Into the Unknown - Badakshan Province

After a few days at the bridge site in early October, LTC Gallagher, the Chief of Construction, called me and informed me that I'd be going along on a five day reconnaisance mission into Badakshan Province. In the Spring we'll be building nearly 60 Aghan National Police posts in Northern Afghanistan. The majority of those fall into my area, and most of those will be spread throughout Badakshan Province. The area is almost completely unknown to Americans - it's isolated, mountainous, and there's only one "road" in. And "road" is a very generous term for what turned out to be mostly a narrow, boulder-strewn donkey trail that we could only negotiate at 5 to 10 miles an hour. We didn't know what to expect so we were loaded for bear - nine of us carrying a SAW, grenades, shotguns, M-4 or M-16 long guns, and 9 mm pistols with LOTS of ammunition. What we did know for sure was that they grew poppies up there for heroin production and the area was rife with drug smuggling activities. After the first two hours of driving the blacktop degenerated into a rough, one-lane wide track that took us into the mountains. We spent a lot of time negotiating hairpin switchbacks clinging to the sides of mountains with a sheer cliff on one side and a thousand foot drop inches from our wheels on the opposite side. It was at this moment in time that it dawned on me that the Afghan culture had not yet assilimated the terms "safety, safety regulations, or highway safety." I wish I had some photos to show of some of those trails, but I couldn't seem to pry my fingers out of the front dashboard and my seat cushion long enough to fumble with my camera.

Picture one is a typical view you'll see scattered every few miles along the route. The Russians apparently had their asses handed back to them here on silver platters by the Mujahadin in the 80's. After driving the route I thank god I wasn't born to grow up and be a Russian tank crewman - the trail was just one long bushwacking waiting to happen with no escape route.

In photo two we were just stopped for a security halt. The blacktop was still good....little did we know how good we had it at that moment.....

Any time we go out I make it a point to smile and wave at the Afghans we pass along the road side. Generally, after a moment's surprise or shy hesitation they return the greeting and smile back. When we drove thru the town of Kesham the smiles weren't returned. We were just stared at expressionlessly. We all felt something bad was about to happen and closed up the distance between our vehicles for better defense. Fortunately our fears weren't realized. We don't know if they just didn't know how to react to us having never seen Americans before, or if there was an undercurrent of menace there. Regardless, the children always are fascinated to see us and always gather around quickly - picture 3.