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Osprey Games AAG Force on Force Enduring Freedom
1st Edition. Edition Ambush Alley Games Digital Instant
Download
Author(s): Ambush Alley Games
ISBN(s): 9781849085328, 1849085323
Edition: 1st Edition.
File Details: PDF, 4.91 MB
Year: 2011
Language: english
© Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com
a force on force companion

OSPREY
PUBLISHING

© Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com

 TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 5 IED Trigger Men 24
HISTORICAL SUMMARY 6 Dickers/Spotters 24
Is that a guy in a Burkha? 24
THE AFGHAN COMBAT 17
Coalition Special Rules 24
ENVIRONMENT – SPECIAL
RULES FOR OEF COIN CONSIDERATIONS: Limiting 24
Collateral Damage and Civilian Casualties
Physical Features of the Battlespace 17
Claymore Mines 27
The Green Zone 17
Breaching Compound Walls 28
Opium Fields and Crops 17
IED Counter-measures 29
Difficult Terrain 17
Military Working Dogs 30
Troop Quality and Morale Ratings 18
EOD Teams 30
Local Taliban 18
Tier One or Hardcore Taliban 18 SCENARIOS 31
Foreign Fighters/al Qaeda 18 Suggested Victory Point Values 31
Afghan National Police (ANP) & Afghan 19 A Note on Table Size, Ranges & Measurements 31
Militia Forces (AMF) Scenario 1: The Battle for the Arghendab Bridge 32
Coalition ‘Non Teeth’ Arms (Logistics, 19 Scenario 2: Black Dust 36
Medical Support, Non Attack Aviation
Scenario 3: The Place of the King 40
etc.) and Afghan National Army (ANA)
Scenario 4: Takur Ghar I 44
Coalition Regulars (Infantry, Airborne, 20
Cavalry, Armor, Combat Engineer, Scenario 5: Takur Ghar II 48
Attack Aviation) Scenario 6: Operation Mutay I 53
Coalition Veterans 20 Scenario 7: Operation Mutay II 57
Special Operations Forces 20 Scenario 8: Siege at Musa Qala DC 63
Tier One Special Mission Units (SMUs) 20 Scenario 9: Operation Glacier Two 70
Taliban Special Rules 21 Scenario 10: Sangin Ambush 69
Afghan Civilians 21 Scenario 11: Korengal Ambush 79
Squirters (Shrinkage) 21 Scenario 12: OP Topside 84
RPGs 21 Scenario 13: Bala Baluk Ambush 89
Out of Contact Movement 21 Scenario 14: Operation Shak Hawel 95
In Cover Bonus 22 Scenario 15: The Battle of Danaweh I 100
Hot Spots (The Afghan Variant) 22 Scenario 16: The Battle of Danaweh II 105
Ambush 22 Scenario 17: Road Warriors 111
Is That a Rock or a Muj? 22 Scenario 18: Heavy Metal 117
Recoilless Rifles and Unguided Rockets 23 Scenario 19: Bomber in the Bazaar 123
IEDs 23 Scenario 20: JPEL 127

© Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com

SAMPLE ORGANIZATIONS 133 VEHICLES 146
Afghan National Forces 133 Australian Defense Force (ADF) 146
Afghan National Army (ANA) 133
Canadian Vehicles 147
Australian Force 134
Royal Australian Regiment 134 Danish Vehicles 147
Canadian Forces 134 Dutch Vehicles 147
Canadian Land Force Command 134 French Vehicles 148
(Canadian Army)
German Vehicles 148
United Kingdom Forces 135
British Army 135 UK Vehicles 149
British Royal Marines 136 US Vehicles 151
United States Forces 136
US Marine Corps (USMC) 136 UNIFORM GUIDE 153
US Army 137 USMC 153
Danish Forces 140 US Army 153
Spejderdelinger (Scout Platoon) of a Light 140
British Army & Royal Marines 155
Recon Squadron, Danish Battalion
Mechanized Infantry Company 144 The Taliban & al Qaeda 155
(Piranhas)/Armored Infantry
Company (M113s), Danish Battalion PAINTING GUIDE 156
Dutch Forces 141
MINIATURES GUIDE 158
Air Mobile Platoon 141
Armored Infantry Platoon 142 GLOSSARY OF TERMS 159
France 143 & ACRONYMS
Section de Combat (Infantry Platoon) 143
Germany 143 BIBLIOGRAPHY 161
Gebirgsjäger or Fallschirmjäger Zug 144
ARTWORK REFERENCES 162
(Mountaineer or Paratroop Platoon)
Panzergrenadier Zug (Platoon) 145 FOG OF WAR CARDS 163

© Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com

 INTRODUCTION
Enduring Freedom is the second companion book for stronger esprit de corps. The Taliban also receive some
Force on Force, focusing on a war-torn country which special attributes which we believe provide a strong
continues to dominate the headlines: Afghanistan. “period feel” for these forces.
Developing a reasonably representative sample of A big part of attempting to represent the war in
tabletop wargaming scenarios from ten long years of Afghanistan on the tabletop is featuring ISAF and OEF
war is a difficult task with literally too many choices and Rules of Engagement (ROEs) and Counter-Insurgency
unfortunately not enough pages. The scenarios (COIN) tactics in a way that is both playable and adds
eventually selected run the gamut from small Special some understanding of the pressures and sometimes
Forces actions to platoon plus engagements with armor conflicting objectives of real leaders on the ground.
and close air support. Eventually we hope to present Dropping 2000 pound JDAMs or calling in artillery fire
more Afghan scenarios for Force on Force including missions at the first sign of a contact will soon lose you
scenarios featuring a wider range of ISAF nations. This the game. Firepower must be applied with both the
supplement does focus heavily on US and British ROEs and COIN in mind; Afghanistan is truly a “war
actions however these are relatively easily modified amongst the people” as General Sir Rupert Smith so
to suit most ISAF forces. The reason for the aptly termed it.
predominantly US/UK focus is simply one of access – to We hope this supplement gives you many hours of
both veteran histories and AARs. rewarding wargaming and some further insight into
You will note that the majority of scenarios in what thousands of servicemen and women from a
Enduring Freedom are classed as kinetic or symmetric variety of nations are facing every day. This book is
engagements under the Force on Force rules as recent dedicated to them – all gave some, some gave all.
history, in the form of veteran testimonies and AARs,
have judged the Taliban to be a disciplined and Ambush Alley Games
tenacious enemy with more similarities to a
conventional, albeit insurgency-based, force than the
ill-trained but deadly militias and terrorists faced in
Iraq. The Taliban themselves are sub-divided into two
classes: Local Taliban – farmers or other civilians paid
or coerced to lay IEDs or fire off a few rounds in the
direction of an ISAF convoy – and Tier One or
Hardcore Taliban who are the full-time insurgents of Wanat Q
RF, the
Mullah Omar’s movement. Local Taliban are classed as battle.
Photo c
morning
after th
ourtesy e
Irregulars in Force on Force terms while the Hardcore of Erik
Slater
are Regulars who can take the initiative and have a far

5
© Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com
 HISTORICAL SUMMARY
It is de rigueur these days to refer to Afghanistan as “the for international adventurism of all stripes. It is little
graveyard of empires.” Like most over-used catchphrases wonder that Usama bin Laden chose Afghanistan for his
attempting to reduce a complex issue to a three or four al Qaeda headquarters.
word aphorism, this one obscures more than it reveals. Afghanistan finds itself once again the stage for a
While various empires have pursued interest in contest between ideas intent on defining both regional
Afghanistan and often suffered bloody reversals there, and global reality. Yet another Afghan government finds
those pursuits have only arguably contributed to the itself scrabbling to establish order and stability in the
immediate demise of one of them: the Soviet Union. midst of a conflict that far exceeds its nation’s craggy
Alexander the Great certainly detoured into territory borders. This volume attempts to describe some of the
that is now labelled “Afghanistan,” but his dalliance there engagements in the on-going struggle, the environment
did not bring the Macedonian Empire to its knees, let in which they are fought, and the structure of the
alone to its death bed. Later, the British and Russians fighting forces themselves.
would settle upon Afghanistan as an ideal playing field
for their Great Game, an exercise that would prove more AFTERMATH OF THE SOVIET
or less injurious to both empires, but certainly not fatal OCCUPATION
to either. Finally, Afghanistan played host to a rather Enduring Freedom focuses on events after 9/11, but to
tepid Cold War contention between the US and Soviet understand the environment in which Coalition troops
Union. While the USSR didn’t survive its adventure in now contest with both local and international insurgents
Afghanistan for long, its involvement there can hardly we must briefly examine the years following the Soviet
be pointed to as the key element in its demise. The Union’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, as it is the
United States emerged from the conflict unscathed, vacuum left by the Soviet departure that would
although the aftermath of proxy warfare in Afghanistan eventually be filled by the Taliban and al Qaeda.
would spawn an environment conducive to the planning Soviet forces withdrew between May 1988 and
and execution of 9/11’s atrocities. February 1989 and left behind a communist regime
The defining element of Afghan history is not that it propped up by Soviet advisors and as little direct aid as
served as the quicksand that pulled one aged empire after possible. Led by Dr. Najibullah Ahmadzi, the former
another to its doom, but rather that, as a nation, head of KHAD, the Afghan intelligence agency based
Afghanistan has rarely produced a viable, unifying heavily on the KGB, the government lacked international
government. Afghanistan has never truly buried any legitimacy and was anathema to the Mujahideen, who
foreign empires, but it has certainly interred its own refused all government overtures of negotiation. Why
governments in rapid succession. Trapped within a net negotiate with a government that would only last as long
of contentious tribalism, divisive geography and crushing as the Soviets chose to sponsor it, especially when it was
poverty, Afghanistan has been doomed through the clear that the Russians would rather put the entire
ages to provide a chaotic, lawless environment ideal Afghan adventure behind them? As it would turn out,

6
© Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com
 historical summary

the Najibullah government would survive the Soviet Other factions existed, some unique unto themselves
Union in December of 1991 by a little over two months. and others spin-offs of the larger factions, but the
Between 1989 and 1993, Afghanistan found itself Mujahideen Interregnum was dominated by the Hezb-i-
under the control of various Mujahideen factions, each Islami and Jamiat e-Islami.
eager to consolidate regions of the country to their The Jamiat and Hezb-i-Islami came into violent
advantage in an ongoing struggle to seize national conflict when Kabul fell to Jamiat forces comprised
dominance. The two dominant factions during the of Tajiki and Uzbeki troops under the command of
“Mujahideen Interregnum” were the predominately Generals Rabanni, Massoud, and Rashid Dostum. The
Pashtun Hezb-i-Islami, led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Pashtun Hezb-i-Islami could not allow a non-Pashtun
and supported mostly by north-eastern Afghans and to retain control of Afghanistan’s putative seat of power
expatriate Pashtun in the Pakistani refugee camps and and quickly placed the city under siege. Hezb-i-Islami
the Jamiat e-Islami, comprised mostly of northern artillery took Kabul’s residential areas under fire,
minorities such as the Tajiks and Uzbeks and led by inflicting thousands of civilian casualties. With the
Burnahuddin Rabanni and including in its ranks the support of Ahmed Shah Massoud, the siege was
charismatic General Ahmed Shah Massoud. eventually broken. With Kabul in his hands, Rabbani

M1114 Zeus-HLONS, Bagram Air Base

7
© Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com
ENDURING FREEDOM

declared himself president of Afghanistan. Fighting Under the charismatic leadership of Mullah Mohamed
between the various Mujahideen factions continued Omar, the Taliban soon prospered in Afghanistan. By
unabated, however, and the country continued its 1995, they were in control of Kandahar, Uruzgan, and
downward spiral into lawlessness. Zabol provinces. Territory under their control was put
As the Mujahideen factions continued to ravage under Sharia law. Despite its harshness, many Afghans
Afghanistan in pursuit of their political ambitions, tribal welcomed the change from the lawlessness that marked
and ethnic enmity, and religious strife, a new power was the rule of the Mujahideen warlords. The Taliban’s ability
taking shape in the crowded Pashtun refugee camps to rapidly replace their losses directly from the madrassas
in Pakistan. mitigated the warlords’ advantages in armor and airpower.
When Herat fell to Mullah Omar’s troops, most of
THE RISE OF THE TALIBAN Afghanistan outside Kabul and the non-Pashtun north fell
Within weeks of the Soviet intervention, over half a under Taliban control.
million Afghans fled to Pakistan and Iran. A survey in Bolstered by support from wealthy Saudi sympathizers,
1988 revealed that 3.5 million Afghans were housed in the Taliban launched a final push on Kabul, attacking the
Pakistani refugee camps. The diaspora of Afghans hit city from several directions at once. Unable to resist the
its high water mark in 1991 when an estimated 6 million attack, General Massoud was forced to withdraw from the
Afghans, or nearly a quarter of the nation’s population, city and regroup in the north. Kabul was handed over to
were displaced to refugee camps, primarily in Pakistan. the Taliban, who celebrated their victory by stringing up
Thanks to the violence of the Soviet occupation and the former president Najibullah from a light post near the
factional warfare that came afterwards, Afghanistan had UN compound.
more displaced persons than any other nation in the Death sentences in absentia were sworn out against
1980s and early 1990s. Massoud, Dostum, and Rabbani. Within 24 hours of the
The unique blend of fundamentalist Islam taught in city’s fall, the basic rights of women were drastically
Pakistan’s Peshawar madrassas was very attractive to limited. Taliban fighters roamed Kabul’s streets, meting
young Afghan men that crowded the refugee camps, out beatings to anyone they deemed in violation of their
having no prospects for employment. This version of version of Sharia Law.
Islam, markedly different from other fundamentalist The Taliban had come to power in Afghanistan.
Moslem sects, focused on the ideal of an Afghanistan
restored to pre-modern innocence and populated by AFGHANISTAN UNDER
Moslems of true and simple virtue. The Taliban, or THE TALIBAN
religious students, who graduated from these madrassas By early 2001, the Taliban were firmly in control of
adhered to a particularly stringent interpretation of Afghanistan. General Massoud, the last major hold-out
Sharia Law and believed that Afghanistan could and against their rule had been pushed back into portions
would be transformed into an ideal Moslem state of two Northern provinces, Badakhshan and Takhar
through its application. The Taliban vision was equally and neighbouring countries, even Uzbekistan, which
attractive to disenfranchised young men and radicalized had vigorously denounced the Taliban in the past, were
fundamentalists of other Moslem nations. recognizing the legitimacy of the Taliban government.

8
© Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com
 historical summary

THE STORM BREAKS

The atmosphere of radicalized fundamentalism that
prevailed under Taliban rule made Afghanistan an ideal
refuge for like-minded groups of extremists – including
Usama bin Laden’s al Qaeda, and brought the Taliban
government into conflict with the United States.
Bin Laden had been linked to several terrorist attacks
against the US, including the attack on the USS Cole and
the bombing of the US Embassies in Kenya. He was
indicted for the bombings in absentia and the US made
firm demands to the Taliban government that bin Laden
, 2001 be turned over to the US. The Taliban steadfastly refused.
in Herat
Taliban On 9 September 2001, General Massoud was slain by
bomb-wielding al Qaeda assassins posing as cameramen.
Bin Laden, in celebration of the news, announced in a
A narrow, literalist interpretation of Sharia Law video that the time had come to “strike America where it
provided the foundation for Taliban governance of hurts.” On 11 September, the world learned that these
Afghanistan. Women’s rights were curtailed to the words were not an empty threat.
point of extinction. Men without beards were subject
to beatings. Music, movies, TV, playing cards, even
kite flying was abolished. The Taliban turned a
pragmatically blind eye on the opium trade, however.
While the use of drugs was forbidden by the Koran,
harvesting opium was allowed because it would be
consumed by infidels in the west. In fact, the opium
trade financed a great part of the fighting necessary to
the Taliban’s rise to and retention of power and was
indispensable to their survival, no matter what Sharia
Law might proscribe.
The Taliban were more than a cabal of religious
zealots, however. They also represented a Pashtun tribal
hegemony, and as such, they were bent on redressing
the wrongs done against their people by other tribes.
Massacres of the past were repaid with death and
destruction. Religious intolerance was also the rule of Usama B
in Laden
Afghanis po
the day, as illustrated by the slaughter of up to 8,000 Shia tan, 200 ster found in
2
in and around Mazar-e-Sharif in 1998.

9
© Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com
ENDURING FREEDOM

In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the US and its positions with their SOFLAM laser designators for
closest allies began planning operations into Afghanistan. Coalition airstrikes. On the same night two concurrent
On 12 September, NATO invoked Article 5 of its charter operations were conducted outside the Taliban’s
providing for mutual protection of member states under spiritual home of Kandahar. The first was the much-
attack, eventually leading to the deployment of the publicized 3rd Battalion, 75th Rangers combat drop
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). First on onto a Taliban airstrip which would eventually become
the ground however, a bare 15 days after the Towers fell, Forward Operating Base (FOB) Rhino. The second was
was a CIA team known as Jawbreaker I or the Northern conducted well outside of the eyes of the media – 160th
Alliance Liaison Team (NALT); a mixed seven man team SOAR inserted a Tier One ground element from the
from the paramilitary Special Activities Division (SAD) Army’s 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment –
and the Counterterrorist Centre (CTC). This pilot team Delta to conduct a direct action operation against one of
arrived in Afghanistan, in CIA flown Mi-17s, armed with Mullah Omar’s residences. The Delta operators missed
millions in cash to help ensure the support of numerous Omar but captured valuable intelligence before being
Afghan warlords including General Rashid Dostum, engaged upon extraction by a sizeable Taliban quick
General Mohammed Atta and Massoud’s replacement reaction force (QRF).
as leader of the Northern Alliance, Fahim Khan. Other ODAs, Joint Special Operations Command
Immediately the NALT began cementing allegiances with (JSOC) including a vehicle-mounted Delta squadron,
them, conducting advance force operations to identify UK Special Forces and CIA teams inserted across the
and assess Taliban targets for airstrikes, and paving the country and began offensive operations both unilaterally
way for the insertion of US military Special Operations and in support of the Northern Alliance and the
Forces (SOF) into Afghanistan. fledgling Eastern Alliance (under future president
Operation Crescent Wind was the codename for the Hamid Karzai). With the SOF calling in devastating
preparatory airstrikes which began on the night of airstrikes and advising their local
6 October with both US and British aircraft eliminating
the meager Taliban air force on the ground and silencing
antiaircraft SAM defenses and radars. Aerial targeting
soon switched to enemy command and control nodes
and troop concentrations in preparation for infiltrating
SOF teams. The 160th Special Operations Aviation
Regiment (SOAR) defied atrocious weather in the
predawn darkness of 20 October to successfully insert
the first two Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA)
teams – ODAs 555 and 595 – from the 5th Special
Forces Group under the command of the newly formed
ing with
Task Force Dagger. Their task was multifaceted but o r c e s ODA rid
ial F ,
US Spec fighters
included mentoring the Northern Alliance, intelligence r t h e r n Alliance 2 0 0 1
No Nov
tan, 12
preparation of the battlespace and targeting Taliban Afghanis

10
© Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com
 historical summary

allies, the Taliban’s grip on the country began to loosen.

On 10 November, the city of Mazar-e-Sharif and later
Bagram fell to the Northern Alliance swiftly followed by
all of the major cities including Taloqan, Kabul and
finally Kandahar on 6 December. The campaign had
lasted barely two months – 49 days. The SOF and OGA
(Other Government Agency – an acronym usually used
to describe CIA assets) teams were soon reinforced by
conventional forces with the Marines of 15th Marine
A typica
Expeditionary Unit (MEU) and later the 10th Mountain l Tora Bo
ra regio
n villag
and 101st Airborne Divisions. SOF continued to lead the e
prosecution of the war, reinforced by Coalition SOF
units (including Canadian, New Zealand and German a large number of foreign fighters
units), under the 5th Special Forces, and dominate Task from al Qaeda and associated groups had taken refuge in
Force Dagger; the SEAL, 3rd Special Forces and the imposing Sha-i-kot Valley, close to the Afghan-
Coalition SOF based Task Force K-Bar; the Tier One Pakistan border. SOF led the operation with both US
operators of Task Force Sword; the Australian Special Army ODAs attached to local AMF to serve as the tip of
Force Task Force 64 and the “intelligence fusion cell” of the spear while other SOF maintained mountaintop
Task Force Bowie. observation posts, identifying and calling in airstrikes
During December 2001, Task Force Dagger and on enemy positions. Conventional forces from the 10th
Sword, reinforced by a small UK Special Boat Service Mountain and the Rakassans of the 101st air assaulted
(SBS) element, pursued fleeing remnants of al Qaeda directly into the valley in Chinook helicopters under air
including bin Laden and other senior leadership targets cover from the bare handful of Apache gunships then
into the Soviet Afghan War era cave complex of Tora in-theater.
Bora along the border with Pakistan. Forced to rely upon The conventional forces were ambushed soon after
their locally recruited Afghan Militia Forces (AMF) due landing by enemy fighters hidden in the surrounding
to political concerns about the size of the US footprint (a mountains. Intelligence had earlier indicated that the
request from both the Delta and CIA commanders for enemy were living with the villagers on the valley floor
the Rangers to be deployed to block the escape routes but late breaking CIA and Delta intelligence locating them
into Pakistan was denied), the offensive faltered amongst in caves on the valley slopes didn’t filter down from the
allegations of turncoat Afghans taking bribes from al leadership to commanders of conventional forces on the
Qaeda leaders to escape across the border. ground. The contact escalated into the largest firefight
Intelligence developed by Task Force Bowie led to experienced by the US Army since Vietnam. The SOF had
the next major Coalition operation in March 2002 – their own issues with a SEAL falling from a helicopter
Operation Anaconda. This was at the time the largest during a mountaintop insertion, the rescue team (in the
OEF operation and one which brought together both form of a Ranger QRF Chinook) being shot down and the
conventional forces and SOF. Intelligence indicated that Rangers fighting a desperate battle of survival on the peak

11
© Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com
ENDURING FREEDOM

the re-emergence of the Taliban and an insurgency which

continues to this day.
The American strategy was focused on hunting down
al Qaeda and Taliban remnants, not on reconstruction.
They also maintained a strictly small footprint of troops
in-theater, a mistaken holdover from fears of repeating the
Soviet experience. The only traditional COIN activity was
largely limited to the Special Forces. The US and Britain
became preoccupied with Iraq whilst the Taliban and
e
rs in th Al Qaeda re-grouped and re-established themselves in
o r c e s operato , 2 0 02
ial F nistan
US Spec t o f Afgha their Pakistani havens supported by elements of the
is t r ic
Orgun D Pakistani ISI and various Islamic charities used as front
of Takur Ghar. organizations. The Afghan people themselves were very
Anaconda was cursed from the very beginning with supportive of the US and ISAF presence in 2002 and 2003
poor coordination, communications, de-confliction, with most Afghans believing that the fall of the Taliban
and dissemination of vital intelligence. Despite these gave the country an opportunity for peace and prosperity.
difficulties, Anaconda resulted in a large number of enemy In the months following Anaconda, Coalition forces
KIA and broke the back of the foreign fighters harboring launched Operation Mountain Lion hunting Taliban and
in the Sha-i-kot. al Qaeda remnants around Khost and Gardez while a
linked operation, Operation Ptarmigan, was conducted
THE GOLDEN HOUR by Britain’s 45 Commando, Royal Marines. Both
SQUANDERED operations, and the follow-up, the 82nd Airborne’s
Anaconda also served as somewhat of a watershed point Operation Mountain Sweep, led to few contacts with the
for Afghanistan as Washington and the Pentagon began enemy and a minimal number of prisoners. 2002 also
focusing their efforts on the impending invasion of Iraq. saw Hamid Karzai become the leader of an Afghan
Post Anaconda, key resources including Tier One SOF, transitional government prior to the planned general
Army Special Forces, CIA intelligence gathering assets, elections which eventually occurred in October of 2004.
Civil Affairs and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) were The war in Afghanistan had reverted to what some
redeployed in preparation for Operation Iraqi Freedom consider a low level counter-insurgency with conventional
(OIF). Many consider that this was the “golden hour” troops conducting sweep and clear missions while
where long term success in Afghanistan could have been the much reduced SOF presence trained local forces,
achieved with the support of the great majority of Afghans carried out “hearts and minds” projects with the local
if the focus had not been redirected to Iraq. The populace and hunted for Taliban and al Qaeda High Value
opportunity was squandered and, like the draw-down of Targets (HVTs).
American influence following the withdrawal of the This pattern continued for the next few years as age-old
Soviets years earlier, which indirectly led to a vicious civil rivalries between warlords and tribes began to resurface,
war and the eventual rise of the Taliban, it would lead to causing further instability despite a largely successful

12
© Osprey Publishing • www.ospreypublishing.com
 historical summary

Afghan government program of disarming the militias of stabilized north or west, or forbade offensive combat
their crew-served weapons. In the background, the Taliban operations. The Germans were restricted from operating
was also resurfacing, continuing to base themselves largely at night for instance. Some US troops derisively
out of Pakistan and in the southern provinces of commented that ISAF stood for “I Saw Americans Fight.”
Afghanistan. Operations were still plagued by the division These National Caveats continue to a certain degree to
of most American forces falling under the command of this day, much to the frustration of nations involved in the
OEF and Coalition nations operating under ISAF with heavy fighting in the south and east of the country.
sometimes wildly disparate objectives and the continuing With NATO’s expansion into the south in 2006, a
restricted footprint in terms of manpower deployed. In region that few OEF or ISAF troops had ventured into
2003, the UN Security Council voted for the expansion of (apart from occasional force projection and SOF
the NATO-led ISAF to beyond the capital of Kabul, a move missions), the festering insurgency finally re-emerged with
opposed by some in the US government. This saw the a vengeance. British, Danish and Canadian troops were
establishment over the 2003–2006 period of four distinct soon locked in heavy, almost conventional war-fighting in
NATO sub-commands: Regional Command (RC) North, the southern province of Helmand. The British attempted
South, East and West. Two further commands – Regional to develop a “Platoon House” COIN strategy of deploying
Command Capital and Regional Command South East troops to live and operate within the district centers of
were later added. Each RC is managed by a rotating lead towns within Helmand. Often within days of arrival, these
nation and is responsible for both offensive operations and forces were in immediate contact with the enemy. In
counter-insurgency (primarily through the Provincial locations such as Sangin and Musa Qala, the platoon
Reconstruction Teams or PRTs) within their region. houses were in a state of virtual siege with resupply only
available by helicopter and the defenders fighting off
COUNTER-INSURGENCY massed attacks by the Taliban. In Now Zad for example,
The ISAF PRTs grew from initial OEF efforts at an ink the Gurkhas fought off over two dozen such attacks in four
blot strategy of counter-insurgency. The PRTs were weeks, firing somewhere in the region of 30,000 rounds of
tasked with improving local security, initiating and 5.56mm and 17,000 rounds of 7.62mm in the process,
supporting reconstruction efforts and extending the killing over 100 enemy combatants without a single
influence of the Afghan government. By deploying PRTs, friendly fatality.
the aim was for pockets of stability and reconstruction to US forces were also expanding their operations in the
develop, countering the Taliban’s own hearts and minds south with the massive 11,000 strong Operation Mountain
efforts. They are composed of a mixed civil-military Thrust conducted with British and Canadian forces in June
team (CIMIC) typically with Civil Affairs soldiers, aiming to destroy Taliban safe havens in Helmand and
Engineers and force protection elements all co-located Uruzgan. 2006 was a bloody year for Coalition forces with
with civilian reconstruction specialists. casualties rapidly rising due to expansion into formerly
Several European ISAF nations operated under Taliban-held areas in the south. It also saw the British hand
National Caveats which essentially spelled out when, how over control of Musa Qala to the town’s elders in a
and where their forces could be used. Some confined their negotiated settlement meant to limit damage to the town.
forces to particular areas or cities, mainly in the more Unfortunately, the Taliban observed the agreement for

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ENDURING FREEDOM

only a few short months before they re-took the town. north also stepped up operations with the German and
Along the border with Pakistan, fighting also flared with Norwegian-led Operation Harekate Yolo and Harekate
large numbers of Taliban, bolstered by foreign fighters, Yolo II in October and November. In December, the joint
crossing the border. Among these fighters were the first US/UK Operation Snakebite once again seized control
suicide bombers seen in Afghanistan, a ghastly tactic based of Musa Qala.
on jihadist successes in Iraq. The use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) also
rose in 2007 with devices of both increasing sophistication
THE NEW TALIBAN and ferocity being deployed across Afghanistan. This
2007 saw the level of insurgency-related violence continue upsurge in IEDs was blamed on the influence of both
to rise and the full emergence of the so-called New covert Iranian elements and the import of foreign jihadists
Taliban. To counter the burgeoning insurgency in the fresh from Iraq, Chechnya and Lebanon with the first of
south, British-led forces launched several large operations. the deadly Explosively Formed Penetrators (EFP) IEDs
In January, Operation Glacier Two saw the famous Royal seen in Afghanistan. Coalition forces responded to the
Marine assault on the Taliban stronghold of Jugroom Fort IED threat using many of the lessons learned in Iraq with
and the resulting daring rescue of a British serviceman’s the first of numerous types of Mine Resistant Ambush
body from the fort by Apache helicopters. Operation Protected (MRAP) vehicles being deployed along with a
Achilles was launched in March with the aim of suite of anti IED electronic counter measures (ECM).
dominating the strategically important Kajaki region. Helmand continued to be a major focus for ISAF into
Several ops were conducted under the Achilles banner 2008, with British-led forces unable to dominate the
such as 45 Commando Royal Marines clearing a major province due to lack of manpower and helicopters.
Taliban dominated area around Kajaki in Operation The situation changed in April when the Marines of the
Volcano and the related Operation Kryptonite which 24th MEU were deployed to Helmand. The Marines and
pushed the Taliban from the Kajaki Dam, allowing it to British almost immediately launched an offensive to
be re-opened to provide power and irrigation to the recapture Garmsir. In June, indicative of both increased
Helmand River Valley. During Achilles, a Taliban HVT cross-border penetrations by Taliban and foreign fighters,
and their most senior military commander in the south, the Vehicle Patrol Base (VPB) at Wanat was attacked
Mullah Dadullah, was killed in an SBS direct action and almost over-run in a bold assault by upwards of
operation in May (prior to 2010, UK Special Forces’ 200 enemy fighters. September saw the audacious
responsibility for the Afghan theater lay primarily with Operation Eagle’s Summit which delivered an additional
the SBS, with 22SAS operating predominantly in Iraq). 220 ton turbine to Kajaki Hydroelectric Dam. Although
In June in neighboring Uruzgan, a combined Dutch, led by the British, the effort also included elements from
Australian and Afghan offensive targeted the town of the ANA, Canadian, US, Danish, Australian, French and
Chora, succeeding in driving out the Taliban in four Dutch ISAF contributions. This operation included a
days of heavy contacts. Again in Uruzgan in August, a number of deception operations designed to fool the
joint US/ANA FOB known as Firebase Anaconda was Taliban on which route the convoy would take, including
attacked by a massed force of insurgents in a rare direct a dummy convoy of Danish vehicles. The operation was a
assault against a Coalition outpost. ISAF forces in the success and the turbine delivered.

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 historical summary

Tier One SOF continued hunting HVTs and targeting

logistics and command nodes across Afghanistan and
sometimes beyond. A JSOC Task Force operation saw
operators inserted into Southern Waziristan in September
following similar raids in March and October of 2006.
Due to the political sensitivity of operations in Pakistani
territory, the raids were only launched when key HVTs
were located or al Qaeda training camps identified.
JSOC and the CIA continued to target foreign fighters
along the Pakistan border with drone strikes by Hellfire-
armed UAVs such as the Predator and Reaper.

THE AFGHAN SURGE

American thinking, influenced heavily by the likes of
Generals Petraeus and McChrystal, had now focused on
a large scale traditional counter-insurgency campaign
with a growing understanding that a political settlement
with moderate Taliban was the only real road to stabilizing
the insurgency. Petraeus and McChrystal managed to
USMC in Helmand Province. (Figures by
convince their political masters of the need for a troop Elhiem Figures)
surge in a similar fashion to Petraeus’ famous “Iraq Surge”.
2009 saw suicide bombers target the capital, with grim British infantry in operations around Lashkar Gar and
but inaccurate media comparisons to the Tet Offensive. Nad Ali. The US conducted the supporting Operation
The US surge of troops started to take effect with further Strike of the Sword with the USMC and ANA carrying out
Marines, a brigade from the 2nd Infantry Division and the the largest Marine offensive since Fallujah into
Strykers of the 5th Stryker Battalion Combat Team all Khanashin, Garmsir and Nawa-i – Barakzayi in south-
being deployed, while the UK increased their commitment eastern Helmand. Both operations were regarded as very
and redeployed a large number of Special Forces from Iraq. successful although some critics have argued that many
In April, German-led ISAF and ANA forces fought pitched Taliban have simply moved north or west away from the
battles in Kunduz Province in the north, attempting to free targeted areas. The Australians also conducted supporting
much of the province of Taliban influence. operations in Uruzgan going after Taliban base areas with
Finally Task Force Helmand, reinforced by the US both Combat Team Tusk (the force protection element of
Marines and an increase in British troop levels, had their PRT) and SASR.
enough resources to launch a large scale campaign into General Stanley McChrystal, fresh from his success
key Taliban areas. In June and July 2009, Operation in Iraq leading the covert JSOC campaign against al
Panther’s Claw struck at central Helmand Taliban Qaeda, was appointed commander of all US and ISAF
strongholds with Danish Leopard tanks supporting forces in-theater and immediately issued a new set of

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ENDURING FREEDOM

Later in the year, McChrystal was replaced (after a

magazine interview was published in which he was critical
of Washington policy) by architect of the Iraqi surge and
key COIN authority General David Petraeus. Afghan and
British forces carried out Operation Tor Shezada in July to
clear the Nad Ali district while ANA and the USMC
launched Operation New Dawn to extend the gains from
Operation Moshtarak. 2010 also saw the first public
acknowledgment of peace talks with the Taliban although
such initiatives have been on-going covertly for many
years. US and UK politicians now hint at a withdrawal of
the majority of Coalition troops by 2014 leaving only
US Marines engage the enemy during OP
Strike of the Sword, 2009. (Figures by trainers and some SOF in country, following a model
Elhiem Figures) similar to Iraq. Whether this occurs, and whether the ANA
and ANP can take responsibility for the security of their
guideline ROEs which focused far more on COIN and country is still open to question.
limiting civilian casualties, a subject about which
President Hamid Karzai had become increasingly vocal.
With increased UAV strikes in Pakistan, al Qaeda
infiltrated a Jordanian double agent into FOB Chapman
near Khost – a CIA facility heavily involved in the
targeting of UAV missions. Once inside, the double
agent detonated a suicide bomb vest killing seven CIA
officers and a member of Jordanian intelligence.
A major offensive called Operation Moshtarak in
Helmand kicked off 2010 with a combined force of some
15,000 US, British and ANA troops clearing the district of
Marjah, south west of Lashkar Ghar, an area controlled by
the Taliban and hub of the opium trade. Significantly it was
the first major operation led by the ANA who provided
some 60% of the manpower. Although the operation
was largely successful, it failed to validate McChrystal’s stime
in g a k ite, a pa
“government in a box” strategy wherein an area would be boy fl y
Afghan an rule
d e n u n der Talib
cleared of Taliban and civil infrastructure immediately forbid
brought in to form a local government.

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THE AFGHAN COMBAT ENVIRONMENT
-- SPECIAL RULES FOR OEF
PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE
BATTLESPACE
The Green Zone
The Green Zone and similar wooded areas encountered
in scenarios are classed as Average Woods. This terrain
restricts vehicle movement to Tactical Speed only, although
in some scenarios it may completely negate vehicle
movement. Taliban within these areas can claim an
additional cover die to represent their intimate knowledge
US Sold
of their surroundings. This die can be claimed in addition ier in Af
ghan fa
rm field
to any applicable Solid Cover, In Cover, or Armor dice. , 2010

Opium Fields and Crops entering the crops. This works both ways – any units
Crops, including the ubiquitous opium poppy fields, using the crops as cover must move to within 2” of the
affect lines of sight and fire dramatically. LOS can only edge of the terrain to see out and carry out actions.
be maintained by units within 2” of the edge of a crop Once units enter the field, they can see and engage up
field; otherwise no LOS is possible except by physically to a maximum of 4”.
Units at a significantly higher elevation than a crop field
(atop an adjacent hill or on the roof of a 2+ story building,
for instance) have a clear line of sight to all units within it,
assuming no other cover intervenes. A 4” blind zone exists
behind a crop field in this instance, however.
Only Tactical movement is allowed for infantry in crop
fields. Vehicles cannot enter crop fields at all.

Difficult Terrain
All off road movement by vehicles must be limited to
one, Tactical speed due the hazardous nature of Afghan
t r o l in Green Z
ps on p a terrain.
US troo
2010

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ENDURING FREEDOM

insurgent networks such as the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin

(HIG) and other ACM groups.
Under the Troop Ratings in Force on Force, Local
Taliban fighters are rated as Irregulars.

Tier One or Hardcore

Taliban
TQ D6; Morale D10; Act as Regulars; Confident
The hardcore, permanent cadre of Mullah Omar’s
l of typ
ical insurgency movement, these are the ideologically
1 r u ns afou F a rah
An M1 1 5
c o n ditions
in committed backbone of the Taliban. Although some may
ro a d
Afghan be considered trained, particularly those who have spent
o v in c e, 2009
Pr
time under the tutelage of jihadists in Pakistan, most are
still remarkably poor shots for all the reasons outlined
TROOP QUALITY AND MORALE above and generally display only a basic understanding
RATINGS of key infantry skills such as contact drills, bounding
Local Taliban movement or overwatch. However they do display some
TQ D6; Morale D8/D10; Act as Irregulars; tactical knowledge, are able to readily adapt to Coalition
Low Confidence TTPs and make excellent use of the natural environment
Local Taliban represent the common anti-Coalition militia to conduct ambushing. In Force on Force terms, Tier One
(ACM) which could be composed of farmers, villagers, Taliban are considered Regulars rather than Irregulars.
opium gangs or common bandits. They are generally Some Tier One Taliban may be rated as TQ D8 however
“employed” after harvest season is over as hired muscle for this will be scenario-specific and will only represent a
the Taliban, often for specific tasks or operations (laying small percentage of trained fighters. Their Morale rating
IEDs is a prime example). Sometimes they are simply represents their strong commitment to the cause and their
press-ganged by the insurgents. continual indoctrination by the movement.
The Taliban will also exploit local sentiment,
particularly over civilian deaths caused by Coalition Foreign Fighters/al Qaeda
actions, to recruit villagers for localized operations. The TQ D8; Morale D12; Act as Regulars; High Confidence
variable Morale rating reflects these differing motivations. The Troop Rating of Foreign Fighters/al Qaeda includes a
The low Troop Quality rating simulates the very poor wide variety of non-Afghan fighters ranging from veteran
soldiering skills of these individuals and such factors as “Afghan Arabs” to Chechens, Saudis and Uzbeks of al
endemic eyesight issues amongst the population, little to Qaeda’s Shadow Army or the remnants of 055 Brigade,
nil training, poor weapons maintenance and an over formed by al Qaeda to fight alongside the Taliban in its
reliance on fully automatic fire. These problems which long civil war with the Northern Alliance.
negate insurgent marksmanship in general also affect the Typically, Foreign Fighters operating in Afghanistan are
permanent, core fighters of the Taliban and similar trained in jihadist camps in Pakistan but may have long

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 The Afghan Combat Environment – Special Rules for OEF

Tier One Taliban prepare an ambush. Foreign fighters infiltrate across the Afghan
(Figures by Elhiem Figures) border to pursue their jihad. (Figures by
Elhiem Figures & Wartime Miniatures)
experience and previous training in insurgencies in Iraq,
Lebanon, Yemen, Somalia, or Chechnya. Many are true Coalition “Non-Teeth” Arms
“global jihadists”, following the war against the infidel from (Logistics, Medical Support,
country to country. Their high Morale and Confidence Non Attack Aviation etc.) and
stems from their pathological devotion to the jihadist Afghan National Army (ANA)
“cause” and willingness to become martyrs in furthering TQ D6; Morale D8; Confident
their global agenda. These are the non-infantry/armor/cavalry units that
form the backbone of any Army. They have received
Afghan National Police basic training in personal weapons and small unit tactics
(ANP) & Afghan Militia but may not have fired their
Forces (AMF)
TQ D6; Morale D6/D8; Low Confidence
The ANP and locally recruited pro-government militias
are both minimally trained (although in the ANP’s case
this is improving through ISAF mentoring programs) and
of low morale. The ANP also suffer from the Despised trait
due to endemic corruption and drug use amongst the
police. Some Afghan Militia Forces (AMF) hired and
mentored by ISAF and OEF Special Forces and OGA are
of higher morale (D8) and some of these AMF will act as during a
Civil
g s ecurity o f
Confident or even High Confidence troops, particularly if ANP pro
v id in vill a g e
p a t r o l near the
they are operating alongside their SF mentors. Affairs
2010
Guyan,

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ENDURING FREEDOM

weapons since basic training. Some scenarios will dictate

a higher TQ and/or Morale level such as some of the
British Combat Logistics units which would rate at TQ
D8 Morale D8. Additionally this is the default rating
for the Afghan National Army (ANA) although the
ANA may suffer from Low Confidence in some cases,
specifically if not accompanied by Western troops.

Coalition Regulars
r
(Infantry, Airborne, trol nea
l M a r in es on pa
Cavalry, Armor, Combat Roya
British 007
h k a r Ghar, 2
Engineer, Attack Aviation) Las
TQ D8; Morale D8; Confident Forces, US Air Force
The core regular fighting units from teeth arms, Coalition Special Tactics Squadrons, USMC MARSOC, US Army
Regulars describe the majority of ISAF and OEF combat Rangers, Grey Fox/Task Force Orange, UK Special Forces
troops in-theater. They are solid, dependable and Support Group and Special Reconnaissance Regiment,
reasonably well trained. This is the default rating for Australian 2 Commando and Incident Response Regiment,
Coalition forces and for Afghan ANA and ANP SOF. US Navy SEALs, Polish GROM and Dutch Viper Teams.
Some selected ANA SOF units may also benefit from a This is also the default rating for Coalition EOD teams.
High Confidence rating.
Tier One Special Mission
Coalition Veterans Units (SMUs)
TQ D8; Morale D10; High Confidence TQ D12; Morale D12; High Confidence; Abundant
Coalition Veterans represents those units with a mixture of Supplies
higher than average esprit de corps, some advanced The Tier One SMUs are the tip of the SOF spear – those
training and/or extensive operational experience in Iraq few select units who benefit from extensive combat
and Afghanistan. Units which gain this distinction include experience in both Iraq and Afghanistan, are lavishly
the USMC infantry, recon and LAR units, US Army equipped with state of the art weapons and equipment
Stryker Brigades, some US Army Airborne and Air Assault and are trained to the absolute limits of elite soldiering
and UK Royal Marines, Parachute Regiment and and human endurance. On the US side this includes the
Australian Combat Teams. Army’s 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment –
Delta (Delta Force), often known by its cover name of
Special Operations Forces Combat Applications Group (CAG), and the Navy’s
TQ D10; Morale D12; High Confidence; Abundant Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU).
Supplies On the Coalition front, this includes UKSF (22SAS and
SOF covers a range of well trained, experienced and the Special Boat Service), Australia’s Special Air Service
equipped ISAF and OEF units including US Army Special Regiment (SASR) and Canada’s JTF-2.

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Other documents randomly have
different content
 PART III
NEWS NOTES OF PORTAGE, WISCONSIN

THE KILBOURN ROAD

In June the road to Kilbourn is a long green hall,
A corridor of leafage pillared white
By birches and with wild-rose patterns on the wall,
And all melodious with the fluid fall
Or lift of red-winged blackbirds fluting mating cries.
The very air
Is visible, not by the light,
Not by the shades that drift
And dip, but by an essence rhythmic with the flood
That flows
Not in the sap, not in the blood,
But otherwhere.
And of that essence grows
All men see in the air of Paradise.
He lay upon a little upland slope
Deep, deep with grass.
And when I saw his head above the green
Where I must pass,
The battered hat, the squinting eyes
Blinking the westering sun, I felt a sting of fear——
Alas, that in June’s delicate demesne
A watching human face can teach one fear.
So then I spoke to him, gave him good day,
And seeing his gun said what I always say
Meeting a huntsman: “Friend, I hope
You have killed nothing here.”
He stared and grinned. And with his grin
I felt his trustiness. So when
He scrambled down the bank and followed me,
I waited for him as my kind and kin.

He was a thing of seventeen. And men

Compounded in his blood had set him here
Wizened and hump-backed. But his little face
Held something of the one he was to be
In some eternity.
He talked as freely as a child. He’d shot, he said,
 y , ,
At a young wood-chuck. Now his gun was broke,
And it’d cost a dollar and a half
To mend it. Then I spoke
About a little kerchief made of lace
Lost on the road that day. He turned his head.
“Did it have money in it, Lady?”—with quick grace
Caught from some knightlier place.
And when I asked him what he read
He tried to rise to all my speech awoke.
“A person give me a book a while ago.
Oh, I donno
The name—the cover’s off. I got, I guess,
Two pages done. Time the stock’s fed
I get so sleepy I jump into bed.”
—And with this, for defence, a rueful laugh.
I named the town not two miles distant. No,
He hardly ever went there. Motion picture show?
His eyes lit. Several times he’d been.
War pictures was the best. He liked to kill?
He hung his head. “No, but I never will
Shoot pups or kittens when they want me to.
War’s different.” School? He’d seen
Four years of that—well, four years, more or less.
Dad needed him—dad had so much to do.

So then I faced him and his need to live.

I put it plain: “But you?
What do you want to do?”
His answer lay within him, ready made.
He met my eyes with all he had to give.
“I’d like,” he said, “to learn the artist trade.”

Questioned, he told me bit by little bit.

He’d had a horse that died—he’d painted her.
He’d painted Tige, the dog. The pigeon house.
The fence that crossed the slough. The willow tree.
Would he let me see?
Oh well—they wasn’t much He couldn’t stir——
Oh, well they wasn t much. He couldn t stir
The paint right, and he didn’t have enough.
All that he’d done was rough.
I tried to spell his dream,—to see if his face lit
At flame of it.
He only said: “Mebbe I couldn’t learn.”
And his eyes did not burn.
(“Perhaps,” I thought, “there’s nothing here at all.”)
“Dad’s going to have me paint the house,” he said.
I questioned where he led.
“Yellow and brown,” he answered. And my fancy’s fall
He must have fathomed in my face for a slow red
Mounted and swept his cheek. His eyes sought mine,
His look was piteous with a kind of light.
“I don’t like that. They picked it out,” he said. “I wanted white.”
And all his tone was shame.
The craftsman wounded in his craftsman’s right
In ways he could not name.

He took the cross-road. Where I saw him go

Wild fever-few made narrow paths of snow
Through the flat fields of dying afternoon.
Bravely in tune
With every little part as with some whole
A red wing answered to an oriole
And met a cat bird’s call.
The sun! The sun! The road to Kilbourn like a long green hall!
The very air a spirit like our own
So nearly shown
That one could almost see.
The veil so thin that presence was outrayed.

But all the great blue day came facing me,

And crying from the vault and from the sod:
“Oh God, oh God.
‘I’d like,’ he said, ‘to learn the artist trade!’ ”
 II

VIOLIN
One night on some light errand I sat beside
The cooking-stove in Johann’s sitting-room.
Within there was the cheer of lamp and fire,
The stove-draught yawning red and wide,
The table with its rosy cotton spread,
A blue chair-cover from a home-land loom,
A baby’s bed.
And in that odour of cleanliness and food
Johann, the labourer worthy of his hire
For seven days a week, twelve hours a day
At some vague toil “down in the yard.”
“Hard?
What o’ that? Look at the luck I’ve got to keep the place
And draw my pay.”
He had been strong
And still his body kept its ruggedness.
Yet he was old and stiffened and he moved
As one who is wrapped round in something thick.
But O, his face,
His face was like the faces that look out
From bark and hole of trees all marred and grooved,
All laid about
With old varieties of silence and of wrong.
Such faces are locked long
In men, in stones, in wood, in earth,
Awaiting birth.
And Johann’s face was less
Expectant than the happy dead awaiting to become the quick.

His wife said much about how hard she tried.

She chattered high and shrill
About the burden and the eating ill.
His mother, little, thin, half-blind and cross,
With scarlet flannel round her throat,
Put in her note,
Muttered about the cold, the draught, her side——
Small ineffectual chants of little loss,
 ,
With never a word
Of the great gossip which she had not heard:
That life had passed her by.
The little room beset me like the din
And prick of scourges. All
At once I looked upon the spattered wall
And saw a violin.

A hall
Vast, bright and breathing.
In the upper air
A chord, a flower of tone, a quiet wreathing
Along the lift and fall
Of some clear current in the blood
Now delicately understood,
Till all the hearing ones below
Are where
The voices call.
O now they know
What music is. It is that which they are
Themselves. Infinite bells,
Of silence in a little sheath. Deep wells
Of being in a little cup. Star upon star
Veiled save one reaching ray.
And see! The people turn
And for a breath they look
Out into one another’s eyes
And shine and burn
Wise, wise,
With ultimate knowledge of the good
That seeks one whole.
And how
Eternity begins
And ever is beginning now
A thousand hearts learn from the violins.

“My back ain’t right. My head ain’t right. I’m almost dead.
Fill the hot water bag I’m goin’ to bed ”
Fill the hot water bag. I m goin to bed....
“Ten pairs of socks I’ve darned to-night. I try
To do the best I can....”
I put the women by.
“Johann,” I said, “you play?” He shook his head.
“I lost it, loggin’——” he held up a stump of thumb.
“I took six lessons once,” he said.
I sat there, dumb.

From out the inner place of music there had come

Long long ago,
Some viewless one to tell him how to know
What waits upon the page
To beat the rhythm of the world. He heard; and tried
To stumble toward the door graciously wide
For other feet than his.
“I took six lessons once,” he said with pride.
This
Was all we gave him of his heritage.

III

NORTH STAR
His boy had stolen some money from a booth
At the County Fair. I found the father in his kitchen.
For years he had driven a dray and the heavy lifting
Had worn him down. So through his evenings
He slept by the kitchen stove as I found him.
The mother was crying and ironing.
I thought about the mother,
For she brought me a photograph
Taken at a street fair on her wedding day.
She was so trim and white and he so neat and alert
In the picture with their friends about them——
I saw that she wanted me to know their dignity from the first.
But afterward I thought more about the father.
For as he came with me to the door I could not forbear
To say how bright and near the stars seemed.
Then he leaned and peered from beneath his low roof,
And he said:
“There used to be a star called the Nord Star.”

PROSE NOTES

THE BUREAU
In anger, in irritation, in argument, what happens to you and me?
Something fine weaving us round is torn open.
Something fine permeating us is drawn from the veins.
Presences waiting to understand us retreat to a farther ante-room of us.
Little cells are incommunicably sealed.

All this happened to me and some strange progress was halted until
something in me could be repaired.
The whole race halted with me.
The light of the remotest star, do you imagine that it did not know?
Innumerable influences ceased to pour upon us all.
And it was because someone left the attic window open and it had rained on
an old bureau.

II

MINUET

I went from Fifth avenue into the Plaza on a sunny Winter morning.
There on a little stage it was Spring. A shepherdess walked.
Beside a stream girls were tying garlands. A harp was touched.
The shepherdess and her lovers danced a minuet on the bright emerald of
that shining field.

Down by Brooklyn Bridge——

Now this sharp contrast will shock you, but we must not interrupt the
minuet——
I know a place down by Brooklyn Bridge where a woman
(Young, once pretty, still with tender eyes)
Carries water up five flights of stairs to do washing.

I watched the minuet and I thought about that woman.

Did God create two worlds?
Or has man made a world? And can man see that his world is good?
 III

THE DINING ROOM

I laid the blue dishes on the table.

The dining room was still and sunny.
Zinnias were in a brown basket,
The grape-fruit plant was glossy in a window.
Skilful fingers had wrought the border of the curtain.
My grand-mother’s blue pitcher was on the sideboard.
There were chestnut leaves in the brown rug.
Barometer and thermometer recorded miracle on the rose wall.
Dark wood paneled and beamed us in together.

As I worked these exquisite patient familiar things let me within.

They let me look with their eyes, feel with their beating pulses of hurrying
molecules.
I perceived how locomotion and consciousness and self-consciousness have
advanced us.
By what means shall we go forward now?
Does anyone wonder at my slow patience as I wonder at the slow patience
of these exquisite and familiar things?

IV

PARADISE AND PURGATORY

Do you ever go into your room and find familiar things unfamiliar.
Muslin curtains thinned by moonlight,
Open window, candle, mirror, expectant chairs,
Long smooth waiting bed—do they not bear another aspect
As if you had divined them doing their duty,
As if to be inanimate clearly involved a process,
As if they were surprised at their creeping task of going back to earth, rising
in plants, quickening into beings.
That is the great work of those patient things.
That is why they look so intent.
So with all your preoccupation in dressing for to-day
Your object is the same as that of these humble ones.
Only you have reached a paradise where you can hasten your way.
But these others are yet in purgatory.

AT LEAST ...

On that day of wild joyous wind

I filled my being with warm hurrying air.
The pouring sun was in my heart like water in a well.
I ran in the pulsing tonic currents.
And all the time, melodious in my mind,
There beat and strove the measure of a tune.
Then for a breath I understood: Glory without and flame within,
They passioned to belong to each other.
I—I was the interruption.

From that time I gave my body to be a harp:

Wind of the world without, breath of the soul within,
I will try to let you interflow.
August Presences, at least, at least may I not hinder you.
 VI

ROSES

Only once have I been sure that a rose answered me.

Always the reticence of roses was the aloofness of the peak
A rose would never admit me, speak to me,
Listen to me, reply to me, do other than suffer me.
But one day after our barbarous fashion I lifted a rose to my face.
Suddenly, thrillingly, the rose replied. It, too, touched at me.
We had something to exchange.
What am I to do that this shall be true of every flower,
Every animal, every stone, every manufactured article,
Every created object—yes, even every person of the world?

VII

SPRING EVENING
I heard her at the telephone.
“Do come early,” she was saying, “while the light lasts.
The dog-wood is in blossom, the mountains are wonderful.
It is,” she said, “too heavenly. Do come, while the light lasts....”
Outside on the veranda I could see the light,
I could see the dog-wood in bloom and a mountain
And more!
What else there was I am trying to tell:
Not colour for I am no artist. Not glamour for I am not in love;
Not any more magic than I am accustomed to;
Not presence I think—though perhaps after all it was presence.
But something else was there, exquisite, insistent.
When she came back I looked up to see if it met her.
But she only said: “It is too heavenly.
I hope they will come while the light lasts.”
I knew that she did not see what I saw.
But what did I see....

VIII

SECOND SIGHT
Can the world have been created for you and me to do all that fills our days:
Care of a house, lawn, shop, billion dollar business?
These are not enough for us.
Can the world have been created for the nations to do all that fills their
days:
Trading, peacefully penetrating, warring,
Or when the mood changes, motoring down one another’s roads, decorating
one another, bowing at one another’s courts?
These are not enough for the nations.

What is the world for?

Once in an apple orchard at mid-day

I had a moment of second sight as I watched a child at play.
She shone with light like a holy child. She was pure.
She was growing. She was nothing, nothing but love.
She was all that we might be, we and the nations.
She was all that we shall be.
Come, let us face it!

IX

DOES SOMETHING WAIT?

Go and wait somewhere. Take no book, no paper, no solitaire or needle
task.
Nay but forbid yourself also that you reckon the profit or plan a feast
Or discern dust on the lamp;
That you consider to whom to sell or what to wear.
Go and wait somewhere, with forgotten muscles.

Now does something wait with you, glad and welcoming that you are free
to turn to it?
Then you have bread that you know not of and it is brought to you.
Or do you merely sit with an hundred fibres in you pressing to be gone?
Then you are in danger of starvation.
By this means we may almost know what we are.

DOORS
At the edge of consciousness is a little door.
What goes by?
Now a wing of brightness, of colour, of something out there that I love
more than I am accustomed to loving.
Now fares by a delicate shadow, patterned, fleet, that I long to know more
than I am accustomed to knowing.
There must be so much more to love and to know than the little loves and
the little knowledge.

Then someone knocks at my door.

Thou!
The wing of brightness, the delicate shadow were but the sign.
What am I to do?
I will find my way to the edge of my consciousness,
I will gain the door, I will have my freedom,
I will love and know and be all being.
Thou art the liberator. Why it is true....
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.”

XI

LEVITATION
Three times that day came the sense of levitation.
As if court-house walk, walnut shadow, a length of sunny lawn let her go by
with no tribute of her touch.
It seemed as if the wonderful would happen.
She waited, prepared for the vision.
The day flowered, ripened, mellowed, fell upon night.
No presence opened or signaled.
Then she went to embosom that which the hours had left her.
She faced her day, and her day gathered itself as a living thing with a voice
and deep eyes.
It said, I was wonderful.

Yet the only thing to happen that day had been this:
Old Edgerton Bascom came to the porch, selling buttons.
She bought from him, picked her dahlias for his wife.
He went away, comforted, restored to self-respect by her purchase.
Perhaps when levitation comes it will be a matter of this kind
Rather than of calculation and reckoning.

XII

ENCHANTMENT
In this house I perform all as seriously as may be required.
I accept my desk, my little tools, lamp, paper.
I write in the one language which I have been taught and about the few
things with which I am familiar.
I eat the little round of food which it is said will nourish my body.
About my books I am docile and I learn from them.
I look no farther than my window permits.
When I wish to emerge I go obediently to the door as if there were
conceivable no other way of exit.
At night I fall into sleep as if that were eternal purpose.

I suffer from absence, I submit to distance,

I am subject to innumerable influences,
I am open to them all with a sober face.

But all the time I have knowledge that I am something other;

That all these things shall ultimately have no more power over me.
That I consent to them because of some delicate exigency in this moment of
eternity.
Even now I am often free of them.
There was the day when I moved among the hills and lost every sense of
difference from them.
With the crowning cloud and the far filament of the river I found myself in
common.
The air was vocal with all that is identical and in that hour it offered to me
my identity.
I became everything. I had no question to ask for it was I, too, who was
answering.
The hour dissolved. The ultimate star was my neighbour.

... Suddenly I remembered myself down in the valley moving about in a

house.
And I perceived that for years I have been enchanted.
I am listening to be set free.
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