27 Dec 2009 - 06 Jan 2010
This period of time on my last deployment in Afghanistan was not a great stretch for several reasons.
The first was the IED strike of 30 Dec 2009 that killed 5 Canadians; Private Garrett Chidley, Sergeant George Miok, Corporal Zachery McCormack, Sergeant Kirk Taylor, and Michelle Lang of the Calgary Herald. While it didn’t happen in our AOR all of us felt the cold, empty feeling of loss and anger in the pit of our stomachs; sad for their deaths and infuriated that we couldn’t do anything about it. It was a terrible day to be a part of TF3-09.
The second was when the Americans that we were sharing the strong point with were patrolling not far from Ashoque and were hit by 2 x IED’s and small arms fire. They lost 3 soldiers that day; Sgt. Joshua A. Lengstorf, Spc. Brian R. Bowman, and Pvt. John P. Dion. They were assigned to 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, out of Fort Carson, Colorado. This time I got to help out with minor medical treatments and concussion assessments after their patrol was recovered and they awaited medevac back to KAF. I’ll never forget the chaos, heartbreak and exhaustion on the faces of those men…I hope that wherever they are now they are doing ok.
The third was our ANA, who under the uninspiring leadership of their Platoon Commander, Dowa John, went from bad (which was already pretty awful) to worse.
Thanks for reading and all the best,
John
27 Dec 09
Christmas has come and gone and I will say that I’m not sorry! This one sucked! Up at 0630 for a parade at 0745 for the CDS and other VIP’s…it went way to long. I actually just walked away because I was so fed up! I really only had 2-3 hrs to myself because after the parade I did a PDR, had to cross load vehicles and prep for a patrol that wasn’t supposed to happen. BULLSHIT! The Boxing Day patrol was pretty lame, we went to the village North East of Ashoque where the ANA were 3/4 stoned and not into it all. I jacked up a group of them but they didn’t give a fuck. Today was pretty much off and I spent it all relaxing, watching Fringe and looking for houses in Saskatchewan.
31 Dec 09
Last entry for this year and I’m not to sorry to see it go! Thankfully it flew by and if the first half of 2010 goes by just as fast I will be very greatful! So there has been quite a bit of drama with our ANA to end the year. When we were out at Ashoque the Americans got in a TIC (troops in combat) about 800m - 1km from the strong point. We suited up to go but the ANA Platoon Commander refused to go and assist. A combination of cowardice, stupidity and laziness. We had to come back to FOB Wilson to give statements and talk with the OC and CO. Our ANA just don’t care; when asked why they didn’t go the XO said “their are no toilets in Pashmul!” Our OC exploded apparently at this. We probably won’t see any punishment for the ANA and I expect we will be back with them in 2-3 days time. Oh…and the ANA want showers at the SP because “the dark lady visits them at night”. Basically they need to clean up after having sex with one another or masturbating!! Ughh! These guys are retarded. Found out 5 Canadians were killed yesterday when their LAV hit an IED. Saw the pictures, it was pretty bad. Another 5 were CAT A so more may still die…what a horrible thing, I’m glad Alex is on HLTA.
04 Jan 10
Well the New Year isn’t off to a great start as we are still mentoring 1st Coy 1/205 ANA. We came back to Ashoque and instead of patrolling twice a day now we only go once? None of this makes any sense especially since the ANA Platoon Commander, Dowa John (DJ) didn’t get punished. Also, yesterday 3 Americans died while on a foot patrol just south of the Arghandab river. They first got hit by a large IED and SAF (small arms fire) and lost 2 guys. One apparently got blown into a village and as they went to recover him they hit a second IED. We saw the blasts on our patrol and heard the gunfight but were too far to respond. It would have been good to have been able to help. When we came back I did some assessments on the guys who were near the blast and put in a saline lock on one. Everyone was very emotional and it was obvious they were a very tight crew. I hope we don’t have the same experience. Apparently one of the guys was called “Doc” so I can only assume he was their medic.
06 Jan 10
So yesterday I was witness to the hugest “flinch” in history…to the point I needed a neck brace. Mid patrol the ANA Platoon Commander gets a message to return to FOB Wilson no later than 1200hrs to prep to move to Helmand for an operation. So instead of getting the whole picture and understanding the situation we were ordered back to the FOB for immediate preparations. So we tore down the SP and packed away wet tents and gear only to have to put them back up at the FOB the next day and the pack them away again. We got a warning order for the Helmand business but as I suspected there was no real information in it whatsoever. There were lots of “might” “could” etc. Anyway, I don’t think we will go because it goes against all common sense and would be a massive Op requiring tons of planning that would last until the end of tour. Thank God leave is fast approaching!! All the guys are super frustrated with everything; training, ops, ANA, our leadership…it’s not good. There are going to be a lot of releases when we get back to Canada at the end of the tour.