Weapons Expert is On The Move in Afghanistan (VIDEO)

DISPATCHES FROM AFGHANISTAN
When it comes time to provide security in a hot area, Shaughnessy is on the move and ready to protect his men, sometimes in the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan.

Photo by: Tim King

(KABUL, Afghanistan) - Weapons of war only work with proper maintenance. A veteran of many wars, Kevin Shaughnessy knows them all like the back of his hand, including former Soviet weapons which the U.S. and coalition forces now share the use of. As Tim King reports, these skills are coming in handy in Afghanistan.

It isn't every day that a reporter gets a chance to know men like Army Sergeant First Class Kevin Shaughnessy. He has survived four wars and his life has been dedicated to the study of military weapons.

This veteran has been traveling through Afghanistan to lend advice and drop rifle cleaning kits off with soldiers at remote combat outposts.

To say that Shaughnessy “knows his stuff” is an understatement.

And his knowledge of soviet type weapons is a real benefit right now, because unlike the Vietnam War, Americans and coalition forces are working side by side with soldiers who carry the Russian AK-47 assault rifle.

It has a distinctly different sound from the American M-16, and in Vietnam the sound of an AK was a sure sign the enemy was close by.

When night rolls around, this Weapons Expert isn't reading a book or sleeping... he is a mentor for all young soldiers who want to gain an edge in rifle care and marksmanship, which can keep them alive in a firefight.

It isn't all about instruction either, when it comes time to provide security in a hot area, Shaughnessy is on the move and ready to protect his men, sometimes in the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan.

Sergeant First Class Kevin Shaughnessy says, "I like it, you get a chance to really see how the troops are living out here, the hardship, what they are living through, what they are living with, I like it, this is where the tip is, what they're doin."

When he was a San Diego firefighter in 1989, Kevin Shaughnessy rescued two women who had recently emigrated from Afghanistan from a raging house fire.

He says he had no idea then that he would one day come to this country, it looks extending the lives of Afghan people is just in his nature.

Sergeant First Class Kevin Shaughnessy celebrated his 57th birthday in Kabul Afghanistan.

Watch the Streaming Video News Report below, direct from Kabul, Afghanistan by Tim King: Video

In Afghanistan, Tim King, reporting for Salem-news.com

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Tim King is embedded in Kabul, Afghanistan with the 41st Combat Brigade of the Oregon National Guard. See his stories several times a week here, on Salem-News.com, and on Portland’s KPTV Fox12.