The Taliban Don't Wave by Robert Semrau Read Free Book Online

showed me that Sperwhan was actually fairly close to Masum, only about five klicks southwest as the crow flies.
    â€œAs you can see,” he said, pointing at the map, “one of our problems here is the fact that we've got only one road connecting Sperwhan to Masum—Route Kelowna. If you look at the map, you'll see as you carry on farther west on Route Kelowna, past Sperwhan, that it's also the only road connecting us to our much smaller combat outpost bases, namely Hajikan, Talikan, Zangabad, and Mushan. Only one road in and one road out is going to lend itself nicely to getting IEDed all to hell, which is exactly what's been happening.”
    â€œSir, I thought the ANA were sending engineers to sweep Route Kelowna daily for IEDs?”
    â€œThey are. And they're getting ambushed almost daily as well. The Afghan National Army can only send a small team of ‘engineers’—and believe me, I use the term very loosely—kitted out with old American equipment that couldn't find an atomic bomb buried under the road. When they're close to finding something, the Taliban usually detonate it and use it as a signal to initiate their ambush.”
    I'd heard of that before. That technique, not surprisingly, is called an IED-initiated ambush. The Taliban would set up an IED in the middle of the road and then lie in ambush and wait until someone stepped on or drove over it (or they might just detonate it themselves with a command wire or radio-controlled device), and then pop up and shoot the hell out of anyone who was still alive. They would use the shock and fear that often paralyzed soldiers after an IED went off (and the fact that everyone in their kill zone was most likely deaf and concussed from the blast) to mop up any survivors.
    â€œMark my words,” the major continued, “at some point in your tour you'll probably end up going to rescue the ANA engineers after they've been hit.”
    â€œNice,” I responded. Poor bastards.
    â€œWell, at any rate, you can see why the ANA has become so damn fatalistic. But back to the briefing. . . . In order to get to your base at Sperwhan from Route Kelowna, you've got to travel south on the only road you can take to get there. It's called Route Brown.” He pointed to it on the map. “It passes over three water culverts buried under the road, and guess what?”
    â€œThey get IED surprises planted in them daily?”
    â€œYou're a smart man, Semrau. You've been here before?”
    â€œI fought in the Clone Wars before, sir, but only in Kabul where, thankfully, we didn't have to deal with any of this.”
    â€œWell, you're in the real war now, son. But you'll get used to the daily rhythm of shootings, rockets, mortars, and IEDs. You'll get used to it, or go batshit crazy! Hopefully the former, but the ANA you'll be working with are supposed to be a good crew. You'll be with the First Company of 72 Kandak, 502 Corps. They've just come off two months' rest and refit, so I'm sure they'll be rarin' to go.” The major looked at me and smiled.
    I wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or not. Would they be good to go or not?
    I suppose Yoda's words rang true when he wisely said, “Frivolous, speculation is, when patience will reveal all.” I always told Rich any time you could quote Yoda in a war zone, it was a good day.
    The major wrapped up his in-depth briefing and told me to call him twenty-four/seven if I ever had any problems. I really liked Major Speers. That was exactly the type of briefing you hope to get when you're new in country, and I thanked him for taking the time.
    His final words of advice to me were, “Give 'em hell and make them pay. Watch out for your men and stay safe. And let the ANA die for their country. Don't you die for it. Let them go first, let them take the risks. Learn when to mentor, and when to act. ” Good advice. He wished me luck, shook my hand, and told me to go and get some chow.
    I