36 posts tagged “helmand province”
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08/29/2009 - U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Greensage provides security during a reconnaissance patrol in the Nawa district of the Helmand province of Afghanistan Aug. 29, 2009. Greensage is assigned to Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment and deployed with Regimental Combat Team 3 to conduct counterinsurgency operations in partnership with the Afghan National Security Forces in southern Afghanistan. (DoD photo by Lance Cpl. Phillip Elgie, U.S. Marine Corps/Released)
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Scenes include a firefight between Marine and Afghan army soldiers against insurgents, various views of the castle, a Marine Corps bulldozer that hit an improvised explosive device (IED) and interviews with Marines discussing entering the Khan Nechion castle and surviving a IED explosion.
Interviewees:
• Pfc. Ryan Martin (Tracy, CA, US)
• Cpl. Markus Hillman (Ann Arbor, MI, US)
• Cpl. Wilfredo Jimenez (Loredo, TX, US)
• Cpl. Derrick Unitaowski (Slippery Rock, PA, US)
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Regimental Combat Team 3
DVIDS
Date: 07.07.2009
Posted: 07.07.2009 02:36
HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan – After a 10 hour bumpy, dusty drive through the desert, the United States Marine Corps has now secured the southernmost point of operations in Helmand province and begun construction on what will be the largest combat outpost ever built by Combat Logistics Batallion-8 out of Camp Lejuene, N.C.
"This is the tip of the spear. Right now we are the farthest south Marine Unit in Afghanistan," said Capt. Chris Annunziata of Norfolk, Va. "Everything that happens south of the river depends on us."
Within minutes of bulldozer and excavators being unloaded from flatbed trucks, construction began on COP Payne which overlooks the Helmand river valley. Annunziata, the onsite officer in charge of the construction project said building the COP will take just 96 hours to complete. The COP will serve as a logistical center for all operations that will eventually take place south of the river along the border with Pakistan.
By the end of the first day of construction, a ten foot wall of dirt and gravel surrounded the 600 foot by 600 foot compound and a burn pit was dug for disposing of garbage. At the same time, other crews are working on a fording site across the Helmand River and fortifying Khan Necsion, a former Taliban stronghold that will now be handed over to the district governor.
"I have the best equipped and most motivated Marines," said Annunziata. "These men and women are true professionals and I couldn't be more proud of them." The Marines carried out their work under the oppressive Afghan sun with temperatures soaring into the 120s.
Across the river, a curious lone rancher and his herd of cattle watched as COB Payne took shape. He was the only Afghan seen since departing Forward Operating Base Dwyer the night before.
"I wasn't expecting any contact with insurgents on the drive down here," said convoy commander, Lt. Tabitha Pinter of Detroit, Mich. "This was a complete surprise. The enemy had no idea we were coming and they had no idea we'd take the route we took." The convoy of 35 trucks and armored vehicles drove through 112 kilometer of barren desert where no roads currently exist.
The Marines aren't letting the quiet beauty of the river valley catch them with their guard down.
"All was quiet when we built Fire Base Thunder. It was three or four
days later the insurgents learned we were there and that's when they
started their attacks," said Annunziata.
Images by AP
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US Marines fight at close contact with Taliban forces in a fierce
battle to secure a compound in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.. Follow
us on twitter at http://twitter.com/itn_news
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Marines squared off with Taliban forces in Afghanistan's Helmand
Province June 20, calling in an airstrike to rout the insurgent forces.
See more DoD videos at http://dodvclips.mil
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Related Sites: U.S. Forces Afghanistan |
This is cross posted from Danger Room There are also more articles there about the 24th MEU Troops deployment in Afghanistan.
October 18, 2008 | 9:50:00 AM
During their deployment to Helmand Province,
Marines of B Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment had few
options for killing time between pulling guard shifts or walking
patrol. They worked out on a ramshackle bench press; jumped rope in the
dust; or played spades.
But the main focus of social life -- if you could call it that -- was a small pack of stray dogs (and a kitten or two) that shared the mud-brick compound.
Marines adopted the dogs after they started following them on foot patrols. According to several of the Marines, some of the mutts even took to walking point, sniffing out ahead for any signs of danger. The Marines rewarded the animals for loyalty by sharing their MREs and water. The thin, rangy dogs quickly fattened up on a diet of packaged spaghetti and meatballs or Szechuan chicken.
Everyone had their favorites. Kilo (pictured here), a, pampered, overfed puppy. Gross, who looked like a skinny lab or retriever. And there was my personal favorite, Shins. "You'll recognize him," said one Marine. "He's the ugliest dog in the world."
The good-natured Shins looked like he had been raised to be a fighting dog; his ears were brutally cropped. And sure enough, he was ugly: his fur was a mottled brown and his forelegs seemed to be bowed from rickets. Shins lolled happily in the dirt, enjoying his three squares a day.
Don't get me wrong; I'm not really much of a dog person. And this is DANGER ROOM, not Modern Dog Magazine. But the adopted animals were one of the things that made life bearable in an otherwise tedious -- and often dangerous -- place. And hell, one of the puppies even has a MySpace page.
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Coalition,
Afghan Forces Kill Enemy Fighters, Detain Three Suspects
Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:58:00
-0500
In Ghazni province's Giro district, coalition forces killed several enemy
fighters and five non-combatants during an operation in search of Taliban
fighters in the area. Coalition troops were engaged as they approached their
target facility. The troops returned fire, killing the militants and eventually
detaining three. The attack inadvertently led to four women and one child
killed, officials said.
Coalition, Afghan Forces Kill Enemy Fighters, Detain Three Suspects
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Aug. 8, 2008 - Coalition and Afghan forces killed enemy fighters
and detained three suspected terrorists during operations yesterday in
Afghanistan, military officials said.
Coalition and
Afghan force found a weapons cache in Zabul province's Shajoy district. The
cache contained rocket-propelled grenades, hand grenades, land mines, assault
rifles with ammunition and bomb-making materials, officials said.
Related Sites:
Combined Joint Task Force 101
NATO ISAF
Troops in
Afghanistan Kill, Detain Enemy Fighters
Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:38:00
-0500
Yesterday in Afghanistan:
Troops in Afghanistan Kill, Detain Enemy Fighters
American Forces Press
Service
WASHINGTON, July 3, 2008 - Coalition forces in Afghanistan killed several
enemy fighters and detained eight others in recent days, military officials
said.
-- Three Taliban militants
were detained in Ghazni province, where coalition forces were targeting a
Taliban militant in the area.
-- Coalition forces detained five
militants while targeting a senior Taliban leader and homemade-bomb facilitator
in Helmand province. During the search, forces discovered assault rifles and a
cache of opium. The weapons and drugs were destroyed to prevent possible
militant use.
In an operation June 30, several militants were killed
during a reconnaissance patrol by Afghan national security forces and coalition
forces in the Maywand district of Kandahar province. The militants attacked the
patrol using rockets. The militants were pursued and were later killed with
precision air strikes, officials said.
(Compiled from Combined Joint
Task Force 101 news releases.)
Related Sites:
Combined Joint Task Force 101
NATO International Security Assistance
Force
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