‘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.
Marines win Sangin grenade fight, kill attacker
May 17th, 2012 | Afghanistan Embedded journalism Infantry Marines | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Lance Cpls. Jacob Sisek and Daniel Buzalsky were ambushed with a grenade on a rooftop in Sangin, Afghanistan. They survived -- but their attacker did not. (Photo by James Lee/Staff)
Within an hour of arriving in Afghanistan’s Sangin district last month, we heard jarring news: Marine units there had been attacked multiple times recently by grenades at close distances.
How does an insurgent pull that off, you ask? The district’s “Fish Tank” area is a maze of high walls and tight alleys that allow Taliban fighters to creep uncomfortably close before launching an attack. Sure, they may not get away frequently. For a few fleeting moments, however, they still have the element of surprise.
My last long-form story out of my recent embed in Afghanistan went online this afternoon, and it begins with a grenade-related anecdote. Remarkably, Lance Cpls. Jacob Bisek and Daniel Buzalsky escaped unscathed despite a grenade exploding just a few feet from them on a rooftop in the Fish Tank. Key details:
Lying on a dusty rooftop, Lance Cpls. Jacob Bisek and Daniel Buzalsky watched suspiciously as a man down the road peered at them. He was pointing at the Marines and holding a cell phone, raising the prospect he was a Taliban spotter.
Seconds later, the explosion hit. An insurgent had snuck up on them and hurled a grenade onto the roof, sparking a fight in which Marines inside the compound threw grenades over a wall back at the attacker. Bisek and Buzalsky did not sustain any serious injuries, but the Marines learned later that their attacker died from shrapnel wounds.
“I was about to peek over, and that’s when it exploded,” said Bisek, adding his hearing still wasn’t right two weeks later. “For the longest time, I didn’t believe it was a grenade. It landed five feet from my face, and it didn’t do anything.”
Yep, that’s right. An insurgent started a grenade-chucking fight, and it couldn’t have ended much better for the Marines involved. They’re all with 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif.
The attack on Bisek and Buzalsky isn’t the only one on Marines involving grenades recently. They were a frequent threat last month before the poppy harvest, and likely will be again now that the fighting season is picking up.
Clowns to protest NATO summit in Chicago. No, really!
May 17th, 2012 | Afghanistan Pop culture | Posted by Dan Lamothe
A group known as Clown Bloq will protest NATO's military action in Chicago this weekend. (Photo via Twitter)
Ladies and gentlemen, clowns will descend on Chicago this weekend. Let the nightmares begin!
Top political figures and military officials from across the world will be in the city this weekend for the 2012 NATO Summit, and the war in Afghanistan figures to be the top topic. It’s the kind of event that draws protesters as commonly as a Justin Bieber concert draws screaming teenage girls.
A group called Clown Bloq has cast itself into the mix in Chicago, announcing in a “communique” that it will protest NATO’s military actions, among other things. From their site:
Clown Bloq is a collection of clowns and clownfinity groups that organize together for a particular action. The flavor of the Clown Bloq changes from action to action but the main goals are to provide hilarity in the face of a humorless police state and to provide a fool’s critique of organized and militarized repression of the people, their voices and their best interests.
Clown Bloq’s intention is to be both disarming and tactically militant. We are trained in traditional forms of hard blocks, soft blocks, de-arrest techniques as well as other historically significant tactics. It must be consistently reiterated that Clown Bloq is both a joke and NOT a joke.
Both a joke and NOT a joke? Therein lies the rub. Clown Bloq is affiliated with the Occupy movement that first gained traction on Wall Street, and is attempting to poke fun at NATO even as its members have thousands of service members deployed to fight the Taliban. That’s not going to go over well with everyone, to be certain. Last time I checked, the war in Afghanistan was no laughing matter.
Clown Bloq leaders have said in previous interviews that clowns have been used in protest before at events like the G20, but their apparent level of organization here is striking. Their interaction on social media sites like Twitter is impressive, their websites are robust, and they’ll draw attention simply through the novelty of their act.
Still… there IS the clown aspect. Few things are as creepy as an evil-looking clown, and it appears (see photograph above) that Clown Bloq will leverage that heavily. Think Insane Clown Posse. Or Heath Ledger’s version of the Joker. Or “Can’t sleep, clown’ll eat me!”
Yep, it’s going to be one of those weekends. HONK HONK.
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)