Pathfinders' preparedness is tested by deadly IED blasts

Pathfinders' preparedness is tested by deadly IED blasts
By LAURA RAUCH
Stars and Stripes
Published: May 21, 2012

Part one of a two-part Stars and Stripes series, "Devastation and Endurance."

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — The soldier knew something was wrong when the Black Hawk and Kiowa helicopters tore sharply into the compound. Their landing, skittish and odd, made Sgt. Jon McMillen’s gut turn.

Several of McMillen’s teammates, all with Team 3 out of Kandahar Airfield, were on a reconnaissance mission in the Shorabak district near the Pakistani border while he and other Pathfinders from the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade were staged as backup at Forward Operating Base Spin Boldak.

Upon landing, the crew chief jumped out and waved in McMillen’s platoon leader, 1st Lt. John Runkle. Moments later, Runkle returned to his soldiers and told them to grab their kit and get the [expletive] on the bird. Now he knew there was trouble; Runkle never cussed.
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11 U.S. troops injured in helicopter crash

11 U.S. troops injured in helicopter crash

By Michael Hoffman - mhoffman@militarytimes.com
Posted : Tuesday Mar 30, 2010 15:21:51 EDT

KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — An Army helicopter crashed shortly after takeoff from a forward operating base in Zabul province, injuring 11 U.S. and two Afghan soldiers. No one died and all the troops reported their injuries as minor.

The UH-60 Blackhawk sustained heavy damage in the March 29 accident, not far from Forward Operating Base Atgar, said Sgt. Shannon Wright, an 82nd Combat Aviaition Brigade spokesman. Rescue forces flew the wounded to Forward Operating Base Lagman for treatment.
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11 US troops injured in helicopter crash

Celebrating Easter at Kandahar Airfield

U.S. and Canadian soldiers with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force leave after Easter prayers at the Kandahar air base on Sunday. (SHAH MARAI/AFP/Getty Images)

Celebrating Easter at Kandahar Airfield
JAMES MCCARTEN

Canadian Press

March 23, 2008 at 10:31 AM EDT

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — It's a tiny, unassuming but immaculately maintained church, with thin plywood walls, a modest flower garden — and a gun rack where soldiers can check their rifles at the door.

Perhaps nowhere else is the notion of faith more important than in a war zone such as Afghanistan, where life itself can be a fragile commodity and a day's work is often shrouded in violence and death.

On this Easter Sunday, the pews at Kandahar Airfield's Fraise Chapel were filled with a multinational cross-section of Catholic and Protestant faithful as American padre Rev. Jim Connolly reminded the congregation that the work they do is for a greater good.

“You're living on the edge of life and death, and you've got to ask some hard questions,” Rev. Connolly said after Sunday's Easter service.



“On many occasions, people are saying, ‘Is it really worth it? Is it really this important?' My basic hope is that I can help them come to a sense that yes, it is important, it does matter, because every single one of us counts.”

Sunday's services capped a difficult three weeks for Canadian forces in Kandahar province where three Canadian soldiers lost their lives in three separate incidents.

The ramp ceremony commemorating the most recent death, that of Sgt. Jason Boyes of 2 Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, was one of four this past week alone for the multinational NATO coalition known as the International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF. Two Americans and a Romanian also died.

“Every time that we lose soldiers ... the whole coalition is losing soldiers,” said Rev. Bastien Leclere, who's originally from Edmonton and who assisted in Connolly's Sunday service.

“We're all in this together, and we all pray together, and we keep up each other. It is important that we support each other in this journey. It's a marathon, not a sprint.”
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I still say that if the troops were not sent to Iraq, I doubt there would be all of this still going on in Afghansitan. What happened to finishing the mission in Afghanistan? Do any of the elected even talk about it at all anymore?