Marines are ‘player coaches’ in Kajaki, commander says
April 24th, 2012 | Afghanistan Battle Rattle Embedded journalism Infantry Kajaki Marines | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Afghan Uniform Police Class 1-12 receive recognition at their graduation ceremony at the Sofla Precinct Station in Kajaki, Afghanistan, on April 9. The AUP are being advised by members of 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, out of Camp Lejune, N.C. (James J. Lee / Staff)
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — With the war in Afghanistan beginning to wind down, the mission for Marines there is evolving.
Just ask Lt. Col. Kevin Trimble, commander of 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C. He sees his troops as “player coaches” for the Afghan forces, and he acknowledges the transition to Afghan control will come more quickly than it did in Marjah and other districts in Helmand province.
“The whole thing is about what is ‘Afghan right’ and what is ‘Kajaki right,’” he said. “We’re doing this fast. Is this Marjah? No. But it has never been Marjah.”
Those are among the details in a long-form story Marine Corps Times posted Monday out of my embed here in Afghanistan.
I’ll have several more detailed reports out of Kajaki, where I spent two weeks on the ground with 1/8.
We realize there are a number of Battle Rattle readers who may not otherwise see the hard-news reports, so we wanted to point them out here.
Your thoughts on the ground covered are appreciated in the comments section below.
A flap grows Down Under over new USMC rotations
April 23rd, 2012 | Allies and training Australia III MEF Marines Pacific issues | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
Marines with Fox Co., 2/3 get a "Top End" welcome earlier this month in Darwin, Australia.//USMC photo by Lance Cpl. Ian McMahon
The recent arrival of a company of Hawaii-based Marines in Darwin, Australia, stirred up some unfavorable sentiments on the continent and around the region. Now comes former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, who apparently is quite unhappy about seeing any more Marines Down Under.
Fraser, who led the nation-continent for eight years until 1983, complained that “over 20 years now we have given the impression of doing that which America wants. We seem to believe that our security can be best assured if we do what we can to win brownie points with the U.S. This is a mistaken assumption.”
He reportedly outlined his frustrations in a letter to his government blasting the new Aussie-U.S. arrangement for unit rotations, the Sydney Morning Herald reported April 24. Those rotations and recent news that the United States wants to operate military drones from Cocos Island, a group of atolls west of Australia, will fuel more unsettlement about U.S. intentions, particularly as it concerns threats from China, and further risk Australia’s own security, he argued in a letter submitted to the government’s “White Paper on Australia in the Asian Century.” Such level of U.S. involvement “sends the wrong message, not only to China, but to countries like Indonesia.”
The rotations, which will send 2,500 leathernecks in six-month rotations to Darwin by 2016, are part of the broader U.S.“pivot” refocusing on all things in the Asia-Pacific region. Top U.S.military officials have said no new permanent bases are planned in the Pacific region, where they already are looking at a reposturing of military forces. But Fraser doesn’t buy it. “For America to say that 2,500 troops do not constitute a base is nonsense, indeed a fabrication,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, the men of Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, landed in the Northern Territory or the “Top End” as it’s known locally earlier this month to start training with their Australian counterparts at military ranges in the area as military commanders with III Marine Expeditionary Force met with local leaders. Top-level visits to the region include Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, and members of Australia’s parliament met with Marines and sailors aboard dock landing ship Pearl Harbor, currently deployed with 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit and Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group.
Katy Perry kisses …. a sailor?!
April 23rd, 2012 | Battle Rattle | Posted by Tony Lombardo
Pop star Katy Perry portrayed a Marine in her newest video, but when she performed at the Naval Academy last Friday night, it was all about playing sailor.
Perry, who said she was fighting a fever, performed in a sailor get-up. In this YouTube video she proceeds to recreate the iconic World War II-era image of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square. A lucky service member named “Beasely” plays the coveted role of sailor and promptly plants one on Perry’s kisser.
The crowd, of course, goes bananas.
ABC News offers more details.
Behind the cover: Female Marines head to infantry school
April 23rd, 2012 | Battle Rattle | Posted by James Sanborn
This week’s Marine Corps Times is a must read. In it we give you the lowdown on the Corps’ plan to test women for combat specialties.
Under Defense Department guidance, women are banned from serving in specialties whose primary function is to close with and destroy the enemy. But that could change. In a historic first, the Marine Corps is now planning to send women to the Infantry Officers School as part of a comprehensive research program that looks at whether opening more fields to women is a possibility. Enlisted women could get a shot, too, at one of the Infantry Training Battalions. Also part of the possible plan are gender-neutral physical fitness standards that would apply to men and women and a Corps-wide survey so you can sound off on the matter.
Could women soon be marching into battle as infantry-women? For all the details, and more stories that matter to you, pick up this week’s edition of Marine Corps Times, on newsstands now. Or subscribe here.
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.
Takedown! 15th MEU steps out for diverse missions
April 20th, 2012 | Anti-piracy Blue-Green operations Maritime Raid Force MEU operations | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
Members of 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit's maritime raid force aboard the destroyer Dewey during training April 9 at San Diego Naval Base, Calif. (Lance Cpl. Timothy Childers/USMC)
It’s a big ocean out there. The Marine Corps’ push to return to its maritime roots and get more leathernecks out to sea on Navy ships means a brighter spotlight on some of those missions that haven’t routinely been done by units more attuned to the sandbox of combat. While the public might be more aware of operations to track and capture gun-toting hijackers and pirates or terrorists at sea, such visit-board-search-seize training (above photo) aren’t the only high-speed training Marines are getting to do.
Just this month, after some training in San Diego, Calif., members of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit headed north to Ventura County to practice taking down gas and oil platforms off the coast of Carpinteria. The strategic and economic value of such energy-producing gas and oil platforms found around the world – from the Persian Gulf to the coast of Africa, South China Sea and off Australia’s northern shores – make them lucrative targets and places to hide for militants, terrorist groups and enemy forces. So protecting them becomes critical, and MEUs are among military units that are training for these missions.
Such GOPLAT missions, as they are called, are among the variety of specialty operations that MEUs do, and by nature these raids assume an element of close-quarters combat. Much like VBSS missions, the maritime raid force can reach their targets by sea or by air, and much like the ships they assault, they encounter challenging confines in the shifting environment aboard the moored platforms at sea. These missions can become quite complex, and they rarely get much public attention or spotlight as stealth and covertness are usually key to success. Marines joined in GOPLAT missions back in the late 1980s during Operation Earnest Will, the mission that had warships escorting commercial vessels through the Persian Gulf to protect them against Iranian attacks. Some of these operations are noted in the book, No Higher Honor, written by Armed Forces Journal editor Bradley Peniston, and here by Marine Corps historian David Crist. Those operations, with names like Nimble Archer and Praying Mantis, the latter which involved Recon Marines and CH-46 and AH-1 helicopters, drew little attention, much like some GOPLAT operations after the invasion of Iraq.
Elements of the MRF are drawn from Battalion Landing Team 3/5, which includes the combat-tested “Darkhorse” men of 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines. The 15th MEU, commanded by Col. Scott D. Campbell, includes the “Purple Foxes” of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 364 (Reinforced) and Combat Logistics Battalion 15. The MEU is slated to deploy later this year aboard amphibious assault ship Peleliu (pictured above), transport dock Green Bay and dock landing ship Rushmore.
Rainstorms present comedy, challenges for Marines in Afghanistan
April 20th, 2012 | Afghanistan Embedded journalism Infantry Kajaki | Posted by Dan Lamothe
A Marine runs across the muddy courtyard at Patrol Base Sheheban in Kajaki, Helmand province on April 20. (James J. Lee/Staff)
FORWARD OPERATING BASE WHITEHOUSE, Afghanistan — If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to walk through peanut butter, visit southern Afghanistan during a rainstorm.
I learned that lesson the hard way in the last two days in Kajaki district. The storms started Wednesday while we were visiting elements of Weapons
Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, at Patrol Base Sheheban, a small outpost to the west of the Helmand River. The rain kicked in again today
before dawn, and continued with few interruptions until nearly 2 p.m. local time.
Rainy season here is in February, they tell me. Except when it pours in April.
In all seriousness, the storms present both comedy and challenges in a land with almost no pavement.
On the light-hearted side, Marines slip and slide through ankle-deep mud nearly anywhere they go, even on a relatively big base like Whitehouse. I
watched a Marine in shorts and a Gortex poncho slip on a hill at Sheheban yesterday, landing square on his backside. He wasn’t hurt, and everyone
nearby cracked up.
On the more serious side, the storms limit air operations and change the dynamics on patrol, too. Improvised explosive devices hidden during the rain can be difficult to find because the water washes away tell-tale signs, such as disturbed dirt. Marine units also typically vary the paths they take when they leave the wire, but that’s difficult when fields, streams and canals swell with water.
Photographer James Lee and I returned today to Whitehouse from Sheheban, trekking through the rain with a squad of Marines to the Helmand River before crossing it in a small steel motorboat piloted by an Afghan. After playing in the mud for the last three days, the hot shower waiting for us here was a blessing.
Marines make best seat in MRAP
April 20th, 2012 | Afghanistan Embedded journalism Equipment Infantry | Posted by James J. Lee
On a convoy between locations in Kajaki, I was once again awestruck by Marine ingenuity. The guys from the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines Motor Transport Platoon had built a wag bag toilet into the back of their MRAP. The gunner, Corporal Brandon Szopinski explained that life on the roads of Afghanistan often meant long hours between umm… facilities, so doing as Marines do, they improvised.
This particular toilet looked plush and comfy, complete with a foam padded seat for those bumpy rides. So, if the going gets tough, I now know where to find the best seat around.
All that’s missing is a name for this little gem. Feel free to leave your (uh, tasteful) comments below.
Marines patrol through poppy blossoms in Afghanistan’s Kajaki district
April 19th, 2012 | Afghanistan Battle Rattle Embedded journalism Infantry Kajaki Marines | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Cpl. Joshua Leary, left, and Cpl. Alexander Prasil patrol through the poppy fields near the Helmand River in Kajaki, Afghanistan, on April 18. Marines from Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines operate out of Patrol Base Sheheban, a joint position with Afghan National Civil Order Police and provides security near one of a few area river crossings. (James J. Lee / Staff)
PATROL BASE SHEHEBAN, Afghanistan –- I can say it from experience now: patrolling through the poppy fields of Helmand province is every bit as distracting as I had been warned.
The beautiful poppy blossoms leap out at anyone passing. The flowers — ranging in color from white and pink to a deep, rich rose — stand nearly waist high, and will likely remain in bloom for at least another week. As the blossoms shrivel, farmers will score the remaining bulbs and collect the fluid oozing out. The product is developed into heroin and other opium-based drugs — something that isn’t legal in Afghanistan, and yet the main cash crop for the country.
Photographer James Lee and I arrived on this patrol base this morning, making the move from Forward Operating Base Whitehouse, the headquarters in Helmand’s Kajaki district for 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C.
It’s a trip complicated by geography. Route 611, the main road in the region, runs northeast up the east side of the Helmand River, but the Marines are also concerned about insurgent activity on the other side of the water. To push the Taliban farther away, they established Sheheban, Observation Post Levy and a couple other outposts that have since been turned over to Afghan forces.
To get to Sheheban, we took a small steel motorboat manned by an Afghan across the Helmand River. It was slightly alarming at first, given the rudimentary nature of the craft. The boats are used regularly by Marines and Afghans alike, however, and ferry everything from livestock to vehicles.
On the other side, elements of Weapons Company 1/8 man Sheheban and Levy. Firefights have not been frequent recently, but the region is littered with improvised explosive devices, said Staff Sgt. Albert Hayes, the platoon sergeant for Combined Anti-Armor Team 2, which has elements based at both outposts. In one March 23 IED strike, a squad leader, a corpsman and an interpreter were hit, Hayes said. They all survived, but were pulled from the battlefield with shrapnel wounds, lacerations and other injuries.
The names of the two Marine bases on this side of the water underscore the extremes in Helmand province. Sheheban was named by Afghan forces, and means “beautiful” in Arabic, Hayes said. Levy was named after Lance Cpl. Christopher Levy, a member of Lejeune’s 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, who shot Dec. 7 nearby and died three days later.
We left the wire with CAAT-2 Marines today, patrolling for several hours through fields and villages. Stay tuned for more images and dispatches in coming days.