Traveling in Kajaki, Afghanistan, last year, I learned that we’d be spending a couple nights in a small mud compound with Marines… and a nest or oriental hornets. The insects looked monstrous — they can grow to more than two inches long — but there were no incidents worth mentioning. A video recorded in 2007 suggests that hornets in Afghanistan aren’t always so harmless, however. It went viral online today, after being posted to Reddit, Gawker and other sites: [HTML1] Anybody else feel like they need some long sleeves? Clearly, these bugs aren’t fans of controlled detonations like Marines. The…
Browsing: oriental hornets
So, how’s your day going? Struggling with an infestation of gremlins in your life? Echo Battery, 1st Battalion, 12th Marines, is. The artillery unit has been based at Forward Operating Base Zeebrugge in Afghanistan since May, providing protection to the Kajaki Dam, a major hydroelectric facility in northern Helmand province. One of Zeebrugge’s more unpleasant quirks is its pests, which include oriental hornets and subterranean termites, according to a new Marine Corps news release. Insect problems are nothing new on deployment, but this one was apparently serious enough to merit attention from sailors serving in preventative medicine with II Marine…