Musa Qala

Last U.S. Marine tank unit heading home from Afghanistan

By Dan Lamothe on September 5, 2013 Afghanistan, Infantry, Kajaki, Musa Qala, Sangin

The Marine Corps made national headlines in fall 2010 when it sent tanks to northern Helmand province to bolster firepower there. It was a first for the U.S. in the war, which was nine years old at the time. Nearly three years later, the tanks are coming home. Delta Company, 2nd Tank Battalion, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., will redeploy to the U.S. soon, and will not be replaced by a similar unit, said 1st Lt. Philip Kulczewski, a Marine spokesman in Afghanistan. It’s one of the most tangible indications recently that that the U.S. drawdown in forces in Afghanistan…

New light shed on Marines’ role in repelling attack on Forward Operating Base Shir Ghazi

By Dan Lamothe on August 2, 2013 Afghanistan, Awards, Musa Qala

Lance Cpl. Joel Murray was aboard Forward Operating Base Shir Ghazi in Afghanistan on May 13 when a truck laden with explosives detonated outside. Three Georgian soldiers were mortally wounded, and several other Georgians and U.S. Marines sustained injuries. Murray, an engineer equipment operator with Combat Logistics Regiment 2, quickly rushed to the site of the blast, Marine officials said. Insurgents were attempting to penetrate the security perimeter of the base, in Helmand province’s Musa Qala district. Murray killed an enemy fighter, and then applied a tourniquet to a Georgian soldier who had sustained a life-threatening leg injury, according to…

Will Georgian sacrifices in Afghanistan result in NATO membership?

By Dan Lamothe on June 17, 2013 Afghanistan, Infantry, Musa Qala

June has been a rough year in Afghanistan for one of the Marine Corps’ closest allies, the Republic of Georgia. The small eastern European nation has lost at least 10 soldiers in recent attacks, including a June 6 truck bomb ambush that killed seven and wounded nine others in Helmand province’s Now Zad district. Another bomb in May in Musa Qala district killed three Georgian soldiers. It’s at times like these that Americans should remember just how closely the Georgians and U.S. Marines are intertwined on the battlefield. The Georgians began deploying a battalion at a time to northern Helmand…

General: Taliban probing for weaknesses in Helmand security

By Dan Lamothe on May 30, 2013 Afghanistan, Musa Qala, Sangin

As noted here on Battle Rattle last week, the arrival of fighting season in Afghanistan this year has meant a series of attacks in Helmand province, especially in Sangin district. Fighting has been underway there for several days straight, with Taliban fighters attacking Afghan forces repeatedly. Maj. Gen. W. Lee Miller, the top commander in southwestern Afghanistan, briefed the media from his headquarters at Camp Leatherneck yesterday (A transcript of that conversation is available here). A couple key takeaways: Heavy fighting in Sangin is back For much of late 2010 and 2011, the war in Sangin dominated media coverage of…

Attacks in Afghanistan: Here are the statistics for RC-Southwest

By Dan Lamothe on January 23, 2013 Afghanistan, Infantry, Kajaki, Marjah, Musa Qala, Sangin

As you may have seen today in this story, Marine officials in Afghanistan released to me statistics outlining enemy-initiated attacks. The numbers compared 2011 and 2012 by district, shedding light on an interesting period of transition in southwestern Afghanistan. My story on the subject is posted here. We’ve also posted the whole slide that I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) released, so you can check out the details yourself. Among the details that stuck out for me: Sangin Lt. Col. David Bradney, head of 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, told me in an interview in October that his Marines had “punched them…

Afghanistan mission for 2/7 Marines evolves

By Dan Lamothe on January 22, 2013 Afghanistan, Infantry, Kajaki, Musa Qala, Sangin

If you’re curious what a U.S. drawdown in Afghanistan looks like, search no farther than northern Helmand province. The region was once the site of massive fighting that killed dozens of Marines in Sangin district alone in fall 2010. Musa Qala, Kajaki and Now Zad districts also have seen their fair share of violence and casualties. Since spending a fair share of the fall in Helmand, the battalion in northern Helmand rotated. Second Battalion, 7th Marines, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif., replaced its sister unit, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines. Lt. Col. Donald Tomich discussed the battalion’s deployment with me recently,…

Marine tanks, special operators raid northern Helmand

By Dan Lamothe on November 7, 2012 Afghanistan, Infantry, Kajaki, Musa Qala, Trek Nawa, Vehicles, Weapons

The Marine Corps may have drawn down its forces in Afghanistan to less than 7,000 personnel this year, but they continue to run daring operations with the elite troops they have left. One of the latest examples is Operation Helmand Viper, a muscular effort to strike Taliban fighters in Zamindawar, a violent region between Musa Qala and Kajaki districts that we’ve covered several times on Battle Rattle this year. As this new Marine Corps news release points out, tanks with Bravo Company, 2nd Tank Battalion, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., rolled in support of special operators Oct. 19 to 27,…

Marine commander: We ‘punched them in the throat’ in Sangin

By Dan Lamothe on October 3, 2012 Afghanistan, Camp Leatherneck, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Kajaki, Musa Qala, Sangin

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…

Marine commander: We ‘punched them in the throat’ in Sangin

By Dan Lamothe on October 3, 2012 Afghanistan, Camp Leatherneck, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Kajaki, Musa Qala, Sangin

Browsing: Musa Qala