If Gen. John Allen is leaving Afghanistan, what’s next?
May 16th, 2012 | Afghanistan General officers Washington | Posted by Dan Lamothe
The Washington Post ran a long-form story on Gen. John Allen on Sunday, highlighting his efforts as a “triage commander” while leading the war in Afghanistan.
The general has a “pragmatic focus,” the piece said. He’s “more professor and Southern gentleman than hard-bitten Marine general,” and closely studying the Russian withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989 during a complicated withdrawal of 23,000 U.S. troops there this summer.
Yesterday, we got a striking revelation about that same general: The supposedly indispensable leader of the war in Afghanistan is in line to become top commander of U.S. European Command, according to another story in the Post. He could leave his post in Afghanistan as soon as next winter, in between fighting seasons.
How those two realities square with one another seems like a fair conversation to have.
On one hand, there’s obvious reason for concern. “Another Afghanistan Commander Bails on the War Early,” reads a headline on Wired magazine’s popular Danger Room blog, and that’s a point of view that will certainly be held by many.
On the other hand, it’d be fascinating to know what’s going on behind the scenes at the White House and in Kabul that spurred this conversation.
Did Obama and Allen reach some sort of deal? Did Allen ask to move on? If so, why would the president agree to it when most educated observers believe the war in Afghanistan already has had far too many transitions in leadership in the last few years?
This one will bear watching in coming weeks.
Wrapping up after a good Marine embed in Afghanistan
May 15th, 2012 | Afghanistan Embedded journalism Infantry Kajaki Sangin | Posted by Dan Lamothe
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 Master Sgt. Scott Pruitt, an accountant, and injured at least two other men in the vehicle.
Just a few days before, photographer James Lee and I crossed paths with Phillips at Camp Leatherneck, the Marine Corps’ main hub of operations in Afghanistan. Lee and I were headed to Sangin, the notorious district in northern Helmand province where more than 50 Marines have been killed since 2010. Phillips, a veteran war correspondent, was waiting for a ride to Zaranj, a relatively peaceful town in Nimroz province that was newsworthy because of its close proximity to Iran.
After wandering around Sangin for a week, that’s the kind of irony that sits heavy with me like a cast-iron stove. Lee and I returned from Afghanistan late last week, and were fortunate to spend several weeks on the ground in Sangin and Kajaki districts without anything truly jarring occurring. That’s just fine with us, especially after previous war-zone forays that were much violent. We’re grateful to the Marines who opened up and shared their worlds with us.
Today marks my first day in the office since March. I’ve got a couple more stories to complete coming out of the trip, but it’s also good to be home.
To everyone who followed along on this blog while we were overseas, thank you. We’ll be sharing more photos and anecdotes from our trip here in coming days, so please stay tuned.
Marines, Afghan police crash Taliban funeral
May 7th, 2012 | Afghanistan Battle Rattle Embedded journalism Infantry Kajaki Marines | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Afghan Uniformed Police asked for Marine help recently to visit a Taliban funeral in Kajaki, Afghanistan, to talk to the mourning elders.
KABUL, Afghanistan — Photographer James Lee and I made the move yesterday from Camp Leatherneck to Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital city. That means the end of our trip is nearing — but there’s still plenty left to discuss about it.
Take Taliban funerals, for example. In a long-form story Marine Corps Times posted online on Sunday, 1st Lt. Brandon Remington shared with me a surprising development between the Afghan Uniformed Police unit he and his Marines train and the local Taliban in Kajaki.
From the story:
KAJAKI, Afghanistan — It was an eerie mission: The Afghan police wanted to crash a Taliban funeral, and they needed Marines to help.
The Afghan Uniformed Police made the decision after learning that two insurgents had been killed by a Hellfire missile strike two days earlier while planting an improvised explosive device. A team of AUP and Marine advisers made their way April 14 to a small Taliban-held village here in Kajaki, and the police summoned tribal elders to speak with Zahir Jan, the AUP’s assistant district commissioner, Marine officials said.
Marines with 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., cordoned off the area to provide security, and the police leader told the grieving elders that emplacing IEDs wasn’t a legitimate way to practice jihad, the holy war against those who don’t follow Islam. Zahir, who fought the Soviet army as a member of the mujahedeen, stressed that the Marines were assisting Afghan police and doing no harm, said 1st Lt. Brandon Remington, a Marine adviser who sat alongside him. The elders offered tea to the No. 2 policeman in Kajaki district, but he declined and suggested it might be poisoned, the lieutenant said.
“It was a bold move because no one ever goes there,” said Remington, the officer in charge of 1/8’s Police Adviser Team 1. “Right there you feel safe, but when you get 100 meters away, it’s ‘game on’ again.”
The meeting clearly caught Remington off guard. It occurred last month while we were embedded with another part of 1/8, his battalion. When we returned to Forward Operating Base Zeebrugge, he found us, shared his story and expressed amazement at what he had witnessed.
“That only happens,” he said, “in a counterinsurgency environment.”
Marines make sense of Taliban flags in Afghanistan
May 4th, 2012 | Afghanistan Embedded journalism Infantry Kajaki Marines Sangin | Posted by Dan Lamothe
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — Good morning, friends. Photographer James Lee and I are currently holding it down at this massive forward operating base and waiting on a few interviews.
Over the next week or so, we’ll continue to offer up images and thoughts here on Battle Rattle from our time in Kajaki and Sangin districts with Marine infantry units.
A Marine with 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, stops on patrol beneath a flag marking a compound in Sangin's volatile "Fish Tank" area. The Taliban marks buildings with several different kinds of flags, each with a different meaning. (Dan Lamothe / Staff)
Up for discussion today: Taliban flags.
Several times outside the wire, we observed that Marines pay attention to flags flown over compound buildings. They come in several colors, but the ones that draw the most attention are black or white.
In Kajaki, Marines at Observation Post Shrine paid close attention to a compound that had a white flag flying overhead. It marked the building as Taliban friendly, said Sgt. Levi Steele, a squad leader with 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C.
In the Upper Sangin Valley, flags came up again. Marines at Patrol Base Watson handed 2nd Lt. William McCabe a black flag last weekend that they had seen a child playing with in a nearby field. They traded the boy a few of pieces of candy for the flag, Marines said.
White flags in Taliban country typically mark insurgent safe havens, said McCabe, a platoon commander with 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif. Black flags are frequently a call to arms — an order to come out and fight, essentially.
We also came across the green and white flag depicted in the photograph here in Sangin’s volatile “Fish Tank” area this week. The 1/7 Marines on patrol with us that day were uncertain what it meant, but their interpreter told them green flags can be used to mark buildings occupied by new inhabitants. It was unclear if it was Taliban-related or not.
Marines sport Justin Bieber paraphernalia in Afghanistan?
May 3rd, 2012 | Battle Rattle Marines Pop culture | Posted by James Sanborn
The Daily Mail, a British tabloid, ran a story today about some “Marines” in Afghanistan sporting tight pink shirts with pop-star Justin Bieber on them. When I first saw the headline I thought why would any U.S. Marine — a hardened warrior — sport a tight Justin Bieber shirt?
Then I looked more closely and something seems off. These guys have a lot of hair. And the guy on the left needs to police his ‘stache. The Daily Mail reports that the photos were uploaded to Reddit by someone identifying themselves only as vchama.
Thus begins my conspiracy theory. I think this is all a ruse — part of an inter-service rivalry in Afghanistan. Are these guys Royal Marines? Are they Canadian soldiers who couldn’t resist supporting their fellow countryman? Yes Bieber is Canadian. I thought this must be a practical joke and whoever these guys are stole some MarPat to sully the good name of the U.S. Marine Corps.
Well, as the dedicated investigative journalist I am, always asking the hard questions and digging into the core of what is important to the Corps, I tracked down the user’s account. There I found a caption that didn’t say much, but does say THESE ARE CANADIANS! NOT U.S. MARINES! Also after a detailed forensic analysis of the photos it was revealed that the utilities worn by these solders are not actual MarPat.
As further evidence that these are not U.S. Marines these photos were also on the account.
What do you think the story behind these photos is?
A closer look at Kajaki Dam — and the Marines who defend it
May 2nd, 2012 | Afghanistan Embedded journalism Infantry Kajaki Marines | Posted by Dan Lamothe
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — Good morning, friends. Photographer James Lee and I made it back early this morning to this forward operating base, the main hub of Marine operations in southern Afghanistan.
That means we’re finished with patrols on this trip. I’d like to thank the personnel with 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C.; and 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif. They hosted us along the way in Kajaki and Sangin districts, respectively, sharing their worlds in some of the most dangerous areas Marines patrol.
For those who have been following along on this blog during our trip, I wanted to point out that Marine Corps Times has posted online our story about Forward Operating Base Zeebrugge, the cliffside base used to defend the landmark Kajaki Dam in Afghanistan.
As the story points out, artillerymen with Golf Battery, 2nd Battalion, 11th Marines, spent the better part of their deployment serving as provisional infantrymen in the region, defending the dam and the surrounding area.
One of the fascinating parts about the dam is its varied history. Russian, British and U.S. forces all have served there, a fact that highlights the many years of conflict in Afghanistan.
Staff Sgt. Gregory Sanders put it well while looking out at the dam’s picturesque cliffs with me last month:
Every time you see something like this, it makes you realize this place used to be nice,” said the platoon sergeant with Golf Battery, standing on one of the cliffs overlooking the dam’s spillway.
“Once you look around, you say ‘Wow, this place has a lot of history to it.’”
Local folklore holds that Soviet troops were trapped and killed by mujahedeen fighters in one of Zeebrugge’s buildings. I couldn’t verify that story, but observed that the building’s hallways are pockmarked with bullet holes. The facility, now known as “Militia House,” houses Afghan soldiers partnered with Marines.
Marines Lead “Parade” through Sangin’s Green Zone
May 1st, 2012 | Afghanistan Embedded journalism Infantry Marines Sangin | Posted by James J. Lee
Lance Cpl. Tanner Morgan, Headquarters and Service Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, patrols alongside children and animals in Sangin's "green zone," the agricultural area near the Helmand River. The security patrol was to collect local atmospherics and get to know the terrain prior to the fighting season that traditionally starts following the poppy harvest. (James J. Lee/Marine Corps Times)
SANGIN, Afghanistan — Senior Writer Dan Lamothe and I made it down to Forward Operating Base Shamsher this weekend, joining Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines.
Today, we joined a patrol with 1st Squad, 2nd Platoon, through through Sangin’s “Green Zone,” an agricultural area that runs adjacent to the Helmand River. The patrol rolled out with several extra Marines, including Lt. Col. David Bradney, battalion commander, and Sgt. Maj. Keith Coombs, the senior enlisted adviser for the unit.
The patrol began to take on the air of a parade when we were joined in the fields by local children and barnyard animals. Soldiers with the Afghan National Army, their weapons brightly decorated, interacted with them regularly, joking with the kids while music played on transistor radios. The whole entourage snaked its way carefully through the poppy and wheat fields.
The Marines of 1st Squad were encouraged by all the activity, guessing that if an enemy threat were imminent, the local youth would have been absent from the festivities.
Still, 1st Squad maintained tight discipline through it all, highly aware of the blood that has been shed here by previous units. They understand that despite today’s festive atmosphere, the mood can change in an instant. The harvest is wrapping up, and Afghanistan’s traditional fighting season is expected to start any day.
Second Platoon, 1st Squad goes on patrol in Sangin's "green zone," the agricultural area near the Helmand River on April 30, 2012. The security patrol was to collect local atmospherics and get to know the terrain prior to the fighting season that traditional starts following the poppy harvest. (James J. Lee/Marine Corps Times)
A day on patrol in Sangin’s notorious “Fish Tank”
May 1st, 2012 | Afghanistan Embedded journalism Infantry Marines | Posted by Dan Lamothe
(James J. Lee/Staff) Lance Cpl. Kevin Belgrade, a member of 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, navigates the "Fish Tank" region of Sangin, Afghanistan.
SANGIN, Afghanistan – Sgt. Johnathan Cook’s instructions to his Marines were clear before they pushed Tuesday morning into the notorious “Fish Tank” section of Sangin.
“Everyone knows the atmospherics yesterday got a little weird,” he said. “Keep your head on a swivel. We all know the summer offensive is supposed to start in the next 10 days, so expect we could take contact any time.”
The ominous directive came before photographer James Lee and I left Patrol Base Fulod with his unit, an element of Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif. Second Squad, 3rd Platoon, had patrolled nearby the day before, and observed wearily that villagers were avoiding them.
After more than a week of relative peace in Sangin, was the honeymoon over?
The squad patrolled this morning through what is historically one of the most dangerous sections of Sangin district, where dozens of Marines have been killed since summer 2010.
Sangin is famous for the lush fields of poppy and wheat in its Green Zone, but there also is a Brown Zone to the southeast of Route 611, farther away from the Helmand River. The Fish Tank is one of its signature areas. It was named by British forces, who gave several bases in the region “fishy” names like “Shark,” before the U.S. took over security in August 2010.
Unlike the Green Zone, the Fish Tank has few open spaces. It’s a maze of tight alleys, tiny doorways, sharp angles and 10-foot mud walls. Marines there have little chance to determine what faces them around the next bend – until danger is potentially upon them.
Advice I received this morning underscores that. Before the patrol, Cpl. Manuel Espinoza, a fire team leader, cheerfully suggested that if a firefight broke out, I should not only avoid diving for cover onto turf not scanned for improvised explosive devices (which I knew), but also brush the ground in front of me before dropping to one knee.
“You don’t want to go down on a toe-popper,” he said. “It’ll blow your kneecap off.”
The patrol itself moved more deliberately than any of the estimated 20 I’ve been on in my career with Marine Corps Times. Whenever possible, the Marines stayed on hard-packed trails, where it’s more difficult to emplace IEDs. They also backtracked out of at least three alleys after deciding that there wasn’t enough tactical value to go through them. Staying on roads that villagers travel frequently is the best way to avoid taking steps that can alter or end a life, they reason.
(James J. Lee/Staff) Lance Cpl. Jedidiah Morgan jumps a low wall rather than walk around it, bypassing a potential IED choke point during a patrol.
The squad’s personnel also communicated much more frequently than most of the small units I’ve seen in action. They pointed out seemingly sinister piles of stones that could be booby-trapped and investigated a number of “murder holes” — spots in which enemy fighters can open fire at coalition forces behind the relative safety of a wall.
“There are a lot of murder holes here,” Cook said midway through the patrol, pointing out a potential ambush spot. “Half the time when you take fire, you don’t even know where it’s coming from.”
Third Platoon’s squads began patrolling the Fish Tank early in April after deploying, and were tested early, the Marines said. Within days, the Marines were attacked several times with both small-arms fire and grenades, but no Marines have been seriously injured in the area since 1/7 deployed. An interpreter was medically evacuated after sustaining gunshot wounds to both legs, however.
“We need to not get complacent,” Espinoza said. “When the fighting starts happening again, it’s going to come really quick, I think.”
Behind the cover: Commandant calls out complacent leaders, tells Marines to quit embarrassing the Corps
April 30th, 2012 | Behind the Cover Leadership The CMC | Posted by Andrew deGrandpre
This week's cover story examines the commandant's new efforts to address misconduct in the ranks and restore the notion of engaged leadership.
The Marine Corps’ top general wants an end to the monkey business that, since the start of 2012, has cast a steady, unflattering light on an institution defined in no small part by the pride it exhibits in being a disciplined, moral fighting force.
“We are allowing our standards to erode,” Gen. Jim Amos, the service’s 35th commandant, laments in an internal memo distributed to all of his generals, commanding officers and sergeants major. Known as a White Letter, the sharply worded missive comes in response to “a number of recent widely publicized incidents” involving Marines misbehaving abroad.
Complacent leadership bears some of the blame, he says.
To recap: In January, a video surfaced showing grunts in Afghanistan appearing to urinate on dead Taliban foot soldiers. A month later, Amos apologized on behalf of the entire Marine Corps for photos of deployed scout snipers posing with a flag bearing the Nazi-era SS logo. At the same time, three Hawaii-based Marines were court-martialed in connection with the war-zone hazing and subsequent suicide of Lance Cpl. Harry Lew.
Since the White Letter was circulated, five Marines were implicated in separate prostitution scandals. One in Colombia and one in Brazil.
Amos is worried the fallout from these embarrassing incidents will eclipse the progress Marines have made in securing Afghanistan’s Helmand province, though he is quick to note that, overall, Marines have fought the war “in a way that meets the high, almost lofty expectations of the American people.” He has directed leaders across the fleet to get smart on specific regional directives governing conduct abroad, and get tough in ensuring the rules are crystal clear to rank-and-file personnel. The Marine Corps’ reputation is at stake, Amos says.
Additionally, the service will hold a daylong “ethics standdown” for all Marines in the coming weeks, and the commandant has launched a tour of bases and air stations to address his frustrations — and his expectations — and to point the way forward.
To learn what Amos has in store for Marines, pick up the current issue of Marine Corps Times. It’s on newsstands now. To read it immediately, click here and subscribe.
Marines push raids, surveillance as Afghanistan drawdown begins
April 30th, 2012 | Afghanistan Battle Rattle Embedded journalism Infantry Kajaki Marines | Posted by Dan Lamothe
FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHAMSHER, Afghanistan — Good morning, friends. I’m back at the computer now after a foot patrol in Sangin’s Green Zone this morning with Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines. We pushed through fields, canals and trails for several hours, and it was relatively uneventful.
One thing I would like to point out today: Marine Corps Times has posted online another of my long-form features out of Kajaki district. It highlights the increasing prominence of surveillance and raids for Marines in Afghanistan, particularly in light of the planned drawdown of forces there.
Conducting raids successfully requires massive amounts of planning and understanding, however. Marines must know where Taliban fighters and their weapons caches are, and the best way to strike.
Staff Sgt. Matthew Hutchenson, a platoon sergeant with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., put it well:
I guess I can say that now I know what a cop feels like on a stakeout,” said the platoon sergeant for 1/8′s 2nd Platoon, Alpha Company. “You wait, and wait, and wait – and then you get what you need and move on them.”
The raids and surveillance have been particularly helpful in the Zamindawar area of Kajaki, Marines said. The region is a known insurgent staging ground where coalition forces have confiscated mass quantities of drugs, weapons and materials used to make improvised explosive devices.
Watching Hutchenson and other Marines observe Zamindawar from Observation Post Shrine made for a fascinating evening.