Tim King's First Hours in Afghanistan (VIDEO)

DISPATCHES FROM AFGHANISTAN
Tim King arrived in Afghanistan Thursday to report stories on Oregon troops. This story chronicles his first few hours “in country”, in his own words.

Preparing to leave Bagram via convoy, en route to Camp Phoenix. Photo by: Tim King

(KABUL, Afghanistan) - On the ground in Bagram, Afghanistan, I was fortunate to catch a ride to Camp Phoenix in Kabul, about 70 minutes away.

This was my initial destination, the home of the 41st Combat Brigade of the U.S. Army, and home for now to many soldiers from The Oregon National Guard.

These soldiers were a mix of new arrivals and returning troops. Some had been on leave, others were showing up for their second tour in Afghanistan. The trip to Camp Phoenix in Kabul is over an extremely rough road, one considered to be among the better routes in this Islamic country.

Reactions from Afghan citizens who live along this road gave offered my first impression of the people here, and almost all of them seemed to have a smile or a thumbs up for the heavily armed American military forces here.

The base at Kabul is comprised of a multi-national coalition force hailing from many nations including France, Britain, Canada and South Korea. The roads we traveled were the same ones used by Soviet troops in the 1980's, yet the mission of the Americans and other countries is of a completely different nature.

The roads are tight and accidents are not uncommon, but it was a successful journey with no hostile encounters. Had there been, the troops riding in the truck with me had their M-16's locked and loaded, and gunners in Humvees leading and trailing the convoy were prepared to respond.

Watch the Video News Report by Tim King:

Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines.

Tim holds awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Silver Spoke Award by the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (2011), Excellence in Journalism Award by the Oregon Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs (2010), Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), First-place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several others including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Tim has several years of experience in network affiliate news TV stations, having worked as a reporter and photographer at NBC, ABC and FOX stations in Arizona, Nevada and Oregon. Tim was a member of the National Press Photographer's Association for several years and is a current member of the Orange County Press Club.

Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website. As News Editor, Tim among other things, is responsible for publishing the original content of 82 Salem-News.com writers. He reminds viewers that emails are easily missed and urges those trying to reach him, to please send a second email if the first goes unanswered. You can write to Tim at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com

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