1-503rd 173rd ABCT at FOB ORGUN-E Afghanistan

Vicenza-based soldiers knew what needed to be done as their second tour in Afghanistan began

ORGUN-E, Afghanistan

Few battalions in the Army have spent as much time as the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment getting to know their areas of operations.

Some soldiers in the Vicenza, Italy-based unit have served 25 of the past 40 months in Paktika province. They went on a 12-month tour in 2005-06, and followed it up with a 15-month stint expected to last until July.

Staff Sgts. Kevin Field and Matthew Fillinger and Sgt. Michael Fogleman all served in the same platoon when the 173rd Airborne Brigade jumped into Iraq in 2003. They’re still serving as Sky Soldiers.

The men said they’ve noticed differences between the unit’s two rotations to Afghanistan.

"Our ops tempo is a lot higher this time," said Field, who has a wife and two children in Vicenza.

"We’re doing a lot of the same things in different ways," Fillinger said. "I don’t know if we’re doing them better than we were previously, but the results are becoming more visible."

One of the biggest events during their previous rotation in Afghanistan was the first national election since the fall of the Taliban-led government. The soldiers said they see a lot more interest by local people toward their government this time around and it might just take time for something like that to set in.

Fillinger said that if he has to serve somewhere in this region, it might as well be where he’s invested some time.

"I’d prefer [Paktika] to Baghdad," he said, smiling.

Lt. Col. Mike Fenzel, the battalion commander, said his unit "knew all the names. All the places. We knew already what we wanted to focus on."

For Fenzel, that meant getting troops out near the border with Pakistan. Half a dozen combat outposts have been built or refurbished during the battalion’s current tour.

Getting to those compounds often requires flying. The Army has about twice the helicopters in the sector as it did during the previous rotation, Fenzel said.

There’s more helicopter traffic into the battalion’s headquarters at Orgun-E. Afghan forces are also operating their own aircraft. And much of the resupply burden has been contracted out to private foreign helicopters, commonly referred to by troops as "jingle air." "Jingle trucks," which sometimes come all the way from ports in the south through Pakistan with supplies, still make their journeys. But it’s easier for the helicopters to make the trips.

It can get a little monotonous at some of those locations.

"There are discouraging days," Fillinger said. "But every day, I get up and see those names of my friends up on the Wall (of Heroes). Those guys died for their country, whether they always agreed with it or not. They were doing what they were supposed to do."

He said even little changes in the people or province can help him refocus.

"You see that progress is being made and you’ve just got to take pride in it."