave here and return to your country ... Then, you can come back here in a few years as tourists.”

I like the optimistic logic of that statement: Help us, but only just enough. Go home to your own country, but come back as tourists.

Sometimes we Americans saddle up like John Wayne, other times we just sidle up to the bar. Any casual conversations with Egyptians regarding their president Hosni Mubarak would seemingly always include the observation that, "Egypt has always been ruled by Pharaohs ..." I'm sure I'm not the first U.S. veteran to fondly remember the people with whom he worked, but who always felt uneasy about whether his presence as a soldier somehow contributed to indigenous corruption, drug-trafficking, or political oppression.

I hadn't realized it until this past week, but, having been there, I became emotionally invested in the people of Egypt. Whatever happens, I hope they come out all right in all this. Maybe that was part of the mission, too.

Egypt? Beautiful country. Sure, I'd come back.

'Restrepo,' the Red Bull, and Oscar

Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger's film "Restrepo" has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary. Starting in 2007, the two producers repeatedly embedded with an active-duty platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley, in Kunar Province.

The film is a gritty companion to Hethertington's book "Infidel," a thoughtful collection of photos and images, and Junger's "War," an insightful exploration of what makes men fight, and what fighting does to men. The books were previously reviewed on the Red Bull Rising blog here.

In June 2010, the producers graciously provided a limited number of soldiers of 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division (2-34th BCT) an exclusive opportunity to screen the film before its theatrical release, while the unit was preparing for deployment to Eastern Afghanistan.

Some Red Bull soldiers have since found themselves walking mountainous terrain similar to that depicted in Restrepo. And, although not part of the Red Bull deployment, members of the Iowa National Guard's 734th Agribusiness Development Team (A.D.T.) are currently based in Kunar Province.

In yet another Iowa connection, recent Medal of Honor recipient U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta was featured in Hetherington and Junger's coverage. Giunta was born in Clinton, Iowa, and grew up in Cedar Rapids and Hiawatha.

Following yesterday's Academy Awards nominations, the Restrepo producers made this statement via the movie's Facebook page.

While the nomination is a recognition of the movie, we hope it's a fitting tribute to those who have fought and died in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. We made this movie because we wanted to bring the war into people's living rooms back home. We hope the nomination will continue to promote an open and constructive dialogue about the war. Thanks again for all your continued support in making the movie a success.

The film will be rebroadcast on the National Geographic channel on Feb. 2, 2011.

According to news reports, Hetherington and Junger plan to return to Afghanistan on assignment in April.

Making Connections: Events, Terrain, Media, Families

Next week, I plan to return to working through my notes from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" Division's (2-34th BCT) pre-Afghan training rotation at Fort Irwin, Calif. In the present-day, however, there are a number of recent media reports worthy of note.

As many of you are aware, the Red Bull has been on the move. Some units launched directly into Afghanistan from California. Others returned temporarily to the mobilization station of Camp Shelby, Miss. According to previously published press reports, all 2-34th BCT units are expected to be in country by the upcoming U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.

According to the Nov. 11 Des Moines Register, the soldiers of Iowa's 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry "Ironman" Regiment (1/133rd Inf.) have hit the ground running in Afghanistan's Laghman Province. During a recent patrol to meet a local Afghan leader, Ironman soldiers engaged insurgent forces and captured one Taliban leader. The engagement included use of mortar fire and close-air support ("CAS," pronounced "kaz"). Guess all that training in the Mojave paid off.

It's important to remember that political and military conditions can vary greatly even between one Afghan valley and the next, much less between one province and another. In other words, don't read too much into adjacencies.

However, Laghman does share a short border with Kunar Province--the location of Iowa's 734th Agribusiness Development Team (734th A.D.T.)--the "Dirt Warriors." Kunar is also the general location of the 2007 events depicted in the documentary "Restrepo," which is to be released on DVD next month, as well as the books "War" and "Infidel." If you're looking at pictures from any of these sources, MAYBE you're looking at similar conditions, peoples, and terrain to that of Laghman.

Not all the Red Bulls are heading straight into a fight, however. Supporting October comments by the commander of 101st Airborne Division, the commander of Vermont's 86th Brigade Combat Team (86th B.C.T.) indicated that conditions in three other eastern Afghan provinces--Parwan, Panjshir, and Bamiyan--are secure enough to potentially warrant transition to Afghan control.

The 86th BCT, "Task Force Wolverine," is currently transitioning these provinces to the 2-34th BCT, "Task Force Red Bull."

According to a National Guard Bureau press release earlier this week:

"In Panjshir, they just opened up a marble mine factory that is really providing a lot of revenue as well as jobs for the locals," [Col. William Roy, commander 86th BCT] said. Tourism signs are beginning to pop up in Bamyan, he added. The future of Afghanistan lies in small business, Roy said.

"When I was here in 2002, when you went from Kabul to Bagram, there was virtually nothing on the road," he told reporters. "Now, in about an hour-long drive, you get the development all the way along -- businesses growing up, gas stations on the side of the road."

Afghanistan's ability to self-govern is moving slowly, but steadily, Roy said, noting that Bamyan has Afghanistan's only female governor, representing the Hazara population. Panjshir's ministry of agriculture put together a budget, sent it to the central government and received the budget back to put in place in the province, he added. [...]

"The governors that we have in all three of our provinces understand what the requirements are to oversee the needs of the people," Roy said.

"It's the Afghans who are leading the way," he added. "And it's been that way for quite some time."

In related news, the Burlington (Vermont) Free Press reported Wednesday that Roy had indicated "security for two of the provinces under the responsibility of Task Force Wolverine — Panjshir and Bamyan — was turned over to Afghan forces in the past month, a sign of stability in the region. Parwan province, where Bagram Airfield is based, should follow suit soon."

Other connections to be made:

Cedar Rapids, Iowa's KCRG-TV9/The Gazette multimedia reporting team has added an RSS feed to its continued "Operation Enduring Freedom" blog coverage of the 2-34th BCT's mobilization and deployment. If you use a news reader, you know how useful this is for keeping up on the latest.

The KCRG-TV9 team also recently aired two additional reports regarding the Red Bull's training and subsequently deployment from California. Check them out here and here. Consider that your Fort Irwin fix for the day.

Des Moines-area WHO-TV13 has continued its coverage of the Red Bull homefront with its "Iowans at War" series, including stories regarding how families are coping with separations caused by the deployment.

While Steve Hartkopf has been deployed, his wife Sophie Hartkopf has given birth to their first child. (Both Steve and Sophie, by the way, are Iowa National Guard soldiers.) The baby now rocks to sleep to the recorded sounds of Steve's electric guitar.

In other recent "Iowans at War" story, Christine Refsland musters three kids everyday while husband Nik is deployed. The kids try to help each other out where they can, but it's controlled chaos. "My daughters are twelve, eight and four, all going on 16," Nik says in the report.

Text and video at links, above. The amount of helpful, insightful, and friendly media attention being focused on our Red Bull soldiers and families is gratifying. Please check it out when you get a chance.

The Dirt Warriors from Iowa

Monday's Red Bull Rising post weeded through some Army acronymns related to the "advise-and-assist" mission in Afghanistan. Today, I'd like to drill down into one of these missions, the Agriculture Development Team (A.D.T.), also sometimes called "Agri-business Development Teams."

According to Army literature, ADTs work with the provincial authorities to provide agriculture-specific training on:

• Water and soil conservation and management.
• Animal husbandry (goats, sheep, cattle, donkeys, and horses).
• Orchard management (apples, peaches, almonds, apricots, etc.).
• Alfalfa and wheat production.
• Vegetable production.
• Agriculture marketing.
• Extension programs and education.
• Irrigation techniques and efficiency.

There are currently nine ADTs in Afghanistan, including a group of Iowa National Guard soldiers and airmen deployed to Kunar Province in Eastern Afghanistan. The 734th Agri-business Development Team takes its formal name from the 734th Regional Support Group (R.S.G.), but has quickly re-branded itself the "Dirt-Warriors."

The ADT is keeping people back home well-informed via Facebook and other means. It's also had plenty of adventures already, including:

• Aiding an injured law-enforcement officer while the team was still at its mobilization station of Camp Atterbury, Ind.
• Discussing low-tech agriculture with the Iowa Amish.
• Meeting the provincial governor of Kunar.
• Collecting and distributing clothing and supplies to a Kunar girls school.
• Providing 300 doses of rabies vaccine to nearby Nuristan Province.

On their left shoulders, 734th RSG personnel wear the same "Hawkeye" patch worn by all Iowa Army National Guard soldiers not assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry "Red Bull" division. Recently, however, the Dirt-Warriors put on their right-shoulder "combat patches"--the "Screaming Eagle" of the 101st Airborne Division!

Red Bulls Get Exclusive Sneak Peak at 'Restrepo'

CAMP RIPLEY, MINNESOTA--More than 50 leaders and staff of the Iowa Army National Guard's 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th "Red Bull" Infantry Division attended an exclusive sneak-peak of the documentary "Restrepo" Sunday, June 27.

The Sundance Award-winning film, which depicts how one company of U.S. soldiers conducted counterinsurgency operations in the hotly contested Korengal Valley, Afghanistan, opens in theaters nationwide from now until early July. While previously shown in special screenings on active-duty military bases, the Red Bull "Restrepo" event uniquely offered an opportunity to Army National Guard soldiers in a pre-deployment training environment.

The audience comprised much of the brigade's Headquarters and Headquarters Company (H.H.C.)--the non-commissioned, warrant, and commissioned officers who will lead and support the unit during its deployment to Afghanistan later this summer.

By repeatedly embedding with the same platoon of soldiers in 2007 and 2008, film co-producers Sebastian Junger (author of the books "War" and "The Perfect Storm") and Tim Hetherington (author of "Long Story, Bit by Bit") sought to document the emotional experience of U.S. soldiers in combat.

In discussions that followed Sunday night, Red Bull soldiers combined the terrain, conditions, and strategies depicted in "Restrepo" with their own experiences, expertise, and expectations. (Approximately 60 percent of the brigade's soldiers have deployed at least once before.) Here are some highlights of their reactions:

"We have to remember that we, as staff--the decisions that we make and help make, are going to put other people in these situations."

"Never once did it seem like the captain [in the film] asked the elders what they wanted. It seemed like U.S. troops came in and made promises, but never asked the village what they wanted. Some higher somewhere apparently made the decision they they needed roads, and never asked."

"We tell [Afghans] that we're going to make them rich, and then we can't pay for a damn cow?"

"It's important to realize the separation of what these soldiers went through and what we may be going to. As a lieutenant or platoon sergeant, I might live [in the way depicted in the film]. But if you're on Bagram [Airfield], when you're living in a B-hut or CHU or whatever, remember that there are guys out there living in the dirt, burning their own crap, looking for a hot meal every once in a while."

One soldier wished that more soldiers could have taken part in the special screening, including lower-ranking ones. "The time is now. A lot of soldiers aren't taking it seriously yet. This would open a lot of eyes."

At the same time, other soldiers expressed concerns that family and friends might worry that the film represents conditions in Afghanistan nationwide, rather than a particularly gritty pocket. "Every one of us will see a different piece of the puzzle, a different patch of ground, have a different story to tell. In other words, our mileage may vary."

For a few moments, however, thanks to the producers of "Restrepo," Red Bull troops were able to walk in other soldiers' boots--before they travel to Afghanistan themselves.

Review: 'Restrepo'

My fellow Red Bull TOC-rats and I pulled a working lunch earlier this week. As we started pulling apart our tactical computer systems in preparation for loading them on a truck, we previewed a soon-to-be-released (and award-winning) documentary called "Restrepo," which unblinkingly depicts the hardships endured by U.S. troops fighting in Eastern Afghanistan's Kunar Province.

From June 2007 to July 2008, documentary co-producers Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger repeatedly embedded in the Korengal with the second platoon of Battle Company, 503rd Infantry Battalion (2/B/503 Infantry) in the Korengal Valley. In 2007, nearly one-fifth of the combat in Afghanistan occurred in this valley, which is only 6 miles long. The unit is part of the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team (A.B.C.T.), headquartered in Vincenza, Italy.

Our unit's public affairs officer wanted a couple of Joes' reactions to the film, to see whether they thought it a potentially useful pre-deployment learning tool for our Red Bull soldiers. We've got a good mix of experiences and specialties in the TOC, he knew, and certainly no shortage of opinions.

About 90 minutes later, even the combat veterans among us called the film "eye-opening."

Said one staff sergeant: "I wish I'd had something like that to show my soldiers before we left for Iraq." An Afghan-theater veteran observed how well the documentary depicted the mountainous terrain as an ever-present enemy. Another commented: "It's a good reminder that this uniform gets dirty ... and sometimes bloody."

It remains to be seen, of course, whether elements of our unit ever face conditions as brutal and gut-wrenching as the 15 soldiers who established and maintained Observation Post Restrepo in 2007. Because "Restrepo" is a doggedly neutral work of non-fiction--there is no spin-and-polish offered here, only situation and circumstance--it rewards non-judgemental and soldierly contemplations such as:

• How would I react to the death of a friend?
• How will I react to enemy contact?
• How would my body hold up to the demands of altitude and terrain?
• How would I seek to win friends while also holding a rifle?

The Korengal Valley was thought to be a conduit through which Taliban and foreign fighters were infiltrating from Pakistan into Afghanistan. The area has variously been described as the "valley of death," the "most dangerous place in the world," and "the tip of the spear." More than 40 U.S. military personnel have been killed in the area since 2006. U.S. Army Pfc. Juan “Doc” Restrepo was one such soldier.

By placing Battle Company in the Korengal in 2007, U.S. military leaders had sought to stop the flow of fighters, while winning over the hearts and minds of the indigenous Korengali people--an ethnically distinct population.

In April 2010, however, U.S. forces withdrew from the Korengal after determining that their presence was doing more to create anti-U.S. sympathies and Taliban influence than to diminish them.

Hetherington is a photographer and filmmaker who has covered wars in Liberia and Afghanistan. Junger, author of "The Perfect Storm," has also recently published "War," a book-length account of the troops who fought in the Korengal.

After a theatrical release in June and July, plans call for "Restrepo" to air on the National Geographic Channel later in 2010.

Connections to Korangal, While Leaving

The Korangal Valley is in the Eastern Afghanistan province of Kunar. In past years, it's been the setting of some fierce fighting--in 2009, more than 60 percent of insurgent incidents in Afghanistan occurred in Kunar Province. Some 42 Afghan and U.S. soldiers have been killed in operations there since 2005.

The 6-mile-long Korangal Valley was the site of Operation Red Wings, 28 JUN 2005, during which a 4-person SEAL team encountered a hostile force of 50 to 200 fighters. A rescue CH-47 Chinook helicopter was subsequently downed by a rocket propelled grenade, killing all eight SEALs and eight Army personnel aboard. Of the original SEAL team, only Petty Officer 1st Class Marcus Luttrell survived the operation. He has since co-written a book, "Lone Survivor."

According to the New York Times, as of this week, U.S. soldiers will no longer man Korangal Outpost, or its satellite bases. The 14 APR 2010 article suggests that the outposts were no longer strategically necessary, but that soldiers were understandably ambivalent about leaving, given the amount of U.S. blood spilled there. Their comments are particularly noteworthy for those readers interested in the nuts-and-bolts of counterinsurgency (COIN) tactics:

“Everything on the other side of the valley is their terrain. Local people would talk to us, but everything they said we’d have to take with a grain of salt,” said [Staff Sgt. Brian Reed, Bravo Company of the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment]. “It was impossible to tell who was on whose side. At times we’d be talking to an elder in the village and five minutes after he left, we’d start taking fire.”

[First Lieutenant Brian Knapp] agreed. “You’re not going to win their hearts and minds if they’re not going to help themselves. We tried to bring them hydropower, wells, a road, like we do elsewhere, but here we’re a blocking position” — stopping insurgents from reaching more populated areas.

That sense was shared by several of the soldiers. “The whole point of counterinsurgency is that by securing the local population, you legitimize the government of Afghanistan,” said [Maj. James Fusseel, a former U.S. Army Special Forces soldier who had spent time in the valley in 2004-05, and 2008-09]. “But the thing about the Korangal and Waygal Valleys is that they don’t recognize any government beyond their little village, and when you go to them and say, ‘we want to secure you and offer you a road’ they say, ‘we don’t want a road.’”

“I would argue you couldn’t find a single Korangali who wanted any outside assistance.”

Readers interested in learning more about the Korangal Valley can look forward to "Restrepo," a 2010 Sundance Festival Grand Jury Prize-winning documentary produced by photographer Tim Hetherington and writer Sebastian Junger. Starting in 2007, the team repeatedly embedded with a platoon of 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team soldiers at a patrol base named after fallen medic Pfc. Juan Restrepo. The 90-minute documentary is slated to air on the National Geographic Channel in Fall 2010.

Junger, author of such books as "The Perfect Storm" and "Fire," has also written "War," a book about his Korangal experiences. It is due for release 11 MAY 2010.

A final note: "SEAL of Honor," a biography of U.S. Navy Lt. Michael P. Murphy, who was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for actions during Operation Red Wings, is also due for release 05 MAY 2010.

UPDATE: Earlier today, one of my Facebook contacts pointed out a 2008-2010 MSNBC series of video reports from the Korengal Valley, including one filed this week. Visit the link here for free access to all seven videos. Must-see-TV for deploying soldiers!

On the Net: Blogs of Interest

As always, Sherpa's looking for plain-speaking news, books, and blogs for citizen-soldiers heading downrange to Afghanistan, as well as for those soldiers' friends and family.

When it comes to blogs, I'm disappointed to find that there's a lot of "link rot" out there, particularly when browsing other mil-blogger's "blog rolls" of allegedly favorite sites. I'll try to avoid this with Red Bull Rising, and only put stuff out there that's well-maintained and specifically relevant to the mission at hand.

Unfortunately for Sherpa's purposes, the Marine writing "Embedded in Afghanistan" is now mission-complete, and it doesn't sound like he's going to continue writing. He operated as an Embedded Training Team (ETT) member in Kunar Province from November 2008 to August 2009. I hope he keeps his archived blog on the Internet, however; he gives great detail and insight into working with the Afghans. He's probably got a book in him.

Fardin Waezi is a professional freelance photographer based in Kabul, who regularly posts photos at "Thru Afghan Eyes." Like they say, pictures are worth thousands. Just browsing his pictures gives you a feeling for the country, its people, and the challenges we face together.

In the "coming attractions" category: "A Major's Perspective," a blog written by a North Carolina National Guard (?) officer, is currently off the net while he transitions downrange to Afghanistan. This will be "Major C's" second or third deployment--evidenced by pictures of him in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He's definitely got the mil-blogging battle rhythm thing down, however, and I look forward to seeing what he has to say when he comes back on-line.