The Afghanistan Poppy Eradication Campaign ─ Accounts from the Black Hawk Counter-Narcotics Infantry Kandak Team in Helmand Province

The 16-man Black Hawk Counter Narcotics Infantry Team served as an advisory and training unit for the Afghanistan National Army during a poppy eradication operation in Helmand province in 2008 and 2009. For 75 days, they fought extreme heat, sand storms and the Taliban to eradicate 11.2 tons of poppy seed and earn the respect of Afghan troops. Although the U.S. team they relieved had lost half its men during operations, the Black Hawks returned unscathed. This book chronicles their mission in a little known theater of the Afghanistan War.

Harry Spiller served two tours in Vietnam with the Marine Corps. A retired professor of criminal justice and former sheriff of Williamson County, Illinois, he lives in West Frankfort, Illinois.