Fort Drum commander sees security gains in Afghanistan

FORT DRUM — The commander of the 10th Mountain Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team said he is seeing gains since the unit deployed to Afghanistan in March.

“The security environment is much better than it was a year ago,” Col. Patrick D. Frank said in a telephone conversation from Kandahar. “There’s some normalcy returning to Afghan life.”

The unit took over from the 101st Airborne Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, which has been credited with defeating the Taliban’s momentum in Kandahar.

Soldiers of the Fort Drum unit have seen 55 percent fewer combat events this year compared with last year, when the airborne brigade was there, according to brigade intelligence statistics. Attacks by improvised explosive devices — the single biggest killer of division troops — have decreased 34 percent this year, according to the statistics. In the first four months of its deployment, the brigade has lost eight soldiers.

In addition to combat operations, the brigade is focused on developing the southern Afghan community’s education, economic and agricultural systems, the colonel said, adding that unit leadership urges soldiers to reach out and interact with the Afghan community.

The soldiers enjoy working with civilians, Col. Frank said, adding that a common sentiment by the Afghan families is “the Taliban lost last year. My family wins this year.”

The Americans partner with Afghan security forces for patrols, and a network of combat outposts in Afghan communities allows for relationships between the forces and civilians to share intelligence and immediate security concerns, he said.

Col. Frank — a Cuba, N.Y., native who is married to Jennifer Karen Constance, daughter of Jon P. and Karen E. Constance, Sackets Harbor — pushed community engagement even before the deployment by reaching out to north country residents. Watertown city officials taught brigade leaders about local governance and infrastructure.

Col. Frank said lessons about agriculture his troops received from Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County before the deployment have proven especially helpful in Kandahar’s agrarian society. That, along with increased security, he said, has caused more farmers to return to their craft.

“The soldiers that were trained have been the lifeblood for our connection to farmers,” he said. “The fields have come to life in the middle of the grape harvest.”

The unit also has built a veterinary clinic with a training area, he said.

However, the brigade remains on the offensive. Its 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment has lost seven soldiers and, according to a brigade spokesman, is pushing Taliban fighters out of their sector and toward the Arghandab River.

“That’s been a highly effective campaign so far,” Col. Frank said. “We’re going to push them right to the river’s edge.”