Front lines - Afghanistan
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Raised in the Mission Valley, Lieutenant Colonel Ted Adams serves in the United States Marine Corps. Adams is the son of Dee and C.W. Adams of Polson and is serving his second tour of Afghanistan in the 9th Engineer Support Battalion of 3rd Marine Logistics.
A 1983 graduate of Polson High School, Adams attended the University of Montana for a year before joining the Marine reserve in 1985. He earned a BA in education and accepted a commission as an officer in 1992.
“I have been an active duty officer ever since,” Adams said.
Adams and his wife Tammy, who’s from Missoula, have a son Trevor, 22, and a daughter Raeann, 17. Trevor will graduate from the U of M this fall, and Raeann will graduate from high school.
Adams and his family have been stationed in Okinawa, Japan, for almost five years.
“We have not been able to get home much to see family … If we’re lucky we’ve made it back once a year. Being in Japan has made that even more difficult,” Adams said.
“I will likely retire next fall,” Adams said, “unless the Marine Corps makes me an offer I can’t refuse.”
“I am ready to return to Western Montana and put that education degree to work teaching history/government and maybe coaching,” Adams explained. “I have a lot of worldly experience to share. The Marine Corps has enabled me to see the world and experience amazing things. I don’t have a single regret other than being away from family and the great state of Montana.”
Adams and his battalion of “just over 600 Marine and Sailors spread out in Helmand Province” provide support for the 1 Marine Expeditionary Force including bulk fuel storage, water purification, power production, general engineering support, military bridging, motor transport and wrecker support, as well as maintenance for equipment.
Every so often, Adams sends an e-mail update to his parents. He agreed to share some of his messages over the next couple of weeks.
“There are thousands of great Americans out here doing amazing things; I hope that comes across in my writing,” Adams added.
AFGHANISTAN — Although this is my second tour of Afghanistan, I begin this deployment with more confidence in myself, but more worry about the welfare of my Marines and Sailors. Maybe it’s sheer numbers. Last time, there were 21 of us who had trained together intensively for four months. … This time there are well over 500 (can’t say exactly how many) Marines and Sailors spread out across Helmand Province, and although I am confident in my knowledge of counter insurgency, I am less confident I will be able to keep them all safe; 21 Marines and Sailors were a lot easier to manage.
We transition from contracted civilian flights to military flights at Manas Air Base, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. … The inbound and outbound groups are easy to tell apart. The most telling physical difference is the sun bleached, worn out desert camouflage uniforms of the “salty” veterans headed home. … Finally, there is the distinctly different look on the faces of each — the angst of the unknown on the one and tired relief on the other.
… We’ll either be building combat out-posts or patrol bases for the infantry, or we’ll be improving the roads and bridges throughout the area. Additionally we have the equipment to store and pump massive quantities of fuel, reverse osmosis purification units to produce clean water and generators to power the base camps
Week one was a taxpayer nightmare … Our supply storage lot caught fire and burned to the ground. … Initial estimates indicate we lost $3.8 million in tires alone. War is hell.
Also in the first week I attended a “ramp ceremony.” A ramp ceremony is a memorial for a fallen warrior, during which everyone is encouraged to bid farewell as the body is delivered up the ramp of the aircraft which will fly them out of the country … A few days later I attended the memorial … I was surprised how emotional it was for me. I didn’t know him … Maybe it was the words his friends spoke. He was an explosive ordinance disposal technician, a father with young children. He had told his counterpart he’d rather disarm 100 improvised explosive devices instead of doing one “post-blast analysis” of an IED that had injured Marines. Truly selfless.
We’ve already had two IED strikes on our vehicles. Thank God there were no injuries. I guess this is a taxpayer success story. The vehicles we ride in are saving lives every day.
I think our biggest challenge is exercising what they call “courageous restraint.” There have been a number of incidents whereby military personnel feel threatened and they respond with lethal force (shooting). Most cases have to do with approaching vehicles … they attempt to signal cars to slow down or stop. If they don’t respond within a certain distance, Marines must make a split second decision to shoot or not. Hopefully they have a change to use less lethal measures like a pen flare, which is a very visual warning tool.
