The Power of a Promise

Nearly a decade ago, Air Force Reserve Lt. Col. Annie Yu Kleiman deployed to Afghanistan as part of a Cultural Support Team, or American women who worked alongside U.S. special operations forces. Her mission was to train a select group of Afghan women for the Female Tactical Platoon (FTP), an elite unit that conducted combat missions and night raids with U.S. Army Rangers and other special operators. "They were in danger for being in the military, they were in danger for bein

FOB Salerno, Afghanistan – 2009 The mission was falling apart before it started. France Hoang needed to coordinate with local Afghan leaders for an operation. The cultural barriers were insurmountable. The linguistic gaps, wider. Trust? Nonexistent. Then Jabar stepped in. He was more than a security guard. He was the bridge. The translator of more than words, of intent, of tactics, of why a group of Americans needed these leaders to believe in them. "Without Jabar bridging th

Qalat, Afghanistan – 2007 JP's introduction to the cost of service came on a routine patrol. An IED. One American soldier killed. One interpreter, Abdul, killed beside him. "They faced the same threats we did," JP said. He served as Senior Enlisted Advisor on an Embedded Training Team from July 2007 to July 2008, working with the 2nd Kandak, 2nd Brigade, 205th Corps, Afghan National Army. But Abdul's death wasn't the end of his family's nightmare. It was the beginning. "Our i