The West Point Parents Club of Northern California (WPPCNC) has updated the condition of Cpt. Kevin Mott. Kevin and many of his soldiers sustained serious injuries recently in Afghanistan when his unit was attacked by insurgents.
Kevin is from 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell. His home is in Novato, CA.
" This morning we received a call from Germany to update us on Kevin. They performed a complete medical evaluation on him, including a neurologist, orthopedic surgeon, occupational therapist and others....
He has various cuts and abrasions on his face and chin that are being treated with antibiotic cream. He has fractured vertebrae L3, 4, and 5 and thoracic # 11. These are all in his lower back. They will not require surgery and he was put in a brace to help immobilize them. He has a closed fracture of his left fibula and tibia (lower leg) that they will treat with a splint (no cast)....They haven't made a decision on when he comes home but it sounds like he may fly to the US on Friday....Overall, I take this assessment of him as pretty encouraging. The back and leg seems like it will heal OK and he's not on meds that would indicate serious brain trauma. But we need to talk some more and watch how he does over the next few days.....
The nurse also said he has had visitors. The coaches of the Vikings, Eagles and Bengals happened to be visiting, said hello to Kevin and had their pictures taken with him.... Please continue to pray for his men who are largely still out in the field..."
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Mortar attacks
The following is excerpted from today's post by 1LT Alex Pruden in FOB Blessing:
" ...... As we wrap up that whole operation, we are looking forward to getting back into the AO. The enemy has not wasted the opportunity to reassert himself, as evidenced by recent mortar and grenade launcher attacks on our FOB. Though no one has been seriously injured, the attacks themselves serve as a reminder that despite the past few weeks of relatively non-kinetic ops, we still live and work in a very dangerous and kinetic place, fighting against a cunning and resourceful enemy.
So based on this, we've been getting back into some more enemy-focused operations. 3rd PLT recently hiked up one of the northern ridgelines in the Waygul valley to reconn possible ratlines used by Nuristani fighters to shell the FOB. Aside from being a hell of a climb (1500 meters as the bird flies, over 600 meters of climb), it was remarkable to see just how settled these upper mountain areas are. Upon cresting the hill, we observed at least 7 large houses (known as "bandas")....... They're currently used to shelter Nuristani fighters from the north to conduct operations in our AO. We also passed several fighting positions and observed several caves on the way up, which would provide great cover from indirect fire, which tends to be our TTP response after being attacked ourselves.
Anyways, getting into the swing of things...almost two months down. The first group of soldiers leave to go back to the States on R & R in a few days. Not gonna lie, its something we're all starting to look forward to."
" ...... As we wrap up that whole operation, we are looking forward to getting back into the AO. The enemy has not wasted the opportunity to reassert himself, as evidenced by recent mortar and grenade launcher attacks on our FOB. Though no one has been seriously injured, the attacks themselves serve as a reminder that despite the past few weeks of relatively non-kinetic ops, we still live and work in a very dangerous and kinetic place, fighting against a cunning and resourceful enemy.
So based on this, we've been getting back into some more enemy-focused operations. 3rd PLT recently hiked up one of the northern ridgelines in the Waygul valley to reconn possible ratlines used by Nuristani fighters to shell the FOB. Aside from being a hell of a climb (1500 meters as the bird flies, over 600 meters of climb), it was remarkable to see just how settled these upper mountain areas are. Upon cresting the hill, we observed at least 7 large houses (known as "bandas")....... They're currently used to shelter Nuristani fighters from the north to conduct operations in our AO. We also passed several fighting positions and observed several caves on the way up, which would provide great cover from indirect fire, which tends to be our TTP response after being attacked ourselves.
Anyways, getting into the swing of things...almost two months down. The first group of soldiers leave to go back to the States on R & R in a few days. Not gonna lie, its something we're all starting to look forward to."
Monday, June 21, 2010
"We know you fear the corn"
Following is excerpted from a post by 1LT Alex Pruden in Blessing on Friday, June 18, 2010:
" So the bad guys are getting a little restless again. They've been stepping up attacks as of late out to our east and west...but fortunately for now the FOB and surrounding area is relatively quiet. However, for their lack of direct action the enemy has more than made up for it in terms of propaganda operations. The quote from the title of this post is from a letter anonymously given to the district center. It alludes to historical use of the cornfields by the Taliban / AAF to cover their positions and conduct attacks much closer than they would normally be able to.
In response, the coalition forces and the government of Afghanistan have launched an effort to encourage alternative crop growth near the FOB and the roads....In our AO alone, there are over 500 fields adjacent to or within 300 meters of MSR Rhode Island (the primary E/W road). All in all, it sounds a lot easier than it is. The last 3 days have been spent walking through fields trying to figure out who has what field. Depending on which elder I am talking to, that always seems to change. Then there are the people who own the fields but don't actually live in the area. And some fields are owned by children (yes, really) whose fathers have died and passed it on to them. A man might have 1 field here, another 2 over there, and oh by the way that's his brother's field right there (are you sure?). It's a nightmare, but we're wading through it as best we can."
" So the bad guys are getting a little restless again. They've been stepping up attacks as of late out to our east and west...but fortunately for now the FOB and surrounding area is relatively quiet. However, for their lack of direct action the enemy has more than made up for it in terms of propaganda operations. The quote from the title of this post is from a letter anonymously given to the district center. It alludes to historical use of the cornfields by the Taliban / AAF to cover their positions and conduct attacks much closer than they would normally be able to.
In response, the coalition forces and the government of Afghanistan have launched an effort to encourage alternative crop growth near the FOB and the roads....In our AO alone, there are over 500 fields adjacent to or within 300 meters of MSR Rhode Island (the primary E/W road). All in all, it sounds a lot easier than it is. The last 3 days have been spent walking through fields trying to figure out who has what field. Depending on which elder I am talking to, that always seems to change. Then there are the people who own the fields but don't actually live in the area. And some fields are owned by children (yes, really) whose fathers have died and passed it on to them. A man might have 1 field here, another 2 over there, and oh by the way that's his brother's field right there (are you sure?). It's a nightmare, but we're wading through it as best we can."
Sunday, June 13, 2010
The Pech and Waygul Valleys
We've seen ailments due to poor hygiene standards or a complete lack thereof. We've seen traumatic injuries to children because, that's just what parents are accustomed to doing to their kids.
Consequently, we've found that treating the innocent is harder than it sounds. We feed into the dependence on Western medicine everytime we accept a local patient who refuses to or simply "can't afford to" see a local clinic.
All barriers and frustrations aside, the Soldiers are doing great. We do love hearing from home.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Half way
The following is an excerpt from a posting by Army veterinarian Tom Vermeersch in FOB Blessing on Friday 6/11/10:
" The 4th of June marked the halfway point in my assignment to Afghanistan. I feel like I should say something profound, so I'll quote Confucius:
If you want to plan ahead for one year, plant rice;
if you want to plan ahead for ten years, plant trees;
if you want to plan ahead for 100 year, educate the children.
Thanks to everyone who has provided support through the marvelous means of electronic communications; your messages and jokes and facebook comments are real day brightners!
Nothing escapes the Afghans' desire to "jingle" - including their tractors. Altho its hard to see, here's a picture of one that has been decorated with fringes, wrappings, etc."
" The 4th of June marked the halfway point in my assignment to Afghanistan. I feel like I should say something profound, so I'll quote Confucius:
If you want to plan ahead for one year, plant rice;
if you want to plan ahead for ten years, plant trees;
if you want to plan ahead for 100 year, educate the children.
Thanks to everyone who has provided support through the marvelous means of electronic communications; your messages and jokes and facebook comments are real day brightners!
Nothing escapes the Afghans' desire to "jingle" - including their tractors. Altho its hard to see, here's a picture of one that has been decorated with fringes, wrappings, etc."
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
One month
The following is excerpted from yesterday's posting by 1LT Alex Pruden in Blessing:
"Today marks the 1 month mark of our (hopefully) 12 month tour in Afghanistan. Its been a pretty long month, to say the least. But we've finally settled into somewhat of a routine, and are starting to get used to the terrain and the other unique demands of Afghanistan.
I would say that the hardest part of this month has been understanding the culture of the people here, and working within that culture to get things done. Many of the patrols we go on involve me as the platoon leader meeting with one of the village elders to discuss security and other issues, and my negotiation skills have never been tested like this before. Most of the time, its frustrating, like talking about security issues (Me: how is the security here? Elder: the security is good? Me: then why do we take fire from the ridgeline above your village? Elder: We are afraid to go outside our houses because the Taliban will kill us Me: So the security is not good here? Elder: No the security is good here.). Other times though, its fairly enjoyable to sit down and talk to people about strangely familiar things. For example, the Afghan people love WWF wrestling. I have no idea why, but if John Cena ever came here there would probably be a riot. I also enjoy describing a "turducken" whenever I have a discussion about food. The reaction on their faces is priceless. Its all about the little things.
Thank you everyone for all of the memorial day wishes...it is nice to hear the support. We just started getting packages here (the mail finally caught up) and those have been much appreciated as well.
See you all in 11 months."
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Helping the Afghans, May, 2010
Things are definitely complicated here. Soliders are all asked to do a variety of operations other than war. It is confusing and overwhelming all the same. The Afghan people are simply so poor and so conservative that conditions are not ripe to make any long term changes (at least this appears to be so on the surface).
A round landed less than 10m away from the soldiers' huts last week - it actually hit the chapel - and tore right through the plywood roof.
This week this baby girl (14 months) who came in with severe burns on her left arm - she burned her skin off from the elbow down. Her father informed us that her brother pushed her into some hot tea. The culture here is known to discipline their children by dipping them into boiling water. Fortunately the field surgeon who in real life in U.S. is a neurologist believes she'll fully recover. Most of the other casualties we're seeing are followups to the treatment we've been providing them from their initial injury.
A round landed less than 10m away from the soldiers' huts last week - it actually hit the chapel - and tore right through the plywood roof.
This week this baby girl (14 months) who came in with severe burns on her left arm - she burned her skin off from the elbow down. Her father informed us that her brother pushed her into some hot tea. The culture here is known to discipline their children by dipping them into boiling water. Fortunately the field surgeon who in real life in U.S. is a neurologist believes she'll fully recover. Most of the other casualties we're seeing are followups to the treatment we've been providing them from their initial injury.
Arrivals, May, 2010
First package arrived on 5/21/2010, taking about ten days. The conditions of the contents are good. nothing was spoiled, spilled or melted.
On May 30, 2010, it is great to receive the second package from home and the items from Natural Comfort!
On May 30, 2010, it is great to receive the second package from home and the items from Natural Comfort!
Settling Down, May, 2010
The picture was taken from FOB Blessing by 1LT Alex Pruden in his Blog.
FOB Blessing base is very complex and castle-ie. There is a healthy combination of hard stand (concrete, reinforced... can generally be trusted to withstand a mortar round) and plywood B-huts that the soldiers built (far less protected and might as well be a deck of cards). The only thing paved here are the LZs (landing zones). Everything else is dirt, gravel and junk.
The base has a compact DFAC (dining facility) open 24/7 that serves mostly heavy, starcy, meaty foods. sort of ricy gooieness), mixed vegetables and green beans (all presumably cooked in some animal broth). The regular staples are sandwich meats and breads, chicken tenders and fries. There's ice cream served by a local worker, and ice cream bars in a separate freezer.
The logistical miracle it took to bring all the stuff from the manufacturer, presumably through several countries with sub-standard infrastructure, to a theater-level base and finally to a small, remote base on the afpak border is very impressive indeed.
One night the interpreter Burhan brought the soliders kabobs from the local bazaar for dinner and the soldiers provided drinks and the Ciprofloxacin, for good reasons.
Handover, May, 2010
The platoon was busy doing inventories of all the theater-provided equipment (TPE) and was impressed with the setup by the outgoing platoon.
It is a very "interesting" aid station. The building the aid station is in was Russian built when they owned this base. For it's small size its capability is rather impressive. Inside the aid station there are two treatment stations, a small lab, a lounge, a command post area, and several storage areas.
Soldiers are temparily living in a separate hut within running distance of the aid station. The huts are made out of plywood and only recently have been "hardened" with concrete barriers around the sides for protection. The hut is partitioned into individual rooms so each guy has his own space. Some rooms have makeshift furniture build while others don't have anything yet.
It is a very "interesting" aid station. The building the aid station is in was Russian built when they owned this base. For it's small size its capability is rather impressive. Inside the aid station there are two treatment stations, a small lab, a lounge, a command post area, and several storage areas.
Soldiers are temparily living in a separate hut within running distance of the aid station. The huts are made out of plywood and only recently have been "hardened" with concrete barriers around the sides for protection. The hut is partitioned into individual rooms so each guy has his own space. Some rooms have makeshift furniture build while others don't have anything yet.
Deployment, May, 2010
The first contingent force of Medical Services Platoon of 1-327th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division departed from the sprawling Army base at Fort Campbell in the early morning hours on Saturday 5/1/2010 starting their long journey to FOB Blessing in Afghanistan.
The troops flew through Portugal and Romania before arriving at Manas Air Force Base, Kyrgyztan. They left from Manas Air Force Base to Bagram AFB, Afghanistan. They then flew by C-130 to Jalalabad Airfield, FOB Fenty waiting to fly to their final destination FOB Blessing.
In the middle of the night, the troops caught a flight of Chinook helicopters out to FOB Blessing.
The first email from FOB Blessing was dated 5/11/2010.
The troops flew through Portugal and Romania before arriving at Manas Air Force Base, Kyrgyztan. They left from Manas Air Force Base to Bagram AFB, Afghanistan. They then flew by C-130 to Jalalabad Airfield, FOB Fenty waiting to fly to their final destination FOB Blessing.
In the middle of the night, the troops caught a flight of Chinook helicopters out to FOB Blessing.
The first email from FOB Blessing was dated 5/11/2010.
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