CAMP AIRBORNE, WARDAK PROVINCE - Like their brothers assigned to Embedded Training Teams (ETTs) for the Afghan National Army, members of Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix serving on Police Mentoring Teams (PMTs) face enormous challenges under dangerous conditions and often operate from small bases in remote areas of Afghanistan.
And yet, this training and mentoring mission is rightly described as the task force main effort.
"The ETTs and PMTs are the main push, no question about it," said task force Command Sgt. Maj. David Piwowarski of Buffalo, N.Y. "The strategic objective is to develop this country's security forces - both army and police - so that they can conduct counter insurgency operations, maintain the rule of law and eventually provide secure and stable conditions for the people and the government.
"So the goal is Afghans first, Afghans lead and it will be ETTs and PMTs down range, who will help them become self sufficient at the province and district levels, where they are most needed."
"'Mount up, and roll out' and the sounds of engines cranking and up armored doors slamming is just part of our day," said Staff Sgt. Frederick Goldacker, who is assigned to Company A, 2nd Battalion 108th Infantry and serving as a member of SECFOR Alpha attached to a PMT in Wardak province.
He is among 230 troops from 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the New York Army National Guard called up last year as security force platoons ahead of the larger deployment of nearly 1,400 additional Guard troops from the Empire State.
Goldacker, Cpl. Wesley Burgess and Spc. Matthew Kew are SECFOR troops on a PMT working in the Nurkh Valley. The teammates they support include Master Sgt. Richard Wood, a fireman and Guardsman from Livingston, Mont., and Sgt. Joseph Baragwanath, also a Guardsman from Brockton, Mass.
Wood is the team's assistant non-commissioned officer in charge. With 24 years of Guard service and a tour of Iraq behind him, he brings a lot of experience to the team.
"I am proud that we are a Guard team from all over the country and we are doing fine," he said. "Our age and experience are working for us."
Wood added that 101st Airborne Soldiers at their forward operating base (FOB) are "great energetic troops, but we are often ready before they are. The ingenuity we used to set our vehicles up, the speed we mount up for quick reaction force and just the way we do business - this is a really good team."
Goldacker, Burgess and Kew often run weapons training for the Afghan Police. "They really like it when we let them try our weapons," said Goldacker. "We enjoy teaching them, and they love it."
Goldacker said they face a cunning enemy that fights from the shadows. "During every convoy, we just pour our thoughts over the headsets of what may await us."
During the months they have been at FOB Airborne, the team has been shelled and attacked frequently. They have spent many nights inside their bunkers with body armor and weapons at the ready.
"There is an unmistakable screech a rocket makes when it comes in." said Goldacker. "You feel helpless, because you don't know where it will land. You just know its going to be close."
There is a wave of orange sparks after the white flash and a thundering crash, he said. Everyone yells "Incoming," scrambles for their armor and then dashes to the bunker hoping to get there before another rocket lands.
"Our rooms are like mini bunkers, now," said Baragwanath. "We are always doing force protection improvements." Every few days, team members rotate on "rocket watch."
"Seeing this first hand is something that you will never let go of," said Goldacker.