CNN correspondent visits Afghanistan

Thursday, June 30, 2005 12:22 PM CDT

Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls, also a colonel in the Wisconsin National Guard, is currently serving in Afghanistan.

Following is one in a series of articles being sent to the paper by the sheriff.

We started two weeks ago with a visit from Barbara Starr, lead Pentagon correspondent from CNN. Starr was pleasant and interested in our efforts with the Afghanistan National Army and seemed surprised by all that we have done. She experienced everything Afghanistan had to offer, from culture to the standard rocket attack and group photo with the Badger Team.

The following day I traveled southeast for Operation Fury Blitz, escorting ANA trucks needed to support this major operation. The trip was 106 km (60 miles) which took six hours. It was a continuous haul for tough trucks as we moved slowly across very rugged terrain. The operation would be executed by Task Force Fury, the 508th Airborne "Fury from the Sky." I met two Wisconsin residents. Chris Guderski from Markesan and Forest Peachey from Waupun, local heros on the front lines fighting terrorism.

The first three days were devoted to planning and preparation. Day four started with a night movement to a Forward Operating Base (FOB) just off the border. The 56 kilometer drive (33 miles) - six hours. With the moon providing our only light, the drive was very difficult. The movement under the cover of darkness masks the movement of such a large force from the enemy.

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On day five we pushed directly towards the Afghan/Pakistan border, another night move with the moon not being as kind. The mission, in the commander's words, "to find the enemy, engage, maintain contact, and kill them." No questions there. The next five days provided an opportunity for the soldiers of the ANA to fight side-by-side with U.S. forces under the most difficult of situations. The execution was a tremendous show of military might and strength, all requiring a sense of choreography.

Ground forces, attack aviation, jet fighters, bombers and artillery. The area of operations (AO) is forest covered mountains. The trees were an environment I had not yet experienced my first 11 months in the country.

On day six I pushed out with one ANA element to conduct a zone clearance operation. This consisted of clearing several square miles of high ground to confirm/deny enemy presence, and destroy enemy fighting positions and safe houses.

These old bones were put to the test. My lack of discipline that day exhausted my water supply too early. I never would have thought thirst could be so painful. By day's end, a soda cracker could have quenched my thirst. We were very successful, running the enemy out of our zone, destroyed several fighting positions and burned six Taliban and Al-Qaida safe houses.

On day seven, the mission was to clear an entire village known to provide safe haven to the bad guys. By looking at the map one would think two-hour drive, we made it in eight. We quickly cleared the village and searched all the compounds. The villagers in this area don't wave, the children do not run to great you, ask for pencils or chocolate. With daylight drawing to a close the decision was made to spend the night where we were.

A restless night, sleeping under the stars along the Pak border. The sounds of rockets hitting enemy positions, 500 pound bombs being dropped in their laps made me proud to be an American, proud of the equipment, technology and teamwork between all the various services. All played a role in this flawless effort.

Day eight we started to clear numerous caves in the high ground. By mid-morning I was airlifted from my current location and flown to a leaders meeting.

Upon conclusion of the leaders meeting we attempted to fly back to our respective location but the helicopters were taking small arms fire which diverted us to an alternate Landing Zone (LZ). With artillery pounding enemy positions, the birds were grounded for awhile. Within an hour all was well and I boarded one of two Blackhawks going back to my original destination. Just prior to wheels up, several more soldiers jumped on board both and stated we need to conduct an air assault on a local village.

Intel sources reported six insurgents and a silver truck were conducting resupply operations there. The village is a known safe haven seldom entered by coalition forces. With seven soldiers on my bird, and seven on the second, we put the plan together over the sound of the rotors. One team covers, the others maneuver. Within minutes we were inserted into a cornfield a few hundred meters from the target location. As uneasy as this operation felt, it was reassuring that two AH64, attack helicopters circled overhead to provide observation and security. After one hour, aviators reported a large insurgency and threats of Rocket Propelled Ground (RPG) fire. As I worked my way towards the village the attack helicopters inched along. The decision was then made to get out, outgunned and outnumbered, there would be a better time and larger force needed to try this.

We called in the birds and flew us to a different FOB. Back at the FOB the attack pilots arrived and we talked about the mission. Words like "crazy" and "wild" were used often. To demonstrate how close they covered us, a pilot I have never met before recognized me as the soldier he was covering on a cleared and dry river bed. A crew chief for the Blackhawk that dropped us in stated "that was some wild ..Š sir. I never dropped a colonel into a hot landing zone (HLZ) before." I took it as a compliment.

The operation has now drawn to a close, successful in breaking the back of the insurgency. I hope to be back to the Badger Team within a few days.