2nd Platoon, B Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, took part in a patrol led by Afghan partners near Combat Outpost Sperwan Ghar in southern Kandahar.[1] The patrol’s stated purpose was to get to know the people in the village of Shengazi.[1] The platoon had never been to Shengazi before and did not even know what the village was called.[1] On the morning of Jan. 3, the platoon and its Afghan National Army partners marched out of Sperwan Ghar with rifles, mine sweepers and a Military Working Dog.[1]
During the patrol, the Afghan soldiers found and destroyed more than 2,000 lbs of marijuana.[1] Counternarcotics had become a focus for Afghan security forces operations in the area.[1] Growing and using marijuana is both against Afghan law and Islam.[1] For the first time since 2002, the Afghan government was putting emphasis on drug eradication.[1] The platoon leader said the Taliban would no longer have the income that marijuana brings them to use against the Americans and the Afghan army.[1]
The 2011 fighting season was over, and U.S. forces were adjusting their mission down to platoon-level operations to reflect the changed focus.[1] The patrol also carried radios to hand to heads of households that receive the Afghan government’s official broadcasts, plus newsletters with the same information for literate family members.[1]
