KANDUZ, Afghanistan — EDITOR’S NOTE: Paul Guillaume is a correspondent embedded with National Guard troops in Afghanistan. He was briefly embedded with the 48th Brigade in Iraq during 2006.



At dawn, the five mine resistant ambush protected trucks that would carry 1st Lt. David W. Marck’s platoon to its mission in Khan Abad lined up in front of the gate of Forward Operating Base Kunduz, Delta Company 1/121st Infantry’s dusty, three-acre base atop a plateau near here.

Crews readied weapons and put on body armor and helmets in the hazy light.

The humanitarian assistance mission that Americus-based First Platoon, Delta Company, 1/121 Infantry, conducted on a recent Friday illustrates the progress and frustrations of their mentor mission to the Afghan National Police force in Khan Abad.

"The purpose here is to increase the security in Khan Abad by distributing the HA as an incentive to local people. The whole reason we’re doing this … in Khan Abad right now is because Khan Abad is secure," said Marck, 29, of Athens.

"The chief of police has done a good job of securing the city. So as a way of saying good job … we’re going to bring in 300 personnel worth of HA drop and allow him to distribute it to people he has picked out," Marck explained on the afternoon before the mission.

Marck’s goal for the mission, in keeping with his role as a mentor, was to observe only.

The Khan Abad police chief has "developed the security plan; he has developed the list of personnel who are going to receive the HA. This is the first chance I’ve had to really see how the chief handles command and control over his guys in an operational type of environment," Marck said.

"In my experience, these things tend to turn into unruly mobs. At the end of the day, you’ve got a bunch of people who are pissed off because they didn’t get anything, they weren’t invited, or they just think you owe them more."

The hour and a half drive from the FOB to Khan Abad was uneventful. The convoy of wide-bodied military trucks pulled over several times to allow oncoming traffic to pass on the narrow roads as part of a focus on respecting the Afghans’ ownership of the roads in their country.

Upon pulling into the gate of the police headquarters, SSgt. Dexter L. Cooper, 24, of Cairo, directed the parking scheme for the platoon’s trucks inside the walled, gated police station.

Marck detailed Pfc. Ashley T. Howard, 20, of Jesup and Spc. Michael Wilson, 23, of Tifton to guard the white sacks of donated goods.

We are here "making sure the ANP don’t take it for themselves," explained Wilson.

The ANP "don’t seem to understand that (the goods are) not for them," added a concerned Marck.

Looking at the crowd from a platform that allowed him to see over the wall, Marck quietly voiced his approval of the ANP’s execution of their plan for blocking the road fronting the station’s walls and funneling the recipient Afghans through a primary checkpoint and then carefully searching everyone who comes through the gate.

Once inside, the recipients were lined up, given their HA and ushered back out the gate. The sole female ANP garnered the praise of watching Georgia Guardsmen for her fierce demeanor in moving the recipients along.

Pushing was not tolerated by the ANP executive officer running the gate, either.

Both officers quickly confronted and suppressed attempts to rush the distribution. Marck was especially pleased at the police chief’s use of fingerprint ink to mark the fingers of those recipients who had received their allotted assistance.

Spc. Justice T. Bailey, 23, of Newnan joined Sgt. Leander N. Williams, 42, of Griffin in watching the front gate from across the street. "ANP did a good job keeping (the recipients) back when we told them to keep them back," he said.

While the organization and execution of the distribution was consistently exceeding expectations, discontent began to mount among the soldiers under Marck’s command about the recipients of the HA, or humanitarian assistance.

"I saw more wealthy-appearing people going first, and later I saw the less (wealthy) people cycle through," said Spc. Kent Butler, 28, of Albany.

"I was getting sick of seeing wealthy people getting (HA) and needy people being told to go away. It was (supposedly) for the locals who needed it," added Howard.

Marck, while monitoring the situation, was first confronted with complaints about inequity by his Afghan language assistant "N." As "N." was making the point, however, several workers in torn clothing were allowed a turn at collecting HA.

"I’m as hands off as possible," explained Marck. "I want to be standing back in the background and looking."

Marck did, however, go outside the gate into the street to better appraise who was being admitted. As he walked down the street, an angry Afghan began shouting. "N." translated his diatribe as an indictment of the ANP’s choice of recipients. The angry Afghan accused them of admitting friends and family as the truly needy were ignored.

Marck strode to the crowd seeking admission and was met by Sgt. Jason M. Kimbrel, 34, of Albany, in front of the razor-wire barrier blocking the street.

Kimbrel and N. spoke in turn to Marck about their strong feelings regarding the obviously needy, including amputees displaying their stumps, and gaunt, dirty children, being excluded.

"I was at the gate trying to get the older people who were needy," said Kimbrel. "I wanted Marck to see my point that now we need to take over."

Having considered their points, Marck decided to shift from an observing mentor to the commander. He gathered the amputees and dirty children into a group and ordered the ANP to insert them into the flow going into the HA distribution.

When asked how much influence N. and Kimbrel had in changing his role from mentor to commander, Marck admitted that his becoming directly involved "wasn’t planned at all. I was swayed quite a bit. At the end of the day, you do what seems right."

Once Marck finished addressing Kimbrel and N.’s concerns, he was confronted with Cooper’s observation that an ANP had taken an HA bundle and locked it in the station jail.

"I was looking out for crooked ANPs taking them for themselves," he said.

Marck went to the jail’s door and found it locked. When he made clear his intent to enter, an ANP waved a finger in a dismissive gesture that Marck met by loudly insisting that he gain entry. Once inside, he found the bundle and threw it at the feet of the police chief, who was sitting in the wooded area between the station and the police barracks.

Clearly upset, he accosted the chief as to why American generosity was being met with theft.

"What is this? Why are we bringing this to you only to have your officers steal it?" Marck asked indignantly.

The chief tried to make the excuse that his officers were poor but Marck would have none of it. The chief finally expressed his disappointment at his officers’ behavior and promised to punish the culprit.

Marck apologized for his anger without apologizing for the frustration behind it. "You’ve got to hold them to some kind of standard," he said later.

Cooper took the bundle and gave it to a woman and her children, with obvious satisfaction. "These people need it … We really showed them that we’re trying to help them," he said, beaming.

First Sergeant Walt M. Kegley Jr., 40-something, of Nashville, the senior non-commissioned officer of Delta company who observed the mission, summed up his impressions. "Overall I think the mission was a great success. Marck’s intent was for the police chief to plan and organize and provide security. (The ANP) did a better job on the tactical side than the political side."