U.S. soldier Jon Rink writes from Afghanistan

Jon Rink

 (This is from an email Jon sent to his former high school classmate.)

My full name is Jonathan Adam Rink. I was stationed at Fort Knox, Ky., but I am currently in Camp Clark, Afghanistan,  Khost Province. I'm from Buffalo, N.Y.

Lots of people don't know the real reason why we are here. We wear a ISAF patch on our shoulder which means International Security of Afghan Forces. One of our main objectives is to support and train the Afghan National Army to be capable of doing the same as U.S. soldiers; then they can defend their country, and we can go home. 

The war against the Taliban can't be won through brute force.  We need leverage and support from the people who live here.

We follow the COIN strategy which means counter insurgency, and the main idea is to win the "hearts and minds" of the civilians. We want to show the people that they can trust us and make them feel more secure in their area.

Afghan National Army soldier

When we get leverage from the people, they will help give us intel on the Taliban, weapon stashes, and IED's. We are victorious when we win the people, because if the Taliban lose support of their people, they won't be accepted.

Photos and email published with Jon Rink's permission, but not for other uses.
©2011 Tomi Johnson. All rights reserved.