Recommended by COL Dave Maxwell and Jedburgh at the Council - two articles in the current edition of Special Warfare:
Tribal Engagement in Afghanistan by Major Darin J. Blatt, Captain Eric Long, Captain Brian Mulhern and Staff Sergeant Michael Ploskunak
There is an ongoing discussion about the merits of engagement activities — activities between coalition military forces and foreign civilian personnel — as a means of obtaining information, influencing behavior and building an indigenous base of support for coalition and government objectives.
During a recent rotation to Operation Enduring Freedom, Special Forces A-detachments 3321 and 3315 developed models in the Paktia and Paktika provinces of what can be accomplished in terms of tribal engagement by working within the existing tribal power structure in Afghanistan. An examination of the detachments' understanding of the operational environment and subsequent methods of engagement can provide a model for others to use throughout Afghanistan...
Tribal Engagement in Afghanistan
Cliffhanger Fierce Battle in the Shok Valley Tests SF Team's Mettle by Janice Burton
There are no roads leading into the Shok Valley. A village that stands sentinel over the valley is home to one of the fiercest of the insurgent forces in Afghanistan - the Hezeb Islami al Gulbadin, or HIG.
On April 6, 2008, a daring raid into the stronghold by Afghan Commandos and their Special Forces counterparts tested the mettle of the Afghan forces and further forged the bond between them and their SF brothers.
On Dec. 12, Lieutenant General John F. Mullholland, commander of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, pinned Silver Star Medals on the chests of 10 of the men involved in the raid and the ensuing six-and-a-half-hour firefight that saw more than 150 insurgents killed.
The ceremony was the largest of its kind since the Vietnam era. But for the members of Team 3336 of the 3rd Special Forces Group, it was never about the medals.
When you ask them to use one word to describe April 6, their words pop, much like the gunfire that rained down on them...
Cliffhanger Fierce Battle in the Shok Valley Tests SF Team's Mettle