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| Operation Nijmegan kicked off with a search of a village suspected to be housing an enemy organizer and ended with distribution of humanitarian assistance items. |
| By U.S. Army Sgt. Chuck D. Meseke Combined Task Force Devil |
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| ZORMAT, Afghanistan, Oct. 6, 2005 -- U.S. Army paratroopers from 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and Afghan National Army soldiers conducted security patrols and searched for criminals Sept. 12 through 14, throughout the Zormat area. Operation Nijmegan kicked off with paratroopers moving into a village suspected to be housing an enemy organizer.
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Henry S. Centeno, a Modesto, Calif., native and squad leader with Company C, 2nd Battalion, spoke with local villagers to gather information about the organizer, but the villager would not give a straight answer. "You just said a minute ago you hadn't seen him in a year, now you are saying you don't know him?" Centeno asked. "They are lying," he said to Sgt. Joseph P. Hebert, a team leader with Company C. "Am I supposed to believe that they don't know the guy when they are living in his compound?" Hebert agreed; there would be no choice but to search the village with Afghan National Army troops. As the Afghan soldiers searched each room, Hebert followed afterward supervising his Afghan counterparts. The search yielded little results aside from a suspicious propaganda cassette tape. The tape was found by a female searcher who noticed a woman waiting to be searched was acting strangely. The woman was searched and the tape found. Some of the paratroopers said they could tell from the start of the mission how it was going to turn out. "The people staring at us, not smiling and waving; you can tell it isn't going to be a good mission," said Pfc. Ken Orisek, a Chicago native and squad automatic weapon gunner with Company C.
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Paratroopers made the best of the operation even though there were no tangible results. "We try to have a good time regardless, and it is nice to help the [Afghan National Army] along with their progress," Orisek said. After the search of the village was completed, the troops headed out to a local bazaar that was rumored to be frequented by enemy forces looking for supplies to sustain their terrorism tactics against Afghanistan and coalition forces. Nothing was found at the market, but a clear message was sent, according to Capt. Jody Shouse, a Fayetteville, N.C. native and Company C commander. The enemy would have to do their shopping somewhere else, thanks to Afghan National Army soldiers. The operation did validate the Afghan National Army and showed the local Afghans that Afghan and coalition forces care about their district. "The locals need to see their soldiers actively involved in operations," said 2nd Lt. Michael Filanowski, a Shelton, Conn., native and platoon leader with Company C. "Today we helped these Afghans become better soldiers," he added. As the operation wrapped up, Afghan National Army soldiers distributed truckloads of humanitarian assistance items to a local village elder who had helped the troops on previous missions in the area. |
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