(Host) Today we mark Veteran's Day with a profile of one of the Vermont Guard Soldiers preparing to return home from Afghanistan. Twenty-three-year-old Specialist Corinne Vintinner of Burlington is a medic. She's also been the only woman at Combat Outpost Rahman Kheil in Paktya Province. The outpost is manned by a Vermont Guard infantry company.
Many of the Vermont Guard soldiers serving in Afghanistan have rarely left the confines of a large military base during their deployment. Nearly two-thirds of the fifteen-hundred troops are at sprawling Bagram Airfield. Another large group is stationed at Camp Phoenix in Kabul. Overseeing that group is Captain David Fabricius of North Rupert.
Visit The Series Page: Report From Afghanistan (Host) We now have a profile of one of the 1500 Vermont Guard members serving in Afghanistan. Among the soldiers VPR' Steve Zind spent time with on his recent trip there was Laura Cook. Cook is spending her deployment at a large base in the Afghan capital. She spoke with Steve about her reason for joining the military and the challenges of communicating with family and loved ones during the deployment.
Last month VPR’s Steve Zind was imbedded with Vermont National Guard troops in Afghanistan. His reporting from there revealed the daily lives of deployed Vermont soldiers, the caution they take in performing even mundane tasks, their interactions with Afghani citizens, and their reflections of serving in a war with ambiguous support back home. VPR's Jane Lindholm asked Steve to share some of his reflections on what he learned while traveling and living with Vermont soldiers in several parts of Afghanistan.
Visit The Series Page: Report From Afghanistan (Host) It's no secret that soldiers count the days until the end of their deployment. But one Vermont company has a more formal way of keeping track of the time left in Afghanistan. It's a ceremony called the Marking of the Line in which the order is given to 'present pen', rather than 'present arms'.
Visit The Series Page: Report From Afghanistan During his travels with the Vermont National Guard in Afghanistan, VPR's Steve Zind has met many Vermonters playing important support roles. They might spend their entire deployment on the base, doing jobs that may not be dangerous but are nonetheless important. One such Vermonter is Sergeant Albert Fry who handles office supplies.
My three week assignment in Afghanistan is over, and though I’m still processing all I saw and heard, I’ll try to summarize. As I mentioned in one of my early posts, being an imbedded reporter has its limitations. The view I’ve had has primarily been through the lens of the military. Even within that context, I’ve had a narrow focus: The work of the Vermont Guard in three of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan.
Visit The Series Page: Report From Afghanistan (Host) As we approach the 9th anniversary of the start of the war in Afghanistan, the fact that nearly 100 thousand U.S. troops are in that country is not welcome news to a growing number of Americans. Impatience and pessimism over the war are common sentiments here. But in Afghanistan, many Vermont Guard soldiers have a different view.
Visit The Series Page: Report From Afghanistan VPR's Steve Zind is in Afghanistan with the Vermont National Guard. Among those he's met is a Specialist Alexander Kelly. Kelly left a job working at a bar and grill in Essex to deploy to Afghanistan. Now his experience there has him thinking about a new career. Kelly gave us a tour of his medical lab at Camp Phoenix in Kabul.
On my final day in Afghanistan, I packed away the body armor and helmet that have been part of my daily wardrobe for the past three weeks and left the protective cocoon of the military to spend time in Kabul. An armed guard, a metal detector, a pat down and bag search are the price of admission to the lobby of a Kabul hotel catering to Westerners.
Visit The Series Page: Report From Afghanistan 1st Sergeant Eric Duncan of Northfield commands Vermont soldiers at a joint combat outpost named Raman Kheil in Paktya province in Afghanistan. It's where the Vermont Guard's Delta Company is based. The outpost is located in an area where the insurgency is still active. Until recently the base was regularly fired upon and just last week a number of roadside bombs were found near the base.
Visit The Series Page: Report From Afghanistan (Host) We turn now to "Report from Afghanistan", our series about the yearlong deployment of the Vermont National Guard. Most of the Vermont Guard soldiers are deployed in relatively safe areas of the country, where the military is working with civil servants to help residents build infrastructure, now that security has been improved.
Visit The Series Page: Report From Afghanistan Vermont Army Guard Sergeant Anita Austin of St. Albans is among those spending her deployment at Camp Phoenix in Kabul, Afghanistan. Austin's job isn't for everyone. It requires a strong back and a steady hand. She's in charge of the ammunition for the 11 military bases located around the Afghan capital.
Master Sergeant Tom Stone of the Vermont Guard died in Afghanistan in 2006. Stone was an old soldier by most standards; he joined the Army right out of Woodstock High School. He was 53 when he died, having volunteered for three successive deployments in Afghanistan where he served as a medic. By all accounts he spent his life constantly on the move: He was a rancher and a logger and he worked on oil rigs.
Visit The Series Page: Report From Afghanistan Vermont soldiers at Camp Phoenix in Afghanistan provide support for troops in Kabul in a variety of ways. The Company C Medical 186th Battalion Support Brigade is based in Winooski, and in this deployment it operates the Troop Medical Clinic, known as a TMC. It's basically a combination doctor's office and emergency room.
I wrote earlier about the fairly basic living conditions at Combat Outpost Red Hill in Parwan Province and Dand Patan here in Patyka Province. Joint Combat Outpost Raman Kheil which is occupied by Delta Company of 3-172nd, 86th Brigade of the Vermont National Guard stands on a patch of dusty moonscape. The high walls keep insurgents at bay, but the wind moves over them with impunity, gathering the dust in whirling sheets and draping it over everything.
“… insurgents hold a distinct advantage in their level of local knowledge. They speak the language, move easily within the society, and are more likely to understand the population’s interests. Thus, effective COIN operations require a greater emphasis on certain skills, such as language and cultural understanding, than does conventional warfare.
Visit The Series Page: Report From Afghanistan (Host) For Vermonters serving in Paktya Province in Afghanistan, improvised explosive devices, or IEDs are fact of daily life. In most cases the devices are found and disarmed before they can hurt or kill civilians or soldiers. But there have been some close calls. VPR's Steve Zind is with the Vermont Guard in Paktya Province and has this Report From Afghanistan on the constant danger from IEDs.
Visit The Series Page: Report From Afghanistan VPR's Steve Zind is traveling with Vermont Guard soldiers in Afghanistan, bringing us their voices. Today we hear from Sgt. First Class Julie Northrup at Camp Phoenix in Kabul.
Forward Operating Base (FOB) Dand Patan is a 60 miles, five hour journey over rugged mountain roads from the base where I’m staying. I rode to Dand Patan and back yesterday with members of the Vermont Guard's Echo Company. The company is responsible for equipment maintenance, repairs and delivery.Our convoy included truckloads of equipment, along with an escort of gun trucks driven by the Vermonters.
Visit The Series Page: Report From Afghanistan (Host) An important part of the U.S. government plan to withdraw forces from Afghanistan depends on the Afghan National Police, or ANP. A strong national police force is seen as key to providing the security and keeping insurgents at bay. But after nine years of war, the ANP is viewed as riddled with corruption and plagued by inadequate training, low pay and, in some places, a high rate of attrition.
Visit The Series Page: Report From Afghanistan (Host) And now, "Report From Afghanistan," our series about the yearlong deployment of the Vermont National Guard. An important part of the U.S. plan to withdraw forces from Afghanistan is a more dependable and better trained Afghan National Police, or ANP. Many say the ANP is riddled with corruption and plagued by inadequate training, low pay and, in some places, a high rate of attrition.
Capt. Larry Doane (L) in the Colonel's office near Combat Outpost Red Hill “We have a proverb,” said Hadji Murad to the interpreter, “’The dog gave meat to the ass and the ass gave hay to the dog, and both went hungry,’” and he smiled. “Its own customs seem good to each nation.” -From Hadji Murad by Leo Tolstoy VPR Commentator and Vermont Army Guard Captain Larry Doane spent a few days at Combat Outpost Red Hill while I was there.
Visit The Series Page: Report From Afghanistan Of the 1500 Vermont National Guard soldiers in Afghanistan right now, about 50 are based at Charikar. Feeding them is the job of one man: Sergeant Edward Cabral of Bennington. Predictably, everyone calls him "Cookie." Meals are served from a small trailer to an appreciative group. VPR's Steve Zind is in Afghanistan with the Vermont Guard.
Visit The Series Page: Report From Afghanistan (Host) Among the jobs being done by the Vermont Guard in Afghanistan is police training. More specifically, male police training. VPR's Steve Zind is with the guard, and in this Report from Afghanistan he looks at the challenges facing afghan women who want to pursue professional lives.
Breaking In A New Combat OutpostCombat Outpost Red Hill sits on the lower slopes of a line of rugged desert mountains. At night the lights of Bagram Airbase 15 miles south of here look like a good sized city. During the day I can gaze over the half-built protective walls of the outpost where tawny colored villages interrupt the band of green that sweeps through the valley below.
There are about 50 Vermont Guard from Bravo Troop, 1st Squadron, 172nd Cavalry based in Charikar, the capital of Parwan Province, north of Kabul. They live and work at an Afghan National Police station which they share with the local constabulary. They’ve got many of the ‘comforts’ of a larger base, but on more modest terms.
Visit The Series Page: Report From Afghanistan (Host) If all goes well, Vermont Guard members who provide support to Afghanistan's national police will have little to do tomorrow when Afghans go to the polls for parliamentary elections. But members of Bravo Troop 1st Squadron 172nd Cavalry out of Bennington have been busy in the days leading up to the elections.
Visit The Series Page: Report From Afghanistan (Host) We're spending time with the Vermont National Guard during part of their yearlong deployment. Among the jobs the jobs the Vermont Guard is responsible for is training the country's police force. The Afghan National Police are the weakest part of the country's security forces. And strengthening them is important to any U.
I’m sitting in the back of an Army MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicle parked 10 thousand feet up in the Hindu Kush Mountains north of Kabul. We’re waiting out a rain and hail storm and bundled up against a raging wind and temperatures in the 40s. A group of Vermont Guardsmen from Bagram Airbase has escorted a truckload of sandbags to an Afghan National Police outpost here.
Visit The Series Page: Report From Afghanistan (Host) We turn this morning to Report From Afghanistan, our series of reports on the Vermont National Guard's yearlong deployment. Even in the relative safety of Kabul, nothing is taken for granted when it comes to security in Afghanistan. That means it can be quite a production to simply move military personnel and civilian government workers from point A to point B.
Photo: A Destroyed Royal Palace I spent two days riding through the streets of the city in an armored Humvee, first with Vermont guard members who conduct patrols and then with members of the brigade support team, who ferry passengers and gear between the 11 forward operating bases located in the Kabul area. Like cities I've visited in the Middle East, Kabul is a chaotic place.
Visit The Series Page: Report From Afghanistan (Host) The attacks of September 11th 2001 are being remembered today in a ceremony at a base where several hundred members of the Guard are serving a year-long deployment. In his first Report from Afghanistan, VPR's Steve Zind says the controversy surrounding the burning of the Muslim holy book has been on the guards' minds and it's altered their routines.
A few hours after landing in Afghanistan, I was sitting in the shade in an area over on the military side of the Kabul airport. The area seemed to be a hangout for soldiers waiting to be transported to other locations. Some napped, others played cards. A group of French soldiers unshouldered their massive packs and lined them up in neat rows on the sidewalk.
I'll be spending my first few days with the several hundred members of the Vermont Guard stationed at Camp Phoenix in Kabul. I accompanied a group on one of their 5 day a week patrols through the city streets. Although the big humvees are a regular sight, they attract lots of stares. Whether there's curiousity, indifference or hostility behind the gazes is impossible to tell.
After spending a night in Frankfurt, Germany, I fly on to Afghanistan this evening, with about 80 pounds of luggage and equipment in tow. I appreciate the many emails I've received from listeners with questions for the guard. Steve Zind ReportFromAfghanistan@gmail.com
Our Report From Afghanistan series begins with four audio journal pieces recorded by VPR commentator and Vermont Guard Captain Larry Doane. They're snapshots of Larry’s work leading the members of his guard unit as they patrol, train security personnel and get to know the Afghan men they serve with. They even attend a ‘bachelor party', which features something Larry calls the ‘Afghan Man Dance'.
“Whether to embed with any armed force is a decision involving trade-offs. A primary advantage of embedding is that a journalist will get a firsthand, front-line view of armed forces in action. But there are also disadvantages. An embedded journalist is only able to cover that single part of the story…” -from “On Assignment: A Guide to Reporting in Dangerous Situations” I’ve been thinking a lot about the pitfalls and the possibilities of embedding as a reporter with the military.
In advance of my departure, I’ve been pestering people I know who’ve been to Afghanistan with all sorts of questions. I’ve been trying to figure out what I need to take, beyond the recording equipment and the protective gear the military requires. Toward that end, I’ve been corresponding with VPR commentator Larry Doane. As a guard captain in Afghanistan, he commands a unit that’s moved around a lot during the deployment.
Greetings and welcome to a reporter’s journal I’ll be keeping between now and my return from Afghanistan, where I’ll be for three weeks in September. Once the trip is under way, I’ll also be filing stories for broadcast on VPR and photos from the field. I’ll be in Afghanistan with the 1,500 members of the Vermont National Guard, who’ve been there since the beginning of the year.
Reporter's Journal
VPR's Steve Zind is spending three weeks in Afghanistan, covering some of the 1,500 members of the Vermont National Guard who are deployed there.
He'll provide a close-up view of the Guard's mission and how things are going from their perspective.
The Reporter
Steve has been with VPR since 1994, first serving as host of VPR’s public affairs program and then as a reporter, based in Central Vermont. Many VPR listeners recognize Steve for his special reports from Iran, providing a glimpse of this country that is usually hidden from the rest of the world.