Latest dispatch from Afghanistan

Winsted native Maj. Aaron Angell of the U.S. Marines, who has been keeping in regular contact with The Winsted Journal since being deployed to Afghanistan in January, has sent two more dispatches from Camp Leatherneck in the country’s Helmland Province.Angell’s mission, described in detail in previous dispatches, has been to assist with the drawdown of U.S. forces and transfer of power to the Afghan National Government. This includes providing logistical support to forces leaving the southwest region of Afghanistan and performing tactical retrograde (complete dismantling) of marine units leaving the area.On March 12, Angell sent a photo of a Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion heavy lift helicopter with containers to provide Warrior Express Services to Marines at forward tactical locations.“Warrior Express Services are a mobile combination of disbursing services (a bank issuing money), a post office, and a convenience store. Think of someone driving up to your house with a traveling 7-11, with an attached ATM, and a post office desk that has Priority Mail boxes ready for you on the spot. How convenient is that!”Angell noted that, while the service is an amazing feature of the modern military, it’s not an everyday perk.“You probably wonder why you don’t even get service like that back at home,” he wrote. “On the flipside, some of our Marines out here only get these services once every 21 days. We plan out a rotation to hit every spot at least once every 21 days. Sometimes this support comes on a truck, as part of a military convoy. In this case we flew one of our teams to a more remote site for them to provide the support. We even call ahead and ask the unit on the ground what kind of stuff they would like for us to bring for them to buy, and to get a feel for any special postal needs. This is definitely a morale service that makes a big impact, even though our Marines will joke about it and say that this kind of support makes them too soft.  ‘Too soft,’ until they want a copy of their favorite magazine, a Mountain Dew, or a bag of Doritos.  Sometimes they need essentials like toiletries, but this is meant to bring a little something different, and to give them a chance to use some of their hard-earned combat pay.”Angell noted that new postal regulations require incoming mail to troops to be addressed with a full 9-digit zip code. His complete address is as follows: Maj Aaron Angell, CLR-2 (HQSVC/S-3), FPO AE 09510-3760. Angell added that extra-bold blends of Starbucks coffee are always greatly appreciated.In a March 18 email, Angell sent a photo of a combat operations center used by Regimental Combat Team 7, which was supported by Angell’s unit a few weeks earlier. The unit includes four Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Vehicles with backs facing each other, each running to power up multiple electronic command and control systems. Angell noted that when he was deployed in Kosovo in 2000, a similar setup would have included two vehicles with canvas backs and a tent draped between them. These days, a four-vehicle unit can support maps, tracking systems and screens to watch video feeds from manned and unmanned surveillance aircraft.“One thing that has not changed (probably the only thing in this picture) is the row of foldout cots by the MRAP vehicle with the mineroller to the right,” Angell noted. “Those are the same old cots of 2000, and before.”