At least 17 Marines killed in Afghanistan in June
June 29th, 2011 | Afghanistan Infantry | Posted by Dan Lamothe
UPDATE: Two more Marine casualties in June have been announced since this blog entry was posted Wednesday. They are Sgt Chad Frokjer, 27, of 1st Battalion, 5th Marines; and Cpl. Kyle Schneider, 23, of 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines. Both Marines were killed June 30, putting the Marine casualty count this month at 17.
Marines with 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, pay final respects to Sgt. Joseph Garrison, a squad leader with Fox Company 2/8, during a June 15 memorial service at Camp Hanson, in northern Marjah district, Afghanistan. (Photo by Sgt. Jesse Stence)
Marine forces may be making progress in pacifying Afghanistan’s volatile Helmand province, but the price paid remains high.
At least 15 Marines have been killed in fighting there this month. The most recent one reported was Lance Cpl. John Farias, 20, who died Tuesday in Helmand, Pentagon officials said. He was with 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif. The unit is deployed to Sangin district, home to some of the war’s most bloody fighting.
It’s a sobering reminder that even with Marine leadership talking regularly about progress, the war isn’t over. June is now the deadliest month for Marines in 2011. Last year, at least 15 Marines each were killed in May, June, July, August and October.
One death this month hit a little bit closer to home for me. Battle Rattle readers may remember me spending time last May at the Yellow Schoolhouse, a small patrol base in northern Marjah that was then in the middle of violence all the time.
The Marines there at the time were with 3rd Platoon, India Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, and had spent much of the initial assault on Marjah working with Gunnery Sgt. Ralph “EJ” Pate, 29, who was killed Sunday in Helmand province.
By the time I arrived in Marjah last year, Pate had been reassigned. In fact, Gunnery Sgt. Benjamin Lepping of Sarah Palin tattoo fame replaced him in theater with 3rd Platoon, Marines said.
Pate may not have been that flamboyant, but they loved him, too. Two Marines with 3rd Platoon have approached me this week and asked that I write about how much they thought of him. They described him as a selfless Marine who was tough as nails, but willing to share anything he had with those around him.
Pate, a father of two, disarmed countless improvised explosive devices in Marjah in February and March last year. He’s quoted in this NPR story, describing the IEDs he’d found to that point.
His story is just one of many involving sacrifice this month.
Britney Spears meets Marines behind ‘Hold it Against Me’ video
June 28th, 2011 | Afghanistan Pop culture | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Britney Spears meets with Marines whose video lip-syncing her song "Hold it Against Me" has been viewed 3.5 million times. (Photo via Twitter.com)
If you follow the Marine Corps and use the Internet, you’ve no doubt seen the epic video of Marines in Afghanistan lip-syncing the Britney Spears song, “Hold it Against Me.”
In April, Battle Rattle profiled the Marines behind the video. They were 19 performers in it, all members of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 466 (Reinforced), of MCAS New River, N.C., or HMLA-169, an attack squadron out of Camp Pendleton, Calif.
The video exploded in popularity after Spears posted a link to it on her Twitter page. On Saturday, she posted the following with the photograph, taken at her concert Friday night:
[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/#!/britneyspears/status/84xxxxxxxxxx08224"]
It’s no-brainer good publicity for Spears to do this. Still, you can’t tell me there weren’t at least a few Marines in the crowd above thrilled to be there.
Exclusive photos: The M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle in combat
June 27th, 2011 | Afghanistan Gear Infantry Weapons | Posted by Dan Lamothe
UPDATE: The Marine Corps Times cover story on the IAR is now posted online here.
The M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle was approved for full fielding recently by Commandant Gen. Jim Amos. Marine Corps Times profiled the decision in its print edition last week, outlining what it means for each fire team, rifle qualifications and the gear Marines bring to war.
The decision is a big deal to the Corps, but until now, no photographs of the IAR in Afghanistan have been released. That’s where Marine Corps Times photographer Tom Brown comes in. Below, you’ll find images shot on patrol last week with 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, out of Marine Corps Base Hawaii. It’s the first battalion to take the IAR to war, and senior writer Gina Cavallaro has a feature on it in this week’s print edition.
For now, the photos:
Lance Cpl. Joshua Houck, of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, looks through the scope of his M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle during a June 23 patrol in Garmser, Afghanistan. (Photo by Thomas Brown/Staff)
Lance Cpl. Joshua Houck, of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, crosses the Helmand River with the new M27 IAR during a June 23 patrol in Garmser, Afghanistan. (Photo by Tom Brown/Staff)
Lance Cpl. Kendrick Johnson, of Alpha Company 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, holds the new M27 IAR during a June 23 patrol in Garmser, Afghanistan.
Behind the Cover: 2012 re-enlistment outlook
June 27th, 2011 | Behind the Cover Manpower | Posted by Dan Lamothe
This week’s Marine Corps Times cover story zeroes in on a perennial issue of concern for Marines: re-enlistment bonuses.
The new rates, effective July 1, go a long way toward showing what the Corps is prioritizing in its fight to retain good Marines. Even with a tightening fiscal outlook, the service will shell out tens of thousands of dollars to keep Marines in high-demand fields such as intelligence and special operations. Other fields will feel the pinch, but there are still dozens of specialties open to lateral moves that offer large sums of cash to Marines willing to do something new.
We outline the options, explaining what’s coming and why certain priorities were set. Officials with Manpower & Reserve Affairs weigh in, too, offering guidance and answering tough questions about the plan.
This week’s paper also include an early look at a new plan for the Physical Fitness Test that could incorporate pull-ups for women. It isn’t a done deal yet, but based on what we’ve seen, it sure looks like it’s coming for women who want to rack up a high score.
Check it out on newsstands this week or subscribe here to read it online today.
Floating over Marine Week with a helmet camera
June 24th, 2011 | Aviation Marine Week | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Marine Week wraps up in St. Louis on Sunday, so it seemed like a good time to play catch-up on what’s going on in the Gateway City.
In this video, filmed near the famous Gateway Arch, Marines demonstrate a special patrol insertion/extraction. They take off with a CH-46 helicopter from a helipad on the Mississippi River, providng a pretty sweet aerial view of the city from Cpl. A.J. Lugo’s helmet camera:
In another highlight, Cpl. Justin McLoud threw the opening pitch before the Cardinals game Wednesday night.
Other events this weekend include martial arts demonstrations, military working dog exhibitions and a simulated amphibious assault at the Arch. A closing ceremony will be held Sunday at 10:30 a.m., with a performance by the Silent Drill Platoon afterward at city’s War Memorial.
In case you’ve been following along, another controversy has erupted during the event, too.
In addition to Lt. Col. Shane Tomko offending politically correct sensibilities with his tank wisecrack during the Cardinals-Phillies game on Tuesday, the St. Louis mayor’s chief of staff, Jeff Rainford, has apologized after suggesting that three Marines who were robbed at knifepoint in the city were drunk at the time.
Marine Week commander jokes about using tank on Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay
June 22nd, 2011 | Marine Week | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Lt. Col. Shane Tomko sings the national anthem before a June 20 boxing tournament conducted in conjunction with Marine Week St. Louis. (Photo by Lance Cpl. Chelsea Flowers)
At this point, Marine Week St. Louis is well underway. Leathernecks are out and about in the Gateway City, promoting the Marine Corps’ values, performing community service and answering questions about the military. All should be right with the world.
Unfortunately, there’s a public relations snag today. Lt. Col. Shane Tomko, commander of the task force leading Marine Week, performed an on-air interview last night during a Phillies-Cardinals game. An apparent die-hard Cards fan, the salty head of 3rd Battalion, 24th Marines, out of St. Louis, made an observation about Phillies ace pitcher Roy Halladay that has blown up the Internet today.
Numerous sports blogs have picked up on it, including Crossing Broad and the nationally known Yahoo! blog, Big League Stew. You can watch the video here, but here are the quotes that have drawn interest:
Lt. Col. Tomko: I’ll tell you what, with that M1A1 Abrams [tank] we got across the street, if Halladay keeps on pitching well, we can fix that with one round pretty quickly.
Announcer: – awkward laughs - I’m sure you could. I don’t know if we should say that, but you just did.
Lt. Col. Tomko: I can say whatever I want because I’m a war fighter, and this is the Cardinals Nation the last time I checked.
Sigh. Somewhere, there are Marine public affairs officers banging their heads on a table, especially since a primary purpose of Marine Week is to reinforce the perception that the Corps is accessible and friendly. Call me crazy, but a battalion commander joking about being able to “say whatever I want” probably isn’t helping in that regard.
Predictably, bloggers have jumped right in. Yardbarker, a national sports blog chain, even posted a finger-wagging entry today with the headline, “Jarhead Jeers Halladay, Jokes About Murder.” For all their sensitivity about Tomko’s comments, the use of a derogatory nickname for Marines was apparently acceptable at Yardbarker.
This is kind of an old theme. Gallows humor in the military is about as common as turkey on Thanksgiving. It can be a big help downrange, but… well… you have to know your audience. Add in that plenty of sports fans are nuts about their team, and it draws widespread interest.
For what it’s worth, Tomko is listed as “hometown Marine” of note on the Marine Week website. He’s an infantry officer who has served 28 years in the Corps. Based on this CNN transcript, it appears he was the commanding officer of a company of Marines involved in the initial 2001 invasion of Afghanistan.
What the withdrawal in Afghanistan could mean for Marines
June 21st, 2011 | Afghanistan Infantry Leadership | Posted by Dan Lamothe
A Marine with 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion follows his military working dog on patrol last month in Helmand province, Afghanistan. (Photo by Cpl. Marco Mancha)
President Obama is expected to outline his initial plans for a military withdrawal in Afghanistan Wednesday, with up to 5,000 U.S. troops potentially leaving by next month and a reversal of the 30,000-troop surge of 2009 and 2010 eventually planned.
We all know what Battle Rattle readers are thinking: What does it mean for the Marines?
First, I’d caution anyone against getting ahead of themselves. The likelihood is strong that few, if any Marines will be included in the initial 5,000-troop reduction. If they are, it seems unlikely they’d be infantrymen, something that retiring Defense Secretary Robert Gates and others have cautioned against.
It’s the second half where things could interesting for the Corps.
The 30,000-troop surge announced in 2009 added about 8,500 Marines in southwestern Afghanistan, expanding the footprint to a full, forward Marine expeditionary force of about 20,000 Marines. Overall, it expanding the U.S. footprint to about 100,000 troops, with many more spread throughout eastern and southeastern Afghanistan.
Top Marine officers have been forecasting for months that several Helmand province districts — Nawa, Marjah and Garmser, in particular — are ripe for transition to Afghan control later this year. Considering there was one battalion each in Nawa and Garmser last year and two-plus in Marjah, that’s a significant change.
That transition already is underway, however. The reduction of forces in Marjah actually began at least late last year, when a rifle company with 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, was pulled from the district to assist in violent Sangin district in December.
Forces from 3rd Marines had spent most of 2010 in Nawa, but a company with 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, appeared in Marjah this spring, indicating the transition in Nawa was underway.
In a briefing with reporters last week, Maj. Gen. John Toolan, commander of Marine forces in Afghanistan, acknowledged transition was likely in one of the next two “tranches” to Afghan forces. However, he reinforced that a large withdrawal now wouldn’t make sense.
“We need to hold that security picture in the central Helmand River Valley, so that’s going to be key to what we try to accomplish this summer, fall or this fighting season,” he said. “I think that in regards to the efforts over the past two years in the south, everywhere from Khanishin, which is in the south, Garmsir, Nawa, Marjah, there’s been tremendous success, to the point where many of those districts will be identified for transition of lead security responsibility in either the next tranche or the following tranche.
“So that has given us an opportunity to then reinvest in certain areas where we’re probably not as prevalent, not as dense,” he said. “And we need to thicken our holds in some places, which are mostly in the north.”
It’s hard to believe that would differ much from the plan announced tomorrow. A gradual reduction of Marine forces may begin later this year, but I wouldn’t bet the farm on anything significant happening soon in Helmand. There’s too much work left to do.
On the other hand, Obama’s announcement could shed a lot of clarity on what Marine units could be doing in 2012. It’ll be interesting to see how it all shakes out.
Behind the Cover: The M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle goes Corps-wide
June 20th, 2011 | Afghanistan Behind the Cover Infantry The CMC Weapons | Posted by Dan Lamothe
This week’s Marine Corps Times cover story outlines a change that has been debated for at least a decade: Dumping the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon in favor of an infantry automatic rifle.
Commandant Gen. Jim Amos recently approved the change, allowing full fielding of the M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle. It’s a possibility that has been widely discussed in the last few years, but we lay out what it will mean for infantry units, rifle qualifications and those snazzy polymer magazines that Marines love, but won’t be able to take downrange anymore.
The 5.56mm IAR will become the new standard for automatic riflemen. That means there will be one in virtually every four-man fire team, with three per squad, 28 per infantry company and 4,476 across the Corps.
For what it’s worth, senior writer Gina Cavallaro is embedded with 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, out of Marine Corps Base Hawaii. She has details on how the unit — the first to deploy with the IAR — has adopted the weapon into its operations downrange. Expect to see those in a forthcoming Marine Corps Times, too.
Check out this week’s Marine Corps Times on newsstands for more details, or subscribe here online.
Marines in Marjah witness “extreme special ops measure”
June 17th, 2011 | Afghanistan Battle Rattle Marjah Reserve | Posted by Gina Cavallaro
Stargazers all over Afghanistan went to bed late as they stayed up to see a lunar eclipse. Photo by Master Sgt. Michael O'Connor.
Marjah, Afghanistan – It started with two bursts of gunfire outside the Hesco walls of the patrol base, a small square in the center of town at the governor’s compound.
Within moments, the 3rd Platoon Marines of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Marines, were mustered by their vehicles wearing the required uniform: shoes, pants and weapon.
It was about midnight. After a quick head count, and a determination that the gunfire had come from unknown activity between Afghan police, the Marines were told by platoon sergeant Staff Sgt. Chad Cada they could stand down and resume their sleep.
But something had changed since the early evening and many turned an eye toward the heavens. Though the moon had been nearly full in recent days, it was now partially covered by a dark, crescent-shaped shadow. No one had seen a lunar eclipse before, nor was anyone aware it was supposed to happen, but there it was, as clear as the day is long.
The stars in the newly darkened sky were like a spray of hot, sparkling diamonds and great swaths of gauzy white constellations floated from one end of the sky to the other.
Some of the Marines stood in the dark, watching the eclipse progress to completely cover the moon.
The next morning it was learned that the shots fired had been celebratory gunfire at the unusual crescent moon. Cpl. William strong had a theory of his own.
“The United States turned off the moon so some SEAL team could do a special mission,” he said.
Is it time for counterterrorism in Afghanistan? Duncan Hunter thinks so
June 16th, 2011 | Afghanistan Infantry Leadership | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Two years ago, the full-court press was on. President Obama faced a large contingent of military brass pushing for more troops in Afghanistan, especially Army Gen. David Petraeus, then commander of U.S. Central Command.
It goes without saying that the general got nearly everything he wanted. Obama approved an increase of 30,000 troops, including more than 8,000 Marines, and they began deploying in December 2009. The assault on Marjah began just two months later, and the Marine Corps established a full forward-deployed Marine expeditionary force in June 2010.
At the time, it was hard to find strong military advocates who weren’t in favor of the buildup. After all, combat operations in Afghanistan were the “right” war, a mission that everyone from Obama to grizzled right-wing members of Congress agreed on.
It’s through that prism that an opinion piece by Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., must be read this morning. A reserve Marine officer who infantry experience, he pushed the U.S. adopting a counterterrorism strategy in Afghanistan. It would allow the U.S. to withdraw thousands of troops, but raise questions about whether the country was leaving behind a vacuum easily filled with extremism.
From Hunter’s piece, published in the Washington Times:
After almost 10 years, progress continues, but it remains painstakingly slow. What might have seemed like good strategy years or even months ago is not showing the level of success that justifies continuing the mission with such a large troop presence. The time has come for a change in strategy that begins with a departure from nation-building and counterinsurgency operations – the centerpiece of U.S. efforts in Afghanistan since Mr. Obama took office.
Since 2002, more than $18 billion in civilian aid for nation-building projects has been sent to Afghanistan by U.S. taxpayers. This is more than $300 million a month for the development of a country and government replete with corruption, complete absence of Western rule of law and seemingly committed to upholding the status quo, no matter what the ramifications.
Counterterrorism, of course, is the alternate option that Vice President Biden and others pushed as Obama, Petraeus and others settled on an expanded COIN strategy for Afghanistan. Many Republicans and other strong proponents of the military mocked it then, making it noteworthy that Hunter would back it now.
Is it a good idea, though? Would it negate some of the work Marines already have done? Is it necessary anyway, in light of how slow and tenuous progress has been as thousands of military families make monumental, painful sacrifices each year?
Friends and readers, we’d love to hear your thoughts.