EDITOR’S NOTE: Paul Guillaume is a correspondent embedded with National Guard troops in Afghanistan. He was briefly embedded with the 48th Brigade in Iraq during 2006.

At dawn, the five mine resistant ambush protected trucks that would carry 1st Lt. David W. Marck’s platoon to its mission in Khan Abad lined up in front of the gate of Forward Operating Base Kunduz, Delta Company 1/121st Infantry’s dusty, three-acre base atop a plateau near here.

Crews readied weapons and put on body armor and helmets in the hazy light.

The humanitarian assistance mission that Americus-based First Platoon, Delta Company, 1/121 Infantry, conducted on a recent Friday illustrates the progress and frustrations of their mentor mission to the Afghan National Police force in Khan Abad.

"The purpose here is to increase the security in Khan Abad by distributing the HA as an incentive to local people. The whole reason we’re doing this … in Khan Abad right now is because Khan Abad is secure," said Marck, 29, of Athens.

"The chief of police has done a good job of securing the city. So as a way of saying good job … we’re going to bring in 300 personnel worth of HA drop and allow him to distribute it to people he has picked out," Marck explained on the afternoon before the mission.

Marck’s goal for the mission, in keeping with his role as a mentor, was to observe only.

The Khan Abad police chief has "developed the security plan; he has developed the list of personnel who are going to receive the HA. This is the first chance I’ve had to really see how the chief handles command and control over his guys in an operational type of environment," Marck said.

"In my experience, these things tend to turn into unruly mobs. At the end of the day, you’ve got a bunch of people who are pissed off because they didn’t get anything, they weren’t invited, or they just think you owe them more."

The hour and a half drive from the FOB to Khan Abad was uneventful. The convoy of wide-bodied military trucks pulled over several times to allow oncoming traffic to pass on the narrow roads as part of a focus on respecting the Afghans’ ownership of the roads in their country.

Upon pulling into the gate of the police headquarters, SSgt. Dexter L. Cooper, 24, of Cairo, directed the parking scheme for the platoon’s trucks inside the walled, gated police station.

Marck detailed Pfc. Ashley T. Howard, 20, of Jesup and Spc. Michael Wilson, 23, of Tifton to guard the white sacks of donated goods.

We are here "making sure the ANP don’t take it for themselves," explained Wilson.

The ANP "don’t seem to understand that (the goods are) not for them," added a concerned Marck.