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AFGHANISTAN- Soldiers of Alpha Company, 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, have been working with the Afghan soldiers of Route Clearance Company, 209th Corps, Afghan National Army for the past three months improving and fine tuning their route clearance techniques.
A route clearance unit provides freedom of mobility to the maneuver force and local population, explained 1st Lt. John Marhevsky, the platoon leader, 2nd Platoon, A Company, 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion. This is very important to the security and safety in Afghanistan.
“When we first got here they had already been trained from a basic training level to a partnered training level by the prior embedded unit,” Marhevsky said. “They had a good understanding and they conduct very deliberate dismounted route clearance.”
The ANA Route Clearance Co. has already become a fully integrated unit that can run missions on their own, said Marhevsky. Indentifying improvised explosive devices and finding mines is their main focus for clearing the roads.
“We have gone on two partnered missions with them,” Marhevsky said. “In those two missions they found about 16 IEDS and 24 mines.”
The missions the two units conducted together were to Takhar province and Baghlan province, but the ANA Co. have conducted route clearance missions all over Regional Command - North as an independent unit.
“I help the training by setting up IED lanes,” said Spc. Thomas Butler, a team leader, 2nd Platoon, A Co., 1st BSTB. “We’ve done ordinance identification and basic demolition.”
Developing standard operating procedures and tactics, techniques and procedures help create consistency within a unit and help Soldiers know what they are expected to do.
“We’ve helped them develop more SOP’s and TTP’s so they could be more proficient,” Marhevsky said.
Sunday through Tuesday there are blocks of instructions and training exercises conducted by A Co. Soldiers with the ANA soldiers.
The ANA Route Clearance Co. have 65 trained and consistent soldiers on average and their member’s ages range from 17 to 45, said Marhevsky.
“They are very knowledgeable in their field, combat engineers,” Butler said. “They definitely adapted to what we taught them and are integrating our TTPs with theirs to make it work for them.”
There’s an EOD unit in the 209th Corps, Marhevsky said. They go out together with the route clearance company when they go on missions.
“I was talking to one of the EOD guys,” Butler said. “He was talking about all the IED’s that he has found. He was very knowledgeable.”
The ANA soldiers have taught the U.S. soldiers as well due to their experiences in their country. The Soldiers freely share their knowledge mutually helping each other with the job.
“When I first met them it was a learning aspect for both of us,” said Sgt. Justin Reyes, a team leader, 2nd Platoon, A Co., 1st BSTB. “I took a lot of knowledge from them as well. They know what is out there. They know their enemies TTPs.
The ANA unit conducts dismounted route clearance and the US units normally conduct mounted route clearance, so the ANA soldiers can tell more details about what they find and they find everything, said Reyes.
“When we first got here it was more of a learning experience for us than them,” Marhevsky said.
Most soldiers keep the partnership at a business-like relationship, but with the Afghan culture the ANA soldiers like to develop deeper friendships.
“I enjoy working with them,” said Pfc. Aisake Fifita, a gunner, 2nd Platoon, A Co., 1st BSTB. “They know what they are doing. They are well seasoned soldiers.”
Fifita is one of the few US Soldiers that eats with the ANA Soldiers and interacts with them regularly outside of training, said Reyes.
“They like to sit close to each other,” Fifita said. “They pretty much tell me everything about who they are and where they come from. I try to remember all of their names.”
Over the past three months the overall goal was met, to let them know how important their job is, so that the infantry can move and the civilians can move, said Reyes.
| Date Taken: | 07.24.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 07.24.2010 00:27 |
| Story ID: | 53309 |
| Location: | AF |
| Web Views: | 634 |
| Downloads: | 226 |
This work, Route Clearance in Afghanistan, by PFC Cynthia Teears Van Cleve, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
