Operation Neptune strikes Taliban in Afghan desert
By Pfc. Mike Pryor
August 19, 2005
WARDAK, Afghanistan (Army News Service, Aug. 19, 2005) – After several weeks of sizing each other up, paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division’s Task Force Red Falcon met enemy forces in Eastern Ghazni province head on for the first time during Operation Neptune Aug. 8 through 12, resulting in the death of one militia member.
The operation began with a dawn-breaking raid on a village suspected of harboring enemy militants, by two companies from the 82nd’s newly-arrived 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, as well as units from the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police.
They task force spent the next several days continually criss-crossing the isolated, desert regions of Nawa, Dila, and Gelan, conducting raids and cordon-and-searches as they moved. The operation eventually netted two high-value targets suspected of being Taliban ringleaders.
As the Coalition vice tightened, enemy forces responded by attacking with guerilla tactics. Twice during the operation American convoys were hit by Improvised Explosive Devices.
The first IED struck a convoy from D Company traveling along a dirt road in Nawa. The blast destroyed a Humvee and left scrap metal and pieces of equipment strewn across the road. Fortunately, the vehicle’s crew was unhurt.
“I thought we had hit a huge bump. Then we went up in the air and I saw this black cloud of smoke go over my head and my .50 cal came flying off. I’ll never forget that,” said Pfc. Chris Stroklund, D Company.
The close call lent a heightened sense of urgency to the rest of the operation. Only hours after the blast, paratroopers received information that the IED placer might be staying in a village nearby. Wasting no time, Capt. Jeff Burgoyne’s B Company soon had the area cordoned off. He and his men stalked through the village until they found the elder in charge.
Suspecting the elder was concealing information, Burgoyne made sure he understood what was at stake.
“I’m holding you responsible for the attacks because they happened in this area. You know who did it, and until we find out who they are, we can’t help you,” he told the man.
Burgoyne left the village with a name and a location, but the individual had already managed to slip away.
The next morning, the battalion finished searching the last of its objectives. By evening the first convoys were beginning to make the trek back north to their forward operating base and the militia forces struck again.
The second IED attack occurred on the highway to Wardak during a late-night ambush by approximately seven militants using small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. Paratroopers forced back the attack, killing one of the ambushers. No Coalition forces were harmed during the fight.
With the mission behind them, paratroopers who were involved said they were glad to finally engage the enemy they had been sent to Afghanistan to find.
“In my opinion, the biggest thing to come out of the operation was that it established our presence in the area. The enemy knows we’re here now and they know we’re here for a reason. It’s kind of like the line has been drawn - plain and simple, we’re here to kill or capture the enemy,” said Lt. Ross Kinkead, the assistant battalion operations officer.
(Pfc. Mike Pryor serves with 1/325th Public Affairs)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
