TheState.com: S.C. at War

S.C. at War: Welcome home, soldier

Fri, 16 May 2008 08:03 EDT

After 15 months in Afghanistan, Rep. James Smith, tanned, trim and sporting a high and tight haircut, returned to the House of Representatives on Thursday to standing ovations and hugs.

“There’s nothing like a year in combat to make you appreciate home,” said Smith, a Columbia Democrat, who commanded a nine-man Army National Guard team in southern Afghanistan.

By day, the team trained Afghan police officers and worked to build trust between the fledgling security forces and skeptical villagers.

By night, Smith and his men hopped on Humvees and tracked down and fought the Taliban across mountainous terrain and vast stretches of dessert.

Smith, 40, said he longed for the green of South Carolina, the shade of its trees, the thickness of its air compared with the thin air of Afghanistan and blowing sand that managed to get everywhere.

S.C. at War: A long year, happy ending

Fri, 16 May 2008 21:49 EDT

NEWBERRY — “Daddy’s home.”

Sixteen-year-old Timothy Griffith announced it to waitresses as his family entered their regular hangout, The Palms Grill and Bar.

He said it again when the piano player from his community theater group showed up at the restaurant.

And again, the words “Daddy’s home” when an old teacher stopped at the table to talk.

The teenager might not have looked his father in the eye and said how glad he was to have him back home. But it was evident as he spread the word to everyone he saw Wednesday night.

S.C. at War: Soldiers, families complete reunions

Wed, 14 May 2008 22:20 EDT

NEWBERRY — Lucille Epps’ prayer cards worked.

After a year of her writing prayers inside cards and mailing them to Afghanistan, her son, Spc. Raymond Epps, came home.

“God was with him,” Lucille Epps said.

Raymond Epps, 34, was one of 17 soldiers who arrived Wednesday afternoon at the Newberry armory after completing a yearlong tour in Afghanistan. Reunions like the one between Epps and his mother took place the same day at six other S.C. armories as the last 200 S.C. Guard troops came home.

“I’m glad to be home,” Raymond Epps said. “It’s been long enough.”

Homecomings on tap for returning troops

Wed, 14 May 2008 00:38 EDT

At armories across the state today, there will be seven homecoming celebrations for the 218th Brigade Combat Team.

• 4 p.m., West Columbia armory, 3528 Platt Springs Road

• 2:30 p.m., Darlington armory, 1764 Harry Byrd Highway

• 4 p.m., Rock Hill armory, 126 Museum Road

• 4:30 p.m., Newberry armory, 275 General Henderson Road

200 S.C. Guard soldiers back in state

Tue, 13 May 2008 07:45 EDT

More than 200 soldiers from the S.C. National Guard’s 132nd Military Police Company returned to the Midlands on Sunday after a yearlong combat tour in Iraq.

In Iraq, the company provided convoy security and helped train the Iraqi National Police. The unit did not lose a single soldier in combat, said Col. Pete Brooks, an S.C. National Guard spokesman.

The unit, based in West Columbia, arrived in the United States last week and spent a few days at Camp Shelby, Miss., making the transition from active-duty soldiers to Guard members.

The guardsmen were welcomed back Sunday morning during a short ceremony at Airport High School, Brooks said.

Meanwhile, 60 members of the Guard’s 218th Brigade Combat Team are scheduled to arrive at 4 p.m. today at Eagle Aviation at Columbia Metropolitan Airport after spending a year in Afghanistan.

S.C. At War: Troops finally, finally make it home

Sat, 10 May 2008 22:24 EDT

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Waiting to board a bus for the West Columbia National Guard armory, Sgt. Rodney Miller considered the road ahead.

In a few hours, the 218th Brigade Combat Team soldier would return to civilian life and his family after being away for 15 months. The first three months were spent training in Mississippi, and then he went to Afghanistan for a year.

“I think I’ll be all right,” said Miller, of Columbia. “Maybe we’ll go to the movies, go out to eat and just catch up on things.”

Miller wasn’t alone in contemplating the immediate future as hundreds of S.C. troops reunited with their loved ones this weekend.

But before they could take that bus ride home, the soldiers had to finish what the Army calls “out-processing.” That’s the paperwork and exams that need to be completed before being released from active duty.

S.C. At War: 5 soldiers earned Bronze Stars

Sat, 10 May 2008 22:24 EDT

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — While all the soldiers of the 218th Brigade Combat Team are being called “heroes” by their commanders, families and friends, there are a few whose heroics stand out.

They are the five S.C. National Guard troops who received a Bronze Star Medal for valor — the highest medal awarded during the unit’s just-ended yearlong Afghan tour of duty.

In each incident, the soldier cited risked his life to save and care for wounded comrades.

Among the troops honored was 1st Lt. Wade Broadaway, a member of the first group of soldiers picked to mentor Afghan police.

Other recipients of the bravery medal were Sgt. Richard Bush, Sgt. 1st Class Franklin Brooks, Spc. William Slater and Spc. Kodi Tyler.

SC House member who sought combat tour returning

Thu, 08 May 2008 12:32 EDT

The South Carolina legislator who sought a combat role in Afghanistan is returning to his state House desk next week.

Bennettsville Rep. Doug Jennings told the House Thursday that Columbia Rep. James Smith would be back home on Sunday.

Smith left for training and an Afghanistan tour 15 months ago as an Army National Guard captain. He returned briefly last year before heading to Afghanistan.

Smith joined the Army Reserve in 1996 as a lawyer and switched to the Army National Guard two years later. After the Sept. 11 terror attacks he decided to go back through basic training and move to the infantry.

Guard unit arrives back in U.S. today

Wed, 07 May 2008 22:49 EDT

An S.C. National Guard unit from West Columbia is on its way home from Iraq.

About 200 soldiers from the 132nd Military Police Company are scheduled to arrive today at Camp Shelby, Miss., after spending a year in Iraq. The soldiers will spend a few days there to demobilize from active-duty to regular Guard status. Then they will return to South Carolina.

Meanwhile, six ceremonies are scheduled this afternoon at armories across the state to welcome home members of the S.C. Guard’s 218th Brigade Combat Team, which has been deployed to Afghanistan.

S.C. At War: Soldiers’ trip home gets back on track

Tue, 06 May 2008 23:38 EDT

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — The return of 250 soldiers who helped trained Afghan army and police units is back on schedule.

The troops, including 60 South Carolinians, will fly from Kuwait to Fort Riley, Kan., later this week, said Brig. Gen. Bob Livingston, commander of the S.C. National Guard’s 218th Brigade Combat Team. Because of security concerns, the Army is not releasing the flight date.

Earlier Tuesday, some of the soldiers’ families contacted media in South Carolina, saying the troops were stranded in Kuwait and their trip home would be delayed by at least four days. The families said they felt the soldiers had been forgotten by the S.C. Guard and brigade commanders.

“No one was forgotten,” said Livingston, of Lexington County. “People have been working feverishly to fix this.”

Livingston credited a staff officer at the Guard’s headquarters in Columbia for fixing the problem. The officer worked through the Air Force to find a flight that would carry the soldiers back to the United States on schedule.

S.C. at War: Almost home

Tue, 06 May 2008 07:14 EDT

A lone yellow ribbon hangs on a tree outside the Griffith home in Pomaria.

This week, it will come down, signaling the end of Sgt. 1st Class Todd Griffith’s deployment to Afghanistan.

Griffith called his wife Saturday morning to announce that he had arrived at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C.

There, he will go through the military’s demobilization process for National Guard troops making the transition from active-duty to regular Guard soldiers. He is expected to return to Newberry County later in the week.

“I’ll be so glad when he’s home,” said his wife, Kim.

Last of troops back in States

Mon, 05 May 2008 06:28 EDT

POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. — Just about all of the S.C. National Guard’s 1,400 troops are back in the United States following a yearlong tour in Afghanistan.

The last planeload of soldiers from the 218th Brigade Combat Team, led by the commander, Brig. Gen. Bob Livingston, arrived here Sunday.

The soldiers’ return marked the end of an exodus from Afghanistan that started in late March.

Although there were serious hitches in the redeployment, Sunday’s homecoming was still special for a handful of families who traveled here to greet soldiers.

Three-year-old Will Gunter held a handwritten poster board that welcomed his “granddaddy,” Col. Butch Jacobs of Columbia.

S.C. at War: Troops’ achievement ‘incredible’

Sat, 03 May 2008 23:05 EDT

KABUL, Afghanistan — What Capt. Hunter Hill found on his first visit to an Afghan police station in Kandahar province wasn’t encouraging.

The Afghan police officers did not have uniforms. Few had weapons. Most had a “very disheveled look,” said Hill, a member of the S.C. National Guard’s 218th Brigade Combat Team.

“They were spacey — very spacey — like they were on drugs. You couldn’t get their attention.

“And they were getting killed a lot.”

A year later, much has changed.

Not ‘a miracle, but ... pretty doggone close’

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 22:37 EDT

Brig. Gen. Bob Livingston wore two hats during a yearlong tour of duty of Afghanistan. He was commander of the S.C. National Guard’s 218th Brigade Combat Team and commanding general of Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix. The 7,000-member Task Force was charged with training the Afghan army and police. He offers some thoughts about the tour and his troops’ performance.

Q. What would you say is the 218th’s top achievement this past year?

A. It’s the effect we had on being able to reverse the momentum of the police. ... By that I mean: Going from them being destroyed to a systematic improvement to where they are holding ground. We’re the ones that made the move to do that.

I will tell you we put these guys (the police-mentoring teams) through a couple of weeks of training. We put them out there with enough support ... and they made it happen. It wasn’t one of those things that was easy to do. It wasn’t one of those things that looked pretty. But it was one of those things that was extremely effective.

Q. What was the low point?

S.C. Guard hands Phoenix reins to N.Y. troops

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 22:37 EDT

CAMP PHOENIX, Afghanistan — It’s “y’all” vs. “youse guys” as S.C. National Guard troops hand the reins of Task Force Phoenix to their counterparts from New York this weekend.

For a couple of weeks, the New Yorkers, members of the 27th Brigade Combat Team, have been flowing into Afghanistan to relieve soldiers of South Carolina’s 218th Brigade Combat Team.

On Saturday, the New Yorkers assumed command of Task Force Phoenix, charged with training the Afghan security forces.

“This is one time when Yankees come in to take over that we don’t mind,” cracked Lt. Col. Mike O’Neill of Goose Creek.

As expected, there has been good-natured kidding as troops from the North and South come together on this small base at the eastern edge of Kabul, the Afghan capital.

What the 218th did

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 22:37 EDT

When the S.C. National Guard’s 218th Brigade Combat Team arrived last May in Afghanistan, the mission of Task Force Phoenix was doubled — from training the Afghan army to training the Afghan army and police, too. While Phoenix only had about half the soldiers it needed to carry out both missions, the task force — under the command of the 218th — notched several achievements during the last year.

Afghan army

• One Afghan army battalion and a corps headquarters have been declared capable of planning and executing combat missions on their own, without coalition assistance; 18 more battalions are on the verge of being judged capable of operating independently.

13 Afghan army brigades will be fully staffed by summer, operating with more than 100 percent of their positions filled.

• Instead of leaving most forward operating bases during the bitterly cold winter, task force and Afghan soldiers stayed in more than 240 locations. From those bases, coalition troops engaged Taliban insurgents throughout the winter, preventing them from regrouping in the mountains for the traditional spring and summer fighting season.

The 218th’s fallen

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 22:37 EDT

Three members of the S.C. National Guard’s 218th Brigade Combat Team died during the unit’s yearlong tour of duty in Afghanistan

Staff Sgt. James D. Bullard

The 28-year-old Marion man was a leader and a friend, troops said. Bullard was assigned to a team that was mentoring and training the Afghan police in volatile Kandahar province.

He died Oct. 30 in Spearwan Ghar of wounds suffered when insurgents ambushed his team with rocket-propelled grenades, mortars, and machine-gun and rifle fire.

Bullard, who joined the Guard at 17, had been home in September for the birth of his first child.

What they said

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 22:37 EDT

The following are excerpts of speeches and statements offered Saturday during a ceremony in Kabul, Afghanistan, where the S.C. National Guard’s 218th Brigade Combat Team turned over command of Task Force Phoenix. The S.C. unit was replaced by the 27th Brigade Combat Team of the N.Y. National Guard.

“We went through a difficult summer, but as we went into the fall and winter, the trend became clear: The government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan can legitimately serve and protect the people of Afghanistan using rule of law.”

— Brig. Gen. Bob Livingston, commanding general of the 218th Brigade Combat Team

“Early in our tour, the police were being destroyed by the Taliban, and the (Afghan) army needed to take the lead in fighting. After we deployed our police mentors, the police started holding ground and gained the upper hand. Their losses decreased seven-fold.” — Brig. Gen. Livingston

“Warriors of Phoenix, you have made a difference. We asked you to stretch further than you’ve ever stretched before, and you did it. You accomplished a mission designed for a task force over twice our size, and the results are magnificent.”

S.C. at War: Decorated warriors coming home

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 22:17 EDT

CAMP PHOENIX, Afghanistan — The S.C. National Guard might need to commandeer a C-17 transport plane from Charleston Air Force Base to haul home all the medals its soldiers have earned during the past year here.

The 1,800 troops in the Guard’s 218th Brigade Combat Team have received — or are awaiting the award of — more than 1,000 honors for heroism and meritorious service.

The Newberry-headquartered brigade’s year-long tour of duty in Afghanistan ends today, when it hands over command of Task Force Phoenix to the N.Y. National Guard’s 27th Brigade Combat.

The highest medal awarded to the South Carolinians, a Bronze Star for Valor, went to five soldiers.

That medal’s cousin, the Bronze Star for Meritorious Service, was awarded to 264 S.C. soldiers. That total includes 58 medals that are pending, awaiting approval from higher officials.

Fort’s next commander a personnel specialist

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 22:17 EDT

Fort Jackson’s next commanding general is slated to arrive in July.

Brig. Gen. Bradley W. May will command the Army’s largest training post, the Pentagon said Friday. May has been head of the Enlisted Personnel Management Directorate at the Army’s Human Resources Command in Alexandria, Va.

May will succeed Brig. Gen. James H. Schwitters, who is retiring. Schwitters and his wife will live in Columbia.

At Fort Jackson, May will be responsible for training almost 50,000 new soldiers each year. His experience in the personnel field fits Fort Jackson, which trains troops for personnel, maintenance and other noncombat units, said Lt. Col. Anne Edgecomb, an Army spokeswoman.

Fort Jackson also is home to more than 3,600 active-duty soldiers and has 4,200 civilian employees.

S.C. Guard: Help from 'our U.S. friends'

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:28 EDT

KABUL, Afghanistan — Nearly two hours before the S.C. soldiers arrived, hundreds of people were crowded near the gates of Alo Kheyl School.

Men, wearing turbans, tunics and vests, stood quietly along one side of the compound. Women in ink-blue burqas, holding babies, pressed against a stone wall.

All were waiting to see a doctor at the makeshift medical clinic, one of a half-dozen civil affairs programs supported by the S.C. National Guard’s 218th Brigade Combat Team.

In Afghanistan, civil affairs units have been key players in battling insurgent fighters. To beat the Taliban-led insurgency, the United States and its NATO partners need to win the people’s hearts and minds, commanders said.

And that’s the job of civil affairs.

200 S.C. soldiers arrive as early surprise

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:34 EDT

More than 200 soldiers from the S.C. National Guard's 218th Brigade Combat Team arrived at Pope Air Force Base, N.C., in a surprise early return, WISTV.com is reporting.

More than 1,600 S.C. Guard members have been deployed to Afghanistan for the past 12 months. The first group of about 160 soldiers arrived home two weeks ago.

This second group of returning Guard members includes soldiers from Darlington, Fountain Inn, North Charleston and West Columbia armories, plus other locations around the state.

The returning soldiers will go through post-mobility processing at Fort Bragg for four to five days before returning their home armories. However, some will remain at Fort Bragg until the entire 218th is demobilized in mid-May.

From staff reports

Guard urges eager families to delay their reunions till soldiers reach state

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 23:08 EDT

CAMP PHOENIX, Afghanistan — The S.C. National Guard wants families of soldiers returning from Afghanistan to hold off on reunions until those troops reach their hometown armories in South Carolina.

“Our goal is to get returning soldiers demobilized and out-processed ASAP upon their arrival back into the U.S.,” said Col. Pete Brooks, Guard spokesman.

A second planeload of soldiers from the 218th Brigade Combat Team, ending a yearlong tour in Afghanistan, is due at Fort Bragg, N.C., later this week.

The soldiers’ return was delayed for more than a week because the airline hired to fly them home, ATA, shut down after filing for bankruptcy.

When Guard units have returned to Fort Bragg in the past, some families have driven from South Carolina to greet their soldiers at a North Carolina air base.

A good citizen's walk to remember

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 21:25 EDT

The smile on Kevin Adams’ face was almost as radiant as the sun that warmed the steps of the State House Monday morning.

Adams — a 16-year-old who attends Dreher High and the Heyward Career and Technology Center, battles cerebral palsy and earns A’s — was honored by Gov. Mark Sanford with a citizenship award, one of 1,007 S.C. students recognized for exhibiting character, service, leadership, responsibility and discipline.

Adams demonstrated all of that by taking a few steps.

The crowd of honored students, teachers and family members cheered loudly when Adams rose from his wheelchair and walked across the State House steps to receive his award from Sanford.

The unassisted steps were some of the first he has taken in four years, since the cerebral palsy robbed him of his mobility and forced him into a wheelchair.

Iraq veteran dies in Bluffton wreck

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:12 EDT

The S.C. Highway Patrol suspects alcohol played a role in a Bluffton wreck Saturday night that killed an Army sergeant who had just returned from his fourth tour in Iraq.

Sgt. Jason J. Estvanik, 25, of Raeford, N.C., died at about 10:45 p.m. Saturday when his 1999 Pontiac Firebird veered off U.S. 278 and into the woods near Rose Hill. The car flipped and Estvanik, who wasn't wearing a seatbelt, was ejected.

His passenger, Justin M. Stresky, 26, of Springdale, Pa., was treated and released from Memorial Health University in Savannah.

Estvanik returned from Iraq a month or two ago and was on his way home from a wedding, according to friends. He was stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. He served in the Army¹s Psychological Operations unit on Special Operations Media Team Bravo, which uses broadcasts radio messages to the public and gathers information to help secure schools and other sites.

"He was a real good guy," said Michael Herman, who served two tours with Estvanik. "He took care of his soldiers, that¹s for sure. He was a go-getter. He volunteered for things he didn't have to do ... If I had to pick a team to go back, he'd be the first person I'd choose because you'd know that he'd have your back if something went down."

S.C. troops tackle rocky problem

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 21:38 EDT

CAMP PHOENIX, Afghanistan — A rock-catcher is a must for the indoor plumbing in an Afghan bathroom.

That’s one of the things that S.C. National Guard Lt. Col. Robert Spires learned when his team of engineers started designing and building barracks for the Afghan army.

Spires learned that rocks, which are plentiful here, commonly are used in the Afghan bathroom routine instead of toilet tissue. Thus, a rock-catcher is essential.

“If you don’t install a rock-catcher in the commode, then the first bend in pipe will be plugged,” said Spires, a project manager for Eastman Chemical in Sandy Run in civilian life.

Spires, a member of the S.C. National Guard’s 218th Brigade Combat Team, is chief of Task Force Phoenix’s engineer unit in Afghanistan. In that role, Spires and the 26 troops under his command are handling 1,000 building projects — ranging from plywood huts to $172 million chow halls.

Exclusive | Troops reach out one last time

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 22:42 EDT

KABUL, Afghanistan — The boys waved and offered a triumphant thumbs-up as five S.C. National Guard Humvees rolled through the orphanage gates.

When the vehicles stopped, the children surrounded them and pressed against the doors, barely giving the soldiers enough room to open the doors.

“Pen. Pen. Pen,” the boys shouted in English. “Soccer ball. Volleyball.”

The Palmetto State soldiers, on their final visit to the Tahai Maskan Orphanage, did their best to oblige.

Members of the Guard’s 218th Brigade Combat Team — which next week ends its yearlong tour of duty in Afghanistan — adopted the orphanage in August as one of several civil affairs projects.

Leaving Afghanistan, going to Iraq

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 22:30 EDT

CAMP PHOENIX, Afghanistan — Two dozen S.C. National Guard soldiers say they want to spend a little more time on active duty. But not in Afghanistan.

Instead, the troops, members of the Guard’s 218th Brigade Combat Team, have volunteered to go to Iraq.

“It’s just a job,” shrugged Sgt. Richard Law, who already has served two tours in Iraq with the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division.

Other than the time it takes to fly from Afghanistan to Kuwait to Iraq, the S.C. soldiers won’t get a break. They’ll spend at least 60 days in Iraq, joining the Arkansas National Guard’s 39th Brigade Combat Team. They also will have the option to extend their commitment 30 days at a time.

The soldiers’ yearlong tour in Afghanistan should be over by mid-May. An additional 120 members of the S.C. brigade, including 90 South Carolinians, have volunteered to extend their tours in Afghanistan for up to a year.

Guardsmen's homecoming is deferred

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 10:26 EDT

CAMP PHOENIX, Afghanistan — A planeload of S.C. National Guard soldiers will have to wait in Kuwait while the military hunts for a plane to fly them home.

The delay, caused by “unexpected problems in the airline industry,” could last for days, military officials said.

It also could affect the remainder of the 1,400 S.C. National Guard members scheduled to leave Afghanistan as the 218th Brigade Combat Team completes its yearlong tour of duty here. Plans called for all but a handful of the 218th’s troops to be home around the middle of May.

“The South Carolina National Guard is ... doing everything within our power to get these soldiers home as soon as possible,” said Col. Pete Brooks of the S.C. National Guard. “We want to get them home from Kuwait as badly as they want to get home.”

Over the weekend, the S.C. troops flew on a U.S. Air Force plane from Kabul to Kuwait. From there, they were to take a charter flight to Fort Bragg, N.C.

Bottleneck delays S.C. troops' return from Afghanistan

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 10:25 EDT

Updated 10:25 a.m.
CAMP PHOENIX, Afghanistan -- The homecoming for S.C. National Guard soldiers has been delayed as the military tries to find a plane to fly the troops home.

Over the weekend, a planeload of 218th Brigade Combat Team members flew on a U.S. Air Force transport plane from Kabul, where Camp Phoenix is located, to Kuwait.

There, the soldiers were to transfer to a charter flight to Fort Bragg, N.C., where the 218th is being demobilized.

But a "high volume of troop movements" in and out of Afghanistan has caused a delay for the S.C. troops, according to a spokesman for Task Force Phoenix. The S.C. brigade is in charge of the task force.

The spokesman noted that as the S.C. troops are moving out of Afghanistan, about 3,200 Marines from Camp LeJeune, N.C., and another 7,200 soldiers from the Army’s 101st Airborne are arriving in the country. Moving out at the same time as the 218th are some 7,000 soldiers assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, which headquartered at Fort Bragg.