Enduring Voices Oral Histories of the U.S. Army Experience in Afghanistan, 2003-2005

582 Pages·2008·21.05 MB·English

by  Christopher N. Koontz (editor)

Enduring Voices: Oral Histories of the U.S. Army
Experience in Afghanistan, 2003–2005
Christopher N. Koontz
General Editor
CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY
UNITED STATES ARMY
WASHINGTON, D.C., 2008
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Enduring voices : oral histories of the U.S. Army experience in Afghanistan, 2003–2005 /
Christopher N. Koontz, general editor.
p. cm.
Includes index.
1. Afghan War, 2001—Personal narratives, American. 2. United States. Combined Forces
Command—Afghanistan—History. 3. Counterinsurgency—Afghanistan. 4. Postwar
reconstruction—Afghanistan. 5. Oral history. I. Koontz, Christopher N. (Christopher Noel)
II. Title.
DS371.413.E53 2008
958.104’7—dc22

2008044190
First Printing
CMH Pub 70–112–1
iii
Contents
Page
Foreword ................................................................. v
Preface ................................................................... vii
Chapter
1. The U.S. Army and Afghanistan, 2001–2005 ................................ 1
2. Planning and Directing a Campaign: General Barno in Afghanistan ........... 13
Lt. Gen. David W. Barno (U.S. Army, Ret.), Commander, Combined
Forces Command-Afghanistan ..................................... 13
3. Building the Command................................................. 95
Maj. Gen. Peter Gilchrist, C.B. [Companion of the Most Honourable Order
of the Bath](British Army), Deputy Commanding General, Combined
Forces Command-Afghanistan ..................................... 95
Col. David W. Lamm (U.S. Army, Ret.), Chief of Staff, Combined Forces
Command-Afghanistan ........................................... 118
Col. Tucker B. Mansager, Chief, CJ-9 Section (Civil-Military Affairs),
Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan ........................... 154
Col. Thomas J. Snukis, Chief of Staff, Combined Forces Command-
Afghanistan ..................................................... 179
4. Waging War .......................................................... 217
Maj. Gen. Jason K. Kamiya, Commanding General, Southern European
Task Force (Airborne)/Combined Joint Task Force-76 ................. 217
Maj. Gen. Eric T. Olson (U.S. Army, Ret.), Commanding General, 25th
Infantry Division (Light)/Combined Joint Task Force-76............... 243
Brig. Gen. Bernard S. Champoux, Assistant Division Commander
(Operations), 25th Infantry Division (Light)/Deputy Commanding
General, Combined Joint Task Force-76 ............................. 267
Col. Phillip Bookert (U.S. Army Reserve, Ret.), Civil-Military Officer,
Combined Joint Task Force-76, and Commander, Combined Task
Force Longhorn, Combined Joint Task Force-76 ..................... 303
Col. Clarence Neason Jr., Commander, 3d Battalion, 7th Field Artillery,
Combined Task Force Bronco, 25th Infantry Division
(Light)/Combined Joint Task Force-76............................... 339
Col. Terry L. Sellers, Commander, 2d Battalion, 5th Infantry, Combined
Task Force Bronco, 25th Infantry Division (Light)/Combined
Joint Task Force-76 ............................................... 366
Lt. Col. Timothy P. McGuire, Commander, 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry,
173d Airborne Brigade, Southern European Task Force
(Airborne)/Combined Joint Task Force-76 ........................... 399
5. Security and Assistance................................................. 427
Lt. Col. Eugene M. Augustine (U.S. Marine Corps), Commander, Lashkar
Gah Provincial Reconstruction Team................................ 427
Lt. Col. Robin L. Fontes, Political-Military Officer, Combined Forces
Command-Afghanistan, and Commander, Tarin Kowt Provincial
Reconstruction Team ............................................. 453
Lt. Col. Anthony J. Hunter (U.S. Army Reserve), Commander, Gardiz
Provincial Reconstruction Team.................................... 482
Raphael Carland, Political Adviser, Farah Provincial Reconstruction Team
and Tarin Kowt Provincial Reconstruction Team...................... 509
iii
Page
Glossary ................................................................. 547
Index .................................................................... 553
Charts
No.
1. Combined Forces Command (CFC)-Afghanistan, October 2004 .............. 9
2. Combined Task Force (CTF) Bronco Task Organization, 6 April 2005......... 351
Maps
1. Afghanistan, September 2004 ............................................ 2
2. Afghanistan: Combined Forces Command, September 2004.................. 7
3. Afghanistan: Provincial Reconstruction Teams, September 2004 .............. 10
Illustrations
Lt. Gen. David W. Barno and Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld Speak to
Troops of Combined Task Force Bronco in Qalat ......................... 16
General Barno Meets with Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 505th Infantry, in
Paktia Province ....................................................... 35
Maj. Gen. Eric T. Olson, General Barno, and Maj. Gen. Jason K. Kamiya During
the Combined Joint Task Force-76 Transfer of Authority Ceremony.......... 71
British Maj. Gen. Peter Gilchrist Addresses Troops of Combined Joint Task
Force-76 in Kabul ..................................................... 96
Col. David W. Lamm ...................................................... 120
Maj. Gen. Jason K. Kamiya ................................................. 218
General Kamiya Confers with Jan Muhammad, Governor of Oruzgan Province ... 236
General Olson Joins Troops of Combined Task Force Bobcat on a Patrol in Cahar
Cineh, Oruzgan Province .............................................. 245
General Kamiya Speaks to Marines of the 3d Battalion, 3d Marines, Before Taking
Command of Combined Joint Task Force-76.............................. 253
Brig. Gen. Bernard S. Champoux Shakes Hands with a Soldier After a Memorial
Ceremony............................................................ 268
Col. Phillip Bookert ....................................................... 307
Lt. Col. Clarence Neason Secures a Convoy with Soldiers of Combined Task Force
Steel in Kandahar Province............................................ 342
Soldiers of the 3d Battalion, 7th Field Artillery, Position an M119 Howitzer near
Forward Operating Base Cobra in Oruzgan Province....................... 354
Cmd. Sgt. Maj. Frank M. Leota and Lt. Col. Terry L. Sellers...................... 369
Lt. Col. Timothy P. McGuire ................................................ 403
Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry, Patrol the Town of Naka in
Paktika Province...................................................... 417
Lt. Col. Eugene M. Augustine (U.S. Marine Corps) Meets with Local Officials in
Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province ........................................ 428
Lt. Col. Robin L. Fontes .................................................... 454
Lt. Col. Anthony J. Hunter Briefs General Richard B. Myers (U.S. Air Force),
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Others on the Activities of
Provincial Reconstruction Team Gardiz .................................. 485
Raphael Carland, Department of State Representative to Provincial Reconstruction
Team Tarin Kowt...................................................... 511
Colonel Fontes and Raphael Carland......................................... 533
All illustrations are from Department of Defense files.
iv v
Foreword
In October 2001, U.S. troops and their allies struck back at the Taliban regime in
Afghanistan that had harbored and supported the terrorists responsible for the attacks
of 11 September. This swift and forceful response deposed the Taliban and heralded the
beginning of what would become a long struggle to bring stability and security to the
people of Afghanistan. Not only did the Americans confront a persistent insurgency in
Afghanistan, but they also faced the pervasive poverty and political instability that fed it.
Two years into the conflict, Lt. Gen. David W. Barno, the commander of Combined Forces
Command-Afghanistan, devised a sophisticated counterinsurgency strategy that reori-
ented and refocused military operations. His new approach integrated military operations
against insurgents with efforts to develop the government, defense forces, and economy of
Afghanistan.
The U.S. Army Center of Military History prepared this anthology of oral histories
to document this critical period in the Afghan conflict. It records the memories, perspec-
tives, and opinions of those who planned and implemented the counterinsurgency strat-
egy at multiple echelons of command between 2003 and 2005. The interviews selected for
this volume provide, in the words of those who participated in the events, insights into
the complex operational environment in Afghanistan and the ways in which the Army
adapted and adjusted its strategy and tactics to that environment.

Washington, D.C. JEFFREY J. CLARKE
30 October 2008 Chief of Military History
iv v
vii
Preface
This volume represents a new venture for the U.S. Army Center of Military History:
an anthology of oral histories. It is the product of the Center’s effort in 2006 and 2007 to
continue the written chronicle of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, a proj-
ect that involved the conduct of many interviews. As the research progressed, the value of
the information those interviews contained became so apparent that the Center decided
to publish the interviews themselves.
The interviews spotlight the establishment of Combined Forces Command-Afghan-
istan in October 2003 and the tenure of its first commander, Lt. Gen. David W. Barno
(USA, Ret.). In less than two years, General Barno changed the U.S. Army’s approach
to operations in Afghanistan by developing a program that aimed to rebuild that nation
while giving its government the strength it needed to stand on its own. The interviews
presented here make available for the first time the experiences and opinions of the Amer-
ican soldiers and their joint military service, interagency, and international partners who
brought that program into being. In order to show how the ideas and decision making
that shaped General Barno’s effort evolved and the military and political challenges he and
other Army leaders faced, the interviews emphasize the perspectives of senior officers.
As a result, the anthology is not a complete survey of the period spanned by the tours of
duty of its subjects. Neither does it serve as an interpretive or analytical history. Instead,
the anthology sought to include material that would leave the reader with a sense of the
depth and complexity of the decisions driving the operations in Afghanistan as well as of
the operations themselves. To that end, while seeking to preserve the conversational style
and tone of each interview, I have introduced minor edits and cuts whenever necessary to
preserve clarity or to highlight important themes.
In addition to thanking those who willingly and generously gave their time, docu-
ments, photographs, and memories to assist in this project, I would like to thank J. Patrick
Hughes and Lisa M. Mundey, who conducted many of the interviews for the project, as
well as William M. Hammond, Stephen J. Lofgren, Joel D. Meyerson, and Richard W.
Stewart for their advice and assistance in preparing the manuscript for publication. Two
U.S. Army officers with expertise in counterinsurgency operations, Lt. Col. John A. Nagl
and Maj. Dwight E. Phillips, provided gracious and insightful comments. I also wish
to acknowledge S. L. Dowdy, who developed the maps included in this volume; Beth F.
MacKenzie, who assisted with the photographs and charts; and Michael R. Gill, who de-
signed the cover and layout of the volume. Finally, I am grateful to Diane Sedore Arms
and Alisa Robinson, who patiently and expertly shepherded the manuscript through its
editing phase, and Anne Venzon, who created the index.
Washington, D.C. CHRISTOPHER N. KOONTZ
30 October 2008
vii

E
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O H U.s. a e a
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2003–2005