''Shepherds of Helmand'' is a

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

directed by Gary Mortensen. It premiered on February 3, 2011, by Lucky Forward Films. The documentary follows 17 men from the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

Oregon Army National Guard The Oregon Army National Guard is a federally mandated and equipped military organization under the civilian direction of the Oregon Military Department, with the Governor of Oregon as its Commander-in-Chief. It responds to state and national eme ...

who volunteered to train a kandak (

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...

) of troops from the Afghan National Army. It was the winner of the "Best Documentary" at the Queen's World Film Festival, winner of the "Golden Ace Award" at the Las Vegas Film Festival, and the winner of the "

Military Channel American Heroes Channel (formerly Military Channel and originally Discovery Wings Channel) is an American multinational pay television television network, channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. The n ...

Award" at the 2011

GI Film Festival The GI Film Festival (GIFF), a 501c3 non-profit organization founded by Army veteran Laura Law-Millett and her husband Brandon Millett, is "dedicated to preserving the stories of American veterans past and present through film, television and li ...

Plot

In 2008, 17 volunteers from the Oregon National Guard volunteered to deploy to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

to train troops of the Afghan National Army in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. They became an

Embedded Training Team Embedded Training Teams or ETT is the term used by the US military since 2003 to describe conventional forces used to train and mentor Afghan forces (ANA and ANP primarily). They were formed in 2003 under Task Force Phoenix. Although ETT refers t ...

, or ETT, and were stationed at

Camp Phoenix Camp Qargha, was an Afghan National Army facility which was home to its Officer Academy. The Afghan Army was supported by mentors from the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Denmark. The facility was located in Kabul, about six miles from ...

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

. The kandak of Afghan troops was a

light infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...

unit roughly 200 men strong, and they were equipped with primarily

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms d ...

rifles,

PK machine gun The PK (russian: Пулемёт Калашникова, transliterated as ''Pulemyot Kalashnikova'', or "Kalashnikov's machine gun"), is a belt-fed general-purpose machine gun, chambered for the 7.62×54mmR rimmed cartridge. Designed in the ...

s, and

Ford Ranger Ford Ranger is a nameplate that has been used on multiple model lines of pickup trucks sold by Ford worldwide. The nameplate has been used for distinct model lines of vehicles worldwide since 1982 from the compact and mid-size pickup category. ...

trucks for transportation. The Americans trained the Afghans to be a counter narcotics task force, and they went to

Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 ...

to halt illegal opium production and sale which provided the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...

with money. The US government instead gave the Afghan farmers corn to farm. The tall cornfields, however, turned into ideal ambush locations for Taliban fighters. Unfortunately, the "counter narcotics" unit began smoking the confiscated marijuana and the US troops were powerless to stop them. After much combat alongside soldiers from the Royal Irish Regiment and the

Royal Danish Army The Royal Danish Army ( da, Hæren, fo, Herurin, kl, Sakkutuut) is the land-based branch of the Danish Defence, together with the Danish Home Guard. For the last decade, the Royal Danish Army has undergone a massive transformation of structures ...

, the ETT team began leaving the Helmand area to return to Kabul. On the way, an IED destroyed an

MRAP Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP; ) is a term for United States Armed Forces, United States military light tactical vehicles produced as part of the MRAP program that are designed specifically to withstand improvised explosive device (IE ...

and killed CPT Bruno de Solenni from

Crescent City, California Crescent City ( Tolowa: ''Taa-’at-dvn''; Yurok: ''Kohpey''; Wiyot: ''Daluwagh'') is the only incorporated city in Del Norte County, California; it is also the county seat. Named for the crescent-shaped stretch of sandy beach south of the cit ...

. The soldiers return home to

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

, and all try to adjust to civilian life each in their own way. Their accomplishments in Afghanistan were notable, and Captain Paul Dyer mentions how in the first engagement with the Taliban, many of the Afghan soldiers fled or did not fight back, but by the time the Americans were ready to leave, the Afghans had come full-circle, and managed to defend the city of

Lashkar Gah Lashkargāh ( ps, لښکرګاه; fa, لشکرگاه), historically called Bost or Boost (), is a city in southwestern Afghanistan and the capital of Helmand Province. It is located in Lashkargah District, where the Arghandab River merges into ...

against the Taliban with minimal U.S. help. The ETT that these volunteers made up, is one of the most decorated units in

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

Plot

Cast

References

External links