173rd "Task Force Saber" Builds New Outpost at 6,000 Feet in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan

From Stars and Stripes

Soldiers in Afghanistan settle in at 6,000 feet

By Drew Brown, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, April 24, 2008

NURISTAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan — Building a combat outpost from scratch on the side of a mountain in Afghanistan means flying everything in by helicopter.

For the troops of Task Force Saber, here in northeastern Afghanistan, the process starts at night as two CH-47 Chinooks drop them and their equipment on a small knoll overlooking a thin, gray ribbon of a river 2,000 feet below.

A few dozen soldiers get off the birds. For the next three days or so, their job will be to carve a small fortress out of the hard-packed stony earth of the mountain, less than a kilometer from the border with Pakistan. The purpose of the outpost is to guard a key bridge and help Afghan security forces re-establish control of a border crossing.

Roughly half the troops remain with the supply pallet at the landing zone, while the rest begin trudging uphill to set up the command post, a listening station and the rear pickets.

It’s only a 200-meter climb, but the going is steep and rocky, and the soldiers resemble pack mules under the bright glare of the full moon. Many of them carry rucksacks that weigh 100 pounds or more, not including their body armor, helmets, weapons and ammunition, which easily add another 40 to 50 pounds.

The altitude is nearly 6,000 feet. The peaks of the high mountains in the distance are covered with snow. As Lt. Col. Chris Kolenda, commander of 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment, also known as Task Force Saber, puts it, hiking up and down hill at that altitude, under that much weight, can be “a significant emotional experience.”

The colonel has a talent for understatement. The short trek uphill quickly turns into a slog. Most of these soldiers are infantry troops and are in top shape, but even the best can only take a few steps before they have to stop and catch their breath.

The column reaches a level spot. Capt. Jason Pieri, 30, of Buffalo, N.Y., Capt. Matthew Kikta, 27, of Lake Forest, Calif., and Command Sgt. Maj. Victor Pedraza, 44, of McAllen, Texas, set up their command post under a clump of trees.

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