German unit praises Big Windy Crew
In Afghanistan, there are two groups of foreign troops. On the one hand there is the US-led coalition which is on the offensive against Taliban fighters and other militants. And on the other there is the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which is on a peace keeping mission. Although there is an attempt to unify the two under a central command in the future, the two currently operate separately.
However, occasionally there are joint efforts of sorts. Recently Big Windy, a US Chinook unit, came to the aid of some German troops. A few weeks later, the German unit sent a letter of appreciation. I wanted to share this letter, because it is so amusing. Except for deleting names, I left it as is (mistakes and all). Someone really had fun writing it, and you can tell they were genuinely thankful for the help.
On August 12th HumInt Sources forwarded intelligence to the German Battle Group operating out of Camp (name deleted) concerning considerable amounts of 107 mm Type 63 missiles and anti-tank TC-6es being located in the village of (name deleted) within the reach of US Task Force Phoenix and Camp (name deleted). DEU BG was ordered by ISAF KMNB to launch Operation (name deleted) aiming at the demolition of the evil. (Village name deleted) is not accessible by any land-vehicle, DEU BG leased donkeys to haul charges, blood-plasma and water into the mountains. The donkeys proofed to be good off-roaders but their duration in those altitudes is very limited. By Saturday August 13th DEU BG’s 45 soldiers faced significant water and MRE shortages. KMNB’s own air assets were kept from supporting due to technical constraints.
Major (name deleted), a civil affairs officer at Bagram took notice of this unfortunate circumstance and dedicated enormous efforts to helping those infantrymen working at 7.000 feet. Major (name deleted) went the extra mile and contacted her aviation partners at Bagram and convinced them of checking into the matter.
Saturday night at about 2200 hrs Major (name deleted) had the best present we could imagine: a class 1 air-lift from Kabul into the mountains. Sunday night fabulous pilots floated into (name of camp deleted) and loaded the thirsty infantrymen’s liquid relief into their air-vehicle. 20 minutes later they approached the most difficult terrain for air-ops: possible insurgents, narrow valleys, steepest cliffs and a pitch-dark night had to be encountered. Link up via VHF did not work, the Germans were frustrated. As the US Heli was flying larger circles around the grid, one German fired a signal round which the tail gunner spotted. As the Chinook touched down in (village name deleted) joyous infantry faces were sandblasted. It was an awesome and incredible moment. Our boys did not expect the pilot to safely be able to ground this giant of the skies on this harsh spot of Afghanistan at night.
Major (name deleted) and the American Army’s Air Corp Airmen are real friends, without these true heroes we could not have blown up all the missiles, mines and RPG’s. This was an outstanding effort of a few outstanding individuals. May we kindly ask the Airmen to either contact Major (name deleted), US Civil Affairs or the German Battle Group at (phone number deleted), we would like to thank you personally.
I really smiled at the "liquid relief" and other flowery rhetoric. And my boyfriend was one of the "fabulous pilots."
However, occasionally there are joint efforts of sorts. Recently Big Windy, a US Chinook unit, came to the aid of some German troops. A few weeks later, the German unit sent a letter of appreciation. I wanted to share this letter, because it is so amusing. Except for deleting names, I left it as is (mistakes and all). Someone really had fun writing it, and you can tell they were genuinely thankful for the help.
On August 12th HumInt Sources forwarded intelligence to the German Battle Group operating out of Camp (name deleted) concerning considerable amounts of 107 mm Type 63 missiles and anti-tank TC-6es being located in the village of (name deleted) within the reach of US Task Force Phoenix and Camp (name deleted). DEU BG was ordered by ISAF KMNB to launch Operation (name deleted) aiming at the demolition of the evil. (Village name deleted) is not accessible by any land-vehicle, DEU BG leased donkeys to haul charges, blood-plasma and water into the mountains. The donkeys proofed to be good off-roaders but their duration in those altitudes is very limited. By Saturday August 13th DEU BG’s 45 soldiers faced significant water and MRE shortages. KMNB’s own air assets were kept from supporting due to technical constraints.
Major (name deleted), a civil affairs officer at Bagram took notice of this unfortunate circumstance and dedicated enormous efforts to helping those infantrymen working at 7.000 feet. Major (name deleted) went the extra mile and contacted her aviation partners at Bagram and convinced them of checking into the matter.
Saturday night at about 2200 hrs Major (name deleted) had the best present we could imagine: a class 1 air-lift from Kabul into the mountains. Sunday night fabulous pilots floated into (name of camp deleted) and loaded the thirsty infantrymen’s liquid relief into their air-vehicle. 20 minutes later they approached the most difficult terrain for air-ops: possible insurgents, narrow valleys, steepest cliffs and a pitch-dark night had to be encountered. Link up via VHF did not work, the Germans were frustrated. As the US Heli was flying larger circles around the grid, one German fired a signal round which the tail gunner spotted. As the Chinook touched down in (village name deleted) joyous infantry faces were sandblasted. It was an awesome and incredible moment. Our boys did not expect the pilot to safely be able to ground this giant of the skies on this harsh spot of Afghanistan at night.
Major (name deleted) and the American Army’s Air Corp Airmen are real friends, without these true heroes we could not have blown up all the missiles, mines and RPG’s. This was an outstanding effort of a few outstanding individuals. May we kindly ask the Airmen to either contact Major (name deleted), US Civil Affairs or the German Battle Group at (phone number deleted), we would like to thank you personally.
I really smiled at the "liquid relief" and other flowery rhetoric. And my boyfriend was one of the "fabulous pilots."
posted by CaliValleyGirl at 11:43 AM
2 Comments:
Big Windy - winning friends and influencing people - one mission at a time or should I say one "liquid relief" at a time *grin*.
It's nice to see their efforts are appreciated.
That is cute! Now I know how I must sound when I translate into German while thinking to much. It I just do it, it comes out right...if I sit down and TRY to do it, it MUST sound similar to this.
Glad the Big Windy could lend a liquid refreshment hand!
HH6
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