Marine unit rotations in Afghanistan underscore ongoing drawdown
May 23rd, 2012 | Afghanistan Infantry | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Sgt. Marcus Martin, a squad leader with Guard Force Platoon, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, speaks with Afghan boys while providing security outside Garmser, Afghanistan, in November. (Photo by Cpl. Reece Lodder)
In a significant shift, the Marine Corps has replaced a full infantry battalion in Afghanistan with a single company – another sign that a drawdown in forces there is well underway.
Third Battalion, 3rd Marines, out of Marine Corps Base Hawaii, returned home over the last week from Helmand province. They’ll hold a ceremony early Thursday to mark the end of its last combat deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to this report.
The battalion was replaced in Afghanistan’s Garmser district by Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C. The district was the site of heavy combat several years ago, but was identified as a region where Afghan forces could take the lead providing security this year.
Maj. Sean Carroll, 3/3′s executive officer, said in a Marine news release that the battalion demilitarized or transferred 39 of its 42 positions to Afghan forces during its deployment. It also shifted $140 million in gear back to the U.S.
“We needed to expand our battlespace, retrograde gear, and build, transfer and close positions while verifying the Afghan forces were ready to defend Garmsir as a whole,” Carroll said.
Two Marine-led police academies in Garmser grew the Afghan Local Police from 120 to 369 patrolmen, Sgt. Phillip Kilgore, a police adviser, said in the release. The overall amount of Afghan police in Garmser doubled to more than 600. Coalition forces also shifted an Afghan National Army kandak, or battalion, from nearby Marjah district in February, giving Garmser two ANA units, Marine officials said.
It seems likely that several other unit rotations in central Helmand will yield signs of the drawdown. For starters, while Kilo Company has taken over for 3/3, another unit — Lejeune’s 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines — now oversees the battlespace in both Garmser and neighboring Nawa district, Marine officials said.
Third Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif., also recently replaced 1st LAR, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif. LAR units have patrolled the open desert in central and southern Helmand, using Light Armored Vehicles primarily in Khanashin and Dishu districts.
The other major unit currently in central Helmand is Lejeune’s 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. They oversee Marjah district, which also is scheduled for transition this summer.
There are currently less than 16,000 Marines in Helmand, down from about 21,000 last year. Maj. Gen. John Toolan, the previous Marine commander in Helmand, told us in March that there could be as few as 7,000 Marines in Afghanistan by the fall. Early this month, Toolan’s replacement, Maj. Gen. Charles Gurganus, declined to say how quickly the drawdown will occur, but acknowledged significant transition is ongoing.
“The way we’ve gone about this is, ‘How do we build the force for the way the mission has evolved?’” Gurganus told me during an interview at Camp Leatherneck. “Getting to the point where you’re doing security force assistance should be part of what people are thinking when they say, ‘Damn, here’s a counterinsurgency that we need to get involved in.’ “
Video: Celebrating 100 years of Marine aviation, with heavy metal
May 23rd, 2012 | Aviation General officers History and heritage The CMC | Posted by Dan Lamothe
This week marks the 100th anniversary of Marine Corps aviation, and the service is doing it in style.
If you haven’t seen this video clip yet, you’ll probably want to check it out. It begins with a message from Commandant Gen. Jim Amos, then shifts to high-speed video footage recorded in the cockpit of several different aircraft. The heavy metal muzak comes free of charge:
Taylor Swift responds to Marines’ request
May 22nd, 2012 | Afghanistan Battle Rattle | Posted by Gina Harkins
Taylor Swift reached out to Sgt. Wade Wilson's family after he was killed in combat earlier this month. The fallen Marine was a huge fan of the country star. (Associated Press)
Taylor Swift has answered the Marines’ call.
The country singer phoned fallen Sgt. Wade Wilson’s family and said she wants to wear his dog tags in her next music video.
Wilson was killed in combat on May 11 in Afghanistan. His friends, former corporals Josh Marreel and Spencer Walker, reached out to Swift and her fans in Wilson’s honor, because he was huge fan. Marreel made a YouTube shout-out to the singer asking Swift to think of her fan, his friend.
Swift called Wilson’s mother to extend her sympathy and pray with her, Walker said. She also sent flowers to his funeral with the following message, according to Texas station KBTX:
Wade, thank you for loving my music. I won’t forget it and I will never forget you. All my love, Taylor Swift.
Living legends: 1st Marine Division Marines get Navy Cross
May 22nd, 2012 | Afghanistan Awards Kajaki Marines | Posted by Gina Cavallaro
In more than 10 years of war, the Navy Cross has been awarded to 31 Marines and seven sailors. Ten Navy Crosses were awarded posthumously.
On Friday, two California-based Marines — Cpl. Christopher Farias and Sgt. Cliff Wooldridge — were present and accounted for as they received the Navy Cross, the nation’s second highest award for valor. Their stories will live on and join those of scores of legendary Marines.
At Camp Pendleton, Farias received his award at a morning ceremony for his ferocious will to fight and direct the counterattack of an ambush in Kajaki, Afghanistan, on Oct. 5, 2010, even though he was wounded.
As assistant squad leader for 1st Battalion, 11th Marines, Farias organized triage for several wounded Marines, including his squad leader, after an explosion from a recoilless rocket inside their small patrol base, which wounded him as well. He then took control of directing suppressive fires from a rooftop at the base on the edge of enemy territory in northern Helmand province, and killed several enemy attempting to flank and overrun the base.
At Twentynine Palms on Friday afternoon, the story of Wooldridge’s hand-to-hand battle with an enemy fighter on June 18, 2010 left no doubt that the enemy never had a chance.
Sgt. Cliff Wooldridge, now a combat weapons instructor at Marine Corps Security Forces Regiment in Chesapeake, Va., stands at attention Friday after receiving the Navy Cross for his actions two years ago in Afghanistan. (Photo by Cpl. Sarah Dietz/Marine Corps)
Wooldridge, then a vehicle commander with Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, dismounted with his Marines when they came under fire on a patrol in the village of Musa Qaleh. They quickly spotted and killed several Taliban who were preparing to ambush their patrol and while his fire team made its withdrawal, Wooldridge pulled security.
Behind a nearby wall he heard voices, moved toward them and killed two fighters. As he crouched to reload his M249 squad automatic weapon, he saw the barrel of a rifle coming around the wall, dropped his SAW, grabbed the enemy’s rifle muzzle and gained control of it. Using the butt stock of the Taliban’s rifle, Wooldridge killed his enemy with several blows to the head.
You can read the full stories and see more pictures in this week’s Marine Corps Times. Subscribe here.
Video: Observations from Marine Corps Times’ recent Afghanistan embed
May 21st, 2012 | Afghanistan Embedded journalism Infantry Kajaki Sangin | Posted by Dan Lamothe
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:
Deploying Marine: ‘Everything I do, I try to do as the best big brother I can be’
May 21st, 2012 | Afghanistan | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Anyone who heads overseas for any length of time knows it: Sometimes, the hardest part of a deployment is simply being away.
Sgt. Jimmy Shea, a combat correspondent, is grappling with that as he heads to Afghanistan soon for a six-month deployment with the Armed Forces Network. He’ll be based at Bagram Air Base, producing news content about the work U.S. forces do overseas.
Like so many others, Shea is leaving behind a family to deploy. He has a wife and siblings, and clearly loves them dearly, based on the series of videos he has posted on YouTube recently. Here’s the latest:
Stick with it to the end. If you have a heart, the goofy stuff at the end will definitely make you grin.
UPDATE: I didn’t realize it initially, but Shea’s wife also has shared her perspective on the deployment here. Check that out here.
Behind the Cover: The gunnies were swingers — and it cost them their careers
May 21st, 2012 | Behind the Cover Training | Posted by Tony Lombardo
Gunnery Sgts. Shawn and Janet Angell are swingers, and it cost both of them their Marine Corps careers.
In this week’s cover story, they speak candidly about their lives, inside and outside the Corps. But they are just two of 10 enlisted Marines who found themselves caught up in a massive investigation at Officer Candidates School, the Quantico, Va.-based proving ground for all who earn the title Marine officer.
The 2011 investigation led to accusations of sex with subordinates, adultery and group sex. In all, 10 Marines were court-martialed. Only one was acquitted.
Read the full story in this week’s edition of Marine Corps Times.
Subscribe here.
Marine Sgt Rafael Peralta and the Medal of Honor
May 18th, 2012 | Awards Capitol Hill Marines Medal of Honor | Posted by Gina Cavallaro
California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter continues to feverishly pursue the Medal of Honor for fallen Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta, who scooped a grenade under his body to save other Marines in Fallujah, Iraq on Nov. 15, 2004, according to Marines who saw him do it.
He was awarded the Navy Cross – even though the Marine Corps recommended him for the Medal of Honor – after the Defense Department convened its own panel which concluded the evidence for the nation’s highest award for combat valor was not sufficient.
Peralta’s family rejected the Navy Cross. Hunter has doggedly pursued the higher award. The Navy is currently reviewing new evidence (including videos previously unseen and a new forensic analysis) that Hunter gathered and turned over to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus in late March.
Still no word from the Navy.
But today, an hour before the House of Representatives voted to pass the National Defense Authorization Act, Hunter offered an amendment requiring the Navy to provide the House Armed Services Committee with a full accounting of all evidence submitted with regard to its investigation into Peralta’s death.
His amendment passed easily by voice vote.
The Navy’s report would be due no later than 30 days after enactment – and that is where the last hurdle lies.
Even though the House has passed it, the NDAA must still pass in the Senate to be binding.
Stay tuned.
Fallen Marine’s friend asks favor of Taylor Swift
May 18th, 2012 | Afghanistan Battle Rattle Marines | Posted by Gina Harkins
YouTube shout-outs to celebrities by Marines have become a popular way to attempt to get a famous date for the next Marine Corps ball.
But the latest celeb shout-out is much different.
Sgt. Wade “Willy” Wilson was killed in action May 11 in Helmand province, Afghanistan. Wilson was a 22-year-old anti-tank missileman assigned to Camp Pendleton’s 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines. He was on his second deployment to Afghanistan — and was apparently a huge Taylor Swift fan.
Sgt. Wade Wilson was killed in Afghanistan May 11. He poses with a photo of Taylor Swift here. His friend reached out to Swift via YouTube to tell her about the fallen Marine. (Facebook)
His friend, former Marine Cpl. Spencer Walker, posted a message to Swift and her fans in the forum section of her website, Taylor Connect. The post includes a link to a YouTube video made by Wilson’s friend, former Marine Cpl. Josh Marreel.
Fallen Marine Sgt. Wade Wilson (left) with his friend and former Marine, Josh Marreel. Marreel wanted Taylor Swift to know Wilson was a big fan.
In the video titled “A Fallen War Hero’s Love for Taylor Swift,” Marreel tells the singer how much his friend loved her.
“Anybody that knew Willy personally knew that he worshipped you,” Marreel tells Swift in his video. “He even slept with a poster of you in between our beds in Afghanistan on his first deployment there.”
Marreel said Wilson was his best friend. And Walker wrote in his post in Swift’s forum that Wilson’s mom found out about her son’s death on Mother’s Day. The request in Marreel’s video message to Swift is very simple — just think about his friend.
“I know a lot of people get on here and ask celebrities to go to dances and sh** with them — all I’m asking is for you to think about him.”
A memorial page has been started on Facebook in Wilson’s honor here.
‘Spy blimps’ keep watch over Marines, Taliban in Afghanistan
May 18th, 2012 | Afghanistan Embedded journalism Gear Infantry Kajaki Sangin | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Marines in Afghanistan's northern Helmand province use Precision Ground Surveillance System blimps to scour Route 611 and the surrounding area for insurgent activity. (Navy photo)
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 surveillance equipment.
The New York Times reported recently that many Afghans find the use of the blimps oppressive. That didn’t appear to be the case in Sangin and Kajaki districts, but maybe it’s because the Marines have used them to such great effect there.
With balloons overhead, it’s now rare that an IED is found on Route 611, said Lt. Col. David Bradney, 1/7′s commander. Their use in tandem with High Mobility Artillery Rocket System strikes has formed a fearsome threat: Marines can watch suspected insurgents in action for long periods of time, waiting until they show their motives by exposing weapons hidden in their loose clothing or digging holes for IEDs. Then they light them up with a HIMARS.
Put it this way: When outside the wire on foot, it’s reassuring to see two, three even four blimps hanging overhead in the distance. The general rule of thumb is that if a person on the ground can see a balloon, someone on the other end of the surveillance gear can likely see them.