Part 40 (2/2)

Jalalabad Airfield-a U.S. base in the city of Jalalabad, Nangarhar Province, adjacent to the Pakistan border. It was renamed Forward Operating Base Fenty in honor of Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Fenty, who was killed in 2006.

Jingle truck-an ornately decorated truck, covered with chimes and paintings, usually belonging to a local private contractor; so named because of the sound made by the decorations.

Kom-the preeminent ethnic group in Kamdesh District.

Kushtozis-an ethnic group in Kamdesh District that has had a longstanding history of feuding with its rival community, the Kom.

LMTV-a ”light medium tactical vehicle,” a large military truck that can carry more than two tons of cargo.

LRAS-a ”long-range advance scout” surveillance system, an expensive device that allows thermal-optical surveillance at a range of up to fifteen miles.

M16-a gas-operated, magazine-fed a.s.sault rifle that weighs slightly more than 7.0 pounds and measures 39.5 inches long.

M203-a single-shot, pump-action (sliding barrel) grenade launcher, measuring 39.0 inches long and weighing 3.5 pounds when loaded with 40-millimeter grenades.

M240-a belt-fed, air-cooled, gas-operated, fully automatic machine gun measuring 49.0 inches long and weighing 27.6 pounds, capable of firing as many as two hundred rounds per minute in ten- to thirteen-round bursts.

M249-A lightweight, gas-operated, one-man portable automatic weapon measuring just over 40.0 inches long and weighing 16.5 pounds, the M249 is also called a SAW-short for ”squad automatic weapon”-and can fire up to 750 rounds per minute. Two M249s are issued to each infantry squad.

M4-A gas-operated, magazine-fed, shoulder-fired rifle weighing more than 6.0 pounds and measuring almost 30.0 inches long, the M4 can fire up to 950 rounds per minute and is semiautomatic, firing in three-round bursts. A variant model, the M4A1, is fully automatic.

Mawlawi-an honorific t.i.tle bestowed upon high-ranking Islamic scholars.

Mark 19, or MK19-A belt-fed automatic grenade launcher that shoots 40-millimeter grenade cartridges and is designed not to overheat even after prolonged firing, the Mark 19 is over 43.0 inches long and weighs 78.0 pounds without its tripod. Because of its size, the Mark 19 is often mounted on a Humvee.

medevac-short for ”medical evacuation,” the term used to denote the helicopter ambulance that rescues wounded soldiers in the field.

MICH ranger headset-the modular integrated communication helmet (MICH) ranger communication system is a microphone/sound-transmission setup that enables communication even amid extremely noisy conditions such as intense combat.

mIRC-an Internet relay chat (IRC) client for Microsoft Windows, much like Instant Messenger, used by the military (and others) for instant communications.

mortar-an explosive projectile fired indirectly from a cannon, or tube. Mortars can be used to fire at targets that are both out of sight and far away-for example, over mountains.

MRE-a ”meal ready to eat,” a single unit of basic rations provided to troops by the U.S. military.

mullah-an Islamic clergyman or leader of a mosque.

mujahideen-literally meaning ”Muslims who strive in the path of G.o.d,” the Arabic term has come to mean ”holy warriors,” a catchall for Islamist insurgents or fighters. In Afghanistan in the 1980s, the Mujahideen comprised a number of loosely affiliated insurgent groups fighting the Communist Afghan government and the occupying USSR troops. In modern-day Afghanistan, many insurgent groups refer to themselves by this word, and some U.S. troops use it, or its short form muj, muj, to refer to them as well. to refer to them as well.

Observation Post Warheit-the name of Observation Post Fritsche until the name was changed in the Winter of 20072008 in honor of Staff Sergeant Ryan Fritsche.

Observation Post Fritsche-the observation post established to watch over Combat Outpost Keating, sitting on the mountain to the south of the outpost, near Upper Kamdesh.

PRT-a ”Provincial Reconstruction Team,” typically made up of representatives of the U.S. military, foreign service officers, and experts on construction, who work together on development in those areas of a country where stability is most urgently needed. PRTs have played a key role in counterinsurgency programs.

QRF-a ”quick reaction force,” an armed team prepared, on short notice, to support another unit on a mission and in need of a.s.sistance.

Regional Command East-one of the territories of Afghanistan as divided up by the United States and coalition forces. In 2006, RC-East comprised ten provinces together covering some 27,000 square miles (an area roughly the size of North Carolina) and sharing 600 linear miles of border with Pakistan. That soon expanded to fourteen provinces-Bamyan, Ghazni, Kapisa, Khowst, Kunar, Laghman, Logar, Nangarhar, Nuristan, Paktika, Paktiya, Panjshayr, Parwan, and Wardak-covering 43,000 square miles (about the size of Ohio) and sharing 450 miles of border with Pakistan.

RPG-a ”rocket-propelled grenade,” an explosive warhead affixed to a rocket shot from a shoulder-fired weapon.

SAW-see M249 shura-a consultation with village elders, or leaders, that is an important element of governance in majority Muslim countries.

Sked-a hard plastic stretcher used for carrying dead or wounded troops. Troops commonly refer to the stretcher by the name of the company that makes it, ”Skedco.”

TacSat-a tactical microsatellite system enabling sophisticated communications on the battlefield.

Taliban-an extremist militant Muslim political and religious group that ruled over much of Afghanistan from 1996 until the U.S. invasion in October 2001, imposing strict interpretations of Muslim law.

TIC-”troops in contact,” meaning a firefight.

Notes and Sourcing

For this book, I interviewed more than 225 individuals over the course of nearly two years, many of them multiple times. Some of those interviews were conducted in person, some by phone, some via Skype, and some by email. I have made use of primary doc.u.ments, where noted; throughout, I have employed the term ”memo” to mean any military doc.u.ment, though technically, different kinds have their own complicated names.

Many of those with firsthand experiences of the events related here were invited to read sections of the ma.n.u.script to double- and triple-check pa.s.sages for accuracy. I have chosen not to list sources in the military by their rank because such t.i.tles are ephemeral.

Although most of the information presented in this book comes from firsthand interviews and Army doc.u.ments, I have drawn from some other sources as well. Specific citations are listed in the endnotes for individual chapters, but additional books not listed below on which I relied for general information and inspiration included the following:

Adamec, Ludwig, and Frank Clements. Conflict in Afghanistan: An Encyclopedia Conflict in Afghanistan: An Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2003.

Barrington, Nicholas, Joseph Kendrick, and Reinhard Schlagintweit. A Pa.s.sage to Nuristan. A Pa.s.sage to Nuristan. London: I. B. Tauris, 2006. London: I. B. Tauris, 2006.

Bowden, Mark. Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War. New York: Grove, 1999.

Cloud, David, and Greg Jaffe. The Fourth Star: Four Generals and the Epic Struggle for the Future of the United States Army. The Fourth Star: Four Generals and the Epic Struggle for the Future of the United States Army. New York: Crown, 2009. New York: Crown, 2009.

Grau, Lester, ed. The Bear Went over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan. The Bear Went over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan. Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: National Defense University Press Publications, 2005. Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: National Defense University Press Publications, 2005.

Hankin, Erin, and Steven Jeffrey. ”Challenges of Treating Modern Military Trauma wounds.” Wounds International, Wounds International, May 2011. May 2011.

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