At the Crossroads

Photographer Michael Fagans ’91 spent a month in Afghanistan with the 10th Division.

While on patrol, Sgt. 1st Class James D. Gannaway of the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, lets a young Afghani look through his binoculars.

Last August, the Watertown (New York) Daily Times asked staff photographer Michael Fagans ’91 to cover the deployment of the 10th Mountain Division from neighboring Fort Drum to Afghanistan. Fagans readily accepted and spent a month with the 10th as they trained members of the Afghan National Army in the north and provided security in the south.

"My real hope for the country is the army," says Fagans, who majored in political science at Wooster. "For the first time, it’s been integrated ethnically and tribally, so that villagers can identify with soldiers in the units. It’s the beginning of a national consciousness for a young country. The army’s intent is to be professional and not aligned with a religious group or political party."

Soldiers in the 11th Kandak celebrate their upcoming graduation from basic training camp by dancing at the end of the day.

Fagans didn’t find himself near combat in Afghanistan, and he doesn’t usually advocate military solutions to political problems, so he is uncomfortable calling himself a war photographer. "One of my favorite photographers once said that he’s an anti-war photographer. I like that."

The assignment was just one more intriguing location for Fagans, whose photography has included freelancing features from a mission trip to Malawi and covering the Navajo Nation Reservation in Gallup, New Mexico. The Afghan trip "was a good step for me as a photographer," he says, "because you’re living, breathing, eating your assignment for a month, out of your comfort zone, and you don’t usually get a chance to do that."

"I’m living the life that I’ve always wanted to lead."

Aziz, an interpreter for the 10th Division, and Spc. Zia Ul Haq, 211th Public Affairs, say evening prayers as the sun sets in the Deichopan Valley. Spc. Haq was born in Pakistan and moved to the United States with his parents when he was a child.