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Armed gunmen open fire on Marine patrol, journalists

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By on Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Marjah

MARJAH, Afghanistan — The bullets snapped overhead angrily, and all I could feel were the insects crawling up and down my legs and the sludgy water seeping into my boots. That’s how I’ll remember an ambush on a Marine patrol today, in which I saw my first warzone firefight. It began at about 12:30 p.m., as 10 members of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, and six Afghan National Army soldiers pushed east on a dirt trail splitting two agricultural canals in central Marjah. The sky was clear and the air temperature had crept into the 90s, as the hot Afghan sun…

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Life at the Yellow Schoolhouse unfolds

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By on Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Marjah

MARJAH, Afghanistan — It’s day three for Tom Brown and I today at the Yellow Schoolhouse, a school built by the U.S. in Afghanistan in the 1950s. We went on a patrol with Marines on Sunday, and while it was uneventful, it was clear just how active the Taliban has been recently in this area. The patrol took us through several areas where Marines have been ambushed recently, including one Thursday in which eight to 10 insurgents opened fire on a group of Marines from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines. An Afghan National Army soldier was killed in the…

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Now reporting live from the Yellow School of hard knocks

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By on Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Marjah, Vehicles

MARJAH, AFGHANISTAN — Hello from the ‘stan, friends. Tom and I have made another move, leaving Patrol Base Yazzie yesterday to spend some time with the Marines of the Yellow Schoolhouse, a deserted Afghan school for which Marine Corps leadership has high hopes. Third Platoon from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines rotates squads through here on a revolving basis. As you can see, the school is rather, uh, rustic. There are no windows, numerous holes in the roof and a variety of birds and insects sharing the building with the Marines deployed there. I’ll have substantially more to a…

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A walk on the green side

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By on Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Marjah

 PATROL BASE YAZZIE, Afghanistan — As I mentioned earlier this week, it isn’t hard to find marijuana while traveling with Marine fire teams based here to patrol Marjah. Tom Brown captured just how easily this morning with this eye-opening photograph. For some of Tom’s work that doesn’t appear on Battle Rattle, check out the Military Times Line of Sight blog. All the fans of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, will probably get a kick out of this photo.

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Introducing combat zone soda

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By on Afghanistan, Embedded journalism

PATROL BASE YAZZIE, Afghanistan — It has been a relatively quiet day here on base, and for the first time in a few days, I actually had the combat cook-prepared dinner. Among the joys that came with it? The following: That’s right. Even the soda is different over here. It can be hard to find when you get this far downrange, but there was enough tonight for everyone to have one can. If having a “Coca-Cola Light” wasn’t weird enough, consider the other side of the beverage: For what it’s worth, it tasted the same, at least.

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Newsflash: There are crabs in landlocked Afghanistan

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By on Afghanistan, Animals, Embedded journalism, Marjah

PATROL BASE YAZZIE, Afghanistan — So there I was, relaxing in my tent here after going outside the wire with Marines on a three-hour evening patrol of Marjah. There was a squeak in the corner, and I saw movement along the wall. What was it? Upon closer inspect, the fine specimen you see above. Landlocked country or not, Afghanistan apparently has a population of crabs. I’ll assume they usually hang out near the canals, because that’s the only body of water within miles. Marines, apparently, are used to the spiky little guys. One member of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, said…

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Video: Marines, journalist caught under sniper fire

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By on Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Marjah

MARJAH, Afghanistan — The tension was obvious even before leaving the wire on a 6 a.m. patrol. Everyone in the fire team I was traveling with knew that a sniper had ambushed a Marine patrol the previous day in the same area we were traveling. While making our way along one of the canals that cut through Marjah, everyone was nearly silent, on high alert. We made a turn onto small, dusty road, with only the sound of boots crunching against dry rock cutting the air. Then the sniper hit. There was an intense crack and impact. A rifle round…

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Marines brave adventures in a world of military ‘wag bags’

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By on Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Gear

PATROL BASE YAZZIE, Afghanistan — I’ve been meaning to do this blog entry for quite some time, but, well, I figured we should get to know each other a bit before diving in. In my newly educated estimation, one of the things Americans take for granted the most is their plumbing. Fresh, crisp running water is a beautiful thing, whether it’s used for bathing, drinking or flushing the toilet. Flushing the toilet, you ask? Oh, yes, compadres. This is a blog entry about what happens when you no longer have that option. And since this blog is devoted in part…

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The view from the edge of the Sistani Desert

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By on Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Marjah

PATROL BASE YAZZIE, Afghanistan — We’re closing in on 10 p.m. here in Afghanistan, and I just realized we haven’t shared much new on the blog today. I’ve spent most of the day preparing a long magazine-style feature for next week’s Marine Corps Times that will cover Taliban tactics in Marjah, and how the Corps counteracts them. Above, a photograph I took last night while out with Marines from 2nd Platoon, 3rd Squad, of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, on patrol. I’m certainly not the photographer that Tom Brown is, but I jumped at the opportunity to show what the Sistani…

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