Serving the Soldiers, Civilians and Families of 2nd BCT, 4th Inf. Div. Issue 95 Mar. 17, 2012

ANA, AUP in the Arghandab make great progressStory by Sgt. April York2nd BCT, 4th Inf. Div., PAO

shona (shoulder-to-shoulder) with the ANA in a lateral framework. The battalion com-mander has mentored the 3rd Kandak com-The soldiers of 3rd Kandak, 1st

Brigade, 205th Corps of the Afghan National Army have been fighting

in the Arghandab district for more than two years. “When I came here the situation was very bad and the enemy activity was great during both day and night,” said Lt. Col. Nabiullah, 3rd Kandak commander. “My goal is clear and set and that is security and stability for my people.” An ANA Kandak is similar to a U.S. Army battalion During the Kandak’s two years here, they have been partnered first with 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division and now with 2nd BCT, 4th Inf. Div. Since May 2011, it has been the mission of 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd BCT to mentor and assist the soldiers of the 3rd Kandak as well as Afghan Uniformed Police in the district. “We have provided individual task and collective task training,” said the command sergeant major for 1st Bn., 67th Armor Reg., Steven Mulig. “I’m proud of them and I’ve seen them grow since we have been here.” Coalition forces have worked shona-ba-

An Afghan National Army soldier gets ready for a patrol in the Arghandab district. An ANA squad was partnered with a squad of U.S. engineers to conduct a sweep of the area. mander, the logistics officer has mentored their logistics officer and so on down all the

way to the Soldiers on the line going out on missions with the Afghan security forces. “We have great communication with the coalition forces and we work with them as brothers,” Nabiullah said. Through the mentorship of 1st Bn., 67th Armor Reg. the ANA and AUP over time have been able to plan and conduct their own missions. “Operationally we were completely in the lead and (the ANA) were sourcing our operations with (Afghan National Security Forces),” said Maj. Leo Wyszynski, operations officer in charge for 1st Bn., 67th Armor Reg. “In December they started planning their own operations and writing their own opera-tions orders.” “Most of our operations come from intel-ligence collected either from coalition forces or from AUP,” Nabiullah said. Hard work and dedication has yielded positive results. “Our greatest achievement so far is push-ing the enemy out of the Arghandab,” Na-biullah said. “They do not attack very much anymore and when they do, they only have a few people.” “I believe this kandak with be very suc-cessful when we leave,” Mulig said.

Alpha Company 1-67 Armor change of commandCapt. Brian White, outgo-ing command-er of “Assas-sins” Company, 1st Bn., 67th Armor Reg., passes the company guidon to Lt. Col. Michael Simmering, battalion com-mander, during the change of command ceremony held at Jannat, March 8.

Lt. Col. Michael Simmering, 1st Bn., 67th Armor Reg. commander, passes the “Assassins” Company guidon to the new com-mander, Capt. John Lorme, during the change of command ceremony held at Jannat, March 8.

Soldiers with “Assassin” Company, 1st Bn., 67th Armor Reg. stand in formation for their change of command ceremony held at Combat Outpost Jannat, March 8. Capt. Brian White relinquished command to Capt. John Lorme.

Warhorse PridePage 2 Issue 95 Mar. 17, 2012

The Warhorse Pride is produced in the interest of the Soldiers of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. The Warhorse Pide is an Army-funded news-letter authorized under provision of AR 360-1. Contents of the Warhorse Pride are not necessarily the view of, nor endorsed by the U.S. government, Department of Defense, Department of the Army or the 4th Infantry Division. All editorial content of The Warhorse Pride is prepared, edited, provided and approved by the 2nd Brigade Combat Team Public

Affairs Office. The Warhorse Pride welcomes articles, commentary and photos from readers. The Warhorse Pride reserves the right to edit submissions selected for the publication. All issues of The Warhorse Pride can be viewed online from your home computer at www.facebook.com/2bct4id Submissions should be e-mailed to the editor:seth.barham@afghan.swa.army.mil

Col. John S. Kolasheski...................2nd BCT CommanderCommand Sgt. Maj. Ralph Delosa..............2nd BCT CSMMaj. Kevin Toner................................................2nd BCT PAOSgt. Seth Barham..................................................PAO NCOICSgt. Ruth Pagan......................................Layout and DesignSgt. April York.........................................Layout and Design

Warhorse Pride

Toward the end of July the ‘Heartbreak-ers’ received a change in mission and were attached to the Task Force Talon Strike Force Team. Their new mission was focused on locating and detaining high valued targets. In September, the platoon was moved to Camp Nathan Smith where they were attached to 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, Task Force Bison. They kept their HVT mission and took roughly 60 possible insurgents off the Kandahar City streets. In January, the platoon returned to Task Force Talon to support Company C. Their focus became infrastructure building and clearing operations to help the Afghan gov-ernment reestablish their district center in the Mya Neshin District. With their portion of that mission complete, the ‘Heartbreakers’ returned to Kandahar City and were assigned to sup-port Company B, 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment at Police Sub Station 8. The platoon is again clearing orchards in the rural areas of Kandahar City. Additionally, they patrol around Sarapoza Prison looking for signs of possible escape attempts. Throughout the deployment the ‘Heart-breakers’ have proven their ability to adapt and overcome to any situation or mission.

‘Heartbreakers’ rolling where the mission takes themStory and photo by 1st Lt. Marshall Wish2nd Special Troops Battalion

The engineers of ‘Heartbreaker’ Pla-toon from 2nd Special Troops Bat-talion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team,

4th Infantry Division, have had to adapt and overcome with every diverse mission they have been assigned. A combat engineer, or sapper is a Soldier who performs a wide variety of military engi-neering duties including bridge-building, lay-

ing or clearing minefields, general construc-tion and building, as well as road and airfield construction and repair. They are also trained to serve as infantry personnel when needed in both defensive and offensive operations and are fully involved in modern counter-insurgency operations. The ‘Heartbreakers’ have lived up to the sapper description with every change of their mission. At the start of the deployment the sap-

pers were working with 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, Task Force Talon, in the Arghandab River Valley clearing acres of orchards and doing route reconnaissance. The orchards varied in sizes from 50 by 75 meters to 100 by 200 meters. The days were long but their mission of finding improvised explosive devices and the caches that went with them was a very important one.

Combat engineers of the ‘Heartbreaker’ Platoon, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, search a rural Kandahar City area near Police Sub Station 8.

Bravo Company 204th BSB change of command

Lt. Col. Todd Bertulis, 204th Brigade Support Battalion commander, passes the “Black Knights” company guidon to the new commander, Capt. Sheila Moffett, at the change of command ceremony held at FOB Walton, March 15.

Capt. Richard Jones, outgoing commander of Bravo Company, 204th Brigade Sup-port Battalion, gives a farewell speech to his Soldiers at the change of command ceremony held at FOB Walton, March 15.