Capt. Michael Gagnon teaches Afghan children how to fist bump in the Helmand River Valley of southwestern Afghanistan, Oct. 21. Gagnon, a native of Oxford, Mass., commands a team of roughly 20 men dubbed â??Task Force Nomad.â? Over the next several weeks, the task force, a subset of Marine Wing Support Squadron 371, will construct or improve helicopter landing zones along the valley.
-- Photo by Cpl. Brian Adam Jones
By Brian Adam Jones
Last week, I like to think I had the opportunity to glimpse at the future of Afghanistan.
â??Yo, Gimme some chocolate,â? said the Pashtun boy.
Four English words and a spirited request for candy demonstrated the effects of a decade of American presence in the region.
â??Yo,â? answered Capt. Michael Gagnon, a logistics officer with Marine Wing Support Squadron 371. He responded in Pashto that he didnâ??t have any.
As of last week, I had been in Afghanistan roughly two and a half months and Iâ??d hardly seen any Afghans.
My role as a combat journalist with 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) means I donâ??t have the opportunity to interact with the population the way other forces do, but nonetheless, I was eager to be on the ground.
I traveled to the Helmand River Valley to spend a few days with Gagnon, who is on his third Afghan deployment in two years, and his small team, operating out of Patrol Base Alcatraz to construct helicopter landing zones for the small outposts here.
Having spent the last two months in the desert, I found the Helmand River Valley weird. I hadnâ??t seen a tree since July when I left North Carolina for Afghanistan. The thin strip of lush vegetation surrounding either side of the Helmand River was surreal to me, and I was eager to explore it.
In the midst of constructing a helicopter landing zone for one of the countless patrol bases that dot the heavily-populated valley, Gagnon, myself and the rest of the team encountered a group of curious Afghan children.
