Bragg Paratroopers, Afghan Soldiers Disrupt Insurgent Safe Havens in Ghazni Province

FORWARD OPERATING BASE ARIAN, Afghanistan - Insurgents
are learning that U.S. and Afghan forces will go anywhere at anytime to
disrupt and destroy their capabilities, said a U.S. military commander
in southern Ghazni Province today.

After dramatically reducing the occurrence of roadside bombs along
Highway 1 here, U.S. Army paratroopers and Afghan forces are beginning
to take the fight to insurgent safe havens, said Lt. Col. Praxitelis
Vamvakias, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Battalion,
504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team.

The battalion of Fort Bragg, N.C., paratroopers concluded a multi-day
helicopter assault June 5 that resulted in the destruction of at least
five insurgent weapons caches in a number of remote "safe haven"
villages in the mountains west of the Qara Bagh District Center, said
Vamvakias.

"This is part of our plan to keep the insurgents off balance, allowing
Afghan National Security Forces and the district governance space and
time to gain traction in improving security, governance and economics,"
he said.

Cleared were the agricultural-based settlements of Barlah, Lar and
several smaller villages, all of which are located at nearly 8,000 feet
of elevation in a remote valley.

One of the company commanders involved in the operation, Capt. Robert
Gacke III, said that such operations are intended to knock insurgents
out of their comfort zones, causing them to make mistakes that U.S. and
Afghan forces may capitalize on.

Along Highway 1, for instance, high pressure from route-clearance teams
has led to a slate of civilian deaths caused by roadside bombs likely
meant for military convoys.  Such missteps further erode already-waning
civilian tolerance for insurgent activities.

Another insurgent misstep, a forced closure of 83 schools in Ghazni's
Andar District  to protest a government mandate that all motorcycles be
registered, met a swift end when citizens clashed with the Taliban in
open conflict.

Gacke, whose company partnered with Afghan National Army soldiers to
clear Barlah, said he believed the biggest benefit from the most recent
mission was that it was "the spark that began the transition of
responsibility and mission-leading from us to the Afghans."

The mission used a "combined-arms rehearsal" beforehand, a significant
planning tool during which each commander described in detail on a floor
map his role in the operation.

Maj. Shamhoon Saf, operations officer for 6th Kandak, 3rd Brigade, 203rd
Corps, said that he planned to use the planning method for their own
missions in the future.

"We want to become this professional," he said.

       In the field, the "big win" for American paratroopers was when
Afghan soldiers began leading on clearing compounds, said Gacke.

       One of Gacke's platoon leaders, 1st Lt. Kirk Shoemaker,
explained that Afghan soldiers entered every home first and were always
in the lead of moving formations.

       "Our ANA partners were phenomenal, particularly 1st Lt. Lashka
Khan and his platoon sergeant, Sgt. Bashir," said Shoemaker.

       "In fact, sometimes they outpaced us climbing mountains. They
are hungry to make sure the people are protected and the Taliban is
eliminated from this area," he said.

       Shoemaker conceded that the Afghan soldiers are much better at
discerning the tell-tale signs of Taliban influence within the normal
context of Afghan village life.

       Lashka Khan, who has served seven years in the Afghan army,
agreed with the lieutenant's analysis, adding that his army is getting
better every day.

       "My oldest boy is 11," he said.  "He is proud that I am fighting
the Taliban because, if they were in control again, our country would
once again plunge into darkness.  When we searched the houses, the
people told us they don't have schools.  I want my country to have a
shining future where all of my children and my neighbors' children can
attend school and become knowledgeable citizens."

       Shoemaker, who was an intelligence officer before taking lead of
a platoon, said that the safe havens they cleared were not nearly as
menacing as the reports suggested and lacked the improvised explosive
devices, anti-personnel mines, car bombs and suicide vests that planners
warned against.

       "There weren't any direct engagements with the Taliban," he
said.  "There was Taliban rumored to be there and have influence, but it
was not as belligerent as we expected."

       That may just be a sign of how safe insurgents believed their
safe haven to be up until now, he said.