The Rock And A Hard Place

The Rock And A Hard Place
by
James Dietz

The GlobalWar on Terrorism continued. After a very successful deployment to Afghanistan in support of OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM VI in 2005, TASK FORCE ROCK, under the 173d Airborne Brigade Combat Team, was again called in support of OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM VIII. The subordinate units of TASK FORCE ROCK that participated in OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM VIII, consisted of Paratroopers, Soldiers and Airmen from: Headquarters and Headquarters Company "The Black Sheep", Able Company "Warlords", Battle Company "Battle Hard", Chosen Company "the Chosen Few", Destined Company "Destined for Victory", Fusion Company "Support the Rock", 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry, and embedded coalition partners from TASK FORCE PHOENIX (United States Marine Corps Embedded Tactical Trainers to the Afghan National Army), the 201st Corps, Afghan National Army, the Afghan National Police, and the Afghan Border Police. The Battalion executed combat operations with various US Army units including 3rd Special Forces Group, 7th Special Forces Group; artillery support from 4th Battalion (Airborne), 319th Field Artillery Regiment and 3rd Battalion (Airborne), 321st Field Artillery Regiment; and aviation task forces from TASK FORCE TALON (2nd Battalion, 82nd Aviation, 82nd ABN DIV) and TASK FORCE OUTFRONT (2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry, 101st ABN DIV (Air Assault)). THE ROCK received great combat support and service support from the 173d’s Brigade Support Battalion and the Brigade Special Troops Battalion. TASK FORCE ROCK was under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William B. Ostlund and Command Sergeant Major Bradley K.Meyers, the Battalion Command Sergeant Major.
TASK FORCE ROCK deployed in May of 2007 in support of CJTF-82 (and later CJTF-101) in the most rugged, austere, and volatile areas of Kunar and Nuristan Provinces, Afghanistan. The Task Force Command Group operated out of Camp Blessing and the remainder of the Task Force operated out of eighteen satellite bases spread across the two Afghan provinces. This entailed moving and sustaining the Task Force across tremendous distances by helicopter, vehicle, and foot as well as continuous decentralized operations at the platoon and squad level partnered with elements of the Afghan National Army, Afghan National Police, and Afghan Border Police.
The name of the print, "THE ROCK and a Hard Place", is indicative of the austere, rugged terrain THE ROCK operated in and more importantly, of the American Paratroopers’ resolve and determination to complete any mission set before them. Through its history and without fail, THE ROCK has demonstrated it moves quickly with limited information and accomplishes the intent – always. The intent consistently conveyed to THE ROCK has been – relentlessly find, pursue, and defeat America’s enemies. The challenges faced by THE ROCK in OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM VIII led to TASK FORCE ROCK adopting the phrase – "If it's possible it's been done; if it's impossible we'll do it."
This print is dedicated to ROCK Paratroopers, both past and present, and those that served with and supported TASK FORCE ROCK, 173d Airborne Brigade Combat Team. During OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM VIII, 26 members of TASK FORCE ROCK made the ultimate sacrifice while engaged in combat with insurgents and terrorists whilst protecting Afghan citizens and preventing the return of oppression and tyranny to Afghanistan.