‘Holy Helo’ delivers priests to Marines in Afghanistan
April 29th, 2012 | Afghanistan Camp Leatherneck Embedded journalism Infantry Marines Sangin | Posted by Dan Lamothe
An MV-22 Osprey leaves Forward Operating Base Shamsher after delivering The Rev. Kevin Sweeney, a Catholic chaplain and Navy commander. (Dan Lamothe/Staff)
FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHAMSHER, Afghanistan – Helicopters are used for many reasons in Afghanistan, but only a few are called the “Holy Helo.”
That’s the nickname U.S. service members give to the aircraft used to deliver chaplains to military bases in a war zone. They’re frequently on bases just a few hours, long enough to conduct a religious service and say hello before moving on to the next location.
That was the case Sunday morning when The Rev. Kevin Sweeney arrived here at the home of Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif. Sweeney, a Roman Catholic priest and Navy commander, celebrated a mass in the base’s chow hall after landing in an MV-22 Osprey. He was on the second leg of a three-part stop in northern Helmand province, he said.
“Typically, we’re flying,” Sweeney said. “We’ll take a convoy if there’s something close by, but we joke that we have frequent flier miles on the ‘Holy Helo.’”
There are about a dozen chaplains assigned across Regional Command Southwest, home to thousands of Marines and sailors in Helmand province. Many of them are assigned to infantry battalions, providing spiritual guidance and a friendly ear to troops who seek them.
Protestant ministers cannot say a Catholic mass, however. That’s primarily where the “Holy Helo” comes in.
There are currently three Catholic priests deployed to RC-Southwest as chaplains. Sweeney is one of two based at Camp Leatherneck, the Corps’ largest base in Afghanistan. All three make flights to say masses across the Corps’ area of operations, Sweeney said.
Sweeney said he felt called to become a Catholic chaplain in the military. He was commissioned as an officer aboard the battleship Missouri in 1991, and became a priest in 1994 after graduating from seminary school. He is on loan to the military from the Diocese of Orange in California.
“It’s very rewarding work,” he said of being a chaplain. “You definitely feel appreciated. Not everyone gets to do something meaningful in life, and we get to every day.”
Free wireless Internet in Camp Leatherneck housing
April 23rd, 2012 | Afghanistan Camp Leatherneck Embedded journalism Marines | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Facilities continue to expand at Camp Leatherneck, including new gyms, dining facilities, PXs and living quarters. (James J. Lee/Staff)
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — Good morning, friends. We’re still on this forward operating base today, which gives me a good reason to bring up something Marines have going for them here.
Leatherneck’s housing and quality of life have improved dramatically over the last couple years, particularly after the U.S. military shipped in containerized housing units, or CHUs. Most permanent personnel aboard Leatherneck live in them, typically sharing an air-conditioned 8-foot by 20-foot space with at least one other service member. That’s tight quarters, but it beats the heck out of a dusty tent.
The CHUs have an interesting perk, too. The military installed a free wireless network for service members in several of the areas, posting antennas resembling satellite dishes on the units. Marines say the service is slow during peak usage times — think early evening, especially — but it picks back up when the majority of personnel on the base is either sleeping or working.
Checking in midway through our Afghanistan assignment
April 22nd, 2012 | Battle Rattle Camp Leatherneck Embedded journalism Infantry Kajaki Marines | Posted by Dan Lamothe
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — Three weeks after flying out of Washington, D.C., photographer James Lee and I have reached a milestone midway on our assignment in Helmand province.
Staff Sgt. Adam Mosley, a forward observer attached to 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, provides overwatch during a patrol through a poppy field in Kajaki, Afghanistan, on Thursday. (James J. Lee / Staff)
We arrived today on this forward operating base from Kajaki district, marking the conclusion of our media embed with 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C. I’d personally like to thank all the Marines in the unit who shared their world with us, from battalion commander Lt. Col. Kevin Trimble right on down to the many lance corporals we trailed outside the wire on patrols.
If you’ve been following this blog, you’ve no doubt noticed the many slice-of-life pieces we’ve posted in the last few weeks. That’s part of our assignment. However, in coming days you’ll also find links here on Battle Rattle to a variety of hard-news stories stemming from our time in Afghanistan. Marines of many ranks have assessed everything from their hardships and sacrifices to what Helmand province might look like after a drawdown in forces. We’ll share their thoughts along with our own observations in stories appearing in our print and online editions.
For now, we remain here at Leatherneck plugging away on our work. Stay tuned for more dispatches here — we should be embedding with another infantry unit soon enough.
General: Marines targeting Afghan drug smugglers ahead of spring poppy harvest
April 16th, 2012 | Afghanistan Camp Leatherneck Embedded journalism Infantry Kajaki Marjah | Posted by Andrew deGrandpre
Members of with 2nd Battalion, 11th Marines, patrol a poppy field in Habib Abad, Helmand province, Afghanistan, on April 4. Marines are working to stem the flow of drugs out of the region by hitting stashes that already have been harvested. (Sgt. Andrea M. Olguin / Marine Corps)
We trust you’ve been reading — and enjoying — senior staff writer Dan Lamothe’s numerous dispatches from Afghanistan, where he and photographer James Lee are embedded presently with members of 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C. Thanks so much for your continued interest in their work.
Today, over on Marine Corps Times’ home page, we’ve rolled out Lamothe’s first hard-news report from this trip to the war zone. It details aggressive efforts to curtail the flow of stored poppy out of Afghanistan ahead of the spring harvest, now just weeks away.
Before shipping out last week to 1/8′s area of operations in Kajaki, Lamothe spent several days at Camp Leatherneck, the Corps’ nerve center in southwestern Afghanistan. There, he met with Maj. Gen. David Berger, the head of 1st Marine Division (Forward), who provided a sitrep on Marines’ activities throughout Helmand province. A principal focus at the moment, Berger explained, is preventing old stocks of poppy from leaving the country. Poppy, of course, is used to make heroin and other narcotics, and its trade has long lined Taliban pockets.
As Lamothe reports:
Marine battalions in central Helmand have actively fought to stifle mobile smuggling, Berger said. In Marjah district, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., has had a standing request for helicopters and a heliborne raid force for more than a month.
“They have a very good system, intelligencewise, and they’ll have a very good idea of where one could happen,” Berger said. “So, you’ll have people geared up and ready to go. When the mobile bazaar happens, they’ll either hit the bazaar, or not hit the bazaar and be watching.”
Earlier this month, Marines used drones to track vehicles after they left a mobile bazaar, Berger said. The smugglers eventually parked, hid their vehicles and walked nearly a mile away from them to get some sleep. A raid force with Lejeune’s 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines, reached the vehicles at first light and found about 3,000 pounds of cocaine, opium and heroin.
Marines are not involved in any poppy eradication, for fear that doing so would alienate the local population, Berger said. The crops are fair game only after they’ve left the farmers’ hands.
Marines at Leatherneck concussion center heal, return to combat
April 7th, 2012 | Afghanistan Camp Leatherneck Embedded journalism Infantry Marines Safety Wounded warriors | Posted by Dan Lamothe
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — Lance Cpl. Scott Anderson had been in Afghanistan about a month when he was “blown up.”
Lance Cpl. Scott Anderson, a rifleman with Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, is recovering in Camp Leatherneck’s Concussion Restorative Care Center after being “blown up” in a March 26 blast. (James J. Lee / Staff)
The rifleman with Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., was responding to a March 26 firefight as part of a quick reaction force when the six-wheel Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle he was rocked with an improvised explosive device, he said.
Anderson shook off the blast in northern Helmand province, jumping into the vehicle’s gun turret to return fire.
After the firefight, however, the Marine had lingering concussion symptoms. He was evacuated by helicopter to the military hospital at Camp Bastion, where a series of tests determined he didn’t have any life-threatening injuries. Anderson was reassigned to the Concussion Restorative Care Center at Camp Leatherneck, a relatively new facility that has allowed about 98 percent of the concussed troops it has seen to rest until they’re healthy and return to the field.
“They’ve taken good care of me,” Anderson said Friday at the center, where I found him and a few other troops watching a movie in an air-conditioned lounge. “I’m ready to get back out there to my guys.”
The center was established in August 2010, as the dangers of repeated concussions became more commonly known. It moved into a more polished facility near the camp’s barracks for wounded warriors in May 2011. It has treated 969 concussion patients since opening and kept 930 in theater, said Navy Cmdr. Todd May, the center’s top officer.
“Anybody who is in our region and on our door, we’re happy to take care of them,” he said.
The center doesn’t typically treat concussion patients who have more serious injuries requiring major surgeries or long-term treatment.
Instead, it provides a quiet place to recover and assesses troops’ symptoms, especially balance problems and sensitivity to light.
The facility also offers both telephones and Internet access for patients to communicate with family and counseling for troops who are struggling to process the near-death experiences they’ve had. The center has logged at least 855 mental health sessions since it opened, and also holds group meetings where patients compare stories and discuss their recoveries, May said.
The center also cares for patients with other medical conditions. One recent patient had pneumonia, while another was recovering from an appendectomy performed at nearby Bastion.
Overall, the facility has seen at least 2,180 patients since August 2010, May said. Its average concussion patient returns to duty in 11 days.
Marine store in Afghanistan clears $4.5M in monthly sales
April 6th, 2012 | Afghanistan Camp Leatherneck Embedded journalism Marines | Posted by Dan Lamothe
PX manager Maria Schizas-Price says the location at Camp Leatherneck is doing $4.5 million a month in sales and is the top selling PX in Afghanistan. (James J. Lee/Staff)
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan – When it comes to morale on a forward operating base, creature comforts are no small thing.
I saw that firsthand two years ago here on my way to and from an embed in Marjah district. There was only one small PX store on Camp Leatherneck in a tent, and it could take an hour to get through the line for the register. Popular items ranging from T-shirts to energy drinks frequently were out of stock.
The solution? On Nov. 15, the base opened a new PX with a 6,900 square-foot sales floor. To say it is popular would be an understatement — it brings in about $4.5 million in sales each month, and made more money than any other U.S. PX in Afghanistan in March, said store manager Maria Schizas-Price.
If it sustains that pace, it stands to reason the PX could clear $54 million this year. That’s a whole lot of tobacco, protein powder and Red Bull.
Like any forward-deployed PX, items sometimes are unavailable. The overall experience is dramatically better, however, and the monster lines from 2010 and 2011 are gone.
Schizas-Price said the store has about 60 employees, including both U.S. civilians and foreign workers. It has full sections devoted to video games, clothing, toiletries, souvenirs and snack food.
New solar system powers Marines in Afghanistan
April 6th, 2012 | Afghanistan Camp Leatherneck Embedded journalism Marines | Posted by Dan Lamothe
(James J. Lee/Staff) Marines with 5th ANGLICO are using the GREENS solar system to power some of their computers and communications at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan. Capt. Ahmad Martin, company communications officer, explains the GREENS system.
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan – The Marine Corps has widely fielded a new solar panel system that can power a variety of radios, computers and other devices common in combat operations centers, officials here said.
Full fielding began early this year, said Lt. Col. Rick Schilke, the expeditionary energy liaison officer for I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), which oversees more than 17,000 Marines across Helmand province. Each Ground Renewable Expeditionary Energy Network System, or GREENS, includes eight solar panels that are about four feet high and three feet wide, and four batteries that each can store 500 watts of power.
There are currently 106 GREENS systems in Helmand, 75 of which have been fielded to operational units, Schilke said. The command was initially going to push them out to even more units, but decided against it as coalition forces began closing forward operating bases and outposts as part of a massive drawdown that could cut the Corps’ footprint there to 7,000 Marines by the fall.
“We did make some in-stride adjustments in the last five months with surge recovery planning,” Schilke said. “Rather than going out to all battalions, we focused on those battalions that are in enduring locations and battalions that have the best opportunity to use it.”
Prototype GREENS were initially fielded in Afghanistan in 2010 to 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif. Those systems were later moved to assist Pendleton’s 2nd Battalion, 11th Marines, which has a small outpost, Patrol Base Boldak, just south of Leatherneck. Several of those prototypes have since been moved again, Marine officials said.
Third Battalion, 7th Marines, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif., became the first unit to field production-level GREENS early this year. The unit will be replaced this spring by a sister unit, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, which will “aggressively deploy it,” Schilke said.
GREENS also is now in use on Leatherneck by Tango Battery, 5th Battalion, 11th Marines, which uses it to keep radios and fire control systems for trucks mounted with the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, running.
“They’ve had a problem for years with maintaining power on those systems and keeping them in a ready status,” Schilke said. “Everybody is thinking about this as a FOB solution, but we’re also looking at this as a way to power weapons systems.”
On Leatherneck, GREENS also is in use by 5th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, out of Okinawa, Japan. The unit’s headquarters is powered in part by one GREENS system, with a generator also providing power.
Capt. Ahmad Martin, 5th ANGLICO’s communications officer, said his unit has been testing GREENS for about 50 days. He and the unit’s communications chief, Staff Sgt. Joey Woods, said the company uses it to run radios, several computers and battery-charging gear.
The panels first provide power to whatever equipment is hooked up to it, while also recharging the batteries to provide additional power at night and other times when the sun is gone, Martin and Woods said.
“When we lose the generator, all of our comms assets are running off the GREENS,” Woods said. “When that happens, we’re not concerned about it at all.”
Development in forgotten ‘Marine-istan’ province
April 5th, 2012 | Afghanistan Camp Leatherneck Embedded journalism Marines | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Maj. Ethan Harding oversees Civil Affairs in Nimroz for the I Marine Expedionary Force (Forward) at Camp Leatherneck in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, on Thursday. (James Lee / Staff)
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan – Defense officials and military observers alike have jokingly referred to the Marine Corps’ regional command here as “Marine-istan,” a nod toward the thousands of Marines deployed in the region.
There’s a significant division in the two provinces that make up the area of operations, however. When Regional Command-Southwest was established in spring 2010, Helmand province was home to a muscular insurgency, while sparsely populated Nimroz province was relatively tranquil.
Two years later, Nimroz has continued to progress. Nestled in the southwest corner of Afghanistan along the Iranian and Pakistani borders, Nimroz doesn’t require the heavy sustained presence of coalition forces.
Transition to full Afghan control is well underway, and there are no Marines deployed there on a full-time basis, said Maj. Ethan Harding, who oversees Marine civil affairs in the province for I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).
It’s a striking contradiction with Helmand – and one that may bear studying in the future, as the Corps assesses lessons learned in Afghanistan, Harding said.
“Nimroz is an interesting case, and I think it’s one we’ll be looking at in the schoolhouse in 20 years,” he said.
A tank officer by trade, Harding offered us a brief on Nimroz here on Wednesday. It seems fair to call it the forgotten province in RC-Southwest, considering the massive commitment in time, treasure and loss of life that Helmand has demanded.
A variety of development projects in Nimroz are underway, including an effort to bolster border security with a new checkpoint and biometrics in Zaranj, a town of at least 50,000 people that serves as a key crossing point into Iran, Harding said. The Afghan National Army and Afghan Uniform Police also have reined in banditry and insurgent violence along Highway 9, a key route that stretches between Zaranj and Delaram, a crossroads town near the borders of Nimroz, Farah and Helmand provinces.
Top officials in Nimroz continue to work with Marine officials and have sought modern training when asked how coalition forces and the Afghan government can help, Harding said.
“They don’t ask for buildings; they don’t as for roads,” he said. “They ask for justice training and teacher training.”
There are several key reasons for the differences between the provinces.
Although Helmand is made up almost entirely of Pashtun people from rural areas, the majority of Nimroz’s population is Baluch, a more progressive ethnicity also found in Iran and Pakistan.
The Nimroz provincial governor, Abdul Karim Barahawi, is “essentially the leader of the Baluch” in the province, Harding said. The governor carries significant street credibility as a former mujahedeen fighter and helped oust the Taliban from its position of power in the province within a few months of the U.S.’s initial invasion of the country after 9/11.
‘I’m Too Sexy’ at Camp Leatherneck
April 4th, 2012 | Afghanistan Camp Leatherneck Embedded journalism Marines | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Changes at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, are "immediately apparent," writes Dan Lamothe. Lamothe and photographer James Lee plan to leave Leatherneck and meet infantry units in northern Helmand province. (James Lee / Staff)
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan – I wasn’t looking for a soundtrack when arriving at this sprawling forward operating base, but it appears I’ve found one.
Traveling to get security badges here this morning in a van, we were treated to the confident crooning of Right Said Fred and his 1990s classic, “I’m Too Sexy.”
The song was playing on a British-run radio station aboard Camp Bastion, which is part of this base. “Forces Radio,” as the DJ called it, is broadcasted to improve morale and keep people informed. It appears to do both of those things – as long as you like British techno music.
In all seriousness, photographer James Lee and I arrived here from Kabul on a C-130 flight run by the British early this morning. There were mostly British troops and U.S. soldiers on board, although a couple of Marines also tagged along.
After our plane landed, we made our way down its back ramp to a bus, which whisked us to a flight terminal. We were dropped at the same large tent that has been set aside for media for at least two years.
This morning, we started to poke around a bit. It has been two years since I’ve been at Leatherneck, and the changes are immediately apparent.
Main thoroughfares are paved. Gyms, coffee shops and a large PX store have been added. In no way is life here like living in the U.S. suburbs, but this base is no longer spartan, either.
It’s uncertain how long we’ll be here on Leatherneck, but the plan is still to push out of here at some point to meet infantry units in northern Helmand province. In the meantime, stay tuned for all your Right Said Fred classics.
UFO deployed to Afghanistan?
March 20th, 2012 | Afghanistan Aviation Camp Leatherneck | Posted by Gina Harkins
This photo shows what witnesses claim were seven lights hovering steadily above Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan in February 2010. Some suspect it was a UFO. (MUTUAL UFO NETWORK WITNESS DATABASE)
Forget “The X-Files.” This is “The Afghanistan-Files.”
A recently filed report on a UFO tracking website discusses an alleged sighting at Camp Leatherneck in Helmand province.
The report, submitted Feb. 26 by an unknown individual, describes an event on or about Feb. 7, 2010, when seven equally spaced lights were spotted in the sky. Through the duration of the sighting, none of the lights appeared to move or change. The report states that the lights were at a high altitude and didn’t blink, move or make any noise.
The witness was sitting in his office at the Marine logistics group compound when a Marine issued an alert about the lights. They stayed in the sky so long that people just started leaving.
“I hate to say it, but after maybe 45 minutes we just went back inside to work,” the witness wrote in his report to the Mutual UFO Network, a nonprofit that reviews reports of sightings and hosts a UFO database on its website.
A second Marine confirmed with Marine Corps Times that he saw the same lights at Camp Leatherneck in May or June of 2011.
Robert Hastings, a UFO expert and author of “Extraordinary Encounters at Nuclear Weapons Sites,” said there is a history of UFO sightings in war zones dating back to World War II, when both sides reported seeing secret enemy weapons. Sightings were also reported during Vietnam and the Persian Gulf War.
After reading the report and viewing the photos, Hastings said he believes what hovered above Camp Leatherneck was a bona fide UFO.
Jason McClellan, editor of Open Minds Magazine, a publication about UFOs, said military flares or Chinese lanterns can produce this effect in the night sky. But the length of time the lights stayed put, plus the witness report, make both of these unlikely, he said.
Hastings agreed.
For a more skeptical view, Marine Corps Times turned to military analyst Loren Thompson, chief operating officer at the Lexington Institute, a public policy think tank.
After reading the report, Thompson scoffed at the idea aliens would choose Afghanistan, of all places, to visit.
“It can’t be aliens, because they usually go to places that have leaders,” he said.