A flight engineer on a Boeing CH-47 Chinook sits at the open rear ramp manning an M240 machine gun in Afghanistan. Lt. Sean Parnell commanded a 40-man unit during the Afghan war and spent 16 months trying to cut the flow of arms and men coming into Afghanistan from Pakistan. His unit was there for "485 combat days."

CRANBERRY TWP — American soldiers in Afghanistan face more than a battle-hardened enemy. They must also confront untrustworthy allies, primitive conditions and the shifting tribal politics.

These were the realities confronting Lt. Sean Parnell when he arrived at Forward Operating Base Bermel on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in May 2006.

The Cranberry Township man has written a book about commanding a 40-man unit in the Afghan war, “Outlaw Platoon.” The book, co-authored with John Bruning, will be released Feb. 28.

Parnell and his men spent 16 months in Bermel trying to cut the flow of arms and men coming into Afghanistan from Pakistan.

“That's 485 combat days, longer than Easy Company from Normandy Beach to the Eagle's Nest in ‘Band of Brothers,'” Parnell said, referring to the World War II HBO series.

Parnell said the foes his men faced were seasoned veterans, not poorly organized tribesmen.

‘The enemy that you see in Afghanistan is an interesting animal,” said Parnell.

The Taliban is the group most Americans know.

But there is also the Haqqani Network, which has the border area under its control and emerged as a force during the war with the Soviets, Parnell said.

The Taliban and the Haqqani Network were in a loose partnership against the Northern Alliance, whose defeat cemented Taliban power.

Added to the mix were foreign fighters from all over the world.

Parnell said foreign fighters in Afghanistan act as trainers and noncommissioned officers.“The average foreign fighter — Pakistani, Chechen, Mongol — has 18 years of combat experience on the average American private. He far exceeds average American combat experience,” Parnell said.Parnell witnessed this expertise firsthand in the ambushes and fire fights described in the book.Veterans of fighting in Iraq, the Chechnya-Russian conflicts and the ethnic cleansing in the Balkans, Parnell said, are the real religious fanaticsHaqqani leader Mawlawi Jalaluddin Haqqani is getting older now and passing a command structure off to his sons. The network is augmented by foreign fighters who have taken up residence in Pakistan.The state of the Pakmil Frontier Corps is a secondary theme of the book.“What we are being told and what the U.S. infantryman on the ground is seeing is two different things,” said Parnell.He said Pakistani forces have treated the enemy in its hospitals across the border, let themselves be used as human shields by insurgents firing into Afghanistan and even participated in a direct attack against U.S. forces in 2007.“The Afghan war would have been over five years ago if Pakistan would have sealed the borders and not given our enemy a place to run, heal, rest and train,” Parnell said.Why it isn't is rooted in the history and tribalism of the region, Parnell said.During the 19th century, the British maintained the border with a Frontier Crops made up of units of one British officer commanding a platoon of Pakistanis.Pakistan kept the model when it became independent, but unfortunately was stuck with a militia that doesn't honor the border at all.Militiamen are loyal to their tribe, which could be living on both sides of the border.And Parnell said, the Pakistani attitude seems to be in the words of a proverb: “If the wolf is in the hills, leave him in the hills,” that is, let the

“That's not to say Pakistani soldiers aren't getting hurt and killed, but the military isn't strong enough to deal with the threat on its own,” Parnell said.“It's a complex political situation in Pakistan,” said Parnell. For one thing, Pakistan is a nuclear power and the fear is it could allow a terrorist cell access to tactical nuclear weapons.Another complication is the incredible primitiveness of the land, Parnell said. Afghanistan has no roads, no electricity and no comfort. “The Roman Empire was more advanced than Afghanistan is today.”They look at us as if we were astronauts, like we were from outer space,” Parnell said.Afghanistan was the end of a long road that started in 2001 when Parnell was an elementary education major at Clarion University.“I woke up in a messy college apartment and watched the towers collapse,” he said. “That was the catalyst that set me on the path to the Army.“I was shocked at the attacks, but I was horrified at the civilians killed and I felt we had to respond.”Parnell transferred from Clarion as a sophomore and joined the ROTC program at Duquesne University, graduated in May 2004 as a second lieutenant and then volunteered to join the elite Rangers, whose training he described as “absolutely horrible.”Parnell said the 60-day course included marching 10 miles a day on one or two meals a day and two hours of sleep a night. He said his weight dropped from 215 pounds to 165.“It's basically hell on Earth,” he said.Parnell, who retired from the Army as a captain in 2010, starting writing “Outlaw Platoon” in 2008.

The title comes from the nickname the platoon had for itself.His collaborator, John Bruning, a military historian and author, said “Sean had seen some of my other collaborations that I'd been involved in and he sought me out.”“As soon as we started talking, I realized there was a special man inside of Sean,” Bruning said.Bruning said he worked more closely with Parnell than any other author, talking daily on the phone, and amassing hundreds of pages of notes.“It has an emotional depth. This means a lot to me, the story of Sean and his platoon,” Bruning said.“During the Iraq surge when that was happening, everyone thought Afghanistan was under control and they were essentially forgotten,” said Parnell. “I promised them I would tell their stories, and five years later, here we are.”“I want people to know the love and brotherhood are among the most formidable qualities a unit can possess in combat. I wanted to open a window into the heart of the modern American infantry soldier.” he said.Parnell, who is in the clinical psychology doctorate program at Duquesne University, will be going on a book tour next month and is already scheduled to appear on Fox and Friends, and the National Public Radio station in New York.<br></br>

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Lt. Sean Parnell radios other troops during a 2006 ambush in Afghanistan. In his book, Parnell details the ambushes and fire fights involving his forces in Afghanistan. Along with fighting the Taliban, Americans had to deal with the Haqqani Network and foreign fighters, whose combat experience was far greater than theirs.

Spc. Travis Roberts watches as a Taliban positionburns.

Sean Parnell of Cranberry Township wrote “Outlaw Platoon” about his experiences in wartime Afghanistan.

Lt. Sean Parnell's unit is on the lookout for enemy troops. Parnell said the forces they faced were seasoned veterans, not poorly organized tribesman. He said he wants his book to show people that “love and brotherhood” are vital qualities for all combat units.

Outlaw platoon