Adopt a Platoon

                                          Mrs. K. McDermott's Service Learning Project:

Adopt a Platoon

Over the past 5 years I have been doing a service learning project with my students. Each year my students and I adopt a platoon that is stationed overseas. We have had great success with this project. We have been able to bring joy and boost morale for the men and women serving our country. 

This year’s students of mine will be my brother-in-law’s platoon that is stationed in Afghanistan. It is a group of men and women that are Special Forces. He has a letter below that you can read to learn more about where they are and what they are doing. I’ve attached some pictures at the end of this letter. You can see them on my website too.

Our Project:

·         Sending support to through letters and cards

·         Sending Care Packages to the troops

Thank you so much for your support!!!

16 January 2013

Dear Students & Families,

My name is Captain Jonathan Schmidt.  I’m the detachment commander for Special Forces Operational Detachment-Alpha (known as an “ODA”) 5332. I’m also Ms. McDermott’s favorite brother-in-law. My ODA is currently deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. We live in a small camp near Mangal Village in Northern Afghanistan at the base of a large mountain range.

There are 12 Special Forces soldiers on my ODA including myself. There is an assistant detachment commander, an operations sergeant (who manages the day to day stuff), an intelligence sergeant (who collects intel on the enemy), two weapons sergeants (who are experts in all US and foreign weapons), two engineer sergeants (who are trained in construction and demolitions), two medical sergeants (who are trained in all types of medicine and can do everything from pulling teeth, deliver a baby, treat a gunshot wound, or vaccinate a herd of sheep), finally there are two communications sergeants (who manage the vast array of radios and computers that we utilize).

Our team specialty is a “mounted Direct Action” ODA.  This means that we’re training and utilize all types of vehicle platforms like ATVs, three-person dune buggies, armored pickup trucks, and heavy duty Humvee gun trucks.  We are also all airborne qualified meaning we can jump out of planes and parachute to our target. Direct action means we do raids against enemy objectives similar to how a police SWAT team would assault a building that bad guys were held up inside. We can conduct these direct action operations utilizing any of the various vehicles mentioned or by flying to the objective on helicopter by day or at night.

Our mission here in Afghanistan is called village stability operations and we focus on improving the security, governance, and development of all the villages inside the district (about the size of a US county). For security we help train a local police force to provide their own security at the villages. We also go on night missions with an Afghan Special Forces Team that we train and advise in order to capture Taliban members and other terrorists.  For governance, I often meet with the district and provincial governors (equivalent of a US State governor).  I mentor and advise them on better governance practices and how to better meet the villagers’ basic needs. For development we fund and oversee various small projects like digging a well for a village, paving a road to the market, offering agricultural training seminars, and providing school supplies to local schools.  

That about sums up what a Special Forces ODA is and what our mission is here in Afghanistan. I would encourage all of you students to take advantage of the opportunity you have to attend school and receive a quality education. The village children here in Afghanistan are often pulled from school at a young age in order to help their family farm or other work in order to provide income. However, almost all of them wish for more education in order to better their quality of life and give back to their community. I also encourage you to embrace and understand diversity. It’s been a very rewarding and enlightening experience working with another culture of people on a daily basis. You learn about new customs like facial hair and age are a sign of respect (yes, I have an awesome beard that my wife and children think is “gross”). You also eat foreign food like goat meat and sweet rice with your fingers at a traditional lunch ceremony. Once you understand other cultures you learn to respect other people more and also appreciate all the small things in life that you often take for granted. For example, most village homes are mud huts without running water or electricity. Even under these challenging and minimalist living conditions, the Afghan people still enjoy playing games and celebrating holidays with family and friends.

On behalf of ODA 5332, I thank all of you for your support to our country’s Armed Forces and my ODA. It’s a difficult but rewarding job and having the support of people back home like your class makes the sacrifice worth it. Please continue to apply yourself at your studies and tell Ms. McDermott that for my Birthday this year I will be asking for a New England Patriot’s Super Bowl Champions T-Shirt!

                                                                                                                                Sincerely,

                                                                                                                                CPT Jonathan Schmidt