Red Bulls Soldiers Help Protect Afghanistan Border
(March 16, 2011) |
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| NANGARHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan (March 11, 2011) – The scene
at Torkham Gate in eastern Afghanistan the morning of March
7 was comparable to that of a city at rush hour in the U.S. |
Dozens of small cars were intermixed in a long
line of heavily-decorated, colorful jingle
trucks that stretched about a mile from the zero
line --the border between Afghanistan and
Pakistan.
In the middle of the traffic, a
handful of Soldiers from the Iowa National
Guard's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry
Division, Task Force Red Bulls. The Soldiers,
from Company B, 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry
Regiment, were helping the Afghan Border Police,
Afghan Customs Police and the National
Directorate of Safety, keep order at the gate.
Though the infantry Soldiers may not be
participating in the ground-pounding,
door-kicking missions they envisioned for the
deployment, they appreciate the mission.
“I enjoy working with the Afghan forces,”
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U.S. Army Spc. John
Meyer, left, from Iowa City, Iowa, and Spc.
Chris Linssen, center, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
both infantrymen with Company B, 1st Battalion,
133rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat
Team, 34th Infantry Division, Task Force Red
Bulls, watch the pedestrian walkway with an
Afghan Border Police dog handler, right, at
Torkham Gate on the Afghanistan border March 7,
2011. |
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said U.S. Army Sgt. Casey Ketelson, an
infantry team leader from Osage, Iowa, with Co.
B, 1st Bn., 133rd Inf. |
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He said by working closely with NDS, the Afghan
intelligence force, the Soldiers can use the information
they collect to catch insurgent traffickers and other wanted
persons should they try to sneak through. The Afghan
agencies help the Soldiers identify certain types of
vehicles and people that could be harboring illegal or
dangerous items.
About 10,000 people and 1,000 to
2,000 vehicles cross the border between Afghanistan and
Pakistan daily at Torkham Gate. Everything from trucks
loaded with hundreds of chickens, to people carrying dead
relatives who wanted to be buried on the other side of the
border, travel through the gate.
Co. B's Soldiers help
manage the traffic by assisting in various capacities at the
gate from security over watch to biometrics collection to
vehicle security.
Soldiers help their Afghan
counterparts direct vehicles through the checkpoint and
randomly select vehicles to be searched to ensure are not
carrying contraband or other dangerous materials into the
country.
In addition to watching the vehicles, the
Soldiers watch the pedestrians and ensure they don't walk
into vehicle traffic.
“We try to get pedestrians out
of the vehicle routes, or else they plug up traffic and we
can't get much accomplished,” said U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class
Thomas Boge, an infantry squad leader and the day's sergeant
of the guard for Co. B, 1st Bn., 133rd Inf., and an Allison,
Iowa, native.
Soldiers working with ABP, also monitor
the pedestrian walkway, from both overhead observation posts
afoot.
U.S. Army Spc. Chris Linssen, an infantryman
from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, said Soldiers provided extra
security by having an overhead vantage point.
“We'll
watch the (pedestrians) coming in for anything that stands
out or doesn't look right,” Linssen said.
In
addition to physical security, Soldiers collect biometric
information on people transiting the border.
U.S.
Army Spc. Nathan Valentine is the company's resident expert
on collecting biometric information.
“This is the
only job I've ever done here,” Valentine said. “Other
platoons may enter a higher number of people into the
system, but we're more selective about the types of people
we enter.”
He said the Soldiers work closely with
their Afghan counterparts when choosing individuals to enter
into the system.
To aid in security, the Afghan
government is implementing a national identification card
and fingerprinting system, which is also being conducted at
the gate.
The Soldiers said their biggest obstacle is
dealing with the monotony of the job. After a week at the
gate they switch to another duty, such as forward operating
base defense, for a week.
“We try to rotate the
Soldiers out between stations to keep them fresh,” Ketelson
said.
Linssen said people from many countries, not
just Afghanistan and Pakistan, cross the gate with a variety
of items. He said the line begins forming before the gate is
open.
“At 6 a.m. there will be people crowding on the
Pakistan side of the border like they're waiting in line at
Walmart on Black Friday,” Linssen said.
The Soldiers
said they have found items on people entering the gate such
as hashish, improperly packaged food goods or items that
people haven't paid taxes on. When items like those are
found, the ACP seizes them.
The Soldiers said they
are not fooling themselves to think they are catching all
the contraband coming through the gate. After all, the gate
is not the only way to enter the country, simply the most
convenient. But they said they do know that every piece of
contraband or person they do get could potentially mean a
life saved somewhere in the country.
Besides the
reward of helping to secure the gate, the Soldiers said
there are other perks to working at Torkham Gate. For U.S.
Army Spc. Michael Stuart, an infantryman from Anamosa, Iowa,
it is getting to sample some of the Afghan food sold by the
many vendors in the area.
“This is definitely a perk.
The food is great here,” Stuart said with a smile as he
loaded some lamb, rice and a piece of pan bread onto a plate
for lunch. |
Article and photo by Army SSgt. Ryan Matson
Combined Joint Task Force 101
Copyright 2011 | |
Provided
through DVIDS
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