Georgia NG’s long road, nearly behind them

 BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – With less than a month left of their deployment; Soldiers of the Georgia National Guard’s Distribution Platoon, Company E, 148th Brigade Support Battalion, celebrate another completed convoy.

Their latest mission took them from the city of Gardez in Paktya province, to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. This route began with intricate twists and turns up and down a mountain, through the Tera pass in Logar province. They reached the pass at a peak of more than 9,000 feet and the route is littered with Afghan National Police security check points.

Just as the convoy looks back at the road through their rear-view mirrors, the distribution platoon looks back at their deployment.

“We’ve run more convoy operation missions than anyone else in the 48th and have been attacked a couple of times,” said U.S. Army 1st Lt. Jerry Garner, the platoon leader for the distribution platoon.

The platoon’s mission is to train the Afghan National Army’s 5th Kandak, 2nd Brigade, 203rd Thunder Corps, on convoy operations.  Although the national guardsmen and the ANA may conduct the convoys in support of separate missions, the two groups are always supporting each other during the combined movements.

The convoys can often be long, with undeveloped roads, dangerous routes and unpredictable missions.

“We once had a seven day mission that turned into a 24-day mission,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Greg Wallace the medic for the platoon.

“We have averaged at least two missions a week,” said U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Brian J. Mauro, platoon sergeant for the Distribution Platoon. “We carry anything and everything.”

Since May, the platoon has run more than 100 combat missions, covering almost 3,000 miles and eight provinces.

The platoon has often operated far outside unit boundaries in support of the ANA’s mission, because the unit operational areas of Coalition and ANA forces differ geographically, Mauro said.

The different areas of operation have given the platoon a unique opportunity to see more of the Afghan countryside than most units, he added.

Elements of the Transport Company, 5/2 Kandak,  have accompanied the distribution platoon on nearly every mission since November 2009.

At the start of their combined-action the ANA had little experience and were ill-prepared for the movements.

“The first fire-fight we got into, they didn’t even shoot back,” said Spc. Dustin Carnes, a gunner for the Distribution Platoon.
 
The guardsmen have noticed great improvement since their first combined action movements.

“They have gotten a lot better since our first convoy,” said Carnes.

This platoon taught them how to clean their weapons and maintain them on a regular basis, added Carnes.

“We used to wait on them for hours before leaving the wire,” said Carnes.  “Now when we show up and they have their trucks fuelled and ammo belted; they are ready to go.  And so are we.”