Friendly Visit
May 6th, 2012 | From the Ranks Photography | Posted by Alan Lessig
Sgt. Joshua Smith, a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team, chats with an Afghan boy during an Afghan-led clearing operation April 28, 2012, Ghazni province, Afghanistan. The soldier studied the Pashtun language prior to his deployment to southern Ghazni. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod)
Creek Leap
May 3rd, 2012 | Afghanistan From the Ranks Photography | Posted by Alan Lessig
U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Ronald Valdez (left), a corpsman with 1st Platoon, India Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, and 30-year-old native of Waipahu, Hawaii, extends a helping hand to Marine Lance Cpl. Patrick Mireles, a team leader and 23-year-old native of Austin, Texas, as Mireles jumps a stream during a security patrol here, April 30, 2012. On the final patrol of their seven-month deployment, the Marines toured the Durzay region of Helmand province’s Garmsir district to disrupt possible insurgent activity. After arriving in Garmsir in October 2011, the Marines aided Afghan National Security Forces in assuming lead security responsibility of the district, developing and expanding legitimate Afghan governance by defeating insurgent forces and securing the people of Garmsir. (Cpl. Reece Lodder/USMC)
Marines Lead “Parade” through Sangin’s Green Zone
April 30th, 2012 | Afghanistan Infantry Photography | 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)
Rainy Day Patrol in Afghanistan
April 25th, 2012 | Afghanistan From the Ranks | Posted by Alan Lessig
Staff Sgt. Joshua Devoe and other paratroopers with the 82nd Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team return from a patrol in the rain, April 20, 2012, in Afghanistan’s southern Ghazni province. This platoon is part of the 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, based on Forward Operating Base Arian. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod)
Dog kisses in Kajaki
April 13th, 2012 | Photography | Posted by James J. Lee
Lance Cpl. Richard Bissett gets some love from Camo, an improvised explosive detection dog at Observation Post Shrine in Kajaki, Afghanistan, on Friday. (James J. Lee / Staff)
OBSERVATION POST SHRINE, Afghanistan – I miss my dog, but I didn’t realize how much until I met Camo, an improvised explosive detection dog. This little position on a hill overlooking the Taliban-held area of Zamindawar is referred to as a “static ambush position,” so Camo doesn’t get much of a chance to do her thing up here.
After sitting for hours at the feet of handler Lance Cpl. Richard Bissett as he stands post at one of the gun positions, Camo tears around the camp kicking up dust, sweeping water bottles off cots with her tail and getting lots of laughs from all the guys up here with her infectious energy.
She’s permanently attached to Bissett’s side, except for frequent stops to get a little attention from other members of the squad. Bissett will have to turn Camo over to a new handler this summer when he returns to Camp Lejeune, N.C., but until then she’s spreading morale to Third Squad, Second Platoon, in Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines.
For more from embedded Marine Corps Times journalists Dan Lamothe & James J. Lee, check out the Marine Corps Times blog, Battle Rattle.
Liftoff
April 12th, 2012 | From the Ranks | Posted by Alan Lessig
Sgt. Maj. of the Army Ray Chandler and International Security Assistance Force Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Capel aboard a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter depart from Combat Outpost Bari Alai north-east of Jalalabad April 3. The 14th Sergeant Major of the Army presented combat infantryman badges and combat action badges to members of 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division for their successful suppression of an insurgent attack on their outpost just days after arriving in Afghanistan. Chandler and Capel spent several days traveling around Afghanistan, meeting and talking with Soldiers. (U.S. Army photo/Sgt. Christopher Harper)
Where’s Waldo?
March 31st, 2012 | The Wires | Posted by Alan Lessig
Group photos can be one of the toughest shots for a photographer to make. Sometimes, you just don’t see that “one” guy in the crowd that’s messing with you. Marines sit inside of a plane before their departure to Afghanistan from the US transit center Manas, 30 km outside the Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek, on March 27, 2012. (VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP/Getty Images)
Family Hug
March 29th, 2012 | From the Ranks | Posted by Alan Lessig
The sweet embrace of loved-ones awaited the more than 170 members of the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team that returned to Oklahoma, March 29, 2012, after spending more than eight months in Afghanistan. (Maj. Geoff Legler/Army)
Night Ranger
March 12th, 2012 | From the Ranks | Posted by Mike Morones
Rangers from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment and a multi-purpose canine pause during a nighttime combat mission in Afghanistan. (US Army photo)
Man’s Best Friend
March 7th, 2012 | From the Ranks | Posted by Mike Morones
SAFAR BAZAAR, Afghanistan - U.S. Marine Cpl. Kyle Click, a 22-year-old improvised explosive device detection dog handler with 3rd Platoon, Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, and native of Grand Rapids, Mich., shares a moment with his dog Windy while waiting to resume a security patrol on Feb. 27. (Cpl. Reece Lodder/USMC)