Behind the Cover: Combat-zone hazing
August 30th, 2011 | Afghanistan Behind the Cover Infantry | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Lance Cpl. Harry Lew was with 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, in Afghanistan when his life unraveled.
As first reported last week, Lew committed suicide in April after he was allegedly hazed for falling asleep on post. Struggling to handle the stress, he put the muzzle of his M249 Squad Automatic Weapon in his mouth and pulled the trigger, according to a report outlining a military investigation into his death.
In its print edition this week, Marine Corps Times outlines what happened in significantly more detail. Leveraging nearly 100 pages of documents and interviews with Lew’s father and Marine officials, I lay out what happened in a full-length cover story. Many details haven’t been previously reported, including a look at the history of hazing in the battalion.
This week’s Marine Corps Times also has a fantastic interview with reggae star Shaggy, who left the Corps as a private first class in the 1990s. The artist behind “Boombastic” and other songs, he made lance corporal more than once, but got busted down repeatedly. Still, he credits the Corps with a lot. It’s a great read.
To check it out, hit newsstands this week. Or, subscribe online and read it now.
Sister weighs in on Marine brother’s suicide
August 24th, 2011 | Afghanistan | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Some of you may remember the blog post I wrote last month about Sgt. Ian McConnell, a friend of mine that I met last year in Marjah, Afghanistan.
McConnell killed himself on July 4 with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, shocking friends and family alike. His family decided to go public with his story through this blog in hope that it might help someone else.
Through this ordeal, I’ve had the luck to get to know Ian’s sister, Meg. Last night, she shared that she has been writing about her brother’s death on her blog, On the Homefront.
A recent excerpt about returning to her hometown with her brother’s body:
Even now, I cannot believe all these events actually occurred to me. Even now, I cannot believe Ian is gone. Even now, I feel as if I am recalling some other person’s story. Even now, it hurts me to tears to remember.
We had to have been quite a sight as we walked to the front of the plane. My dad, a warm bear, silent and strong in his pilot’s uniform; Gus, a solid rock with well-earned pride in his dress blues; then there was me – a small child, meek and defeated, desperately clutching at the dog tags around my neck; all walking with sorrow-weighed shoulders. The passengers applauded as we reached the front of the plane – a thank you for the sacrifice we had made, but did they know the conditions of my brother’s death? Would they still applaud if they knew?
I went down the steps and ran into the arms of my mother, holding her as she cried. I was awed by her strength as she quickly composed herself then took my hand and walked with me back towards the plane. Hand in hand we stood on one side of the ramp leading up to the baggage holding area, while my dad, Gus, and a few other men stood on the other side.
Considering the strength Meg and her family showed in sharing their story last month, the least I could do was share this now.
Ian would be happy to see it.
Where were you during the D.C. earthquake of 2011?
August 23rd, 2011 | Washington | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Pentagon staff members evacuated the building Tuesday after an earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale rattled the region. (Associated Press photo)
So, here we are: Earthquake-experienced veterans.
As essentially anyone with connectivity to reality now knows, Virginia was rocked with an earthquake this afternoon. Measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale, it led to brief evacuations of the Pentagon, Capitol Hill facilities and other prominent government buildings in the area surrounding Washington, D.C.
Like most other staff members of Marine Corps Times and the Military Times newspaper chain, I was sitting at my desk when the quake struck at 1:51 p.m. If it had lasted another 10 seconds, I may have taken cover under my desk, but I just sat there like a dunce, uncertain what to do.
I’m sure folks on the West Coast laugh at the widespread attention it has received in the media and on social networks today, but the Associated Press reported that it was the strongest earthquake on the East Coast since 1897, when a magnitude-5.9 quake hit Giles County, Va.
Friends and family up and down the East Coast called me afterward — just like everyone else called their own loved ones, apparently. Cell phone networks were down, and I couldn’t contact anyone in return for almost an hour.
Anyway, feel free to share your East Coast earthquake story in the comments section below. Off the top, it’s worth noting that the National Museum of the Marine Corps and other museums in the Washington area were closed for the afternoon.
For Marines in Afghanistan: be careful where you fart
August 23rd, 2011 | Afghanistan | Posted by Gina Cavallaro
Marine Corps Times is a family newspaper and we only rarely have offensive language in our stories.
But this week the word “fart” appears in a story I wrote about the importance of trust between Marines and the Afghan national army soldiers they work with.
I didn’t want to write this little blog entry about farts. It’s not even on my beat. But my colleague Dan Lamothe, whose byline you have seen here quite often, shamed me into it.
“You owe it to all Marines,” he told me.
So here’s the news: audible farting has been banned for some Marines downrange because it offends the Afghans.
I know there are many things in the Afghan culture that don’t seem normal to Americans and it’s hard to spend seven months working in someone else’s back yard. Still, the Marines I saw downrange are doing a pretty good job at trying to do the right thing around the Afghans.
They’re not supposed to cuss because it could be misunderstood (that one goes out the window a lot). And they stay away from talking about politics, religion or girls because those topics could escalate into major disagreements (they can’t communicate anyway because of the language barrier).
But farting? That’s practically a sport. Ok, it’s not soccer, but a good contest could open the door for cross-cultural exchanges, jokes and other gallows humor.
So, for all Marines getting ready to go downwind, I mean downrange, be forewarned — you may have to hold it in… at least until you get back to your hooch where you can loudly crop dust your friends.
Behind the Cover: Shootout at battalion headquarters
August 23rd, 2011 | Afghanistan Behind the Cover Infantry | Posted by Dan Lamothe
A deploying Marine is trained to expect the unexpected.
That’s fine — but it’s still frustrating when it comes because of incompetence.
This week’s Marine Corps Times cover story takes a look at a deadly firefight aboard Musa Qala District Center, a forward operating base that served as the battalion headquarters last year of 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Marines with 1/2 found themselves in an unusual situation on Aug. 7, 2010 — fighting an insurgent loose on the base. He’d busted loose from a detention center on base run by the Afghan National Police.
This incident has been covered broadly before, but using interviews and documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, I painted a much more detailed account of what occurred. It’s an eye-opening story, considering the relatively safety that is supposed to be offered inside the wire.
To add additional perspective, Marine Corps Times also obtained and published exclusive photos taken on base that day during the fight. As you can see in the cover image above, they certainly show things weren’t normal that day.
This week’s paper also includes a story drawn from an interview with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and a look at pistols that could replace the M9 and M9A1 in the Marine Corps and Army.
To read more, check out the newspaper on newsstands or subscribe online today.
Video: Marine Corps Times interviews Dakota Meyer, Medal of Honor recipient
August 19th, 2011 | Awards Ganjgal | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Dakota Meyer on his grandparents' farm in Greensburg, Ky., on Aug. 16. (Photo by Chris Maddaloni/Staff)
GREENSBURG, Ky. — It has been a long journey.
Dakota Meyer will receive the Medal of Honor on Sept. 15, two years after he braved enemy fire multiple times in Afghanistan in attempt to save fellow U.S. service members in Ganjgal, Afghanistan. He made it out of the valley alive, and they didn’t. It’s a tough situation to digest.
Marine Corps Times readers know the story well by now — various aspects of it have led me to write three cover stories since early last year, including a profile on Meyer.
With the White House announcement now official, however, I made my way down to Meyer’s hometown this week with staff photographer Chris Maddaloni.
We met him at his grandparents’ farm Tuesday in this rural town of 2,500 people, sitting in their living room to discuss the battle, its aftermath and how he handles all the attention. An excerpt of the interview is available here:
We’ll have a lot more in next week’s print edition of Marine Corps Times, but I thought it was worth sharing some personal observations here.
Meyer has taken the time to do at least 20 interviews since the White House’s announcement — a heavy workload that must be both monotonous and exhausting. Still, he sits dutifully, answering questions from reporters — some of whom clearly haven’t done their research and ask dumb questions, based on a quick Google search.
Meyer still loves to crack jokes, and clearly has a great relationship with his grandparents, Dwight and Jean Meyer. Married 58 years, they’re planning to fly to Washington for the ceremony. They proudly shared their recollection of the Korean War, which Dwight served in as a Marine. His haircut is still squared away, snow-white hair and all.
Get some…air (with a dash of sea salt)
August 16th, 2011 | Anti-piracy Life at sea MEU operations Training | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
There’s nothing like that spray of salty air, open seas and several hundred horsepower to make one think: And they pay me to do this??
Just a thought looking at some images released this month as the California-based 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit and the Navy’s Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group boarded a pair of ships and got underway for their first at-sea integration exercises ahead of a scheduled overseas deployment later this year. The boat crews supporting the training mission against mock pirates on a vessel near San Clemente Island operated off the transport dock ship New Orleans, which will deploy with dock landing ship Pearl Harbor and big-deck amphibious assault ship Makin Island (preparing for its maiden operational deployment). The exercise is the first of a trio of blue-green training geared to getting the MEU’s 2,200 Marines their sea legs and the shipboard sailors used to working, operating and living alongside their greenside partners.
While last year’s takedown of gun-toting pirate hijackers by the 15th MEU’s raid force cast a bright public spotlight on counter-piracy missions, such maritime interdiction operations are far from new missions for leathernecks, or sailors (and SEALs) for that matter. But they remain a curiosity for many who aren’t part of the maritime force that includes the sailors operating the boats (special warfare combatant craft crewmen) along with supporting air and sniper coverage.
An AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter takes off from the deck of amphibious assault ship Makin Island Aug. 14 to support anti-piracy training off Southern California with the 11th MEU. (Photo by Gunnery Sgt. Scott Dunn/Marine Corps)
Behind the Cover: The plan to cut the Marine Corps
August 15th, 2011 | Behind the Cover Capitol Hill Leadership Manpower The CMC The Sgt. Major of the Marine Corps | Posted by Dan Lamothe
For nearly a year, the Marine Corps’ top officials have stayed on message with two main points regarding manpower: A drawdown wouldn’t begin until after the war in Afghanistan, and it would reduce the service to 186,800 Marines.
Those points were reinforced early this year with the release of the Corps’ force-structure review recommendations. It called for a 13 percent reduction in ground combat forces, but stuck with that 186,800 end-strength figure.
It’s time for a reality check. In light of the nation’s financial trouble, that plan may not be feasible. In this week’s Marine Corps Times cover story, we outline what could happen instead, relying on interviews with top service officials, past reporting and a look at previous drawdowns.
Commandant Gen. Jim Amos acknowledges that force reductions could now begin as soon fiscal 2013, which begins next October. He and Sgt. Maj. Mike Barrett, the Corps’ top enlisted Marine, offer up their thoughts and advice to Marines, but acknowledge life in the Corps will soon be a whole lot more competitive.
To check the story out, pick up this week’s Marine Corps Times on newsstands. You also can read it online by subscribing here.
3/7 and 2/4 Marines prepare for Afghanistan deployment
August 11th, 2011 | Afghanistan Infantry Sangin | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Mortarmen with 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, fire 60mm rounds in support of Marines in a firefight last July in Sangin, Afghanistan. (Photo by Cpl. Ned Johnson)
Last summer, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, shifted gears partway through its deployment to Afghanistan. After months in relatively quiet northeastern Nimroz province, the unit moved to Sangin, one of the country’s most violent districts.
The differences were immediately apparent to Marines on the ground, as you can see in this video highlighting their deployment.
They faced regular firefights as they pushed into Sangin’s Northern Green Zone, and terrain riddled with improvised explosive devices. Several Marines were killed in the first few weeks there, with Lima Company facing a sniper who drew blood numerous times.
The unit, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif., was replaced late in September last year by 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, who sustained heavy casualties from the start. In fact, 3/5′s story was so jarring to outsiders that some didn’t realize they weren’t the first Marine battalion in Sangin.
One year later, 3/7 is gearing up for a fight again. As this San Diego Union-Tribune story points out, they’ll be heading back to Sangin this fall to replace 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, which took over for 3/5 earlier this year.
They’re not the only one preparing for war. Second Battalion, 4th Marines, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., is currently with 3/7 at Twentynine Palms for predeployment training. Marines with 2/4 will deploy this fall to Musa Qala and Now Zad, where 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., has handled operations for most of this year.
2nd Tank Battalion sets up shop in Afghanistan
August 10th, 2011 | Afghanistan Kajaki Weapons | Posted by Dan Lamothe
First Tank Battalion, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif., returned to the U.S. late last month. (Marine Corps photo)
Quietly, the Marines of Alpha Company, 2nd Tank Battalion, have joined the fight in Helmand province, Marine officials said.
The unit replaced Delta Company, 1st Tanks, which became the first U.S. forces to operate tanks in the Afghanistan war earlier this year. Delta Company returned home to Twentynine Palms, Calif., late last month, but the mission rolls on.
To date, not much has been shared publicly about 2nd Tanks’ mission. It is clear that they’re in northern Helmand province and attached to Regimental Combat Team 8, which oversees operations in Sangin, Musa Qala, Kajaki, Now Zad and other districts.
In one example of their use, 2nd Tanks elements have been assisting elements of 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines, near Now Zad in a “picket line” designed to prevent insurgents from harrassing travelers. Both units are out of Camp Lejeune, N.C.
More information from a recent combat correspondent report:
The mission can be tedious and uneventful, but the Marines sitting in trucks and tanks 24/7 understand their purpose. Their actions allow the far-flung districts of Now Zad and Musa Qal’eh to tie into the commerce and prosperity of the rest of Northern Helmand province. The 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines is working to spread the word amongst the people that they may once again drive where they choose.
One can only hope they’re still using Freak Show, the tank highlighted in this story.