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Clear goal, risky approach for Operation Steel Lion 3
By Laura Rauch
Stars and Stripes
Published: September 22, 2011

STRONG POINT ALIZI, Afghanistan — The night was black, moonless. A sandy, humid haze hung in the air, further dimming the usually brilliant Afghan night. Most of the soldiers lay in the dirt in a field near Combat Outpost Ahmed Khan on Aug. 27, waiting for Operation Steel Lion III to commence. A few stood about, too nervous or too full of caffeine to sleep.

Their rides, two Chinook helicopters, were already more than four hours late. Their communications rehearsal would have to be scrubbed, along with their run-through with the Afghan National Civil Order Police, who were joining them on the mission. No one had a good feeling about this one. It didn’t help that the operation had been postponed twice due to weather.

“Every time the mission got pushed back, people got a little more worried that the mission was cursed, like it was just bad luck,” said Sgt. Blaine Zimmerman, of Cicero, Ind.

The mission for soldiers with Company C and the Scout Platoon, 1st Battalion, 32nd Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division was to cut off enemy access and supply routes to the Zhari district by taking control of a stretch of the Arghandab River at Nalgham, southwest of Kandahar city. According to brigade commander Col. Patrick Frank, the region has been the leading ingress point for insurgent activity throughout the district.

Their plan was simple, but dangerous: Land behind the enemy’s lines of defense south of the Arghandab River and cross the dry riverbed before dawn, then clear a path through any improvised explosive devices, secure a row of compounds along the north side of the river and establish a strong point to be occupied by Afghan security forces. Instead of fighting their way in from the north as the Taliban expected, they would drop in by helicopter to the south, surprising the enemy and avoiding a swath of fighting positions and IED emplacements.

“You’re behind the enemy’s defenses so you become almost cut off from friendly support. It can be very successful, or it can be very dangerous,” said company commander Capt. Dennis Call, of Albuquerque, N.M., who led the assault. “Sometimes, to be very successful, you have to take some risks.”

Company C knows about success and risk. Their village-based operations, in which they earn trust and gain support from locals then fortify areas with U.S. and Afghan security forces, have been hugely successful throughout the summer. But they’ve had to fight for nearly every inch of ground they’ve taken in Nalgham. Aside from being a major access point into the Zhari district, the region is also part of the spiritual homeland of the Taliban, having produced many of its founding high-level members. The Taliban have fought relentlessly to control it.

Since the company deployed in late March, seven soldiers have been killed and 25 wounded. Someone has been killed or severely wounded in every major operation the company has undertaken. They expected Steel Lion III to be no different.

“We didn’t sit around and talk about it, but most people went in there thinking, ‘Somebody’s going to lose their foot, or somebody might get killed,’ ” said Sgt. 1st Class Carter Conrad, of Scottsville, Va.

In the days leading up to the mission, soldiers at the company’s headquarters at Combat Outpost Nalgham who weren’t assigned to the operation kept checking in with those who were slated to go.

“Hey man, be safe. I’ll see you in a couple of days,” they told 1st Platoon’s 2nd Squad leader Sgt. Jessie Arrowood, of Travelers Rest. S.C.

“In the back of their minds they’re like, ‘Oh God, who’s not coming back?’ ” Arrowood said.

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