My story about the HKIA Bombing

Today marks three years since the bombing at Abbey Gate (HKIA - Kabul, Afghanistan). Today marks three years since we lost 13 incredible service members: 11 Marines, a Sailor, and a Soldier.

I have never shared this story publicly because it's taken me a long time to find the words. I was with the Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force, Crisis Response, Central Command 21.1, one of the units overseeing operations in the Middle East from January 2021 to October 2021.

In the days leading up to us putting boots on the ground in Afghanistan to support the upcoming Non-Combatant Evacuation Operation (NEO), I found myself being told that my Marines and I would be part of the Communications team at HKIA to support operations. I was excited; in fact, I was beyond excited. This is what I wanted more than anything—an opportunity to be in a highly dangerous, dynamic environment where anything could happen at any time. It's what we had been training for months for leading up to, and since the beginning of, the deployment.

Then we got the call: "You guys aren't going to HKIA." We were told another team would be supporting communications at HKIA, and we were going to be staying in the rear supporting the Crisis Response Operations Center. I was upset—this was my chance at glory, my chance to do something incredible, impactful, etc. I realize now that this was selfish and foolish.

As the NEO got underway, we immediately saw how hectic an operation like this would be—people attempting to storm the gates and walls, attempting to hold onto C-130s taking off on the runway, and more. It was unlike anything anyone had ever attempted before—the largest Non-Combatant Evacuation Operation in history.

Now, it's August 26th, 2021—approximately 1400 AST—and my shift is over. One of my Marines and I perform our shift changeover and then head to the chow hall, leaving the data/network section unmanned. We weren't supposed to do that, but as a Sergeant, I told my junior Marine who was replacing me to just come with me to chow because nothing was going to happen while we were gone.

Sitting in the chow hall, our Comm O comes in and had been looking all over for us—our comms with HKIA were degraded, and a bomb had just gone off. That's all we knew. We rushed back to the CROC and worked on re-establishing communications with HKIA. The CROC floor was silent—you could've literally heard a pin drop. When comms were re-established, we began to get an understanding of what had happened. It wasn't until some time later that evening that we knew more about what had happened.

The Life Support Area that the SPMAGTF and V21 occupied in Saudi Arabia was silent except for the desert wind. We held a memorial some time following the SPMAGTF's return to the LSA, but at the time, we all felt hollow.

I'd like to share a personal story about Sergeant Nicole Gee, who lost her life in the HKIA bombing. She is the person I individually credit with my success in the Marine Corps. For those of you who don't know what selecting an Active Duty MOS in the Marine Corps is like, you don't typically select a specific MOS, but a MOS field. For me, I had selected 0600, Communications. There were a couple of MOSs within comm, but only one that I wanted—0671 because of my background in working with networks and servers. While Gee and I were in comm school in 29 Palms (her as a maintainer), I was assigned my MOS, 0621 Field Radio Operator. I did not want this MOS AT ALL, but needs of the Marine Corps and such. Fortunately, Gee had also been assigned an MOS she didn't want and was able to, with the help of schoolhouse instructors, change her MOS. She helped me do the same, and three meritorious promotions later, when I was a Sergeant, I remember thanking her just months before she would pass.

The final thing I'd like to share is that just a few weeks ago, I was in the mood for Middle Eastern food, so I went to a local Middle Eastern place to get a wrap. While there, the man ordering in front of me asked the cashier where he was from, as he had an accent—he said Afghanistan. When it was my time to order, I inquired further and learned that this young man was one of the 130,000 people evacuated from HKIA. He thanked me and those we lost for the sacrifices made to help give him and his family a chance at a better life.

Today, and every day, we must honor and remember those who gave their lives to evacuate nearly 130,000 people, many of whom had risked everything to aid Americans during the Global War on Terror.