The 630th MP Company in Jalalabad

"Would you like to visit the 630th MP Company? They're in Jalalabad and could give you another unit to interview for the book." We jumped at Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Duane Miller's offer. He and Command Sergeant Major Hank Stearns were going to visit on a battlefield rotation. Even though the 630th is not directly under the 95th MP Battalion in Afghanistan, the unit is still out of Mannheim, Germany and is co-located on the same base as 95th's headquarters. Thus ties exist that transcend temporary chain of command linkages.

"Be ready to go for two days," Master Sergeant Andrew Chesser told us. "You'll fly out with the Colonel and Sergeant Major tomorrow afternoon, overnight there, spend the day and return." Chesser has learned to spell things out for us carefully. We're often not the most maintenance-free embeds.

Clutching small overnight bags along with the usual body armor and helmets, we boarded a pair of Blackhawks the following afternoon and lifted off. Of course, this being Afghanistan, nothing goes in a straight line. First we had to drop off and pick up passengers at Forward Operating Base Salerno, due east through the Khost-Ghardez pass. The choppers were now jammed with passengers and gear so the ride up to Bagram Air Field (BAF) was cramped. Drop off more at BAF, pick up a couple.

Finally, the choppers headed out due west by a bit south to Jalalabad. The 95th's interpreter, "Fast Freddie," was along with us and very excited. I have some friends in Jalalabad and I'm going to surprise them," he said. The idea of surprising them wasn't simply a lark for Freddie, it's a life-saving necessity. His cell phone number was intercepted some months back. He'd had calls from the Taliban warning of retributions to him and his family if he didn't quit working for the Americans. "I told him to f-off," Freddie snarled. "But if I let anybody know in advance that I'm coming they'll tell everybody and make preparations so I have to sneak in and out. It's safer that way."

As we flew into the J-bad area (slang for Jalalabad) we passed over a huge reservoir marking the junction of the Kunar and Kabul Rivers. From J-bad the river continues eastward till it links to the famous Indus River in Pakistan. The city itself sits astride the major supply route into Afghanistan from the legendary Khyber Pass (which we regrettably did not get to see) only a few miles distant.

Unlike most of Afghanistan Jalalabad is green, almost lush by comparison. As we flew low over the outskirts we passed hundreds of kulots with orchards, grain crops, and very well-tended marijuana fields prospering inside their walls. According to Freddie, the Taliban is unpopular in the city and memories of the mujahadeen wars are fresh enough to discourage heavy recruitment. The citizens envision themselves as an independent entity, a sort of city-state, a mood similar to what we saw in other parts of the country.

Even so, while looking down through the windows we saw uneven rows of large boulders that had been strategically placed in the middle various roads at the city outskirts below us. Someone had worked hard to put them there, apparently to ensure that only motorcycles, donkeys, or people traveling on foot could get through. Since military patrol and local police vehicles would be blocked from traveling on these roads we had to assume that either the Taliban, arms smugglers, or criminal networks were responsible.

We After three and a half hours of making pit stops and flying around we finally landed and were met at the HLZ (helicopter landing zone) by Captain Maria Perez, the short, slim, sharp-eyed commander of the 630th MP Company. "She's Marcus Perez's wife," Stearns told me after the roaring choppers departed. A good data point, since in the spring we'd spent weeks with her husband's 92nd MP Company at FOB Gardez and elsewhere.

While Marcus Perez was downrange his wife Maria was preparing her company for deployment. They passed each other exiting and entering the combat theater. The two had married just before these deployments and, like so many other military spouses, both long for the day when they can be stationed together.

We climbed into pickup trucks and drove to FOB Hughie through Afghan Army and Police grounds - amazingly to our eyes covered with trees, pastures, and napping farm animals. Hughie is a small FOB located smack dab alongside the city.

Freddie immediately changed into local Afghan clothing (what Soldiers typically call a "man dress") and headed for town.

Captain Perez is a veteran of Iraq where she worked on police improvements and detainee operations. Her emphasis here is on anti-corruption cases, intercepting drug trafficking, and upgrading the police. According to Perez their mission is to train local police as well as establish stations in the more remote areas. Outside the city these back roads are some of the primary infiltration routes for Taliban coming in from neighboring Pakistan with explosives and weapons (we were pretty sure at that point some of the boulder-blocked roads that we'd seen from the chopper were indeed used for these purposes).

To date she is pleased with their efforts. "We've made some big catches," she notes, "and have a good, positive relationship with our AUPs (Afghan Uniformed Police) in the city."

While Perez properly focused on escorting and briefing LTC Miller, we soon were turned over to First Sergeant Thomas Buettner, a very hands-on leader, who could be intimidating by physique alone, but chooses to be a very approachable Soldier's Soldier in his operating style. As we pass through the small company area he greets everyone by name and asks pointed questions in a tone that encourages rather than threatens. We like him immediately.

This is not Buettner's first rodeo. He has been an MP since 1993 and In in addition to tours in Bosnia, Panama, Kosovo, and Egypt, he has pulled two previous Iraq tours and one in Afghanistan.

Under Buettner's guidance we find our rooms in separate B-huts, and are shown the latrine/shower areas, dining facility, company headquarters, gym, and smoking areas. The first sergeant chats with us a bit and offers to gather some Soldiers for an interview the following day.

We were very tired by then but still ended up chatting with a group of soldiers in the smoker's gazebo for more than an hour. In fact when we showed up we interrupted a typical bitch-and-moan session. Everything about Afghanistan was either bad, stupid, or a complete waste of time, they all groused. "So your police training mission is a total bust, just a waste of time?" Avery asked. "Well, sort of, basically, yeah, although we've taught them some things..." came the answer.

"Well, what things?" This sparked a little story about teaching a class on subduing suspects and handcuffing techniques. It wasn't long before the Soldiers were interjecting observations about progress they'd seen over time with their Afghani counterparts, and laughing over inevitably embarrassing cultural misunderstandings and the antics of trainees who really did try very hard despite their general lack of education and absence of some basic equipment.

Somehow many of the grousers found themselves bragging a bit over their own lessons learned and various successes in holding classes that were not only sort of fun, but in fact the best hope for eventually driving out the Taliban from Jalalabad.

"The chow was pretty good tonight, too" I interjected. Yes, the chow here's excellent, maybe we even have the best chow hall in Afghanistan was the shared reaction from around the gazebo. This FOB's a lot better than most, others pointed out. Most people are clueless while doing the same old thing day after day back home and while they definitely have more fun, at least we've got a front seat on what's really happening in the world today, one or two eventually mentioned.

It was very late by the time we pulled away from our now happy and animated group of new friends. It hadn't taken much to help shift the mostly sorry-for-themselves atmosphere into an animated group discussion of what was going right around FOB Hughie, and why the folks back home would never fully appreciate what was being done against significant odds throughout the J-Bad district.

After a solid night's sleep we met early with Sergeants Michael Delong, Chandra Hinton, and Christopher Logan; Specialists Benjamin Barttlett and Nathanial Scott, and First Lieutenant Cory French. WIth the exception of Logan who served in Iraq, this is their first deployment. Like most group interviews we've done, we find that one or two are willing to do most of the talking and others tend to watch. Some Soldiers are suspicious of the "media" label. Even though we explain what the "Warrior Police" book is intended to present they are still - understandably considering some of the reporting from the war - reticent to talk.

Still over the course of an hour or so they explain that for the most part they are satisfied with the mission in Jalalabad city. The consensus is that the police chiefs in their districts are pro-active and engaged with the community. They see a need to expand the mission to what they describe as the "more fragile" outlying areas in which the population feels insecure and in which an expanded police presence would go a long way to deter Taliban influence.

Universally they see Afghanistan and their role as a "forgotten war." Few Americans, they think, are even aware of the true nature of continued American presence in Afghanistan, and even fewer have any concept of what they are doing. When they return to the States on R&R they find it almost impossible to explain to family and friends just what their job is or the importance they attach to it.

No one in the States hears the good stories about what they are doing, only the negative things. Americans seem to have no idea about the wells being dug, road projects being completed, or the extensive medical and farming programs carried out under the protection of US Military Police units every day. They are confident that if the good stories about what they are doing were publicized then Americans would be prouder of their mission and what they see as tangible accomplishments.

Instead, they are convinced that the media and politicians - and to a certain extent higher command - are absorbed with a numbers game and ignore the human element of the conflict. Like most Soldiers we met, they are well-versed in the principles of the counter-insurgency mission and accept, more or less, the restrictions put on them because of it.

They may not agree with the mission concept or the situational analysis that guides and shapes strategy, but they are absolutely committed to carrying out the mission on the terms and conditions that have been presented to them for action.

Overall morale is high. The only sense of frustration we hear at FOB Hughie is that Soldiers want to do more, get out more often, work with Afghan Police in more dangerous locales, and expand the mission. That's a good thing, and reflects well on the Soldiers of the 630th MP Company and their leadership.

When we see Hank Stearns in the late afternoon he gives us a warning order: "We're flying out of here tonight," he says. "Be ready about 2000 hours with all your gear."