KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- Combined Task Force Dragoon Soldiers conducted an over-watch foot patrol in the village of Hodzhamulk, Afghanistan Sept. 27, 2013 in order to monitor enemy communication.
The monitoring is provided by the Wolfhound Handheld Threat Warning System which allows Soldiers to listen-in on what the Taliban and insurgents are saying to each other. It is a handheld, radio frequency, threat warning and direction finding system.
Soldiers of Fox Troop, 2nd Squadron walked through the village for a dual support mission: to listen for Taliban activity over wireless communication devices and to mark any additional surveillance of route clearance activities.
"(The Wolfhound System is) used whenever there are friendly forces present in an area to observe and see if there is any enemy communications going on, particularly enemy visual operations towards (International Security Assistance Force) units in Afghanistan," said Sgt. Christopher Partain, a low level voice intercept operator with the 513th Military Intelligence Battalion.
The patrol listened for communications between enemy forces to determine what they are discussing and where they are generally located. The team walked through the town conducting security over-watch while a combined arms breach team drove through the area.
"When route clearance patrols come through, we want to be set in a position where we can hear and see and make sure that the area is safe," said Staff Sgt. Sean Ward, from Cornwall, N.Y., and a member of Fox Troop. "I think we got valuable intelligence from it. I think it was successful and I think it's a good way to deny the enemy freedom of maneuver in our area."
The Wolfhound's capabilities give both the U.S. and Afghan National Security Forces a greater ability to find out what the enemy is trying to do and the ability to disrupt their activities- this is a significant asset to the troops on the ground.
"As an enabler, I think the Wolfhound System is pretty important. The biggest thing is to save lives by being an effective early warning system. Most enemy attacks are coordinated through communications and if we can get a heads up on those communications, we can actually end up reacting faster," said Partain. "We are being proactive instead of reactive to an enemy attack."
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