Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans
2:39 | Andrew Samuelson was on the advance team that went to Afghanistan to prep for the arrival of the full battalion. They immediately discovered that the Army didn't really have a mission for them. After a couple of quick support missions for other units, it was decided that they would be the Quick Reaction Force for a large area.
Keywords : Andrew Samuelson Afghanistan advance team Uruzgan Province Helmand Province FOB Walton Kandahar Province Quick Reaction Force (QRF) Badghis Province
Why not join the Army? Andrew Samuelson was looking at a buddy who was in ROTC and the thought popped into his head. He acted on it and was soon on his way to basic training.
It was a simple task that would last a few hours but Andrew Samuelson's platoon stayed for 45 days beside that river. They were there to provide security while divers searched for the bodies of two drowned Americans. The Taliban sensed an opportunity.
Many of the Taliban would go to Pakistan for the winter but they returned in the spring and the fighting would begin again. This year they had their eyes on Kandahar city and Andrew Samuelson's unit was blocking the way.
The Rules of Engagement were onerous in Afghanistan. Andrew Samuelson wonders why he wasn't allowed to shoot obvious enemy combatants. That's not how you win a war.
They tried to advise the unit that was replacing them but the new guys weren't listening. On his way out of the base as he was heading home, Andrew Samuelson recalls the look of sheer terror in a young private's face.
