Sangin

Marine turf in Afghanistan the most violent in last six months

By Dan Lamothe on April 29, 2011 Afghanistan, Infantry, Kajaki, Sangin

The Marine Corps’ regional command in Afghanistan had the most violent activity in the whole country in the last six months, according to a new Pentagon report released to Congress. Regional Command Southwest was the site of about 8,000 “security incidents” from October 2010 to March 2011, said the biannual “Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan,” released today (It’s posted online here). The incidents include attacks with direct fire, indirect fire, improvised explosive devices, mines and surface-to-air weapons. The region includes Helmand and Nimroz provinces, where more than 20,000 Marines are deployed. That’s not necessarily a surprise,…

3/4 Marines replace BLT 3/8 in Afghanistan

By Dan Lamothe on April 23, 2011 Afghanistan, Infantry, MEU operations, Sangin

Happy Saturday, everyone. Battle Rattle is typically pretty quiet on the weekend, but a news release just came through this morning that I didn’t want to leave until Monday. Many readers have been wondering where 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif., would fit into the picture in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. Now we know: They’ll be replacing Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, according to announcement released by BLT 3/8’s parent command, the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C. Marines with 3/4 assumed command of several outposts held by BLT 3/8 in the last…

2/3 Marines now operating in northern Marjah

By Dan Lamothe on April 19, 2011 Afghanistan, Infantry, Marjah, Sangin

It looks like the force laydown as we know it in Helmand province, Afghanistan, is evolving. As pointed out in this Marine Corps news release, forces with 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, out of Marine Corps Base Hawaii, are now operating out of northwestern Marjah, the former Taliban stronghold that Marine forces assaulted in February 2010. The Island Warriors have forces based at Combat Outpost Yazzie, a patrol base that Battle Rattle readers will remember from my May 2010 embed downrange. That means there’s plenty of catching up to do on which Marine units are based where in Helmand. Last summer,…

3/4 Marines deploy to Afghanistan

By Dan Lamothe on April 13, 2011 Afghanistan, Infantry, Kajaki, Sangin

The Thundering Third is back in Afghanistan. At least that should be the case for 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif. The unit deployed last week in waves, and will be deployed in northern Helmand province, according to this Marine Corps news release. It could be a tough deployment. The Corps hasn’t said it officially, but the L.A. Times reported recently that 3/4 will join 1/5 in Sangin district, the volatile area where 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., faced so many hardships in their recently completed deployment. Second Reconnaissance Battalion, out of Camp…

Why is this Marine smiling? He survived a sniper shot to the head

By Dan Lamothe on April 5, 2011 Afghanistan, Infantry, MEU operations, Sangin

If anyone had any doubt that the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit has been in the thick of it in Afghanistan, let the photo above clarify. That’s Sgt. Paul Boothroyd III, an intelligence operator with 2nd Radio Battalion, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C. He is shown here on March 4, after sustaining and surviving a sniper round to the head. He was operating at the time south of Sangin, the most volatile district in Helmand province, while attached to the MEU. The bullet — reportedly fired from a 7.62 x 54mm Dragunov sniper rifle — pierced his helmet and came to rest…

MEU in Afghanistan will be 'back home on time,' general says

By Dan Lamothe on March 24, 2011 Afghanistan, Infantry, MEU operations, Sangin

Maj. Gen. Richard Mills, commander of Marine forces in Afghanistan, took 30 minutes out of his busy schedule yesterday morning to discuss the state of his area of operations and the progress Marines have made there. Much of it will appear in a story in the print edition of Marine Corps Times next week, but I wanted to post one piece of news now: Marines who split off the amphibious assault ship Kearsarge in January to deploy to Afghanistan won’t likely be there much longer. In an exclusive phone interview, Mills said BLT 3/8 is “going to keep on their…

1/23 Marines take over for 3/25 in Afghanistan

By Dan Lamothe on March 21, 2011 Afghanistan, Camp Leatherneck, Infantry, Marjah, Sangin

It’s a time of change in Helmand province, Afghanistan. Marines at Camp Leatherneck are in the midst of a transition from I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) to II MEF Fwd. The change of command from Maj. Gen. Richard Mills to Maj. Gen. John Toolan hasn’t occurred yet, but it likely will soon. First Marine Division (Fwd.), commanded by Brig. Gen. Joseph Osterman, already has stepped down in favor of 2nd MARDIV Fwd. That unit is known in Afghanistan as Task Force Leatherneck, and will be commanded for the next year by Brig. Gen. Lewis Craparotta. The transition doesn’t end there,…

3/5 reaches the end in Sangin, Afghanistan

By Dan Lamothe on March 21, 2011 Afghanistan, Infantry, Sangin

The end is near for war-weary 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines. Numerous media reports within the last week note that one of the hardest battalion deployments in the history of the nine-year war in Afghanistan will come to a close at some point soon. The Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based unit will be replaced by 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, the Los Angeles Times reported. Gretal Kovach of the San Diego Union-Tribune has been embedded with 3/5 this month. In a dispatch posted Saturday, she shares the sad stories of a few Marines in the unit: Whether it is words written in a journal…

Commandant: Marines have passed the 'tipping point' in Sangin

By Dan Lamothe on February 18, 2011 Afghanistan, Aviation, Infantry, MEU operations, Sangin, The CMC

Commandant Gen. Jim Amos met with reporters for breakfast in Washington this morning, and as you’d probably expect, the conversation quickly turned to the war in Afghanistan. Amos declined to discuss specifics about recent M1A1 Abrams tank operations, but said the bulk of them are in northeastern Helmand province, where Marines have been engaged with the Taliban since pushing into violent Sangin district in late summer. While the fighting was fierce this fall, he thinks the area has passed the “tipping point” at which it could easily go back to the way it was. “The Taliban have been driven out,”…

General: Expansion of Marine territory in Afghanistan likely

By Dan Lamothe on February 14, 2011 Afghanistan, Infantry, Kajaki, MEU operations, Sangin

Is the time coming for Marines in Afghanistan to spread out and fight insurgents in more provinces? Maj. Gen. Richard Mills, commander of Marine forces in Afghanistan, made that case in interviews over the weekend, telling reporters that as the Corps continues to push insurgents out of population centers in Helmand province, they may need to expand where they are operating to places ranging from the Iranian border to neighboring Uruzgan province. He added that a small number of forces under his command Marines already are operating in neighboring Kandahar province, where Army forces have been locked into a struggle with…

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