Infantry

Now reporting live from the Yellow School of hard knocks

By Dan Lamothe on May 16, 2010 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…

A walk on the green side

By Dan Lamothe on May 14, 2010 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.

The view from the edge of the Sistani Desert

By Dan Lamothe on May 12, 2010 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…

Marijuana, fleas and shell casings: A morning in Marjah

By Dan Lamothe on May 10, 2010 Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Marjah

MARJAH, Afghanistan – It was a moment I was simultaneously dreading and seeking: My first time on foot outside the wire. This morning, I went on a four-hour foot patrol with members of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines. Half of 2nd Platoon’s 3rd squad took me along with them on a routine, early morning security patrol, which can drag on monotonously boring for hours at a time, only to shift into a blood-pumping engagement with the enemy at a moment’s notice. Today’s stayed quiet, but it showed the dynamics Marines deal with on a daily basis. They set out on foot…

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