Pictures from the Front Lines

Greeting Farmers

U.S. Capt. Joseph Driskell greets farmers during a partnered patrol near Muqor in Afghanistan's Ghazni province, June 25, 2012. Driskell, a company commander, is assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division's 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team.

A Child’s Handshake

U.S. Army Spc. Harley Young greets an Afghan boy while on patrol in Muqor in Afghanistan's Ghazni province, June 27, 2012. Young is assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division's 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team.

Photos from the Front Lines

Fighting Insurgents

U.S. paratroopers fire at insurgent forces during a firefight on the outskirts of Spedar village in southern Afghanistan's Ghazni province, June 15, 2012. This was the first of several firefights U.S. and Afghan soldiers encountered during their daylong partnered patrol.

Partnered Patrol

An Afghan army sergeant, left, and U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jacob Hurndon cross the Tarnak River during a partnered patrol in southern Afghanistan's Ghazni province, June 15, 2012. Hurndon is assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division's Company D, 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team.

Orphanage Visit

U.S. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Thomasallen, left, hands out toys during a visit to the orphanage in Farah City in Afghanistan's Farah province, June 19, 2012.

Rhode Island Guard Soldier makes selfless, ultimate sacrifice for Afghan child

By Kris Gonzalez

U.S. Army

PROVIDENCE, R.I.  -- The actions of one Rhode Island National Guard Soldier epitomized the Army Value of selfless service, "doing one's duty loyally without thought of recognition or gain," as he heroically saved an Afghan child without regard for his own life.

Sgt. Dennis Weichel Jr. died March 22, from injuries sustained when he was struck by an armored fighting vehicle after moving an Afghan child to safety.

"Sadly, today we realized the death of a Rhode Island National Guard Soldier in a combat zone, and we are once again reminded of the enduring sacrifice our Soldiers and Airmen have made, and continue to make, in service to this great country," said Army Maj. Gen. Kevin McBride, adjutant general of the Rhode Island National Guard, in a press release March 23.

Weichel, an infantryman, mobilized with Company C, 1st Battalion, 143rd Infantry Regiment, 56th Troop Command, to Camp Atterbury, Ind. in November 2011, and then deployed forward to Afghanistan in early March.

On the morning of March 22, Weichel and members of his unit were leaving the Black Hills Firing Range in Laghman province, Afghanistan, when they encountered multiple Afghan children in the path of their convoy. Weichel was among several Soldiers who dismounted to disperse the children away from the vehicles.

As one child attempted to retrieve an item from underneath a U.S. Army mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle, , known as an MRAP, Weichel moved her to safety and was struck by the MRAP in the process.

Weichel was evacuated to the Jalalabad Medical Treatment Facility where he succumbed to his wounds.

The circumstances of Weichel's death speak to his character, said Staff Sgt. Ronald Corbett, Weichel's mentor who deployed with him to Iraq in 2005.

"He would have done it for anybody," said Corbett. "That was the way he was. He would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. He was that type of guy."

Weichel was posthumously promoted from the rank of specialist to sergeant March 26.

He had been a member of the Rhode Island Army National Guard since 2001. He deployed to Iraq in 2005 as a member of Company D, 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Regiment (Mountain), in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Weichel was considered a fun-loving guy yet a model Soldier, according to Corbett and 1st Sgt. Nicky Peppe, who also served with Weichel in Iraq.

"When I first heard, I kept expecting him to jump up and say, 'Oh, I got you guys,'" said Corbett. "The last few days have hit me hard."

"He was a big kid at heart. He always had a smile on his face and he made everyone laugh," said Peppe. "But as much as Weichel was funny, he was also a professional. When it was time to go outside the wire for a combat patrol, he was all business."

Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee has ordered U.S. and Rhode Island flags across the state to be flown at half-staff until Weichel is laid to rest.

Weichel is survived by three children, his fiancée, and his parents.

"Tragically, Sgt. Weichel has made the supreme sacrifice, and at this time, we are mindful of the impact of that sacrifice on his family and friends," McBride said. "I pledge this command's perpetual support to Sgt. Weichel's family. We leave no Soldier behind, and we will not leave Sgt. Weichel's family behind."

Texas National Guard members help set Afghan school children up for success

By Army National Guard Capt. Jacqueline Wren

Georgia National Guard

When Americans think of spring they might think of rain, flowers returning from months of hibernation or children getting antsy with the thrill of upcoming summer. In Afghanistan a different excitement stirs in the month of March, and that is of children welcoming the start of the school year.

The Georgia Army National Guard’s 648th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Task Force Hydra, is active throughout Kabul working with Kabul’s political leaders, religious leaders and police to provide humanitarian assistance and funding for special projects. Two such projects are aimed at providing a better quality of life and employment for local Afghans.

This month the advancement of education was the focus of one of seven current projects that the team is overseeing.

On the first Sunday of classes, the TF Hydra civil affairs team, led by Army Lt. Col. Michael Hulsey along with Army Col. Andy Hall, TF Hydra commander, set out for a school with back-to-school gifts for the children.

Darulaman, a community within Kabul, is home to a school that is responsible for educating more than 3,000 students in grades one through 12. This school is the site of one of the seven current humanitarian projects that TF Hydra is currently overseeing. This particular project is to build a privacy wall for the school that will provide protection for girls attending the school.

“In Afghanistan, boundary walls equal security and privacy, which afford a conducive learning environment for this community’s youth” Hulsey said about the project that broke ground this week and is scheduled to be complete within 45 days.

Along with checking in on the progress of the privacy wall, the teams brought more than 400 bags of school supplies collected by Operation Outreach, a Soldier-run humanitarian organization, for the school’s head master to share with the students.

Hall had an opportunity to speak with children in the classrooms and shared with them that his wife teaches school back home and that he will consider them all friends after that day.

When speaking to the classes of female students, he introduced Lt. Col. Robyn Blader, a member of TF Hydra’s staff judge advocate team. Blader shared with the girls the importance of education in her own life.

An eighth grade female student, Gulnaz, who spoke English, shared with Blader that she wants to go on to college and study literature. She also said that it was nice to have Soldier visiting them.

“This was one of the best missions I’ve been on,” Blader said. “These kids are learning 15 different subjects in a bare classroom with only a black board and can only attend three hours a day. It’s nice to be able to help them.”

Hall agreed.

“Very near and dear to our heart is the education of children,” said Hall before departing. “I know you share the same thoughts and that creates an educational bond for us.”

Afghanistan: National Guard Soldiers give school supplies, hope to Afghan children

By Army Sgt. Tamika Dillard
International Security Assistance Force

KAPISA PROVINCE, Afghanistan – More than 600 children received a surprise here Dec. 3 when Kentucky Army National Guard Soldiers showed up at their school with more than 50 boxes full of school supplies.

“After visiting three of the local schools, I e-mailed several friends of mine in the Kentucky school system,” said Army National Guard Sgt. Heather Carrier, a Kentucky Army National Guard Soldier. “Not even a day later a personal friend sent me a message to inform me she would make it this year’s National Guard Youth Symposium community project.”

Notebooks, pens, tablets, crayons and English textbooks were donated in an effort to provide a better education for the future of Afghan youth. Donations were made by many local businesses and delivered to the sixth annual National Guard Youth Symposium in Louisville, Ky., earlier this year.

“When you visit the schools here you can point out the differences in the students,” Carrier said. “You see a student sitting in the front of the class with a couple of pens and a notebook and then you see the child sitting in the back of the classroom with a sheet or two of loose paper that was borrowed from another student. It just wasn’t right in my eyes.”

Carrier wasn’t the only Soldier who wanted to make a difference and show support for the Afghan education system.

“I hated going to the local schools and seeing the children without the basic school supplies,” said Army Sgt. Jerred Stevens. “After my last school visit, I made a phone call to my mom and told her about the youth program here.”

Stevens said his mom immediately began to put the word out to schools in her district about starting a donation for the schools in Afghanistan.

“My mom is an elementary school teacher at Brodhead Elementary,” Stevens said. “The students in her classroom helped with the supply drive and it took off from there. Before we knew it donations were coming in from students, parents and businesses throughout Rockcastle County, Ky.”

Once all the supplies were gathered, the question that lingered on Carrier and Stevens’ minds was, “How will we get all these boxes to Afghanistan?”

Between the two of them, they had more than 600 boxes waiting to be transported from Kentucky to Afghanistan.

Stevens said the solution proved to be quite easy once he made the right contacts.

“I contacted my training [noncommissioned officer in charge], Staff Sgt. Heath Sailor, in my unit,” he said. “Staff Sgt. Sailor told me to have my mom drop the packages off at the Richmond Armory in Richmond, Ky. From their Staff Sgt. Sailors took the packages to where the packages from the symposium were located at the Kentucky Air National Guard base in Louisville.”

The packages arrived on Thanksgiving Day at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan.

“When I heard the packages had arrived I was so excited,” Carrier said as she laughs about it. “I didn’t think it would make it here as fast as it did. I thought we would be handing it off to the next unit for delivery, but I am happy it didn’t work out like that.”

To the Afghan teachers and students, the joy that the Soldiers brought to them means so much.

“I am so happy for these school supplies and the help from the soldiers,” said Nagahia, a 10th grade student at Nasaji Gulbahar Girls School. “This is a great relationship between us and America for now and into the future. It is great the Soldiers care about our education and have come to help my people rebuild my country.”

To the Soldiers of the Kentucky National Guard, it was priceless to see the children so excited about receiving supplies for schools.

“Seeing them light up when you give them a pack of pencils or notebook just lights up my heart,” Carrier said. “They take these items as if you just gave them a PlayStation 3 or an Xbox 360. They are so grateful and appreciative.”

Missouri Guard Agribusiness Development Team treats scalded Afghan child

By Army Capt. Marie Orlando

Missouri National Guard

NANGARHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan (5/5/11) – Missouri National Guard Agribusiness Development Team IV Soldiers and Airmen conducting foot patrols have to be prepared to react to unexpected situations each time they go out, and on a recent mission to the Surkh Rod District Agriculture Extension Compound, members of the team encountered one of those circumstances.

While conducting a foot patrol from the Surkh Rod District Agriculture Extension Compound the security force platoon leader noticed a woman hurrying along with an injured infant in her arms.

The child’s legs and buttocks were bright red and blistered and the woman was obviously distressed.

The ADT security force platoon leader, 1st Lt. Miciah Pyatt, quickly decided to have the ADT medic assess the child and provide aid if the woman agreed to the care.

He had the unit interpreter approach the woman and ask what had happened as the interpreter explained that the Team had a medic which could take a look at the child.

The woman said she was trying to get to a medical clinic for emergency care for her baby, which had been burned when she accidently spilled hot chai on the infant.

Pyatt had the patrol return to the office of the Surkh Rod agriculture extension agent, where a desk was quickly cleared and towels were placed under the child so Spc. Thomas Lohmann, a medic, could assess and treat the baby boy, who had second degree burns on his backside from the waist down, along both legs and on both feet.

In the meantime, the woman was apprehensive about entering the office and having her child examined in a room filled with men.

She was reassured by the interpreter telling her, “I am your brother. We are your family here. It is o.k. to be in here with us. We will watch over you and take care of your baby.”

The members of the ADT and others on the mission all responded quickly.

Sgt. 1st Class Dean Travis, of Raymore, Mo., returned to the vehicles to gather the medical aid bag requested by Lohmann.

Staff Sgt. Nancy Lee, a military policeman with Rule of Law Field Force-Afghanistan, also on the mission with the ADT, joined the small group in the office to reassure the woman and her young daughter.

She assisted in calming the baby and served as extra helping hands to Lohmann.

The young girl was visibly agitated and Staff Sgt. Eli Colson, produced treats from his vest and sent others out for more.

Locals joined the agriculture extension agent in his office to do their best to help the young mother and her family.

Lohmann said he was nervous because it was a burned infant, but it was quickly obvious to him they were second degree burns.

“I knew there wasn’t a lot I could do but I wanted normal saline to wash and cool the area down as well as stopping the burn process,” he said. “I couldn’t do anything for the pain. I flushed it with normal saline, applied triple antibiotic on both legs and feet where the skin was removed.

“There were two large blisters on both buttocks filled with liquid. I told the woman, through the interpreter, to not break the blisters, since they serve to protect the area. I wrapped the burns in gauze and told her she needed to see a doctor.”

“I really wish I could have done more for the pain,” said Lohmann. “I was glad it was only second degree; it was like a bad sunburn with the top layer removed but not any deeper.”

The woman was concerned about her husband’s reaction when he learned of the accident, and she thanked the team for helping her and her son.

The interpreter said the actions of the team will be remembered by the villagers.

“The story of how a military team stopped their mission and took the time to help a young mother and her baby will be passed from house to house and everyone will know the good thing they did for the young mother,” he said.

Upon their return to Forward Operating Base Finley-Shields, Col. Mike Fortune, commander of the ADT, awarded both Lohmann and Lee the Army Achievement Medal for their professional response to treat the burned child.