An Officer's Experience In Afghanistan

First Lt. Troy Peterson of the Army, right, helping his radio operator, Pfc. Justin Cobbs, across a ravine during a patrol near Combat Outpost Mizan in Zabul Province, Afghanistan, in August 2010. Senior Airman Nathanael Callon/United States Air Force

Desk Guilt -- First LT. Troy Peterson, At War/New York Times

ZABUL PROVINCE, Afghanistan — I deployed last June with the Second Stryker Cavalry Regiment from Vilseck, Germany, to an isolated combat outpost in a remote district of Afghanistan’s Zabul Province.

I turned 24 two days after we arrived in Afghanistan, but I’d trained for six years to get this chance to lead soldiers in combat; four years at West Point, then infantry training and Ranger School, finally followed by training with my platoon through a frigid German winter. After a long helicopter flight to Combat Outpost Mizan, where my platoon and I would live and fight, I knew my chance had come to do what I’d trained for.

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My Comment: For a 24 year old to have such a great responsibility .... wow .... this is a great read.