Sangin

Easter Sunday with Marines in Kajaki, Afghanistan

By Dan Lamothe on April 8, 2012 Afghanistan, Infantry, Kajaki, Marines, Sangin

FORWARD OPERATING BASE WHITE HOUSE, Afghanistan – We’ve reached the final frontier in Helmand province. This base serves as headquarters to 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, which oversees combat operations in Kajaki district. Top Marine officers in Afghanistan acknowledge they’ve pushed as far north here as possible ahead of the planned drawdown, and will seek this summer to solidify gains already made, rather than pushing farther into the countryside. There were about 20,000 Marines in theater last summer, but that number could drop to as low as 7,000 this fall. In coming weeks, we’ll have several long-form pieces assessing the future…

Marine Corps Times journalists to embed in Afghanistan

By Dan Lamothe on March 29, 2012 Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Kajaki, Sangin

Two years ago, this blog was launched as I headed downrange to cover Marine operations in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. It’s about time I got back to it. Beginning next week, Marine Corps Times photographer James Lee and I will be embedding with several battalions in northern Helmand. We’ll transit through the Corps’ main hub of operations in the country, Camp Leatherneck, with plans to spend time in Sangin and Kajaki districts. I’m not bringing this up beforehand for bragging rights. No, I thought the best way to do this was to start a conversation early, as any good blog should.…

Marine-led war in Afghanistan examined by New York Times Magazine

By Dan Lamothe on February 9, 2012 Afghanistan, Infantry, Kajaki, Sangin

I was away covering Bold Alligator this weekend, but it’s worth circling back to an impressive New York Times Magazine article published Sunday. Pieced together after seven weeks of downrange reporting by Luke Mogelson, it examines in detail Marine operations in Kajaki, Sangin and Musa Qala districts. Those, of course, are the main battlegrounds at this point in the war in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, where about 19,000 Marines are deployed. Details worth highlighting: The fight in Musa Qala Second Battalion, 4th Marines, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., has continued to press into new areas in and around volatile Musa Qala.…

Marines with HMH-464 return to North Carolina from Afghanistan deployment

By James Sanborn on February 9, 2012 Aviation, Battle Rattle, Marjah, Sangin

Members of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 464 are slated to return to Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C., on Monday after a seven month deployment to Afghsnitan. While downrange, “The Condors” provided assault support for 16 Marine and 5 coalition units moving a total of 35,000 passengers and 6.5 million pounds of cargo, according to Lt. Col. Alison J. Thompson, the unit’s commanding officer. Check out this video produced by combat cameramen to hear Thompson speak about the unit’s experience downrange. [HTML1]

1/8 Marines to replace 1/6 in Afghanistan

By Dan Lamothe on January 20, 2012 Afghanistan, Infantry, Kajaki, Marjah, Sangin

After another long deployment, “1/6 HARD” is coming home. First Battalion, 6th Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., will return to the U.S. soon, according to a Marine Corps news release published today. The Corps has been flying forces from Lejeune’s 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, to replace them in combat, the service acknowledged earlier this week. It has been a whirlwind few years for 1/6’s Marines, some of whom pushed through major offensive on three consecutive deployments. In 2008, 1/6 served as ground combat element of the Lejeune’s 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit as it kicked in the door in Afghanistan,…

RCT-6 Marines take over for RCT-8 in northern Helmand

By Dan Lamothe on January 5, 2012 Afghanistan, Infantry, Korea, Sangin

The regimental headquarters that has overseen infantry operations in northern Helmand province, Afghanistan, for the last year is headed home. Regimental Combat Team 8, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., has been replaced in Afghanistan by Lejeune’s RCT-6, said Marine officials in Afghanistan. Like RCT-8, RCT-6 will be based out of Camp Delaram II in northeastern Nimroz province, overseeing operations in Sangin, Kajaki, Musa Qala and other nearby districts. For RCT-8, commanded by Col. Eric Smith, it has been a long deployment in which several units have seen continued combat. Most recently, they included 1st Battalion, 6th Marines; 3rd Battalion, 7th…

1st Reconnaissance Battalion replaces 3rd Recon Marines in Afghanistan

By Dan Lamothe on December 14, 2011 Afghanistan, Infantry, Kajaki, Reconnaissance, Sangin

Swift, Silent, Deadly, the Marines of 1st Reconnaissance Battalion are back in Afghanistan. The unit, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., has taken over for 3rd Recon, out of Okinawa, Japan, in the Upper Sangin Valley. They’ll patrol land that remains some of the most treacherous in Helmand province. Insurgents in the area should remember 1st Recon well. The unit deployed to Helmand in summer 2010, initially taking on the Taliban on the fringes of Marjah district when it was still a violent and unforgiving place. They shifted their operations that fall to the Sangin area, and hammered away on the…

Video documentary: 1/5 Marines cover Sangin in 17 minutes

By Gina Cavallaro on December 1, 2011 Afghanistan, Infantry, Marines, Sangin

[HTML1] This video is a keeper. Using the unit’s motto “Make Peace or Die” as a title, Combat Camera from 1st Battalion, 5th Marines has produced and posted this high quality video documentary of the unit’s seven treacherous months in Sangin, a bomb-infested district in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province. During the 2011 deployment from April through October, 1/5 fought hard and got dirty. The unit lost 17 Marines and had close to 200 wounded and still never stopped charging forward. The video is edited with arresting still images of Marines on patrol, talking with Afghans, watching explosions, crossing rivers and caring…

Radio series puts spotlight on 3/5 Marines’ time in Sangin

By Gina Cavallaro on October 31, 2011 Afghanistan, Marines, Sangin

In the first of a seven-part series on 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, NPR correspondent Tom Bowman revisits the seven-month deployment with an interview with Lt. Col. Jason Morris, who commanded the battalion during the deployment from September 2010 to March 2011. The 3/5 had 25 Marines and corpsmen killed in action, the highest casualty rate for any single unit in Afghanistan in 10 years of war. “It was just over a year ago that Morris took nearly 1,000 Marines to a place in Helmand called Sangin. It was a haven for Taliban fighters and drug traffickers, a place where the…

Marine-led Operation Eastern Storm takes shape in Afghanistan

By Dan Lamothe on October 24, 2011 Afghanistan, Infantry, Sangin

Odds are, they never knew what hit them. That’s the likely scenario for insurgents who dug in against Marines in northern Helmand province, Afghanistan, during Operation Eastern Storm. The Marine-led offensive is pushing northern from volatile Sangin district into Kajaki, one of the last areas in Helmand where the Taliban is entrenched. The operation began Oct. 14, said Maj. Bradley Gordon, a Marine spokesman in Afghanistan. First Battalion, 6th Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., comprises the main effort, with support from combat engineers; Echo Battery, 2nd Battalion, 12th Marines; Third Reconnaissance Battalion; and First Battalion, 12th Marines. The operation…

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