Commandos and Chickens and Mad Cows, Oh My!‏

Leon,

It's been a while since my last entry, but that will be explained in the passages to follow. I've spent the past two weeks in Afghanistan's Khowst Province — FOB Salerno to be exact.

I had been assigned to accompany a team and provide photo coverage of their missions and training with the Commandos, Afghanistan's Special Forces. My incoming flight on an AC-130 was less than pleasant. Now, I'd like to say that I am a man who enjoys flying and has never experienced any form of motion sickness — until now.

The flight in itself was a mere 30 minutes; however, the heat combined with the constant turbulence involved with flying low over the mountains left me yearning for a swift landing.

Our landing was perhaps the worst I've experienced of any plane ride, being easily able to toss me from my seat had I not had a seat belt. After the plane came to a halt, the rear ramp was lowered to allow the airmen to unload our equipment.

Now, remaining on the plane to recover would have been fine, but shortly after the ramp was lowered we were assaulted by the noxious fumes of burning jet fuel.

Our eyes began to burn and it became difficult to breathe. We were left to marinate for another 10 to 15 minutes before being rushed off the plane. Glad to be free of that coffin, we hurried to the terminal to download our equipment before being picked up by the team I would be staying with for the next two weeks.

My comrade — a true combat cameraman — and I were led to where we would be sleeping, which turned out to be a large open bay lined with cots. I set up a cot, unrolled my sleeping bag and squared away what would be my temporary home.

Now, for the record, I would like to mention that the inside of this building, in its entirety, had been painted sky/powder/baby blue. Also, over these 13 or 14 days, I would acquire the best sleep I had ever had since I joined the military. Within two days, I was tasked to photograph Commandos firing mortars and administering IVs to one another.

I would then eat lunch on the Commando camp, which consisted of a large helping of rice cooked with small sweet berries and creamed corn, eaten by scooping with a piece of flat bread resembling a large pita. Dessert consisted of two oranges and the meal was washed down with a hot glass of chai. I'll go ahead and say right now that the food was delicious.

I slept for most of the following day, then tagged along on a mission to find and recover a suspected weapons cache hidden in a housing compound.

I sat in the open bed of an armored humvee with an Air Force dog handler and his dog named Carlos. The convoy took roughly 45 minutes of driving through rough side roads with a driver that held no regard for his passengers — more than a week later I still have a large bruise where my M4 came in contact with my knee on numerous occasions.

Upon arriving at our destination, the team commenced to clearing the compound, making sure that the women and children stayed out of our way. It was then that I was allowed into the compound to take photos.

I began snapping away at whatever caught my interest. Most of these photos consisted of Commandos searching rooms and pulling security. The compound itself was empty save for the livestock left behind, and oh God, there were chickens everywhere! They were in baskets, baby cribs, under pillows (no, I'm serious), and much to my amusement there was a chicken tethered to a stick in the ground, its leg outstretched as it tried to get away.

Here, I would also see the ugliest cow I've ever seen. It's difficult to describe its face, but it had these weird, bugged-out eyes — possibly blind. This cow, as it stands, was dubbed "Psycho Cow." There was also a large cow that tended to fly into a rage when approached and foamed at the mouth.

The highlight of the mission, for me at least, was the discovery a small puppy which seemed to be in surprisingly good health for where it was. In the end, we found nothing, but as we exited the compound, preparing to leave, a large explosion on a road visible from our position succeeded in capturing our attention. As we rolled out, we found no signs of an explosion — just an eviscerated coyote slumped over a large rock.

Over the next couple of days, I did nothing but sleep and play Call of Duty 4 with the team. The rules were relaxed, allowing me the freedom of going unshaven and out of uniform. Then came the real reason I was there. The mission was for the Commandos, with the support of U.S. soldiers, to infiltrate two compounds and capture three suspected insurgents within a two-hour time limit.

We air assaulted from a CG-47 Chinook not far from our target and fell back as a breach team took down the doors. We then filed into the compounds, gathering women and children to be searched. Among the crowd we discovered a male Afghan dressed as a woman in an attempt to hide. He was quickly taken into custody. The other compound yielded six more suspects (and another puppy). When it came time for extraction, we headed to our respective extraction points and waited.

Much to our chagrin, our Chinook touched down roughly 1000m from our location on the other side of a plot of land riddled with large trenches and pits. We took off running for our new extraction point in full battle rattle, finding it difficult to navigate this veritable obstacle course. We quickly loaded into the CH-47 and lifted off.

On a side note, the Chinook was surprisingly smooth, albeit noisy. After the completion of the mission, I would sleep for the next couple of days before flying back to Bagram, where I will no doubt spend the rest of this deployment.

Peace,

Feelgoode