15 June, 2011

Patrol Base KT-4. It stands for "Key Terrain # 4," and as Regimental Combat Team # 1 (RCT-1) continues to expand the Marine presence in southern Helmand Province, KT-4 is 1st Battalion, Third Marine Regiment's southern-most patrol base in Afghanistan. It's one of some 180 or more small patrol bases now dotting the central and southern part of the Helmand River Valley.

This is a rural area. Some poppy was harvested in May, but today melons are being offered for sale in the local bazaar, and a wheat crop is being harvested. Corn stands approximately 2 feet high as the Marines cut through the fields while avoiding possible improvised explosive devices--IEDs. The Helmand River is less than a mile to the west, and in a 360 degree view from KT-4, you see villages and fields.

LCpl Scott Knapp warding off the morning chill; the temperature had dropped to some 85 degrees Farenheit prior to the 0430 sunrise. (Photo by Andrew Lubin.)

KT-4 stands on the top of a man-made hill, some 150 feet high. It's one of several, miles apart, reportedly built by Alexander the Great as watchtowers or signal towers, and it is surrounded by the remains of thick mud walls, 10 feet at the base by some 20 feet high. The locals claim that Alexander's men used it to protect themselves from the Afghans they were attempting to conquer.

Today, this area is controlled by eight Marines, a corpsman, a dog, and five supporting Afghan National Army soldiers, all ably-led by Lance Corporal Aaron Ferencik.

HM3 Antoine "Doc" White preparing for another patrol. (Photo by Andrew Lubin.)

A Presence Patrol from Hell
It was a typical mission; an afternoon presence patrol west through an area they'd patrolled previously. But on the return, the weather turned bad. "We got an 'Aircon Yellow.'" Ferencik said. "The winds suddenly picked up, and we were warned that a sandstorm was on the way."

Helicopters can fly in a Yellow, but during the summer months, the weather often rapidly deteriorates to an "AirCon Red" which grounds both air and vehicles. As the patrol wound its way through a village with the Marines talking to the friendly children along the way, the weather worsened and "AirCon Red" was declared.

(L-R) LCpl Scott Knapp, LCpl Thomas Reed, LCpl Leonardo Langit, LCpl Aaron Ferencik, HM3 Antoine "Doc" White, LCpl Bryan Schuler, LCpl Samuel Morin, LCpl Ryan Maloney. (Photo by Andrew Lubin.)

"We could have stayed firm," Ferencik said. "But, we were within 800 meters of KT-4, and the winds were borderline Yellow-Red, so we continued to push to base."

They had to pass through the village of Haji Tourjahn,(whose elder is considered "shady") which sits almost in the shadow of KT-4. Earlier, the patrol had been told by friendly townspeople that a stranger had appeared asking what were the routes the Marines patrolled, so with LCpl Ryan McSweeny walking point, followed by LCpl Peter Uncapher, Ferencik had the patrol move off the road, and across a field. "Be careful; walk in the tracks of the man in front of you" was the reminder passed from each Marine to the one behind him.

But as McSweeny walked over a little footbridge, he stepped on a pressure plate buried in the dirt, setting off an IED and blasting him with shrapnel.

As the echoes of the blast were carried off in the wind, Ferencik took stock of his patrol: McSweeny was down, hurt and bleeding bad. Uncapher and LCpl Thomas Reed were knocked unconscious, as was an Afghan soldier. As Ferencik began to radion the 9-line brief to PB Derzai, reporting the situation and requesting support, the sandstorm arrived. Ferencik was forced to repeat the call over the howling winds.

Hospital Corpsman Third Class Antoine "Doc" White and LCpl Leonardo Langit ran forward as Ferencik repeated the 9-line. Doc White was trying to staunch McSweeney's bleeding, while Langit laid down two LZ panels and popped smoke. "Air was closed," Ferencik was told, and even a mounted rescue could not be launched. There was no turn-around on the narrow Afghan road.

Afghan soldier, "Sgt Mike" (Sgt Ali Rezza) and LCpl Leonardo Langit ready the ANA to join the Marine's late afternoon patrol. (Photo by Andrew Lubin.)

McSweeney's body armor, groin protector, and eye protection had done their job; despite being caught in a hail of shrapnel directed at stomach-level. Initially, Doc White thought he was only peppered with dozens of small wounds. But as a leg wound continued to bleed, White realized a large piece of shrapnel had lodged next to McSweeney's femoral artery, and he was in danger of bleeding out.

With Doc White working feverishly on McSweeny, Ferencik was working the radio. He was told a convoy of engineers was only hundreds of meters away, but with visibility measured only in meters due to the sand, they would have to bring McSweeney to the vehicles.

As Ferencik readied the patrol to move, Uncapher lurched to his feet, also bleeding from multiple shrapnel wounds. Langit grabbed him and began treatment. Reed was woozy, but otherwise unhurt.

With Uncapher stabilized, three Marines began to carry McSweeny to the vehicles, some 200 meters away. With the wind and sand continuing to howl, the patrol stumbled into a bazaar, slightly out of the wind. With Langit assisting Uncapher, Ferencik took McSweeny in a fireman's carry and moved him the remaining distance to the safety of the Marine vehicles who began the medevac journey.

The next day, Ferencik led another patrol out into the countryside.

Note: LCpl Ryan McSweeny survived. In early-June he was in ICU at Walter Reed, where the prognosis is "good."