Col. Don Bolduc commanded special forces battalion during latest Afghan duty

LACONIA — "There are lots of fun jobs in the Army, but commanding a battalion is the best job in the Army," said Lieutenant Colonel Don Bolduc, who earlier this month relinquished command of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), which spent 17 of the last 24 months deployed in Afghanistan. "You're senior enough to command, but close enough at the tactical level to have day-to-day interaction with soldiers," he continued yesterday, while visiting in his father's home here. "And the toughest thing is to give up command of this battalion."

Bolduc, one of three sons of City Councilor Armand Bolduc (Ward 6) and his late wife Jan to serve in the Special Forces, is visiting with family and friends this week, before his next posting as operations and training officer at Special Forces Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina followed by a stint at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Bolduc's brother Dave was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and given command of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) the the very day he left his battalion. John, his other brother, retired as a Master Sergeant and is working with Blackwater USA, the private military and security contractor, in Iraq.

When Bolduc enlisted shortly after graduating from Laconia High School, he did not envision a military career. "My grandfather was adamant about serving the country," he recalled. "I grew up knowing it was a family obligation, something I had to do in some capacity." After serving in the infantry and airborne, he attended Salem State College, where he enrolled in the Reserve Officers Training Corps and left with a degree, a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant and Sharon, his wife of 18 years.

Bolduc saw combat with the 82nd Airborne in Grenada and the Special Forces in the Persian Gulf before the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, when he served on the advance team attached to Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, as his primary military advisor.

Altogether, Bolduc has served four tours in Afghanistan, the most recent as commander of a battalion of 420 special forces spread over 14 fire bases in the southern and western regions of the country, where since 2003 the Taliban has mounted a determined effort to regain what was once its stronghold.

Bolduc said that his unit's mission was twofold. First, to pursue and destroy the "insurgent infrastructure" in alliance with Afghan security forces in order to provide "stability, security and safety" to the Afghan people while depriving the Taliban leadership of the forces and organization required to return to power. And second to establish civic institutions, physical infrastructure and basic services. "We're building roads, bridges, schools and clinics at the village level," he said, adding that when coalition forces arrived in 2001 there were country lacked the means of providing its people with basic services. "There has been a tremendous amount of growth since 2001," he said, acknowledging that "it's a long-term proposition."

Bolduc said that Special Forces units, consisting of experienced soldiers with backgrounds in engineering, civics and medicine, were well-suited to their mission, which might find them undertaking "presence patrols," or combat operations one day and providing humanitarian assistance, constructing roadways or working with local leaders to improve governance the next.

"Special Forces are the Peace Corps with a bite," he remarked.

Meanwhile, Bolduc said he was enjoying his respite at home by swimming and kayaking in the lake with his three sons — Matthew, Zachary and Joshua — and treating his wife to lobster rolls and black raspberry ice cream at Sawyer's Dairy Bar in Gilford.

CAPTION: Col. Don Bolduc (second from right) on patrol with his U.S. Army Special Forces Group in the Khas Uruzgan District of south central Afghanistan. (U.S. Army photo)