Hello all-

Another month has come and gone...thankfully.  I sit here on Easter  
morning thinking about how busy of a month it was that we just  
completed.  We had several air assault operations, village clearance  
missions, detainee operations, and project constructions.  All in all
 
Black Knight Troop, 3rd Platoon had a pretty successfully month.  We  
experienced our share of excitement and adrenaline (it is that time of
 
year again), but everyone is ok and we were able to come out on top.

Like I have explained before, the village that I have responsibility  
for is called Saw.  The unique thing about Saw is that it is the only
 
village in the Black Knight area of operations that sits in a valley  
that leads directly to Pakistan.  This poses many challenges including
 
AAF (Taliban) infiltration, corrupt government officials, and Afghan  
security forces (police and army) that are afraid to go back in the  
valley.  This past month we have done a few multiple day missions in  
order to reach out and touch some of those undesired personalities  
back in the valley.  Generally speaking, we were pretty successfully  
in either eradicating or detaining several HVT's (high value  
targets).  Honestly speaking, the progress we accomplished throughout
 
the winter months has rapidly deteriorated with the new enemy here  
from Pakistan.  We cannot have a constant presence in the area due to
 
a lack of Soldiers so as soon as we leave the bad guys come out  
again.  We do our best and have brought some good things to the area  
though.

Last week I finally got a flood wall project approved for Saw  
Village.  Basically what it entails is a concrete wall that will  
protect the girl's school and farm floods from flooding waters off of
 
the mountain.  It is a vital piece of construction for Saw and  
hopefully will be the beginnings of further development.  
Additionally, the progress continues on trying to tie a bridge into  
Saw; Saw lies on the south side of the river where there are no  
roads.  On top of this problem, we have built a bridge to connect the
 
village to the main route however Taliban continue to try and destroy
 
it.  We are doing our best to protect both American and Afghan  
interests but it just seems like we never have enough Soldiers.

Ultimately, looking back, it is finally April, I can finally say,  
"Next month we are coming home!".  The new unit will start coming in  
at the end of the month and we will begin training our replacements  
shortly there after.  I have my first Soldiers leaving at the very  
beginning of May so we are all very excited for that.  We have put in
 
a lot of long hours, sweat, tears, and blood to try and better a  
nation that is not ours.  My Soldier's are truly some of the greatest
 
American's that have walked this Earth (and alot of walking they have
 
done).  Although the phrase is, "Soldier's aren't happy unless they  
are complaining", I know that they have a mission first attitude.  I  
am thankful to be blessed with such great warrior's to my right and  
left.  Although this chapter in my life is nearing its completion, its
 
not over till its over, and we all know that.  Thank you all for your
 
continued support.  Only a couple more updates left....

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 at 1:52 am and is filed under Afghanistan, Military. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.