CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan – Good evening, friends. We’re still aboard this forward operating base, conducting interviews for several stories in forthcoming issues of Marine Corps Times. In the meantime, I wanted to share a meeting I had today with the top brass in 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif. The unit is on its way back to the U.S. following a grueling seven-month deployment in volatile northern Helmand province. Its Marines were based primarily in Sangin at first, and then gradually spread through Kajaki, Musa Qala and Now Zad districts as the drawdown in forces across Afghanistan…
Browsing: Kajaki
More than 1,000 Marines with 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, have returned from Afghanistan to Camp Pendleton, Calif., since Friday, the culmination of their seven-month deployment in northern Helmand province. As this Marine Corps news release points out, the unit was based primarily in Musa Qala and Now Zad districts, teaming with other units as part of Regimental Combat Team 6. Other infantry units in that RCT this summer included 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., and 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif., both of which photographer James J. Lee and I visited this spring…
USA Today published a story yesterday by longtime war correspondent Jim Michaels, who traveled with Commandant Gen. Jim Amos during his recent trip to Afghanistan. For readers who have been tracking Marine operations in Helmand province closely, there won’t be many surprises in the piece… except maybe this: From mid-March to mid-July, 147 members of the Afghan security forces were killed in action in the Helmand region, up from 57 in the same period last year, according to Regional Command Southwest. During that period, 31 coalition troops were killed in action, down from 50 troops a year ago. In other words, Afghan…
I was embedded with Marines in Afghanistan this spring when a member of the Afghan National Army walked up at a small outpost and pointed to the thumb drive plugged into my laptop computer. “Can I have it?” he seemed to be asking. Considering the drive had many of the photographs I had taken while on patrol that day in Kajaki district with 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, I was hesitant to turn it over. A corporal explained that the Afghan didn’t want the actual drive, but was hopeful there was American music on it that he could try. The Marines…
It was a matter of time. Marines in Afghanistan recently launched Operation Jaws, an effort to root out the Taliban in Zamindawar, an area of northern Helmand province that has been a hotbed for insurgent activity. The operation was headed by 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., and ran from May 25 to June 9, according to this new Marine Corps news release. They targeted an area of Kajaki district that I wrote about several times while embedded there in April. As outlined in this previous story, Marines had been observing insurgents in Zamindawar for quite some…
I appeared on TV last night to discuss the war in Afghanistan and my recent embed with Marines there in Helmand province. “Capital Insider” is based in Washington, D.C., on News Channel 8, and covers a variety of subjects affecting the government, including defense. The segment aired here, where I fielded questions from anchor Morris Jones. Among the subjects that came up: The use of surveillance blimps in Sangin and Kajaki districts, the ongoing drawdown of Marine forces in Helmand and the challenges still faced by the Afghan military that U.S. troops are training. [HTML1] Blog entries penned during our embed are grouped…
When I’m in Afghanistan, I have what some people may consider an odd habit: closely inspecting memorial tributes developed by the troops, for the troops. They come in many sizes, shapes and colors. There are murals. There are photographs. And there certainly are battlecrosses, which serve as the centerpiece of many memorial ceremonies that deployed Marines hold for their fallen brothers and sisters. Each of these tributes captures a story of sacrifice, pain and sadness. Conversely, they show a sobering sense of pride in the honor and dedication displayed by those who gave the last full measure of devotion. I…
In more than 10 years of war, the Navy Cross has been awarded to 31 Marines and seven sailors. Ten Navy Crosses were awarded posthumously. On Friday, two California-based Marines — Cpl. Christopher Farias and Sgt. Cliff Wooldridge — were present and accounted for as they received the Navy Cross, the nation’s second highest award for valor. Their stories will live on and join those of scores of legendary Marines. At Camp Pendleton, Farias received his award at a morning ceremony for his ferocious will to fight and direct the counterattack of an ambush in Kajaki, Afghanistan, on Oct. 5,…
For those interested, I appeared on This Week in Defense News with Vago Muradian yesterday morning to discuss the war in Afghanistan, in light of my recent trip to Helmand province. The TV segment can be watched here: [brightcove video=”1646277551001″ /]
Smile, Taliban. The Marines are watching you. As mentioned in my new story outlining the current fight in Afghanistan’s volatile Sangin district, Marine forces in northern Helmand province are using tethered “spy blimps” to watch for insurgent activity. The most common is the Precision Ground Surveillance System, a 70-foot aerostat balloon that floats over many combat outposts up and down Route 611 from Sangin to Kajaki. Army Times colleague Lance Bacon wrote about their capabilities last month. First Battalion, 7th Marines, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif., also has one larger Persistent Threat Detection System, which carries hundreds of pounds of…
