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Vol. I No. 4 Task Force 1-501st PIR, FOB Salerno, Afghanistan
Soldiers of Task Force 1-501st PIRdescended on the mountain passes ofthe Afghanistan/Pakistan border like a
snow storm like an avalanche. For twoweeks the soldiers manned checkpoints,searched villages and examined cavesfor caches of weapons.
Operation Avalanche was designedto impede the enemies of Afghanistanfrom using the months prior to thesnow fall to move weapons and sup-plies across the border and stage themfor their spring offensive.
We are helping to ensure that the
Afghanistan government stays in con-trol, said Capt. William Kilgore, taskforce intelligence officer. "We are do-ing this by keeping the enemies of Af-ghanistan from creating a logisticalcenter within the country to stage ter-rorist activities."
To accomplish this the task forcesent two companies to separatepasses, one overtly, the other covertly.
Company C ar-rived in broad day-light via CH-47Chinooks and set
up a check point.The plan thosetransporting armswould take a dif-ferent route theone that CompanyA went to in themiddle of the night.
From a distancethe hills and moun-tains that Company
A had to ruck up and down looked likegentle hills, but the soldiers making thetrek quickly found out differently.
At the time, the rucking suckedThere is just something about climb-ing a 60 degree hill with a 75 poundruck that is not fun, said Air Force
Staff Sgt. Ashley Thweatt, a joint ter-minal attack controller attached to the501st. Looking back now though it was great. It gave me, an Air ForceJTAC the opportunity to meld with myArmy comrades.
Word about the checkpoints quicklytraveled and the companies spent theirdays searching people traveling be-tween villages or who journeyed to
The first lift of Company A soldiers board CH-47 Chinooks at dawn. Theseparatroopers were let off on the high ground to provide security for the second liftwhich performed a village assessment for weapons of war and intel on the Taliban
Capt. Brent Morrow uses an interpreter to tell villagers theyhave 20 minutes to bring out all weapons before his soldiersstart their search during a village assessment.
Task Force patrols border, villagesStory and photos by
Staff Sgt. Jeff Troth
See AVALANCHE page 4
December 12, 2003
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December 12, 20032
This is an unofficial Army newsletter, authorized under the provisions
of AR 360-1, and published by the 1/501st PIR Public Affairs Office. Edito-
rial views and opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the
Department of the Army or the 1/501st PIR. All submissions to The
Geronimo are subject to editing.
The Geronimo can also be found at: www.usarak.army.mil/1501 .
Questions or comments should be directed to: 1/501st Public Affairs
Office. DNVT 318-580-3067.
Bat ta lion Command er Lt. Col. Harry C. Glenn III
Editor Staff Sgt. Jeff Troth
Salerno HappeningsComedy Show
A USO comedy show stops at Salerno Dec. 21. Comic
relief will be provided by Mike Schwartz and Dwayne
Perkins in the expansion area. A barbeque will provide
refreshments. Pull up a piece of earth or BYOC (bringyour own chair). Time to be determined.
Numbers GrowTroop strength at the FOB will increase in January
with the addition of 200 coalition soldiers.
Movie Night
FOB facesWhat is your lasting memory of
Operation Avalanche?
Knowing that all the drills we havedone in training have paid off during
this real world operation.
Spec. Fulgencio Marquez
E Battery
Getting out and doing missions instead
of sitting around at the FOB.
Spec. Patrie Pancho
Forward Support Company
Falling asleep at 1500 and then artillery
rounds going off an hour later.
Pfc. Shane Slack
HQ Company
Lt. Anazagasty saying that "there is just
one more hill, one more klick to go."
Staff Sgt. Rick Bashore
Company A
The World
The chaplain is hosting a movie night Fridays start-
ing at 1400. Keep an eye open for the flyer on what mov-
ies will be shown Dec. 19.
Hussein CapturedOn the basis of a tip from
a local resident, soldiers
from 4th Infantry Division
conducted a raid in the
town of Adwar, which is
about 15 kilometers south
of Tikrit, Saddam
Hussein's hometown.
The former Iraqi dictator,
who was found in a cel-lar, looked thinner, had
unkept hair and had a
long black -and-grey
beard.
Loya JirgaSome 500 Afghanistan delegates began the loya jirga to
hammer out a new constitution. Among the issues they
are expected to decide on is the role of Afghan women,
Islam's place in politics and the sharing of power in a
nation accustomed to fighting over it.
White wins HeismanA year after knee surgery, Oklahoma's Jason White
awarded the Heisman Trophy. White threw 40 touchdown
passes and led the third-ranked Sooners to 12 straight
wins.
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The Geronimo
December 12, 20033Injuries expected to drop with new parachute
By Pfc. Eliamar Castanon
Fort Benning PAO
FORT BENNING, Ga. Air-borne Soldiers should expect to see anew parachute system in the next few
years that will replace the T-10 modelthat has been in use since the 1950s.
The Advanced Tactical ParachuteSystem is expected to decrease thelanding impact velocity for jumpers,provide a more reliable reserve sys-tem than the Modified Improved Re-serve Parachute System of the T-10and improve the harness.
We were looking for a parachute thatwill lower the rate of descent and lessenthe impact with the hopes and expecta-tions that this would result in a reductionin injuries, said Joe Jones, combat de-velopment specialist with the Director-ate of Combat Developments.
Rate of descent is the speed at whichjumpers fall to the ground.
The T-10 has been modified a num-ber of times but has reached the limitsof its growth. A new approach had tobe taken, Jones said, resulting in anentirely different design.
The ATPS canopy is not circular in shape, as the T-10is. It is a highly modified
cross-shaped canopy with an inflateddiameter 14 percent greater than thatof the T-10, with 28 percent moresurface area.
The reserve unit is a cone-shaped,center-pull deployment system. It in-cludes apex scoop pockets at the topof the canopy and skirt assist lines atthe systems hem to promote fastopening during low-speed malfunc-tions.
The main container bag is made ofCordura, an abrasion- and water-re-sistant fabric.
Both the ATPS main and reservecanopies are made of low-porosityripstop nylon with Teflon-coated sus-pension lines.
The entire system weighs 51.2pounds, compared to the T-10s 44
pounds.The 14-percent weight in-
crease earns jumpers a 25-percent reduction in rate ofdescent. The T-10s rate of
descent is 22 to 24 feet persecond, causing a strong land-ing impact.
The ATPS rate of descentis 16 feet per second, reduc-ing the landing impact by 53percent.
The T-10 parachute systemwas designed when the totalweight of a jumper and equip-ment averaged 300 pounds.
During OperationJust Cause, morethan 4 percent of
Soldiers from the 2nd Battal-ion, 75th Ranger Regiment, sufferedjump-related injuries - 28 Rangers andtheir equipment weighed between 350and 435 pounds.
The T-10 was originally intendedfor jumpers who didnt weigh whatSoldiers weigh today and wasnt in-tended to carry the loads that Soldiers
carry today, Jones said.Other advantages of ATPS are the
reserve system and the harness, saidJones. The ATPS reserve offers im-proved reliability, he said.
The ATPS has a reliability of .95,compared to the .75 to .80 of the T-10, he said.
The reserve is also equipped withenhanced deployment techniques,which equal low opening shocks. Itmay be deployed using either hand,
offers a soft loop closure and has arate of descent of approximately 26feet per second with low oscillation.
The biggest advantage in the im-provements of the harness is the at-taching point of the reserve parachutesystem, said Jones.
When a T-10 reserve is activated,the opening forces are located in thewaist area; essentially, this bows thejumper, he said. ATPS reserve risers
connect to the harness in the shoulderarea. Now when the reserve canopyopens, the opening forces are passeddown through the long axes of thebody, minimizing the bow effect.
The harness is also fully adjustableand is compatible with the current andfuture battlefield equipment.
The T-10 and ATPS are mass tacti-cal parachute canopies, meaning theyare not steerable. Because these arenot steerable, distribution is managedby exit sequences and timing, aircraftaltitude and speed, wind and canopydrift characteristics, Jones said.
Because ATPS is not a
steerable parachute, test developers are still trying to in-
crease the obstacle avoidance variablewhile in the sky or on the ground, said
Maj. Jason Craft, assistant programmanager of personal airdrop systemsat the Natick Research Laboratoriesin Natick, Mass.
The bottom line is that ATPS reducesjump injuries to airborne Soldiers sotheyre in better condition to go intocombat operations, Craft said.
The ATPS is being tested at YumaProving Grounds in Yuma, Ariz., and wilbe fielded between 2005 and 2006.
The Advanced Tactical Parachute System.
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The Geronimo
December 12, 20034
Pakistan for busi-ness or medicalreasons. Bothcompanies had afemale soldier
from the ForwardSupport Com-pany with them tosearch the femaletravelers.
For the mostpart the people wesearched were co-operative, saidSgt. Chad Kair,Co. C. They
were taken backthat we were there
until the word got out aboutthe checkpoint.
Before the Comanchesset foot at the checkpoint theHeadquarters Companyscouts had already had eyeson that location for a coupledays.
We were there to con-
firm or deny enemy routesinto and out of Pakistan,said Spec. Joshua Ebhart,sniper with HQ Co. scouts.We were successful on get-ting eyes on the objectivesand ensuring the area wassafe for the rest of the task
force to come in.For each company they
not only had their own sol-diers pulling security on thehigh ground around their
checkpoints, but also a pla-toon from Delta Detach-ment with their armoredHMMWVs on each end ofthe checkpoint.
Also attached to the com-panies were interpreters andAfghanistan Militia Forcesoldiers to assist with thesearches and to let the lo-cals know what was hap-
pening.They are very helpful in
letting us know what is rightand what is wrong, Kilgoresaid. They know the localcustoms and if someone isnot using the correct dialectfor that region.
Although not at thecheckpoints with the com-panies other elements of the
task force were staged at aposition area for artillery togive assistance.
Within the objective areaa tactical operation centerhad command and controlover the operation, BatteryE, 319th Field Artillery and
Gun 5, Battery E, 319th Field Artillery sends a round downrange during registration of their 105mm howitzer.
A Detachment D armored HMMWV pulls security on a hilltopas Company A soldiers search for a suspected weapons cache.
Spec. Andrew Wolfe, Headquarters Company, adds bite to the ribeyesteaks that were served when the companies finished their night missions
away from the PAA. For the remainder of the operation day missionswere done from the PAA. The meal also included crab legs, mashedpotatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese, and soda.
Cont. from page 1Avalanche:
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The Geronimo
December 12, 20035
Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 6
Field Artillery, 10th Infan-try Division (Mountain) pro-vided indirect fire supportand illumination rounds andthe FSC had mechanics onhand to fix the vehicles thattook a pounding on therough Afghan roads.
Every mission that hascome down we have been
able to execute on target
and on time, said Spec.Patrick Foard, Bat. E.When the rest of the taskforce were out on missionour guns were able to covertheir positions..
Once the checkpointsproved their worth, Co. Asmission switched fromcheckpoints to village as-
sessments.
Dur ingthis newmission thes o l d i e r stalked withthe Afghans
Sgt. Dan Beasley, Forward Support Company works on a HMMWV duringOperation Avalanche at the PAA.
Pfc. Ryan Edmonson, Company C, searchesan Afghanistan at a checkpoint.
and found out about them andany Taliban activity in the area.The soldiers also collectedand destroyed any weaponsof war they found in thehouses. Each adult male wasallowed to keep one rifle and
two magazines for personaldefense.
In the villages we foundgrenades and parts forrockets and mines. Onefamily was even using thetop of a mine as a plate,said Spec. Chad Cuccaro,a sapper with HQ Com-pany. When we found anIED (ordnance) we put it in
a ravine and blew it inplace.
Much to the relief of thesoldiers, their mode of trans-portation also changed. In-stead of rucking over themountains they rode in FSCvehicles to the villages, thisadded to the work load ofthe mechanics.
Mechanics will always
have a job in wartime, saidSpec. Anthony Peak, a me-chanic with the FSC, be-cause they (soldiers) love todrive and push their vehiclesto the limit.
A CH-47 Chinook releases a sling load resupply at the PAA.
The soldiers on theground were not alone. Theoperation was supportednot only by the Army Chi-nooks, but also Marine Su-per Cobas and UH-1 HueyGunships, and Air Force A-
10 Warthogs and B-1bombers. These aircraft notonly provided eyes and gunsin the sky, but also a quickresupply method for thetroops in their fire bases andthe PAA.
The Co. G, 104th Avia-tion Regiment (Penn./ConnNational Guard) Chinookssling loaded nine vehicles
two water buffalos and16,000 gallons of fuel. Theyalso transported around60,000 pounds of cargo tothe field.
The operation has beena success, said Maj. ValKeaveny, task force opera-tions officer. We have spenttwo weeks flooding the bor-der region with paratroop-
ers and gathering our ownintel. We have learned a lotabout the enemy and shownthem that we can be any-where, anytime with the ca-pability to destroy them.
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December 12, 20036
CHRISTMASHow many of the following Christmas terms can
you locate in the puzzle?
LSNLT
EEHEGOORCS
PCTEG
NPGNGRINCH
RESGL
EOTELTSIMO
NONEN
EWYEARSFPO
OOREI
NDEERMRTOR
GLOHP
LODUROJSRN
UNLPE
ATTJSETLCA
EPNII
OEOTSUNUTM
ETNEV
DOSTSOANON
LRSES
YOSEASGAAT
GESCI
EEODCEERRS
GEWAS
HNTGRPGERF
WPEEC
KSTOCKINGS
IERNW
LYYUNWENAE
SHOPP
INGSNALMSY
ChestnutsEggnogElvesJesusJoyFrostyGoodwillGrinchMangerMistletoeNew Years
OrnamentsPeacePresentsReindeerRudolphSantaScroogeShoppingStockingsToysTree
Listening to command netSaying copy that a hundred times a day.
As I take the message Delaware 6 SP time
now
I wonder when I will get to go out and play.
I know that I am important
As I capture the battle on my log
I cant help but wondering
Why the Battle NCO treats me like a dog.
When they say, Tell so and so this.
While I listen like a hawk
I wonder if their thumb is brokenAnd cant push the button to talk.
Im not bitter at all
About listening to what is going on
The fact that I sit here day in and day out
Without the hope Ill get to tag along.
So, remember me, as you SP from the PAA,
And you operate outside the wire
So we can move your push pin
And get the clearance of fire.
I will log your goings onSo you can recap at the commanders brief
This is Geronimo 31, reading you Lima
Charlie
And waiting anxiously on my relief.
ODE TO
THE RTOBy Staff Sgt. Jay Schulz
If you have
a question for
MSG Nord-
strom, drop it
off at the
ALOC.
Ask MSG Nordstrom
Dear MSG Nordstrom,
I couldnt help but notice the increasing
depth of the slit trench while coming and
going from the PAA. Ill admit that by the
end there, I was actually afraid of getting
too close and falling in. Why would any
1SG create such an unsafe area?
Signed, Bombs Away
Dear Mad Bomber,
Quit squatting over the pickets and start
clearing your drop zone a little better or
Ill have 1SG Rebel dig it even deeper. Use
your flashlight, Meathead!
MSG N
Dear MSG Nordstrom,
Why do you insist on getting everyone up
before first light? Id like to get a little
more shut eye, but I cant ignore your
yelling at folks so early in the morning.
Can you please consider a 0200Z wake-
up? Thanks.
Sincerely, Sleeping In
S1 and S4, First Call!
If my days were as busy as yours, Id
be able to sleep in, too. As far as the pre-
dawn wake-ups, they are often just bad
flash backs to the days when the French
and Indians would attack at first light. I
just cant seem to shake the memories.
Take cover; get in your hole; here they
come again!
MSG N
Dear MSG Nordstrom,
I began to think that all Afghanistan had
was rocks but then I noticed the hundreds
of Jewels cigar butts beneath the trailers
and vehicles at the BOC/CTCP. Are those
naturally grown here or imported?
Sincerely, CSM Police Call
Dear CSM,
Just because I bought $2500 worth of cigars
at Manas doesnt make me suspect. I did,
however, notice the same thing and had the
RTOs water the butts in hopes that they
might grow and replenish my dwindling
stock.
MSG N
Dear MSG Nordstrom,
I noticed that there seems to be some battle
handoff challenges with the Geronimo 11
element, especially when moving to the
night shift. Is our night Battle Captain
technically challenged? Is there any
professional development scheduled for the
RTOs and CHEMO? Hello? Is there
anyone out there listening?
Signed, Monitor Your A&L
Dear MYAL,
I will ensure you that they will have noproblems battle tracking in the future once
theyve low crawled from the FTCP to the
CTCP to the TAC and then around to each
Team CP.
MSG N