An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | Sept. 27, 2010

Vermont's Delta company finally sees a few familiar faces

By Staff Sgt. Whitney Hughes, Combined Joint Task Force 101

AFGHANISTAN, - At a kulat in Forward Operating Base Gardez, home to the battalion headquarters of the 3rd Battalion of the 172nd Infantry Regiment, a wooden sign hangs engraved with a play on the old adage, “Home is where the Army sends us.”

Nobody has experienced or embraced this mentality more than the battalion’s Delta Company, who, until recently, had never seen their battalion headquarters.

During their first six months in Afghanistan, the company was serving in three different locations in Paktika Province, only about 30 miles from the rest of the 3-172 but still a world away from the close-knit Vermont National Guard mountain infantry unit.

Recently, the company was ordered to move to a newly constructed joint combat outpost in the village of Rahman Kheyl in Paktya Province and return home to their parent unit.

“It will be like a homecoming of sorts,” said U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Eric Duncan of Northfield, Vt., the senior non-commissioned officer for Demon Company. “The move north has been a major stepping stone in the deployment. I saw an immediate increase in the spirit and morale of the soldiers.”

Although their location changed, their mission remains very similar to the ones they performed in Paktika, working out of small bases and providing security for the outlying villages.

In Rahman Kheyl, this means they will have to build relationships with locals and village elders in an area where coalition forces haven’t operated in about four years.

But with the six months of experience from Paktika under their belt, they enter into the new mission with confidence.

“I have experience with the customs, culture, and how to develop a working relationship with the Afghan village elders,” said U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Dan Silver from Dover, N.H., a platoon leader with the company.

During their mission in Paktika, two of the company’s platoons were at remote district centers and although they were still in daily contact with the company’s command, the distance was a constant strain.

“Not having that daily interaction with the soldiers was mentally trying,” said Duncan, who added that he was glad to have the majority of the company back together but was quick to mention that their second platoon was still serving a separate mission in Khowst Province.

“Having the unit together in one place instead of split up all over western Paktika makes it much easier to support the Afghan National Security Forces,” he added.

Their new JCOP also puts them in a better position because they are physically co-located with a Kandak (a company-sized element) of Afghan National Army soldiers, and a platoon of Macedonian Rangers.

“It doesn’t get more joint than that,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gregg Langevine, the 3-172 battalion operations officer from Gibsonia, Pa.

Their new home at the JCOP, which they have lived at for about two weeks and was only constructed about two month ago, defines "forward" living conditions.

Unlike soldiers at more established forward operating bases, the Demon Company soldiers are truly “roughing it.”

For the time being, the soldiers have no access the Internet or television. Their mail comes whenever the battalion’s support company can drive it out to them; they share a single satellite phone to call home and they work, live and eat in tents.

“Our living conditions are more austere, but it’s worth it to have the unit together as a whole,” said Silver.

With the lack of connection to the outside world, the Soldiers have to rely on each other for entertainment whether it’s their daily flag football games, dinner-time debates, or trips to “The Pit,” where their wrestling matches take place.

“For the first six months we were kind of fractured, so (being secluded at the JCOP) has brought us all together, and with less distraction it helps us keep our mind on the mission. Anything that's a physical activity is good to keep us in shape, and it's also a good outlet to relieve stress,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Paul Jardine, a medic from Fair Haven, Vt., with the company.

Though some might see the companies living conditions as harsh, Duncan, who’s on his sixth deployment, sees it as an advantage and combat multiplier.

“My deployments have given me the opportunity to see that the more connectivity that soldiers have, every one of those comforts, is a distraction from the esprit de corps and the camaraderie that comes naturally in a combat arms unit.

"Having the Soldiers’ undivided attention reinvigorates those human relationships with their teammates and battle buddies,” said Duncan.

 

 

Related Articles
U.S. Soldiers with the Army National Guard speak with D.C. locals while patrolling Metro Center Aug 26, 2025. About 2,000 National Guard members are supporting the D.C. Safe and Beautiful mission providing critical support to the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department in ensuring the safety of all who live, work, and visit the District.
Guard Members From Six States, D.C. on Duty in Washington in Support of Local, Fed Authorities
By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy, | Aug. 29, 2025
WASHINGTON – More than 2,000 National Guard Soldiers and Airmen from six states and the District of Columbia are on duty in Washington as part of Joint Task Force – District of Columbia in support of local and federal...

Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, Maj. Gen. Russel Honore, Task Force Katrina commander, and Brig. Gen. John Basilica, 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team commander, talk to news media during the aftermath of Hurricane Rita on Sep. 29, 2005. Basilica was appointed commander of Task Force Pelican, responsible for coordinating National Guard hurricane response efforts across the State. The task force included tens of thousands of National Guard Soldiers from Louisiana and other states.
Louisiana Guard’s Tiger Brigade Marks 20th Anniversary of Redeployment and Hurricane Response
By Rhett Breerwood, | Aug. 29, 2025
NEW ORLEANS – This fall, the Louisiana National Guard’s 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, known as the Tiger Brigade, commemorates the 20th anniversary of its redeployment from Iraq in September 2005, coinciding with the...

Alaska Air National Guard HH-60G Pave Hawk aviators and Guardian Angels, assigned to the 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons, respectively, conduct a hoist rescue demonstration while participating in a multi-agency hoist symposium at Bryant Army Airfield on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, July 22, 2025. The symposium, hosted by Alaska Army National Guard aviators assigned to Golf Company, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion, included U.S. Coast Guard crews assigned to Sector Western Alaska and U.S. Arctic out of Air Stations Kodiak and Sitka, Alaska Air National Guardsmen with the 176th Wing rescue squadrons, U.S. Army aviators from Fort Wainwright’s 1-52nd General Support Aviation Battalion, Alaska State Troopers, and civilian search and rescue professional volunteers from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group. The collaborative training drew on the participants’ varied backgrounds, experiences, and practices, to enhance hoist proficiency and collective readiness when conducting life-saving search and rescue missions in Alaska’s vast and austere terrain. (Alaska Army National Guard photo by Alejandro Peña)
Alaska Air Guard Conducts Multiple Hoist Rescues of Stranded Rafters on Kichatna River
By Staff Sgt. Seth LaCount, | Aug. 29, 2025
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Alaska Air National Guard members with the 176th Wing rescued three rafters Aug. 28 after their raft flipped over on the Kichatna River.The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center opened...