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KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan — U.S. Army Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, Task Force Chosin, and members of the Afghan National Security Forces rolled their armored vehicles to a stop outside the Ganjgal village, Dec. 3.
Enemy fighters began moving through the village as U.S. Army Capt. Justin L. Saxe, a native of Cody, Wyo., left his vehicle and began to approach the village.
"It was a pretty tense moment," he said.
Saxe recalled hearing enemy radio traffic delivering instructions to the fighters to kill all the Americans as soon as they entered the village.
"When we first showed up, I thought for sure we were going to get into a fight," Saxe, the commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Task Force Chosin, said.
Saxe's mission in the valley was meant to be one of peace.
Three months before, three U.S. Marines and one U.S. Navy corpsman, who were part of an embedded training team, were killed in the same valley while working with their Afghan partners.
The Soldiers of Task Force Chosin crossed the 200 meters from their vehicles to the village and called out to the elders with a loudspeaker.
"We went up there to talk to the people," Saxe said. "To show them that there is a reason for cooperating with us."
U.S. Army Lt. Col. Frederick M. O'Donnell, the commander of Task Force Chosin, said the objective of the mission was to disrupt the insurgents in the villages of Ganjgal and Dam Dar Ye.
"This was to be accomplished primarily by non-lethal means, and meant to overcome the stereotypes by which coalition are frequently labelled," he said.
To accomplish this, and show that International Security Assistance Forces and ANSF were not anti-Muslim, the Soldiers came bearing gifts of prayer rugs and Korans.
"In these very poor villages, most cannot afford a Koran," O'Donnell said. "Coalition brought prayer rugs and much needed mosque refurbishment items, to include concrete, paint, and new mosque speakers. These items were presented up front, to set the appropriate tone for the visit."
The approach worked. The fighters fell back and the elders came down to speak with the Coalition Forces.
During the discussion, the ANSF and ISAF forces spoke with the elders about security and development, explaining that the valley must have both to ensure stability.
"These discussions, and our desire for development, help drive a wedge between the insurgents and the populace," O'Donnell said.
U.S. Army 1st Lt. Jacob A. Miraldi, of Norwich, Vt., the leader of 3rd platoon, Company A, Task Force Chosin, led one of the platoons involved in the operation.
Miraldi said the purpose of the mission is to establish a presence for the Afghan government in the valley, and described the results as a real victory for the Afghan government.
"This was a preliminary mission," he said, "to ensure we have the support of the elders there."
Miraldi explained that the objective was to secure the area to build a road and bring the Afghan government to the people of the Ganjgal.
O'Donnell said that this battle is one for the populace, and the Ganjgal operation permitted ISAF and ANSF forces to establish a foothold in the area.
"Success will be defined in small increments," he said. "These villages are not only separated from [the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan], ANSF, and local government, but local villages as well. These people are isolationists. Progress will be slow, and we have to be patient and understanding of that."
| Date Taken: | 12.18.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 12.18.2009 05:40 |
| Story ID: | 42916 |
| Location: | KUNAR PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: | 536 |
| Downloads: | 260 |
This work, 1-32 INF visits Ganjgal village, Kunar province, by SPC Eugene Cushing, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
