Fort Meade: Retired from the military, but on a mission of rescue

A month before the Afghanistan government fell to the Taliban, the phone of a former Asymmetric Warfare Group soldier was already ringing nonstop as desperate interpreters he once worked with reached out for help. The retired sergeant major served several tours in Afghanistan where he relied on his interpreters to accomplish the mission. As it became evident the Taliban would assume control of the government, he feared for their lives and the safety of their families. Gonzalo Lassally, a former AWG integration troop sergeant major, wasn’t the only retiree from the unit receiving frantic calls and emails from Afghanistan.