PAKTIKA PROVINCE, Afghanistan - When your primary mission as an engineer platoon is clearing routes of improvised explosive devices - the number one threat to U.S. and NATO forces here - you might not think most other missions are as challenging or rewarding.
But for Second Platoon, 211th Engineer Company (sappers) of the South Dakota Army National Guard providing route security comes in more than one form.
On a recent cold, windy February day, Second Platoon - known as "The Punishers" to their enemies - took on a different kind of route clearance mission.
While always on the hunt for IEDs, Second Platoon's mission this time was to establish a TCP - traffic control point - along a well-traveled route, with the goal of interdicting insurgents and others, who may be transporting explosives, weapons caches or anything aimed at conducting militant operations against the legitimate Afghan government.
The objective, said Sgt. First Class Jon Albers, the Punishers' platoon sergeant, would be to enhance security along the route, making passage safer for local Afghans. Crews would do so by conducting searches of passing vehicles and tactical questioning of their occupants.
And while that may sound mundane or even routine to some, there is nothing routine about such operations in a war zone.
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As is customary before every mission, Albers brought his platoon to attention, then ordered them to "open ranks" so he could inspect them. He moved methodically down each of the three rows, making sure his Soldiers were prepared with the proper gear, ammunition load and equipment.
It was obvious as Albers addressed each man that all were experienced, prepared, and brimming with mutual respect - the kind forged only in battle.
Today, though, it wasn't a fight the Punishers were seeking - though they were, as always, ready for one if it came.
When Albers finished, 1st Lt. Chris Long, the leader of Second Platoon, who had been observing off to the side of the formation, called his men over.
Today's mission would, in most respects, be no different than their route clearance packages, in that everyone was expected to remain vigilant, he said.
And while it wasn't an assignment Long and his crews undertook often, TCPs are an "effective" and vital tactic in order to provide local Afghans both security and reassurance.
"We are in a direct support role so setting up a TCP is not something we typically do," Long said. "I have done around five to this point and usually only for a short duration."
The mere presence of U.S. forces, however, can have as much of a positive impact as superior firepower in a gunfight.
"TCP's are effective if done in the right location at the right time," said Long. "We try to set [them] up close to a known … village or location to raise the probability that we may find a person of interest."
He says it's also "common in these locations that the locals have little to no confidence in the Afghan government or us to protect them and enforce law and order."
The TCPs and presence patrols are "a way to instill some confidence in the locals that the security situation is improving."
For that reason, Long and his Punishers have a goal, if somewhat lofty: They would like to make it common for ordinary Afghans to be able to live in peace. So they aim to do their part.
In the meantime, they continue their missions and, whether hunting IEDs or simply making their presence known, they always start each with a prayer.
***
White, puffy clouds dotted the cobalt-blue Afghan sky as Long and his crews wound their way out of FOB Sharana and towards their destination some hours away.
And while the day's mission began along a windy, gray ribbon of paved highway, the journey soon gave way to a dusty, unpaved - and unimproved - dirt road.
The convoy's MRAP - mine resistant ambush-protected - vehicles plodded slowly along, mindful that IEDs were always a large part of the danger that lurked along the highways and byways and in the surrounding mountains.
Still, though moving slowly, the ride was bumpy, tossing vehicle occupants to and fro and making even moderate distances seem far.
Communications were routine - crews performed radio checks; called out particular vehicles as they passed the convoy; occasionally joked with one another - but vigilance remained a priority and there was never an impression of laxness or unprofessionalism.
Because of recent wet weather, the MRAPs weren't producing the thick, choking clouds of dust they usually stirred in their wake.
The air remained cool and the wind outside brisk, bringing temperatures near freezing, but vehicle heaters kept crews largely comfortable. Though all seemed well, to a man no one in the convoy relaxed.
But then, no one ever really relaxes on a mission.
***
The convoy pushed on for maybe three hours, past small settlements and qalats. Crews and their gunners waved back at small children, who ran to the road to wave and watch as the convoy rumbled through.
The Punishers finally arrived at a new Afghan National Army base, which was built outside an adjacent small village that served as the outer range of their patrol for the day. There, crews turned their vehicles around then stopping briefly to change drivers and stretch their legs.
"We'll go back maybe a few clicks and set up our TCP," Long said, acknowledging that he had already determined where the control point would be established.
Crews would be on the lookout for suspicious behavior among drivers, weapons and bomb-making materials - anyone or anything that could aid the insurgency or endanger the convoy.
Like hunting IEDs, it was important - and dangerous - work. But it was also a chance to demonstrate to ordinary Afghans the level of U.S. commitment to their future.
And that of their own government.
"What we're doing is trying to basically instill confidence in the Afghan government and to give them a sense of security," Long said. "We try to build relationships in the villages that we frequent so they understand we are here to help the Afghan government provide security and services to the population."
***
Sgt. Chance D. "Rags" Ragsdale and Spc. Josh M. Krumm formed part of the team that manned one end of the TCP. They milled around, cautiously scanning both sides of the road to the horizon, as they waited for the first vehicles to be waved into the checkpoint.
"Cold, isn't it?" said Ragsdale, shivering slightly.
"Makes my ears hurt," Krumm said, smiling.
As the wind continued to whip across the open plain, the checkpoint - led by Albers - waved in its first vehicle. One man sat up front and was driving the vehicle; a woman and a child sat in the back seat.
The man pulled into the checkpoint cautiously under the watchful eye of the TCP team, inching forward. On Albers' signal, the man stopped his small station wagon, opened his door and got out, smiling.
At the instruction given him by Albers through an interpreter, he quickly opened the car's hood and all of its doors and rear hatch so the vehicle could be inspected.
With Krumm and Albers looking on, weapons at the ready, Ragsdale carefully searched underneath the hood, inside both sides of the vehicle and the back. After finding nothing suspicious, he signaled to Albers, who began a brief, informal interrogation of the man.
After several minutes, Ragsdale and Krumm - noticing an increasing chill and hardening wind - suggested to Albers they close the door on the man's vehicle, so as to keep his wife and child warmer. Albers readily agreed.
"No sense in them freezing," Albers said.
For the next hour, Punishers at both ends of the convoy stopped and searched vehicles but found nothing out of the ordinary. Each time those searched were given Afghan government literature providing details of President Hamid Kazai's government, as well as a portable solar-powered radio, as a token of appreciation for their cooperation.
Albers also made sure he explained what was going on and why to each driver and his passengers - that what the Americans were doing was necessary to provide better security and that they were operating with the approval and permission of the national Afghan government.
"We're just here to make things safer," Albers told drivers and passengers, through the interpreter, while shaking hands. "Thank you very much for your help and cooperation."
Some hours later, the Punisher convoy rolled back into FOB Sharana, their mission complete and crews one day closer to coming home.
The day was uneventful, but clearly impactful.
"It is extremely beneficial to develop the situation on the ground," Long observed, citing the day's interaction with local Afghans and how it can ultimately have immediate benefits for U.S. forces, as well as long term gains for the Afghan national government.
"Nobody has more knowledge of the local environment than the locals themselves and they can identify unusual activity or outsiders in the area," he said. "If we can build relationships with these people, they will entrust us with intelligence that will make our jobs easier and their lives better."
And ultimately, that is the goal, say the Punishers - safety for their convoys, yes, but better lives for those they are here to protect and defend.