Outside the wire: Reconstruction project shifts to lifesaving mission

Published Oct. 9, 2009
338th Training Squadron Detachment 1

FORT GORDON, Ga. -- Staff Sgt. Jonathan Okeefe, a satellite, wideband and telemetry systems instructor in the 338th Training Squadron's Detachment 1 at Fort Gordon, Ga., recently returned from a 12-month deployment to Afghanistan.

Sergeant Okeefe, who's been in the Air Force for more than 5½ years, served as the chief communications officer for the Kapisa/Parwan provincial reconstruction team on Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.

"Each PRT is assigned to one of the 26 provinces in Afghanistan," Sergeant Okeefe said. "The mission of each team is to make contact with the local populace and government officials to determine what reconstruction projects are needed -- usually roads, schools, wells and other public buildings."

The ordinary day-to-day routine was broken by one of those projects "outside the wire" that created an unforgettable opportunity for Sergeant Okeefe and his team.

"We determined one of the local district centers in the Alasay Valley, the primary insurgent infiltration route for the region, needed to be cleaned up and refurbished," Sergeant Okeefe explained. "The plan created to do this involved most of our team traveling out to the Alasay district center and staying there for five days, paying the local villagers to clean up the district center and accomplishing the goals of cleaning up the district center and inject money into the local economy.

For Sergeant Okeefe's part in this adventure, he was responsible for assuring communications between the remote site, in a dangerous valley, and back to the home base. To accomplish this, he did two things.

"I created a transportable communications package large enough for three squads totaling 60 people, including PRC-148 land mobile radios, a PRC-117 tactical satellite setup and all the supporting equipment necessary for our trip," he recalled. "I acted as the primary radio-telephone operator for the forward location. Also, to effectively use every available person at the site, I doubled as a security emplacement driver on our security perimeter at night."

At the site, almost everything went according to plan. After arrival, the team set up its tactical operations at the district center in a building next to the district Center and set up a perimeter encompassing both the district center and our TOC. The next three days involved a massive cleanup, followed by payday for the local workers, site tear-down, and return to base.

"During the cleanup days, we were simply maintaining our position and staying vigilant to make sure nothing major happened -- however, something did happen on the fourth day," Sergeant Okeefe recalled. "Late in the afternoon we saw several small explosions in the distance, then one big one. When everyone checked in, we determined the explosion was nowhere near us. Shortly after checking in, we noticed a plume of dirt rising about a mile away from where we were.

"Since it didn't appear hostile and there were no coalition forces in the area of the explosion, we asked the local Afghanistan National Police force to check it out and let us know what happened," he continued. "Thirty minutes after the big explosion, several locals carrying five injured children showed up at the entry control point to our site."

The posture of Sergeant Okeefe's team quickly became defensive, and all battle gear was put on immediately. The two medics on the team assessed the children's injuries and determined that the only way for them to survive was to call in a medevac from Bagram AB.

"Once the medevac was approved, we started preparing for the arrival of the helicopter," Sergeant Okeefe reported. "During this time I was a runner to help coordinate the preparation and also to bring supplies from our TOC out to the medics and other people working to save the children's lives. When the medevac helicopter finally arrived, I switched to covering a position around the makeshift landing site until the helicopter took off for Bagram."

On the fifth day, Sergeant Okeefe learned the nature of the explosion.

"The children had been playing with a rocket motor they had found and they had all been standing very close, some even squatting down next to it, when it exploded, quite literally, in their faces," he remembered. "By the time they were brought to us, two of the five had lost so much blood there was nothing that could be done for them and they died before the helicopter ever arrived. However, the other three were stabilized, and two weeks after we left the district center, all three had been discharged from the hospital.

"My experience at the Alasay District Center was the most intense and memorable experience I had during my deployment," Sergeant Okeefe emphasized. "I believe that the work we did there had a real impact on the lives of those we met and their community."