Afghan Deployment Series
Afghan Deployment Series

From February 2012 until February 2013, I was deployed to Afghanistan as an engineer lieutenant, specifically trained in combat engineering. I was selected by my commander to lead a 4-man team with the unique mission of training, advising, and mentoring an Afghan National Army company (approximately 100 soldiers) on the dangerous task of route clearance. Put crudely, route clearance is a specialized niche whose goal it is to find Improvised Explosive Devices (IED's) before they find you or anyone else.

Some soldiers bring video games, music, or a workout plan to fill the void between missions. For me, a backpack full of camera gear served that role. Initially, photography was merely the hobby that I brought with me to Afghanistan with the intent of taking photographs to share with my friends and family back home.

As a result of taking the initiative to embed images into the reports demanded of me by 'higher,' my photography became a critical component of what I was communicating to my superiors regarding the extremely high profile partnership I was charged with. Additionally, my quest to seek photographic opportunities led to volunteering for combat patrols on my days off. When accompanying my fellow platoon leaders while they were on patrol, I acted in a "combat camera" capacity during when not providing feedback to my Afghan counterparts.

The first installment, which begins with highlighting our initial flights into Afghanistan, was originally posted at Pentax Forums under my handle/alias, Heie. This project eventually caught the eye of several different media sites, one of which led to a publication in Amateur Photographer Magazine. The project, as posted on PF, had to be removed in its entirety because of a fellow officer's poor judgment while he was in the capacity of Intelligence and Security Officer of my unit, assessing the project as rife with OPSEC violations. It has long been reevaluated as perfectly suitable for sharing, and so I'm in the process of republishing it here

EDITORIAL NOTE: Today, there are many images throughout this series I would delete because my skill and overall standard of quality has been raised significantly. However I can't help but reflect on how this project became a turning point for me, catalyzing my calling as a photographer. The quality of photography undoubtedly improves from the first update to the last (17 total updates over a span of 12 months), and yet I feel that to cull any of them now would violate the original integrity of the series and ultimately chip away at the glimpse I was attempting to provide into my unique experience.

I hope you agree...

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