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."