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thedrifter
07-01-07, 07:37 AM
Posted on Sun, Jul. 01, 2007
Small base camp in quiet zone
S.C. soldiers live modest life at lookout station in Afghanistan
By CHUCK CRUMBO
ccrumbo@thestate.com

KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — Outside the walls of Forward Operating Base Lindsey lies some of the most peaceful real estate in this part of Afghanistan.

Merchants peddle vegetables, fruits and soda pop from a group of shacks that U.S. troops call “Wal-Mart.” Children splash in a stream next to the camp.

S.C. National Guard soldiers, who travel the roads in pickups, don’t have to wear body armor.

“It’s a ‘green’ route” — meaning it is safe — “that we drive every day,” said 1st Sgt. Reggie Fuller of Lexington. “But the farther south you go, the more active it is.”

Fuller is a member of the security forces for the S.C. National Guard’s 218th Brigade Combat Team. That security force has 60 troops here from Company B, based in Fountain Inn. Other members of Company B, know in military lingo as Bravo Company, are at nearby bases.

The S.C. soldiers at Forward Operating Base Lindsey, located about two miles from the gates of Kandahar Air Field, provide security for nearby Afghan army and police training centers. They also routinely patrol the area and escort convoys to other bases.

The security forces make up the largest contingent of about 100 S.C. Guard troops stationed here. However, other S.C. soldiers hold down support jobs, including radio and computer technicians, logisticians, and trainers for the Afghan army and police.

OVERLOOKING HISTORY’S RUINS

With its more than 10,000 U.S. and NATO personnel, Kandahar is the second-largest military base in Afghanistan.

From a watchtower, troops can see historic sites from the war on terrorism.

To the west are four buildings, built by Russians when they occupied Afghanistan. The buildings were taken over by the Taliban after the Russians left. Each structure now has a gaping hole in the roof from an U.S. Air Force bomb, dropped after 9/11.

To the south are remnants of a former al-Qaida training base called Tarnak Farms. The iconic videos of Osama bin Laden firing an AK-47 rifle were shot there.

About two miles away is a structure troops call “the TLS building.” TLS stands for Taliban Last Stand.

The S.C. troops regularly leave Forward Operating Base Lindsey to run convoys to other bases or patrol nearby Kandahar City, a former Taliban stronghold 15 miles away, Fuller said.

“It’s hairy patrolling Kandahar City,” said Sgt. John O’Handley of Rock Hill. “You have to be on your toes all the time.”

YEARNING FOR MORE PHONES

The S.C. soldiers, squeezed into two huts, are the only members of the U.S. military now living at Lindsey.

But that will change in the next few months as the S.C. troops are joined by members of the U.S. Navy and Air Force, who will move to Lindsey from the nearby airfield.

Having more people on the base will bring more amenities, said Bravo Company commander Capt. Joe Bullwinkle of Irmo.

For example, new, larger barracks and a small dining hall are under construction, meaning the soldiers won’t have to drive to the airfield for meals. A gym also in the works and cable TV may follow.

The S.C. troops have their wish lists as well. More telephones to call home would be great, they say. Now, there’s just one phone for 60 troops.

For now, the soldiers work around the problem by using Internet phone services like Skype and Yahoo Voice Messenger, said Staff Sgt. William Simpson.

“If someone doesn’t have their own laptop, guys will lend them theirs,” Simpson added.

HEAT, TRASH AND BOREDOM

Nearly two months into their yearlong deployment to Afghanistan, “morale is pretty good” among the S.C. troops, Fuller said.

The soldiers have had to adjust to the heat, which climbs to nearly 120 degrees in the summer, and the dust whipped up by strong winds whistling out of the nearby mountains.

Another adjustment has been dealing with junk, Bullwinkle added. “This country is like a big trash dump.”

Because most of their country lacks sanitation departments, Afghans discard their garbage by dumping it along the road or in the street.

“They taught us at Camp Shelby that under trash or a tire could be hiding an IED,” an explosive device, said Fuller, referring to the Mississippi base where the S.C. National Guard trained for his Afghan deployment. “But if we stopped every time we see a tire or trash, we wouldn’t get anywhere.”

Beyond the heat and trash, boredom is also a factor.

Pulling watchtower duty may be the least favorite job on the base. That’s because it requires soldiers to be up in a tower for a 12-hour stretch.

“It can get boring at times,” said Spc. Matthew Medlin of Pickens. “I try to stay busy by looking for wildlife and just watching the people.”

However, being away from their children is the hardest part of being in Afghanistan, said Sgt. Tony Burgess of Williamston.

“Every time we get around the kids in the villages, I think about mine,” Burgess said, the father of four.

Still, Burgess said he doesn’t regret being sent overseas.

“I had transferred out of the unit but, when I heard these guys were going, I wanted to go,” said Burgess, who volunteered to go to Afghanistan. “They are my best friends in the whole world.”

KANDAHAR AIR FIELD

The second-largest coalition military base in Afghanistan

• About 10,000 U.S. and coalition service members from more than a dozen nations are stationed at the base.

• U.S. personnel include members of the Army, Air Force, Marines and Navy, and 100 S.C. National Guard soldiers.

• The base is 15 miles from a long-time Taliban stronghold, Kandahar City.

• The base is “one of the most remote, landlocked and desolate places the Army has ever tried to build a combat base,” according to Globalsecurity.org, a web site that specializes in military affairs.

• The base is run by the Canadian military. Appropriately, a hockey rink with an artificial surface is located in the middle of the base.

Ellie