St. Paddy's in the 'stan!

Well, it may not be the most typical location to take in the most holy day of the AfghaniDan's calendar, but damn if a nice surprise didn't bring a smile to my face on this March 17...a freakin' bagpiper! This is what the writeup might look like, if I was a reporter or something like that...

JALALABAD AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – The sounds of a routine afternoon at Jalalabad Air Field in eastern Afghanistan were interrupted by the strains of bagpipes Friday, marking Saint Patrick’s Day in an unlikely location.

The lone piper, Army 1st Lt. Richard W. Powell II of Albany, N.Y., was merely keeping up his practice on an instrument that’s no stranger to warfare, but still an object of curiosity in this corner of the world, and even among the members of Task Force Spartan.

“My interpreters saw me practicing on the chanter earlier, and asked what it was,” said Powell of the flute-like device that the piper uses to play the notes by hand. “They had never heard anything like it before.”

It was no accident that Powell, the fire support officer for Headquarters and Headquarters Support Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, was playing his bagpipes on this day, and an appreciative audience of soldiers and Marines was happy to take it all in.

“This is one of the best things ever on St. Paddy’s Day, and something I’m not forgetting,” said Marine Pfc. Arthur E. Reynolds, Jr. of 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, who never had seen bagpipes played in person before. “It’s simply amazing.”

Powell, who is a proud member of the Schenectady Pipe Band of Schenectady, N.Y., has been playing the bagpipes for eight years. He once played for Bravo Company while marching off the objective in a training mission, as soldiers passed by and a controlled detonation exploded directly behind him.

The bagpipes originated in Egypt, according to Powell, made up of a camel’s gut, one drone and the chanter. They later migrated all the way to Ireland, then Scotland. Their use in warfare became legendary due to the bravery of the Irish and Scots who employed them for communication and motivation.

Powell credits his father, a retired Albany police officer who helped start the Albany Police Department’s bagpipe band years earlier, for stoking his interest in taking up the instrument. His friend Matt Kelly, who plays the snare drum in the Schenectady Pipe Band, was another influence.

“I figured, what the hell…he can keep the beat while I play,” said Powell with a laugh.