Notes from Afganistan

[Carl Harrod]

Notes From Afghanistan - 19 MAR 06 (FINAL EDITION)
Date:  Sunday, March 19, 2006 1:37:12 AM   

Dear Family & Friends,

    This is my last letter to you from Afghanistan and sadly another very painful one.  About five hours after I sent my last letter four of my Soldiers in an attached company were killed in an IED blast near Jalalabad.  Four families had two uniformed officers knock on their front door and notify them that their husband or son was killed in action in Afghanistan.  In any unit this is very hard news to accept but in a Reserve unit it's especially hard because many of these citizen-Soldiers have been together for many years and maybe have known each other since childhood.  Words best said by one of my Soldiers "It's not where you are on the calendar; it's where you are on the ground that matters."

Of course the only mention in the news sites is that four nameless Soldiers were killed in a strange-sounding location in Afghanistan, but to us they were our brothers. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/12/AR2006031200456.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,187583,00.html

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/12441107.htm

    Tomorrow we have a Transfer of Authority ceremony (TOA).  My unit will return to being a battalion after having the honor of being a Task Force for a full year in combat.  My S5 said it best, "Sir, you were really fortunate be able to command this unit at this time."  I couldn't have said it better.  Being an Army officer is a distinct honor and I look forward to continued service as long as the Army will have me but being in command is something special that can't be described. 

    This morning's mission to visit local officials was my last.  I took my replacement to visit with leaders that he'll work with during the next year.  Governor Mengal moved to another province so we're working with another set of Afghan leaders too.  LTC Degidio and his battalion are wearing the new Army uniforms, the Army Combat Uniform (ACU) and we wear the Desert Combat Uniform (DCU).  It's apparent to everyone now who the "old team" is and who the "new team" is. 

    As you can imagine we're excited beyond belief to see our families.  We've completed our duty, the new unit is in place, we've set them up for success, and the mission is continuing without a pause.  We're extremely proud that the unit replacing us is operating us is continuing all missions the way a fluid transition should be.  When we arrived in March 2005 I was enraged when it took us no less than 30 days to untangle the mess that was handed to us - I swore it wouldn't be the case when we left Afghanistan.  Now I'm proud to say we made it better for the next group.

    I included a few pictures of a reenlistment, me with a carpet salesman, and cooking kabobs at the bazaar.  Events are starting to slow, so there aren't that many pictures.  I look forward to a period of relaxed operations instead of constant hyper-sensitivity to all forms of external stimuli. The reenlistment picture is from SPC Schum's reenlistment.  He wanted me to reenlist him in the Davis Memorial Chapel because SGT Davis was his best friend.  SPC Schum is the Command Sergeant Major's driver and was inseparable from my driver, SGT Davis.  It's touching to see a church service end and watch Soldiers touch SGT Davis's picture as the exit the chapel. 

    I spoke to Amanda Davis, SGT Davis's widow, during this week; she's one of the most inspiring people I've met in my life.  She's not bitter, loves the Army and our unit, and chooses to help others around her.  It's remarkable!  Instead of being focused on herself and her terrible loss, she's focused on her family, her toddler, and how to better herself.  I'm humbled and proud to know her.  She's starting college in the next semester just like SGT Davis wanted her to.  In my opinion she's an American heroine.  Don't mistake her ability to persevere for casual disregard; she met her husband in elementary school, started dating him at 14, and married him at 17.  They've been together their whole life.  Brayden is starting to walk and received his first haircut this week - he looks more like is dad than ever.

    If you wish to keep in touch please do not use any of the e-mails that I've send these notes from - all of them will be deleted in the next week.  Please only use paul.paolozzi@us.army.mil for all correspondence.  My home address is 2361 South 5th Street, Fort Lewis, Washington 98433.

    Thank you all very much for your prayers, notes of encouragement, gifts for children that I've distributed, and goodies that came with perfect timing throughout this year.  I pray that next week I'll be with my family.  My God bless all of you.

http://www.25id.army.mil/article.asp?artid=5783

Very Respectfully,

Paul

LTC Paul M. Paolozzi
Commander, Task Force Pacemaker
Sharana, Afghanistan

[Janet Harrington]

Well, our friend is apparently back in the United States.  Yeah.  But, do we miss his letters?  Yes we do.  We hope that he is getting some rest, being with his family, enjoying life as we in the United States enjoy life.  Thank you, Carl Harrod, for sharing with us the "Notes From Afganistan."  We have enjoyed those letters and learning about Afganistan and our soldiers who work there.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[Rhonda]

I too miss the letters but I'm glad our friend is back in the United States.  Thank you for serving our Country and ensuring our Freedom.

[Carl Harrod]

I'm sorry that I took so long to get this posted, but when Janet asked me for an update I thought it would probably be better to get it directly from the source. Paul was getting ready to go back over to Afganistan in preparation for the unit to ga back next year and I thought it would be nice to get his thoughts on how things were going over there rather than depending on the news. So, here it is:

Notes From Afghanistan - PDSS
Date:Tuesday, November 14, 2006 7:59:06 AM

Dear Family & Friends,
      Many of you know that I recently returned from Afghanistan.  I had mixed emotions about going back so soon but in the end I was pleased that I made the visit.  I went on what the Army calls a Pre-deployment Site Survey (PDSS) otherwise known as a reconnaissance.  Several members of the engineer brigade coupled with the two engineer battalions went to review the latest operations in Afghanistan in order to ensure the deploying units are prepared for the year-long deployment.

       The travel plans in both directions was very tough.  Our aircraft had maintenance issues in Germany so we had to spend a night in Frankfort.   The following day we departed and finally ended up in Baghram, Afghanistan for two days before we took a helicopter to Sharana.  If you recall, Sharana was the forward operating base we built up in order to create a road network from the Paktika Province.  Only 30km from the Pakistan boarder, it's a very remote location that held 750 Soldiers comfortably.  Now the FOB is on it's way to having over 2000 Soldiers, a full airfield capable of receiving C-130 and later C-17 aircraft, and a massive housing infrastructure.  It's great to see our initial work from last year forming the nucleus of a FOB that will be one of the five major locations in Afghanistan.     

            I heard the question several times since I returned in the second week of October, "How's it going over there?"  I'm watching the same news channels that you are and my opinion based solely on what I watch is unfavorable but having recently been on the ground allows me to be much more objective.  Obviously the news that new roads are being built daily by Army Engineers and the international community won't make any of the news networks – "no blood = no news."  Anytime a vehicle born IED goes off in Kandahar you'll be sure to hear every gory detail. I'm not trying to present a false perspective that it's stable and prospering throughout Afghanistan but it takes quite a bit of time to go from one of the five most impoverished nations in the world to a nation with a functioning Army and established civil government.  IED detonations are on the rise and more Soldiers were killed in 2006 than in any other year since 2001 when we arrived.  We have a long way to go.

            I leave command of the battalion on 1 DEC 06; most likely one of the most difficult actions I'll take in my Army career.  I've worked very hard to ensure the unit is ready for the next deployment in February, only 11 months after we came home, and there's still so much more to do.  I'm confident they'll do an excellent job but I'd like to return with them simply because they're going and I feel like it's my duty.  Many of my Soldiers have been on two or three year-long deployments and they're tired – there's no denying that.  But we're joined my many new young Soldiers and leaders who bring inexperienced excitement to the battalion.  As the battalion continues to train in combat and construction skills for another deployment, their confidence grows and the families begin to accept another deployment.  It's never easy.

            I'll transition to another position on Fort Lewis for a few months until Aaron graduates high school in June.  Soon after that the whole family will boomerang back to the east coast to attend the War College.

May God Bless you,

Paul

[Janet Harrington]

Thank you, Carl, for asking Paul to give us an update.  Since you have shared his letters with the forum, I feel like the soldiers and him are family.  May God Bless our troops today and every day.

[Teresa]

Amen to that.