Unit Uses Special Skills to Pursue Enemy
Long range surveillance (LRS) detachments are melded into the Army�s new vision for the future.

By Spc. Jon Arguello 173d Infantry Brigade Public Affairs
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Dec. 16, 2005 � Over five days in December a specialized unit from the 173rd Infantry Brigade (Airborne) defined flexibility. The special detachment proved themselves as a valuable asset as they eliminated a group of enemy fighters, including one high value target Dec. 5. The special skills and flexibility of a long range surveillance (LRS) detachment such as the 74th Long Range Surveillance Detachment make the unit especially adapted to meet the needs of an infantry brigade in this environment, said Maj. Michael Loos, the 173rd Airborne Brigade�s operations and planning officer.
"The LRS detachment is very adept at many missions we employ here in Afghanistan. Their tremendous day and night capabilities and training is perfect for this terrain." U.S. Army Maj. Michael Loos
�The LRS detachment is very adept at many missions we employ here in Afghanistan,� said Loos. �Their tremendous day and night capabilities and training is perfect for this terrain.� As the long-range surveillance detachments are melded into the Army�s new vision for the future, the 74th underwent its own transformation here in Afghanistan. Much of the adjustment came after the 74th�s change of command when Capt. Dirk Ringgenberg assumed command of the unit after his own string of extremely successful victories as the commander of Chosen Company 2nd Battalion 503rd Infantry (Airborne). �I wasn�t an expert on the conventional tactics of a LRS detachment,� said Ringgenberg. �So I just took the awesome skills of its leaders and soldiers and mixed them with what I knew about a standard infantry company.� Normally a LRS detachment is outfitted with six teams, one communications section and a headquarters section. The six teams, led by staff sergeants, work independently under the guidance of the commander to fulfill its reconnaissance missions. Now, the unit is separated into a Black team led by Ringgenberg and a Gold team led by the 74th�s executive officer, Capt. Casey Thoreen. Both teams also have Afghan National Army soldiers attached to their teams. �Usually a LRS detachment is comprised of six teams who all have their independent characteristics and talents,� said the detachment�s first sergeant, 1st Sgt. Randy Collins, from Walla Walla, Wash. �But after our change of command, the commander got together with the brigade staff and talked about how best to keep us employed. Now all our teams, who had six different ways to skin a cat, learned to do things in a more unified way.� But this diverse group of noncommissioned officers, most ranger qualified, most having held their own shuras and made their own village assessments, have used their vast range of experiences to make the transformation successful, while remaining as lethal as ever.


U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jose Banuelos plans a route where no roads go on his way to his objective as Spc. Tony Sobiesczyk pulls security from the turret of a 74th Long Range Surveillance Detachment vehicle. U.S. Army photo By Spc. Jon Arguello

Flexibility has always been a part of the detachment�s character, explained the detachment�s senior staff sergeant. �You can�t always have a perfect plan,� said Staff Sgt. Jose Banuelos, from Oceanside, Calif. �The enemy can change things and you have to change with them to close in on them or accomplish the mission. It�s almost standard operating procedure that things won�t go exactly as planned. You just have to be ready to support each other.� That was the case during their early December mission as the 74th would split up, one group maintaining their blocking position and the other responding to the aid of a downed aircraft. Throughout the mission the plan changed again and again, leaving one group to dismount and race through a valley to the suspected target�s location while the other group pursued a separate group of enemy fighters. In the end, one element was poised to assault the enemy while the other group, several kilometers away, coordinated for close air support. Eventually U.S. Air Force A-10s were authorized and the joint tactical air controller with the far away group painted the picture for the pilots to destroy the targets. It�s obvious whatever changes in the detachment�s scheme, in combination with the vast experience of their unit�s staff sergeants, have only increased the flexibility and lethality of the 74th�s paratroopers. With the capability to take on any mission, mounted or dismounted, during the day or under the cover of darkness, the LRSD is being used more than ever to eliminate the enemy�s safe havens in Southern Afghanistan. �I�m proud of my guys,� said Collins. �They get a lot of tasks handed to them and they do a great job. They are constantly adjusting to the needs of the brigade and they stand ready to execute any mission that brigade sees fit or comes their way. They do an awesome job every day, including their performance during this particular mission.�