Chad Hunt Photography

09.12.06am
I am standing about 10 klicks from the Pakistan Border in the Nuristan Province . I am told that Kamdesh is supposed to be a P.R.T. (Provincial Reconstruction Team) , but now it is acting mostly as a combat outpost. Before the Hesco walls and brought in the Humvees with higher caliber weapons this was a firebase. An observation point ( OP ) overlooks our base and the valley behind us, which provides a bit of security. The hike up to the OP takes about 4-5 hours in full gear.

PFC Brinch, 554th MP Co. “I’ve done nothing here except get shot at. The Army isn’t for everyone.”

PFC Ragen, 554th MP Co. , 19 years old, from Oklahoma City. Joined because of the Oklahoma City Bombing and 9-11. “Someone has to keep shit from happening.”

360 degree collage of Kamdesh.

“Wake up Chad, you are going into a fire fight, this is what you wanted right?!?!”
6:00 am. I have only had two hours of sleep and this is my first face to face meeting with LT Lang. I jump out of my sleeping bag and throw on my body armor and kevlar helmet and follow him to the convoy of humvees that are gearing up to head north.
I climb into the back seat and the female gunner PFC Ashton points to the 50 cal ammo cans and tells me to hand up more if she runs out. She then tells me that if we roll the Humvee and I don’t pull her out that she will kick my ass.

The original mission called for us to be escorted by a group of Humvees that were coming from Kamdesh to Naray , but they were ambushed in route to us as we waited for them. Taliban shot RPG’s then followed with small arms fire. In a one in a million shot one of the RPG’s hit just above the door on the passenger side, punched through the door, missing the passenger by inches and flew into the back seat, tearing the hand off of a soldier.

He was medevaced out. We are headed in to secure the road. Pushing slowly through the valley and onto Kamdesh, we pass other American vechicles that were hit with an I.E.D. weeks before. No sign of the bad guys. We have no enemy contact . My new home is Kamdesh.

Another eight hours waiting on the tarmac for the Chinook to take us to Naray. I found out today that the soldeirs have nicknamed them “CRASH-hooks” because they tend to not do so well in mountains. With a gunner sitting at the back door we leap-frog from FOB to FOB, accross Afghanistan. I find myself in a tent in Naray at 5:30 am.

Even if I make it to Naray, which could be soon if this dust storm clears up, I have a feeling that I wont be back the Kabul in time to make my scheduled flight home. From what I understand it takes a while to make it back from the FOB’s. I am happy to say that my stay might be extended beyond my control once I make it out there.

I’ve been on helicopters before, but not a Chinook . I am sitting here with a handfull of men, gear and lots of mail. It seems that mail is a high priority because it boosts moral. We are headed to the F.orward O.perating B.ases. east of Kabul. As the rotor starts to spin I feel myself bouncing up and down in my seat. The massive blades are trying to find a rythm before they pull us into the sky. Small round windows line the aircraft and I cant help but feel like i am sitting on the 2000 Leagues Under the Sea ride at Disney World. Even if I could turn and peer out the window all I would see is night.

I just spent 8 hours on the tarmac and now I am sitting back in my quarters.
Mission canceled.
New mission time to be announced. *Due to the sensitivity of take off and landing times I cant write about details now. After crawling out of the helicopter I met a soldier who was sitting two seats down from me. I would have never met him if the flight had taken off on time because he was getting off at a stop before mine. He has a thin frame and is carrying his body weight in gear. Three days after 9-11 he quit his job as a loan officer in San Antonio Texas and joined the Army. Now he prowls the mountains with his team doing RECON missions in advance of other units.
I also met a Navy Submarine Officer who is headed to a FOB east of here.

I have been passing time until I head out to the FOB……I hate sitting around waiting. I am surrounded by interesting images on this base. The light is beautiful as the sunsets over the mountains but all I am permitted to do is walk between my living quarters, the chow hall and the USO center ( building with WI-FI, couches, and a giant flat screen T.V ). There is also the Afghan “bazaar”, which with in the compound and nothing close to a real Afgan bazar. But at least I can but a can buy an Afghan rug and a Burgar King hamburger.

This morning a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) detonated between Massoud and Freedom Circles in Kabul. This base is nowhere near there so don’t worry about me.

Same moon, Different moon.
Finally made it to Bagram.

My new embed plans have been approved. I will be flying to FOB Naray . It is in Kamdesh, Nuristan province. I have been emailing with a 1st Lieutenant with the 3-71 CAV ( 3rd Squadron, 71st Calvary ), who is stationed at the FOB.
“You’ll sleep in a tent–I’ll make sure you don’t sleep under the section that leaks. “MRE’s 2/day–one hot meal. Will work to get you on as many combat ops as possible. Be ready to walk.”

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I just had the BEST mexican meal ever. Yes, MEXICAN in Kabul, I shit you not. The guy with the AK-47 was the guard at the door. La Cantina….yummy

I can almost smell the baguettes and if you squint hard enough youcan see Notre Dame

I planned to spend one night at the guesthouse, check in at BAF(Bagram Air Base) on the 3rd and fly to Khost on the 4th. All that changed when I received my credentials. Now that my plans are in the air. I have asked the owners if I can stay a few extra days. The people at the guest house say that I have been “Kabul-ed”, which means that everything here happens on a level that doesn’t seem to make sense. For example; Gary, the owner of the Guest House, is an Australian ex-pat with long hair, beard, and smile that instantly makes friends. He just opened a Mexican restaurant in Kabul that caters mostly to Canadians and foreign aid workers. He is allowed to serve alcohol but under the condition that he doesn’t let Afghans into the restaurant. (99.9 percent of Afghans are Muslim and not permitted to drink) Last night he turned away an Afghan who wanted to come in. Those are the rules right? Well, it turns out that the Afghan was a big wig in the government here and was upset that he wasn’t allowed in. Even though he works in the same office that makes the rules forbidding it. This morning the Gary was asked by a government agency to come in to be investigated. After he left for the meeting his wife shrugged, sighed and said, “I hope he doesn’t get arrested”. An hour later Gary came back wearing the biggest smile I’ve seen since I arrived. Everything was fine and no one was going to jail.

I took a tour of the Panjshir Valley today with Sher Dil and his wife Gay-LeClerc, The owners of the Cabul Coffee shop. Sher Dil was a Mujahideen fighter during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. We spent the day driving up through the vally folling the same road that russian tanks rolled in on. Sher pointed out Mujahhideen positions and Soviet bases as the mountains around us grew larger and larger. At one point he pointed to a flag waving on a mountains side, about 100 feet from a large rock formation that sat accross a deep valley separating the two. “That flag is where my best friend is buried, we buried him where he died. He was hit by the Russians as they were attacking from that position”. Later he showed me a pile of cars and tanks, twisted, deformed and rusted over time. “That is my work, I was 16 when we mined that road.”
On the way home we stopped at a roadside restaurant to eat lamb kabobs. I have been told not to eat meat while in country, but I have learned that fortune favors the brave.
The below image is a Russian tank that sits next to a new school.
more to come when I have time…