SPRINGS MILITARY REACTION: Ambard family finds some peace after grief
From the depths of grief, the family of slain Air Force Maj. Phil Ambard found solace in terrorist leader Osama bin Laden’s death.
Ambard, an Air Force Academy officer assigned to train the Afghan military, died last week in a mass shooting at an airport in Kabul.
“I think there was definitely justice,” said Air Force Academy cadet Tim Ambard, the major’s son. “I’m happy to see there was justice for the families.”
Ambard’s daughter, Air Force Lt. Emily Short, said she hopes bin Laden’s death means someday others won’t have to mourn.
“It’s a victory morally,” she said. “It’s going to reinvigorate our efforts and push us through on that end.”
At a chow hall at an American military base in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Fort Carson GIs got the news at breakfast early Monday before heading out for a day of patrols.
President Barack Obama appeared on TVs that normally carry ESPN for the sports-loving troops of the 3,800-soldier 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division.
The normally raucous room stood still, said Maj. Earl Brown, a spokesman for the brigade who joined his comrades watching the announcement of bin Laden’s death.
“You could have heard a pin drop,” Brown said in a telephone interview from Kandahar.
Then it was pandemonium, with cheers, rebel yells and high fives from the crowd of combat-hardened soldiers who have been fighting the Taliban for 11 months.
Al Qaida isn’t the biggest threat to the Fort Carson troops these days, but many of them joined the Army with a goal of taking bin Laden out.
There was a sense of pride and satisfaction among the soldiers, Brown said.
“Especially when we heard it was ground forces that went in and not just a bomb dropped,” Brown said.
Afghan soldiers fighting alongside the Americans were jubilant, too. Brown said Afghan commanders congratulated their American counterparts for removing a lightning rod for insurgent groups.
There was little time for celebration, though. Soldiers quickly returned to the job of securing Kandahar, a former Taliban stronghold.
In recent days, soldiers from the brigade have targeted bomb makers in the city.
Over the weekend, the brigade seized a weapons cache in Kandahar that included homemade explosives and rocket-propelled grenades. Two insurgents were captured.
Kandahar seemed subdued Monday, Brown said. Commanders didn’t see an increase in attacks, large-scale protests or gatherings to mourn bin Laden. The brigade was ready for attacks from enraged insurgents.
The news was spreading through the streets.
“It’s been bubbling all day,” Brown said.
At U.S. Northern Command in Colorado Springs, Monday was just another day at the office.
Established in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the command is responsible for deterring terrorist acts on American soil.
Leaders at the command did order U.S. bases to a higher level of alert, a move that will slow traffic through gates at the region’s five military bases, but there were no other outward signs of activity tied to bin Laden’s death.
“There's been no change here,” said John Cornelio, the command’s spokesman.
But it did put a spring into the step of Northern Command workers.
“All our televisions are on and everyone is watching the coverage,” Cornelio said.
Retired Lt. Gen. Ed Soriano was on duty as commander of Fort Carson during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
He said the death of bin Laden is a dream come true for thousands of troops who made killing or capturing the terrorist leader a personal goal.
“A lot of young folks wanted to get into the fight because of the tragedies caused by this man,” said Soriano, who lives in Colorado Springs.
The death of bin Laden gives a powerful morale boost to troops, he said, at a time when soldiers are weary from a decade of warfare.
“I think there will be a renewed effort and renewed enthusiasm for what we are doing,” he said.
At the same time, the fall of an icon for America’s enemies could take a toll on terrorist morale and harm their ability to recruit, Soriano said.
“They’ll see that we’re serious about what we are doing,” he said. “The intent was to go after this guy and we got him. I think it will make a difference.”
Retired Air Force Lt. Col Hal Bidlack was in the Pentagon on 9/11 when a passenger plane hit, killing 125.
Bidlack found himself helping with security and triage for the wounded.
“It’s incredibly hard to talk about,” Bidlack said. “I saw stuff and did stuff I don’t want to talk about. It didn’t seem real. It was such a beautiful day. There was a cloud of black smoke against a beautiful blue sky. It’s one of those things we think happens to other people.”
Bidlack, of Colorado Springs, said on Monday he was remembering those who died in the bin Laden-directed attack.
“I take satisfaction that he ended by the same type of violence he inspired,” said Bidlack.
The timing of Osama bin Laden's demise couldn't have been any sweeter for Cliff Powers, vice president of Front Range Climbing Co. A friend called with the news Sunday night as Powers was celebrating his retirement from the Army after 22 years.
"A long career ended with a bang. It couldn't have been any better," Powers said.
He had planned a small gathering at home with family and friends to mark "22 years, 3 months, 26 days" in the Infantry. After the phone call, the party grew considerably.
"I was lucky enough to be in the service to see three tyrants come to an end - (Manuel) Noriega, (Saddam) Hussein, and (Osama) bin Laden," he said.
Four deployments, from the first in Bosnia to the last in Iraq, kept Powers, 41, away from his children, ages 14 to 23, for months and months at a time.
"That's the biggest thing for me, with my wife and kids," he said of bin Laden's death. "That man (and his followers) uprooted our lives for the last 10 years."
Powers knows one man's death won't end the War on Terrorism, that there is plenty of work to be done. But he says "it feels like closure, in a sense."
"I've been smiling all day. And I've been wondering whether it's a good thing, to be smiling. But I think it is. There's been so much pain and suffering."
--Gazette staffer Dena Rosenberry contributed to this report.
