Mission to Kabul: The Most Dangerous City in the World

Well, today is a day I will never forget.  This morning I woke up as usual, took a shower, and put on my clothes.  But what I did after that was different from any other day in my life.  I suited up in full body armor, put on my helmet, loaded both guns, and joined 15 Army guys to take a 5-truck convoy into the most dangerous city in the world.  I try to recount my experience for you through my eyes, sitting in the back of vehicle number 3.

At 0730 this morning we had an intel brief.  Before any mission military personnel have an intel update to assess the current situation and determine any threats in the area.  1Lt Prince, our SECFOR Army Convoy Commander, gave our intel brief.  For obvious reasons I can’t discuss much of what we covered in the brief today.  I can tell you we covered high threat areas, we went over the route, gave a weather forecast, discussed escalation of force measures, and briefed the radio frequencies we’d be using.

I was nervous starting out because the intel brief revealed our route had been “code red” for the past 2 days.  Code red means there has been credible intelligence that suggests enemy presence in the area.  Anytime there is a code red, you should limit travel to only mission critical.  There is also a code black which is a complete restriction of travel of any type.  For example, after the Kabul Mosque bombing last month, the Commander declared a code black.  Our road has just re-opened for travel today.  When you are going out on a mission, you are told to bring a bag with you in case your route goes red or black and you have to stay the night.

After the intel brief we loaded onto our trucks.  Each person was assigned a specific truck.  My commander here has a policy that anytime someone goes “outside the wire” you must have at least 4 trucks for safety.  Today we had 5.  If one breaks down or gets attacked, at least you have the help from the other guys.  Each truck has a commander, and each truck commander reports to the Convoy Commander and takes orders from him on the radio.  My truck Commander was Army Specialist Gallagher and the Convoy Commander was Lt  Prince.  Being an Air Force officer, I don’t think the Army guys had a whole lot of confidence in me.  They placed me in truck number 3, the safest vehicle apparently.  I sat in the back next to the gunner.

The surroundings were surreal as we left Bagram Air Field.  It was a clear day and you could see the white, snow-capped mountains in the distance.  The air was cool, about 40 degrees as we left.  I have never seen anything close to what I saw today.  There were throngs of people walking alongside the road, many of them with donkeys.  They were all wearing loose fitting garments and turbans.  The men all had long flowing beards.  They all looked like pictures of Bin Laden to me.  The women were covered in clothing, from head to toe.  They were living in makeshift clay buildings and working in lean-to shacks selling produce.  Small kids were walking by themselves with no adults nearby.  Construction projects were about half-way built.  For miles and miles all you could see was dirt.  When the wind picked up it became a storm, which severely restricted our visibility. 

In the distance we could see stand-alone chimneys in the middle of a field with black smoke pouring out of them.  You could see several locals standing by them feeding the chimneys.  According to the guys the Afghans build these chimneys and melt rubber from tires to heat clay to make bricks for their homes.  The rubber from the tires released an acrid smoke into the air, which could be seen and smelled for miles.  The chimneys were scattered all the way to Kabul.  It made sense they were making bricks because we passed truck after truck with beds full of bricks. 

The entire trip was about 1 hour and 15 minutes.  After 45 minutes into the trip, our Convoy Commander announced over the net that we had entered the high threat area.  We were on the outskirts of Kabul.  After entering thru a checkpoint I became even more nervous because traffic had picked up significantly.  There were now traffic jams and people everywhere.  In my 10 day Combat Skills Training we were taught to look out for certain things.  Everything I saw today was a potential threat: abandoned vehicles on the side of the road with truck beds full; suspicious looking men standing on towers looking at you intently; freshly swept dirt on the streets, suggesting emplacement of an IED (improvised explosive device); people watching you drive on the street and quickly turning to make a cell phone call; rugs on the street suggesting a possible place-marker for a vehicle attack; random people walking on the street with high-powered rifles.  All of this was more than enough to keep me on the edge of my seat.

Riding along in a convoy as a passenger does not mean you can kick back and read a book or listen to you iPod music until you get there.  It doesn’t mean you can have a conversation with the guy next to you about what’s for dinner at the chow hall.  No, everybody in the vehicle has a responsibility to spot threats and call them out to the vehicle commander.  I was calling out everything.  “Suspicious man at our 9 O’Clock”; “Potential VBIED (vehicle based IED) at our 3 O’Clock”; “Weird looking dude at our 12 O’Clock”; “Watch the bridge as we approach for IED’s”.  Being part of a convoy means you must quickly assess the situation.  Is the guy watching us at out 9 O’Clock a friendly Afghan who is glad to have Americans here to help re-build the country and stabilize the government?  Or is he part of Al Qaeda and has he been waiting for us to arrive so he could accomplish his mission of detonating the roadside bomb to explode our vehicle into pieces?  You just don’t know.  And there is no way for you to know.  These thoughts were going thru my mind almost the entire time. 

Traffic was heavy in the city.  Vehicles swerve in and out of lanes constantly.  There were no stoplights.  Kids were throwing rocks at our vehicle.  Men in turbans were holding up the middle finger as we drive by.  As we entered the city we closed the distance between our vehicles so we could stay together.  According to the guys in the truck, drivers will intentionally try to make you hit their vehicles.  They know that America will reimburse their damages, so they can get a free check.  Being involved in a moving traffic accident, as part of a military convoy, is dangerous work.  It means you have to dismount the vehicle and conduct patrols while someone gathers information from the driver.  Oftentimes, intentional vehicle accidents are grounds for secondary attacks too.  So you have to be on guard at all times.  I am so glad we didn’t get in an accident today.  It would have meant everyone in the truck dismounts to conduct security, including me.

After an hour and fifteen minutes we finally arrived at Camp Eggers in Kabul.  Camp Eggers is located near the US Embassy and it is where the 4-Star General works, at the NATO Headquarters.  The General over the coalition forces in Afghanistan is responsible for conducting how the war goes.  I didn’t get to meet the general today, but I did get some good training from his staff.  I met with our higher headquarters staff at the Combined Support Transition Command.  The purpose of the visit was to meet Financial Management leadership and undergo about 4 hours of training on databases we use to track construction and services contracts.  The visit went well and I learned some good pointers I can use with my job here at Bagram.

As we were waiting to get the vehicles going, I got some pictures and talked with some of the SECFOR guys about their trucks.  These MRAPS we used today are incredible!  I just bought some late last week at a price of $500,000 each.  That price is without the equipment.  The vehicles weigh 40,000 pounds without the equipment  You should see what kind of equipment we have in this truck.  First, the driver has a system for night driving where he can lower down a shade in front of the windshield and everything lights up, as if driving in the day.  On the passenger side we had a “Blue Force Tracker” which is a GPS locating device.  Our team back home was tracking our every movement on large screens to make sure we met our checkpoints on time.  The gunner in the back next to me was aiming a camera with a joystick.  At any point in time he could pull the red trigger and unload rounds from the comfort of his seat.  We have electronic jamming capabilities and black-out technology.  Simply put, it’s the most amazing vehicle in the world.

The convoy experience today stirred up my affections about God.  Do I really believe the promises God gives to us in the scriptures?  Does my faith hold up, even in the toughest situations?  When I am pressured, does it push me toward God or away from him?  I am thankful that I have a Savior who loves me.  His grace is sufficient, even in perilous times.  He gives us strength to live each moment for him.  We can do nothing without him.  Thank you to those who prayed for me today.  God answers our prayers and he answered our prayers for today by bringing me home safely.

As we entered back onto the base, I thanked our truck commander, convoy commander, and the entire SECFOR team. As the senior ranking officer, I shook each of their hands and told them I am proud of them. As nervous as I was today, these guys have each been on multiple missions outside the fence. They all have families like I do with small children. Our military is doing incredible things each day. At any time of the day, people over here are going out on missions.  They don’t know if they will make it back safely or not.  But because of our brave soldiers, we live with freedom.

It made me proud to be part of our military and a citizen of our country. Until you are on the front lines, you can’t really feel like you’re contributing to the mission. Today I felt like I added something to our war effort, albeit relatively small.  Alright, time for the pictures.

Here is our morning intelligence briefing.  We met at 0730 to go over today’s mission

Here is a view from my seat, in the back of vehicle number 3

Here is a shot of us entering into Kabul.  Notice the heavy traffic, no stop lights/signs, and no street markings or lines.

Thumbs Up!  This shot is taken of me from our vehicle commander.  He offered to take some pictures for me.

Another shot of downtown Kabul.  This roundabout we approached was near the bombing of the embassy last week.

Here is a shot of us leaving the city.  Cars would intentionally cut in front of us to get insurance settlements.

Back to base!  Passengers enter and exit the MRAP thru a mechanically lowered door at the back of the vehicle.  This vehicle was amazing!

I carried a full combat load with me today.  That means 210 rounds for the M4 and M9.  Also packed on me was my first aid kit, protective eye-wear, ear plugs, notebook, and personal locator beacon.  If you’re under attack and you need to call in for extra help, you can push a button on the PLB and “heaven and earth will move to get you out”, according to the guys.  A team of F-16s will immediately dispatch and take care of fire support.  I was trying not to accidently hit the button today. :)

That is all I have for now.  Hopefully, you won’t see too many more postings with my experiences on a convoy mission into the most dangerous city in the world.  I think I am happy to sit in a heated office from now on with a cup of warm coffee studying spreadsheets and contemplating the things of God!