Commandant Gen. Jim Amos touched on many topics during a breakfast with media in Washington on Wednesday, yielding headlines that include an update on the state of affairs in Afghanistan and an acknowledgment that the service will likely draw down to 174,000 Marines if drastic federally mandated budget cuts stay in place. Not to be overlooked, however, is the commandant’s characterization of his new unit, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force-Crisis Response. The 550-strong force deployed in April, providing Gen. David Rodriguez, commander of U.S. Africa Command, a designated unit equipped to response to emergencies that erupt in volatile…
Browsing: Reconnaissance
The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit landed in Jordan recently, putting the bulk of its 2,400 personnel on land to participate in Exercise Eager Lion. It’s an annual event designed to improve security in the region and relationships between the two militaries. As MEUs frequently do, however, the unit has cast a long shadow across the region. Ongoing fighting in Syria between government forces and rebels has gripped the region, leading to some foreign media reports questioning whether the Marines have been stationed along the Syria-Jordan border for the sake of security. Take this one: A large American military force disembarked…
Several weeks ago, Marines with the unit assigned to train friendly forces across African nations agreed to speak with me for a story describing how the Marine Corps’ mission there is evolving and growing as the U.S. withdraws forces from Afghanistan. The resulting story, published here, highlights the mission in Senegal, where a force composed primarily of reconnaissance Marines have mentored commandos on everything from riverine operations to swimming in treacherous water. During our interview, Maj. Thomas Waller, then the head of the team there, described an incident in June in which a Senegalese commando was badly injured while conducting…
Swift, Silent, Deadly, the Marines of 1st Reconnaissance Battalion are back in Afghanistan. The unit, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., has taken over for 3rd Recon, out of Okinawa, Japan, in the Upper Sangin Valley. They’ll patrol land that remains some of the most treacherous in Helmand province. Insurgents in the area should remember 1st Recon well. The unit deployed to Helmand in summer 2010, initially taking on the Taliban on the fringes of Marjah district when it was still a violent and unforgiving place. They shifted their operations that fall to the Sangin area, and hammered away on the…
It goes without saying that Marine operations in Afghanistan get some pretty interesting names. There’s Operation Khanjar, the 2009 offensive in Helmand province that seized several districts south of Camp Leatherneck, including Khanashin, Nawa and Garmser. It meant “dagger” in Pashto, an imposing message. The operation was commonly called Strike the Sword in English. There’s Operation Khareh Cobra, the 2009 offensive to seize control of Helmand’s Now Zad Valley from insurgents. The operation was known as “Cobra’s Anger,” in English, which still sounds like the title to a “G.I. Joe” episode. And there’s Operation Moshtarak, the 2010 offensive in Helmand…
By now, many of you may have heard about the Marine Corps’ search for a new 1911 pistol. I first reported about it for Marine Corps Times in the fall when a Request for Information was released by acquisition officials, and followed up by walking the floor at SHOT Show last week to discuss the competition with many of the gunmakers assumed to be in the fight. As outlined in this story, Colt Defense and Springfield Armory have submitted samples to the Corps for the competition, while at least two other bigtime pistol makers — Kimber and Smith & Wesson…
Two news stories published in the last 24 hours include new revelations about the battle in Sangin, Afghanistan, where Marines remain in hotly contested combat. First, the BBC reports that the Taliban kidnapped and beat an Afghan village elder who helped broker the widely reported peace agreement between Marines and the Alikozai tribe, which spans multiple villages in Sangin district. Sayed Badar Agha was beaten after leading a group of 40 elders in negotiations that concluded with seven tribal elders signing the agreement, the BBC said. The BBC also reports that Taliban kingpen Mullah Omar reportedly ordered the killing of all…
The Marines of 1st Reconnaissance Battalion are expected to return this week from Afghanistan to Camp Pendleton, Calif., after a seven-month deployment. They were replaced during a relief in place ceremony at Camp Leatherneck last week with 2nd Recon, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C. First Recon deployed in the spring, and was quickly dispatched to areas surrounding the former Taliban stronghold of Marjah. They eventually also played a role in Sangin, where Marines have faced a tough fight in the last few months. At the time, Marjah district was likely the most dangerous place in Helmand province for Marines, and…
It’s late in the week, and we can all use a little motivation. So, why not draw attention to a series of photos released by the Marine Corps this week of Marines with Bravo Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, leaping from a C-130 plane over Camp Dwyer, Afghanistan? The jumps were part of an operation designed to sharpen parachuting, reconnaissance patrolling and maintenance of parachute insert proficiency, Marine officials said.
