Durango grad keeping enemy on run

Thursday, March 11, 2004 | 8:39 a.m.

Army Pfc. Kristopher Sam, son of John and B.J. Sam of Las Vegas and a 2002 graduate of Durango High School, lives at the eye of the storm in the war on terror as an unsung member of Coalition Joint Task Force 180, the lead military agency for operations in Afghanistan.

"We specialize in denying the enemy any sanctuary or safe haven," said Sam, an infantryman with the 10th Mountain Division at the Kandahar Air Field. "We hunt them down and bring them down, if necessary. Our job is a hard job that no one really wants to do. It deals with a lot of movement, and we are called upon at any given time to serve our country," he said.

"The challenges are waiting, walking and dealing with the weather. Walking up and down mountains -- more than 60 miles in five days at high elevations and cold weather are things I face every day. The weather is the only obstacle that's hard to control," Sam said.

Located 15 miles from the city of Kandahar, the airfield is one of the most remote, landlocked and desolate places the Army has ever tried to build a combat base, Army officials said. But it makes for a perfect hub for the coalition to go on missions into the mountains to battle the Taliban or perform reconstruction projects that range from digging a well for a village to setting the stage for national elections and ratifying a constitution.

Everyone brings something special to get to the end game in Afghanistan.

"As infantry, our role is to put the enemy on the run and make it hard for them to operate," Sam said.

Most of the service members at the camp live in a tent city, with limited Internet access, but there are no tents at the forward fire bases -- just sleeping bags, ice, thin air and drastic temperature changes.

"Living conditions in the winter were all right in the tents, but miserable in the field," Sam said. "It is cold and wet, and it's nearly impossible to get warm when we operate in the mountains."

Along with the elements, Sam and his fellow service members battle anti-coalition militia that includes Taliban, al-Qaida, Chechen, Turk and Chinese terrorists.

O'Callaghan's legacy

Today former soldier, airman and Marine Mike O'Callaghan is being laid to rest at Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City. With that in mind, this writer would like to give credit to "Governor Mike" for making "In Uniform," now entering its fifth year, possible.

Along with so many others, I felt a personal relationship with "Governor Mike," who treated everyone with such honesty and respect. Our relationship began at the old Sun offices on Martin Luther King Boulevard in 1984. The Sun was publishing the Nellis Air Force Base newspaper and I was a newly arrived lieutenant in charge of the paper, the Bullseye.

Mike always took a special interest in the Bullseye. He would often stop by our work tables to say hello and you could tell he was proud to have men and women in uniform in the Sun offices each week.

Years later as a civilian, I approached O'Callaghan with the idea of a military column that would digest the many hometown news stories about Las Vegas soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines.

"Call me with some details," he said. A few weeks later In Uniform went from idea to reality.

In brief

Powers, now with the 1st Infantry Division, is serving a one-year rotation in Iraq. He is the son and stepson of Randy and Pam Goodwill and Sam and Elena Powers, all of Las Vegas.

Baird is the son of Melvin and Jane Baird of Redstone, Colo., and his wife, Chrissy, is the daughter of Mike and Crystal Travaglia of Las Vegas.