ASAD ABAD, Afghanistan: It required two, Viet Nam era, Chinook, helicopters to lift sixty five 173rd Airborne troopers from the LZ at Camp Wright in Asad Abad, Afghanistan for a midnight landing in the high peaks of the Tribal Area, a few miles from the Pakistan border. The men are edgy. Intel indicates the possibility of a hot LZ (landing zone) on landing. It doesn’t help that Rock Avalanche, the operation in which they are participating, has been held down for twenty four hours due to civilian casualties on the Operations opening day.
Able Company, 2nd Battalion, 503 Infantry of the 173rd Airborne Brigade is the unit that has been loaded, along with full packs, weapons, and skids of ammunition needed for the heavy machine guns. Able Co. claims to have seen more action than any other unit currently in Afghanistan according to the Company Commander Capt. Louis Frketic.
Louis Frkitec [rear center on radio] while giving the evening briefing to his men in the high peaks of southeast Afghanistan during operation Rock Avalanche.
“My company was the unit involved in the Battle of Tsangar, fought through July 5 to 7 of this year,” said Capt. Frketic during a briefing held earlier in the day. “We took on an equal number of enemy forces, and had actually resorted to hand to hand combat, before artillery and air strikes gave us the advantage. Our losses of 2 KIA and 6 WIA were devastating to the unit.”
The Chinooks climbed to 8,000 ft. before leveling off and settling in for a precarious landing along the ridge line. No ground fire was detected as the men hastily empted the choppers dragging the skids of ammo with them. The gun teams were the first to take up positions overlooking the valleys on either side. As the perimeter was secured, troops not posted for the night watch found secure spots to hunker down for a few hours sleep. The temperature at this elevation had dropped down to the high 30s F, much colder than most were accustomed to.
Two 173rd Airborne troopers [names not known] manning the M-19 Grenade Machine Gun along the command point perimeter in the Afghan Mountains during operation Rock Avalanche.
"Scouts came in with us on the Chinooks”, said CPT Frketic at the early morning briefing, “and I’ve got them deployed all sides and on the outskirts a couple of small villages between here and the Pech River. They will report in via radio since they won’t be returning to the command post here. We can’t risk the ACMs (anti collation militias) following them back.”
173rd soldier [name unknown] sleeping in the sun after manning the guns throughout the night at A Company command center in the Afghan Mountains during operation Rock Avalanche.
By mid-day the command center had returned to a normal state of readiness. CPT Frkitec was constantly on the phone taking reports from the scouts and other units of the 503 Infantry working the Rock Avalanche operation. The troops who had manned the night positions were taking a well deserved sleep in the warm sunshine. By late afternoon the company interpreter, ‘Dave’, a former US Special Forces soldier of Pakistani descent, and also a veteran of numerous tours in Iraq and Afghanistan; was busy interpreting radio intercepts of ACM traffic. The ACMs use various two-way radio public frequencies, apparently not being able to afford satellite phones.
“I’ve got some ‘bad guys’ calling among their units for help from the next valley over” said Dave, the interpreter. “They need help with their wounded and they’re saying that six of their own are dead. It must be all that artillery fire we heard being fired off this afternoon hit something. I think B Company is at that location also, down near Yakha China village, where the civilians got hit a couple of days ago.”
As the sun was fading beyond the high peaks, CPT Frkitec held another briefing. Since the location of his Company had not been detected by any ACMs, he had decided to hold this location till late afternoon the next day, before beginning the trek down through the mountains to his home base at Able Main.
“I find it very difficult working with the people of Afghanistan” said CPT Frkitec. “They are like people from an Iron Age culture, who use A-47s.”
“They’ve always reminded me of an ‘Old Testament’ culture.” said SFC Jacob Caldwell, an army press NCO from Jalalabad covering Rock Avalanche. “It’s basically shepherds herding sheep and goats throughout these mountains; living in the same mud houses since Alexander the Great passed through these hills.”
Late that night word came in from ISAF (International Security Assistance Force), the NATO high command in Afghanistan, that there was one KIA and two WIAs from B Company, that had been operating near the town of Yaka China. A request was made for the number of ACM and civilian losses.
“It is not official policy to count civilian or ACM casualties” said SFC Eric Hendrix, a public affairs NCO on the phone from Jalalabad.
The results of Operation Rock Avalanche will not be known for three more days; or however long it takes for these hardened American soldiers to fight their way down from the mountains to their home bases in the Pech River Valley, Afghanistan.
A version of this article was published in the Press Republican on November 8, 2007.
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