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KABUL, Afghanistan (10/19/2011) – Bullets and explosions struck
around troops at the New Kabul Compound on the morning of Sept. 13
soon after they suited up, knowing dangerous new hostile activity
was likely given the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Alabama National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Carroll of Daphne, Ala., non-commissioned officer in charge of force protection at the New Kabul Compound, participates in a patrol near the facility
on July 12, 2011. Photo by Army Sgt. Catherine Threat |
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The troops, including dozens from the Alabama Army National Guard,
took up their assigned positions almost immediately and stayed
vigilant throughout the assault. Many did not sleep – staying awake
to return fire and ensure supplies of food, water, communications
equipment and ammunition were flowing among their ranks.
“You didn't have to look for anybody,” said Army Sgt. 1st Class
Kevin Carroll of Daphne, Ala., NKC's non-commissioned officer in
charge of force protection. “Everybody was where they were supposed
to be.”
The attack lasted 20 hours. Insurgents targeted NKC,
the U.S. Embassy and the International Security Assistance Force's
headquarters.
For their rapid response under hostile fire,
10 of the Alabama guardsmen received the Joint Service Commendation
Medal, while 14 received Combat Action Badges, many earning both.
They were part of a group of 33 NKC service members overall
who were decorated for their actions during the attack. The
remaining NKC troops honored were under the command of Capt. Jerry
Mitchell of San Antonio, Fla., a member of that state's Army
National Guard. He leads one of NKC's force protection teams and is
the facility's headquarters company commander. |
“It could not have been better,” he said of the defensive
response. “Not just the people we had in place, but all the
other teams, did exactly what they needed to do. People were
coming out of the woodwork with combat experience, saying
‘what can I do to help, where do you need me?'”
He
was one of four people on his team to receive a JSCM.
Mitchell, along with 17 others serving under him, also
received a CAB. One soldier, Pvt. 1st Class Douglas Smith,
of Columbus, Ohio, received a Combat Infantryman Badge,
which only soldiers trained as infantrymen and serving in an
infantry unit can earn.
NKC forces suffered no
casualties. Afghan National Army soldiers later cleared,
floor-by-floor, the building where insurgents had taken up
positions.
“We let the enemy know ‘we're here, and
we're not going to take anything sitting down,'” said
Alabama Army National Guard 1st Lt. Rich Rogers, of
Montgomery, Ala., NKC's officer in charge of force
protection.
Rogers praised the Alabama National
Guard's training program, saying it prepared them to operate
in Afghanistan and there have been few, if any, surprises in
theater.
“If we needed time, or we needed more
training, they provided that for us,” he added.
Rogers signed up at 35 and has been in the Guard for more
than four years, working full time for the organization as
an operations officer in Montgomery, Ala. He previously was
a stockbroker and financial services adviser.
He
said the conflicts the nation recently has been involved in
“have really closed the loop” between active duty and the
Guard. The private sector skills Guardsmen bring with them
also are an asset for deployed units, he noted.
“It
brings more diversity,” he said. “Guardsmen, if you will,
can do a few more things. They may be an MP deployed, but a
mechanic back home, so if their vehicle breaks down, they
can fix it.”
He said his enthusiasm for serving in
the Guard was undiminished by the risks of combat, and the
Sept. 13 attack served only to reinforce his opinions about
the institution.
“If anything, it reassured me that
the training we were getting was quality,” he said. ... “It's
got a good program. It deploys a lot of soldiers. And now
I've gotten to see the program from both sides, stateside
and deployed.”
Mitchell, for his part, took charge of
the defense at one part of the compound, initially leading
the response in that area.
“When I first walked out
there, we got hit by an explosion that pushed us back a
little bit,” Mitchell said. “It was just the concussion.”
The troops rapidly got focused, he added, and “their
training kicked in. They did phenomenal.”
While
Rogers' team was exclusively Alabama National Guard,
Mitchell's was made up of active duty troops and volunteers
from units throughout NKC, which were used to fill out the
compound's force protection needs.
“A lot of the
people that were under me that received awards are intel
people. They are IT people. They are lawyers. They are
people who volunteered to help,” he said. “They are the
people who initially protected the base, laid down
suppressing fire. ... They went above and beyond and were a
very significant part of the response.”
Mitchell, a
2004 West Point graduate who served on active duty for five
years, also spoke highly of the National Guard. It gave him
a chance to remain an infantryman, but also allowed him to
serve alongside fellow soldiers who were firmly rooted in
their communities.
He said Guard troops were
“absolutely” the same quality as active duty soldiers. Also,
just as Rogers said civilian experience aids deployed units,
combat experience can benefit a civilian's career,
particularly in the areas of leadership and responsibility.
“The average E-5 soldier who's been in combat and
led people when they're at their most afraid, you can't
replace that in the civilian world,” he said. “You can't
replace that they've led people when they're at their
hardest to lead.”
He added that they also often are
responsible for millions of dollars worth of equipment,
“which normally takes years” to achieve as a civilian.
Both Mitchell and Rogers plan to stay in the Guard.
Carroll, a heavy equipment operator for the Baldwin County
Highway Department, plans to retire after 22 years of
service.
“It's just time,” he said. “I want to be
able to spend more time at home with the family.”
By Erika Stetson
U.S. Forces Afghanistan
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2011
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