Supply convoys through Afghanistan battle terrain, rough weather and

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Route clearance vehicles lead a 60-vehicle supply convoy through the desert in Paktika province, Afghanistan. A sharp spike in roadside bombings this year has complicated the already difficult task of moving supplies across Afghanistan’s rugged terrain.


Supply convoys through Afghanistan battle terrain, rough weather and
By Michael Gisick, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday-Thursday, December 24-25, 2008

PAKTIKA PROVINCE, Afghanistan — It was three days since they left their base in southeastern Afghanistan and the U.S.-led convoy had traveled barely 40 miles through the desert. Now they were getting bogged down.

With night and a cold rain falling, a broad "wadi," or dry river bed, stretched across their path. The infantry company at the nearest outpost advised them not to try the crossing in the mud. But the 60-vehicle convoy was under orders to push through to the outpost, where the fuel they were carrying was badly needed, and there was no way around it.

Behind the lead trucks, the convoy stretched for three miles, a collection of super-modern military vehicles designed to withstand bombs and jerry-rigged Afghan fuel tankers decorated with bells and murals, a "Mad Max"-like caravan stalled in the wasteland.

As it turned out, they would make it across the wadi, but not easily. Most of the Afghan "jingle trucks," named after their tinkling decorations, got stuck in the mud, some more than once. Some of the American vehicles got stuck trying to pull them out. The crossing took three hours.

The convoy finally reached its destination, Combat Outpost Kushmand in Paktika province, but only after a 17-hour day that covered just 20 miles.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=59602