Sangin

Commandant touts Marines’ collaboration with special operators

By Dan Lamothe on November 8, 2012 Afghanistan, Commandant, Kajaki, MARSOC, Sangin, Special operations

Commandant Gen. Jim Amos highlighted the relationship between his conventional forces and the U.S. special operations community Thursday, saying their collaboration in Afghanistan is “better than it ever has been.” Special operators from the Army, Air Force, Navy and Corps all operate in Helmand province, where tens of thousands of Marines have deployed in recent years. In particular, Amos said forces with U.S. Special Operations Command can be found across Sangin and Kajaki, violent districts where Marines have engaged in heavy combat. Those special operators get a variety of support from conventional Marine forces, especially with aviation, Amos said. “They’re…

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

Three Marine battalions yield to one in northern Helmand

By Dan Lamothe on September 19, 2012 Afghanistan, Drawdown, Infantry, Kajaki, Sangin

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…

In Helmand, five times as many Afghan troops die as Marines

By Dan Lamothe on July 26, 2012 Afghanistan, Infantry, Kajaki, Sangin, The CMC

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…

Video: Marine Corps Times on the Taliban’s shift in Afghanistan

By Dan Lamothe on June 7, 2012 Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Kajaki, Sangin

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…

On Memorial Day weekend, a look at war-zone tributes

By Dan Lamothe on May 25, 2012 Afghanistan, Infantry, Kajaki, Sangin, The CMC

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…

Video: Observations from Marine Corps Times’ recent Afghanistan embed

By Dan Lamothe on May 21, 2012 Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Kajaki, Sangin

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″ /]

‘Spy blimps’ keep watch over Marines, Taliban in Afghanistan

By Dan Lamothe on May 18, 2012 Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Gear, Infantry, Kajaki, Sangin

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…

Wrapping up after a good Marine embed in Afghanistan

By Dan Lamothe on May 15, 2012 Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Kajaki, Sangin

SPRINGFIELD, Va. — You just never know when all hell is going to break loose. That’s the most amazingly unsettling thing about being in a war zone like Afghanistan. You can prepare for trouble — even expect it — but it will still eventually find you in the most unexpected ways, at times that simply don’t make sense. A first-person account published Saturday by Wall Street Journal scribe Michael Phillips makes that perfectly clear. Phillips watched in horror April 28 as a Taliban suicide bomber blew up a pickup truck carrying several U.S. troops in Zaranj, Afghanistan. The blast killed…

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