The impetus for the U.S.-led assault on Marjah began one moonless night last May when a squad of American and Afghan anti-narcotics agents, backed by U.S. Marines, slipped through the town's empty streets and raided the Lachoya opium bazaar.
Continue reading "Afghan Drug Trade Complicates U.S. Task in Marjah" »
CAMP DWYER, Helmand province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan – The ordnance technicians for Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367 "Scarface," Marine Aircraft Group 40, Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan, sat and waited for the troops-in-contact call, and when it came, without hesitation, they sprinted through the gravel toward the helicopter landing zones to arm aircraft and get them back into action for combat operations in Marjah.
Continue reading "Right to Bear Arms: Ordnance Marines Arm MAG-40" »
Despite Rehab, the Yellow Lab Won't Sniff For Bombs in Combat; He's 'a Lover'
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan—When the Marines cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war, one remains in his kennel. Quivering.
Continue reading "Even His Red Squeak Toy Can't Get First Sgt. Gunner, USMC, to Fight" »
MARJAH, Afghanistan — Even by Afghan standards, it was a startling find: An opium packaging workshop, buried under donkey dung and old hay in a stable that U.S. Marines turned into a patrol base in southern Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Taliban, not drugs, focus of US-Afghan offensive" »
MARJA, AFGHANISTAN -- The initial phase of the military offensive in southern Afghanistan to wrest Marja from insurgent control has largely ended, but the more daunting task of building a credible government in the place of Taliban rule has just begun, according to senior U.S. and Afghan officials.
MARJA, AFGHANISTAN -- The initial phase of the military offensive in southern Afghanistan to wrest Marja from insurgent control has largely ended, but the more daunting task of building a credible government in the place of Taliban rule has just begun, according to senior U.S. and Afghan officials.
Before Marines go overseas, they must learn skills beyond their primary job and be ready for deployment.
Continue reading "Afghanistan Bound, MTACS Marines Train to Fight" »
In southern Afghanistan, U.S. Marines and their Afghan counterparts are tightening their hold on the Taliban stronghold of Marjah. Each day, troops are uncovering weapons caches left behind by Taliban fighters who ran away or are hiding among the local population.
Continue reading "Taliban Flees Marjah, Threat Remains For Marines" »
FORWARD OPERATING BASE CAFERETTA, Nimruz province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan – As improvised explosive devices continue to be a threat in the region as the Taliban's weapon of choice, coalition forces continue to adapt their ways of dealing with them.
Continue reading "Improvised Explosive Device Detection Program for the Dogs" »
MARJAH, Afghanistan -- One by one, the men of Marjah tentatively approached the high-ranking Afghan official with their complaints.
Continue reading "Residents of Marjah wary of U.S. after Taliban ouster" »
The Marine Corps’ footprint in Afghanistan has expanded to include 15,000 Marines, the service’s top general said, and another battalion is expected to deploy soon.
SEMITAY BAZAAR, Afghanistan — After the declaration this weekend that the battle for the Taliban enclave of Marja had been won, for the Marines standing behind sandbags and walking patrols, the more complicated work has begun. With it will be a test of the strategy selected by President Obama and the generals now running the Afghan war.
Continue reading "With Marja Largely Won, Marines Try to Win Trust" »
MARJAH, Afghanistan — More than 2,000 U.S. Marines and about 1,000 Afghan troops who stormed the Taliban town of Marjah as part of a major NATO offensive against a resurgent Taliban will stay for the next several months to help ensure insurgents don't return, Marine commanders said Sunday.
Continue reading "Marines, Afghan troops to be stationed in Marjah" »
MARJAH, Afghanistan - Marines and Afghan troops who fought through the centre of Marjah linked up Saturday with American soldiers on the northern edge of the former Taliban stronghold, clearing the town's last major pocket of resistance.
MARJAH, Afghanistan — Just a few dozen yards from the bullet-riddled government building, Marine Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson found more proof Saturday that the battle for Marjah was over.
Continue reading "Normalcy takes root in Marjah after allied offensive" »
MARJAH, Afghanistan (AP) -- U.S. and Afghan forces say they have cleared the last major pocket of resistance from the former Taliban stronghold of Marjah.
Continue reading "US, Afghan forces clear last parts of Taliban area" »
CAMP H.M. SMITH, Hawaii — Dozens of Marines, sailors and Republic of Korea service members with U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific, gathered for a Korean War presentation Feb. 25 at the Sunset Lanai, Camp H.M Smith Hawaii.
Two days before launching the most ambitious military campaign of the Obama Administration, General Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, convened a meeting in Kabul of 450 tribal elders and scholars from Helmand province. The general's objective: to build support for Operation Moshtarak, a massive offensive on the Taliban stronghold of Marjah. McChrystal ran through the military phase of the plan, which would involve 6,000 U.S. Marines and British soldiers and 4,500 Afghan troops and police. Then he described how these troops would protect the town while a "government in a box" — a corps of Afghan officials who had been training for this moment for months — would start administering the town. The elders all signed off on the plan, but not before one of them warned the American general, "You have to understand that if you don't do what you say, we'll all be killed."
WILMINGTON – Chaplains deployed to Afghanistan have provided support for Marines dealing with the loss of their own in recent battles. After two weeks of intense fighting in Afghanistan, an Afghan flag now flies over Marjah, a former Taliban stronghold.
Continue reading "Chaplains help Marines cope with offensive in Afghanistan" »
Flag-raising ceremony held as troops mop up last pockets of resistance
MARJAH, Afghanistan - The Afghan government took official control of the southern Taliban stronghold of Marjah on Thursday, installing an administrator and raising the national flag while U.S.-led troops worked to root out final pockets of militants.
Continue reading "Afghan government claims Taliban stronghold" »
MARJAH, Afghanistan : US-led troops were inching closer to declaring victory over a Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan as a senior commander said Wednesday militant resistance had fallen dramatically.
Continue reading "US-led troops inch close to victory in Afghan assault" »
At least 24,000 people have fled since the assault on the Taliban began. Each passing day is a countdown to ruin for farm families.
Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan - In wind-whipped tents, makeshift shelters and overcrowded family compounds, Afghans who fled the battleground town of Marja are asking themselves and one another: When will it be safe to go home?
Continue reading "Afghans displaced by Marja offensive fret in a cold limbo" »
More than 100 Marines and their Afghan counterparts are pushing into a neighborhood they say is the last significant stronghold of insurgents.
Marines are starting a push to clear the last pockets of Taliban insurgents from Marjah.
Continue reading "Marines Clearing Last Taliban Pockets In Marjah" »
MARJAH, Afghanistan -- Bouwudin courteously greeted the Afghan and American officers who came to meet him, offering tea and eventually a meal as the meeting lingered on. No amount of invitations could get him to walk a few hundred yards to the Marines base.
Continue reading "US offensive yet to persuade Afghans in key town" »
It's the second week of a major U.S.-led offensive in southern Afghanistan to expel the Taliban from a key stronghold in Helmand province.
Continue reading "Taliban Resistance Strong In Southern Afghanistan" »
A year ago, the mention of Marja, a speck on the map in southern Afghanistan, would have drawn befuddled stares in the Pentagon.
Continue reading "Battle for Marja not only militarily significant" »
US-led forces fighting to clear a Taliban stronghold in south Afghanistan are making "steady progress", the most senior US military commander says.
Adm Mike Mullen said the operation in the town of Marjah in Helmand province was "messy... but that doesn't mean that it's not worth the cost".
Continue reading "US-led troops make 'steady progress' in Marjah" »
MARJAH, Afghanistan—Ten days into the fight for Marjah, U.S. and Afghan troops continue to seize ground, often battling the Taliban from one mud-walled compound to the next. But progress has been slower in winning over local civilians, many of whom are unsure which side will make life safer for their families.
Continue reading "Progress in Marjah, But Civilian Trust Elusive" »
For more than a week, CNN International Correspondent Atia Abawi has been embedded with U.S. Marines who are working alongside Afghan soldiers to rout out Taliban forces from the southern Afghan province of Marjah. Abawi filed this inside look at Operation Moshtarak:
It's been over a week now since Operation Moshtarak began here in southern Afghanistan. The city of Marjah shakes with the sound of improvised explosive devices, most of them set off by controlled explosions. Between IED blasts, the air is filled with the sounds of whizzing bullets, booming mortars, clacking helicopters, and other noises of war that I can't even express in writing.
Continue reading "Reporter's diary: Inside Operation Moshtarak" »
MARJA, Afghanistan — Since the American-led offensive into the last large Taliban enclave in Helmand Province began nine days ago, local Afghans have faced a dangerous and uncertain world.
Continue reading "Afghans Voice Their Fears Amid Marja Campaign" »
Fighter jets, drone and attack helicopters focus on part of city
MARJAH, Afghanistan - Outnumbered and outgunned, Taliban fighters are mounting a tougher fight than expected in Marjah, Afghan officials said Sunday, as U.S.-led forces converged on a pocket of militants in a western section of the town.
Continue reading "Marines target Taliban holdouts in Marjah" »
Marines and Afghan troops fight to clear holdout insurgents from one corner of the city in southern Afghanistan. NATO says there is another casualty among Western troops, bringing the total to 13.
Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan, and Nawa, Afghanistan -- Backed by fighter jets and attack helicopters, U.S. Marines and Afghan troops closed in on an insurgent-ridden sector of Marja on Sunday, the ninth day of a coalition bid to wrest control of the southern Afghan town from the Taliban.
Continue reading "Military sweep of Marja focuses on pocket of 'determined resistance'" »
Nawa's district governor, upset by the unresponsive provincial government, pleads with residents not to become disenchanted and ally with insurgents.
Reporting from Nawa, Afghanistan — Haji Abdul Manaf, the district governor for this region of Helmand Province, was incensed.
Continue reading "Afghans frustrated in bid to remake Taliban-free towns" »
NATO Forces Face 'Determined Resistance'
MARJAH, Afghanistan -- Marines and Afghan units converged Sunday on a dangerous western quarter of the Taliban stronghold of Marjah, with NATO forces facing "determined resistance" as their assault on the southern town entered its second week.
Continue reading "Marines Converge On Taliban Holdouts In Marjah" »
MARJAH, Afghanistan—The Taliban grenade that whizzed overhead was John Kael Weston's first indication that this town might not be ready for an influx of diplomats, agriculturalists and economic-development specialists.
Continue reading "Taliban Resistance Stalls New Rule in Marjah" »
ARJA, Afghanistan — As American Marines and Afghan soldiers have fought their way into this Taliban stronghold, the performance of the Afghan troops has tested a core premise of the American military effort here: in the not-too-distant future, the security of this country can be turned over to indigenous forces created at the cost of American money and blood.
Continue reading "Marines Do Heavy Lifting as Afghan Army Lags in Battle" »
HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan – A patrol of Marines and Sailors of Combined Anti-Armor Team 1 and Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, held their first impromptu meeting with village elders in the "Five Points" area Feb. 14, and only moments later came under hostile fire from Taliban attackers.
Continue reading "Marines Near Marjah Hold First Meeting With Elders, Kill Taliban Attackers" »
Charlottean Noah Pier killed in Afghanistan, fighting for a cause "he believed in."
Lance Cpl. Noah Pier always wanted to be a Marine, and his family said they'll miss his "laughter and love of life."
MARJAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghan police were deployed on Saturday in an area recaptured from the Taliban by U.S. Marines this week, in the early phase of a plan to put the country firmly under the control of Afghan authorities.
Continue reading "Afghan police deployed in wake of NATO offensive" »
MARJA, AFGHANISTAN -- They had slogged through knee-deep mud carrying 100 pounds of gear, fingers glued to the triggers of their M-4 carbines, all the while on the lookout for insurgents. Now, after five near-sleepless nights, trying to avoid hypothermia in freezing temperatures, the grunts of the 1st Battalion of the 6th Marine Regiment finally had a moment to relax.
Continue reading "In Marja, it's war the old-fashioned way" »
MARJAH, Afghanistan—The Taliban grenade that whizzed overhead was John Kael Weston's first indication that this embattled town might not be ready for an influx of diplomats, agriculturalists and economic-development specialists.
Continue reading "Troops Face Pockets of Resistance in Marjah" »
MARJAH, Afghanistan – After a fierce gunfight, U.S. Marines seized a strongly defended compound Friday that appears to have been a Taliban headquarters — complete with photos of fighters posing with their weapons, dozens of Taliban-issued ID cards and graduation diplomas from a training camp in Pakistan.
Continue reading "US Marines seize Taliban headquarters, IDs, photos" »
Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan — Following the deadliest day yet for coalition forces seeking to drive the Taliban from the town of Marja in southern Afghanistan, U.S. Marines took aim Friday at the threat posed by insurgent snipers.
Continue reading "Marines in Marja focus on sniper threat" »
The Marines have been ordered not to treat Afghans roughly. When making an arrest, they are instructed to ask their suspect to voluntarily go with them. Most do.
Reporting from Spin Ghar, Afghanistan - The three men were blindfolded, their hands bound in front of them with plastic flex cuffs, and each was in the firm grip of a Marine. Their loose-fitting clothes were faded and dusty, their thick beards beginning to show gray.
Continue reading "In Afghanistan, Marines handling detainees by the book" »
MARJAH, Afghanistan - Two U.S. helicopters dropped elite Marine recon teams behind Taliban lines before dawn Friday as the U.S.-led force stepped up operations to break resistance on the seventh day of fighting in the besieged militant stronghold of Marjah.
MARJAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - It's only been six days since NATO launched a major assault against the Taliban and some Afghans are already asking Marines when they can reopen their shops.
Continue reading "Marines still looking over shoulder for Taliban" »
MARJA, Afghanistan — In five days of fighting, the Taliban have shown a side not often seen in nearly a decade of American military action in Afghanistan: the use of snipers, both working alone and integrated into guerrilla-style ambushes.
Continue reading "Snipers Imperil U.S.-Led Forces in Afghan Offensive" »
US Marines moving from the north of Marjah have joined up with US troops who were dropped into the area by helicopter four days ago, helping to increase their control over a crucial area known as the “Pork Chop”.
Continue reading "US forces move swiftly to take control of region north of Marjah" »
MARJAH, Afghanistan — Taliban fighters holding out in Marjah are increasingly using civilians as human shields, firing from compounds where U.S. and Afghan forces can clearly see women and children on rooftops or in windows, Afghan and U.S. troops said Wednesday.
Continue reading "Embattled Afghan Taliban rely on human shields" »
Lt Col Cal Worth, who commands one of two Marine battalions leading the offensive against Taliban fighters here, set off at 7am on Wednesday for the return journey to his battalion headquarters from a combat outpost less than four miles away.
MARJAH, Afghanistan – Marines moving by land from the north linked up Tuesday with U.S. units that have faced nearly constant Taliban attack in the four days since they were dropped by helicopter into this insurgent stronghold in southern Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Marines link up in Afghan Taliban stronghold" »
MARJAH, Afghanistan—U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers seized the site of Marjah's government offices, setting the stage for Kabul to attempt to resume its authority in a town long run by the Taliban.
Continue reading "Site of Marjah Government Offices Seized" »
MARJAH, Afghanistan — U.S. and Afghan forces traded gunfire with insurgents shooting from haystacks in poppy fields in the Taliban stronghold of Marjah as they pressed ahead in NATO's assault on the militants' heartland in southern Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Marines: Taliban resistance more disorganized" »
MARJA, AFGHANISTAN -- For the Marines of Charlie Company's 3rd Platoon, Sunday's mission was simple enough: Head west for a little more than a mile to link up with Alpha Company in preparation for a mission to secure the few ramshackle government buildings in this farming community.
Continue reading "The Marines move on Marja: A perilous slog against Afghanistan's Taliban" »
MARJAH, Afghanistan—U.S. Marines sent reinforcements to a beleaguered outpost where insurgent fighters were using women and children to carry weapons and shield their attacks on coalition forces.
Continue reading "U.S., Afghan Troops Battle Snipers in Marjah Offensive" »
MARJA, Afghanistan — Ten minutes after walking out of the small outpost on Monday morning, the Marines of Company K were ambushed again.
Continue reading "Soldiers Keep Up Push in Taliban Stronghold" »
Readiness officers prepare the families of isle Marines to cope with wartime stress
With about 1,000 "Lava Dogs" from the Kaneohe Marine Corps base participating in the battle for Marjah, Afghanistan, base officials here are providing information and comfort to the Marines' worried loved ones back home.
NA JOMTIEN, Thailand — Thai and U.S. troops spent much of the Cobra Gold exercise the last two weeks fighting a computer-simulated war in which they were to support a United Nations peace-keeping mandate in a fictional country and clash with a dissenting minority group.
Continue reading "Thai military to use intel from exercise in battle against insurgents in south" »
MARJA, AFGHANISTAN -- U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers encountered pockets of stiff resistance and extensive minefields as they sought to press into this Taliban sanctuary in southern Afghanistan on Saturday.
MARJA, Afghanistan — An errant American rocket strike on Sunday hit a compound crowded with Afghan civilians in the last Taliban stronghold in Helmand Province, killing at least 10 people, including 5 children, military officials said.
Continue reading "Errant U.S. Rocket Strike Kills Civilians in Afghanistan" »
Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- U.S.-led forces encountered sniper fire and remote-controlled bombs as they fought for a second day to clear a Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan, NATO and Afghan officials said.
Continue reading "U.S. Troops Encounter Snipers, Bombs in Afghanistan Offensive" »
MARJAH, Afghanistan—Taliban insurgents tried to overrun a U.S. Marine outpost with a combination of rocket-propelled grenades and suicide bombers in a brazen attack just after sundown on Sunday.
Continue reading "U.S. and Afghan Troops Expand Control in Marjah" »
On the offensive's second full day of fighting, Afghan officials say 27 insurgents have been killed. NATO reports 12 civilian deaths from a rocket strike and suspends use of the weapons involved.
Reporting from outside Marja and Kabul, Afghanistan — Insurgent holdouts in the town of Marja on Sunday aimed sporadic but sometimes intense fire at U.S. Marines and Afghan troops seeking to solidify their hold on the southern Afghan town.
Continue reading "Marines, Afghan troops seek to secure their hold on Marja" »
Marjah, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The Taliban put up a stiff resistance Sunday, as a coalition assault against the militant group entered its second day in southern Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Troops, Taliban battle for second day in Afghan offensive" »
MARJAH, Afghanistan (AP) — It could take weeks to reclaim the Taliban stronghold of Marjah, a top Marine commander said Sunday as thousands of U.S. troops and Afghan soldiers fought for a second day in NATO's most ambitious effort yet to break the militants' grip on Afghanistan's dangerous south.
Continue reading "Marine commander says it could take weeks to fully reclaim Taliban haven" »
MARJAH, Afghanistan — Thousands of U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers stormed the Taliban stronghold of Marjah before dawn Saturday, sweeping by air and ground against scattered resistance into the biggest southern town under militant control. The massive offensive was aimed at breaking the Taliban grip over a wide area of their southern heartland.
Continue reading "US, Afghan troops sweep into Taliban stronghold" »
MARJA, Afghanistan — The helicopters landed before dawn Saturday in a poppy field beside a row of mud-walled compounds. The Marines ran into the darkness and crouched through the rotor-whipped dust as their aircraft lifted away.
LASHKAR GAR, Afghanistan -- U.S. Marines and Afghan forces were airlifted over the Taliban-laid minefields into the center of town in Marjah Saturday, apparently surprising the insurgents and taking strategic positions from them, according to military officials.
Continue reading "Surprise tactic in Afghanistan offensive befuddles Taliban" »
Marjah, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The major coalition assault against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan claimed the lives of two coalition troops, but military officials regard the hours-old push in war-ravaged Helmand province as very promising.
Continue reading "Coalition troops find 'minimal interference' in assault on Taliban" »
MARJAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - U.S. Marines spearheaded one of NATO's biggest offensives against the Taliban in Afghanistan on Saturday, in an early test of President Barack Obama's troop surge policy.
Continue reading "Marines spearhead major Afghanistan offensive" »
OUTSIDE MARJA and KABUL, Afghanistan _ Picking their way through a dense tangle of homemade bombs, U.S. Marines on Saturday seized key positions in the Taliban stronghold of Marja, as thousands of coalition troops consolidated their hold on a wide swath of desert and farm territory surrounding the southern Afghan town.
2 NATO troops, at least 20 insurgents reported killed on first day of assault
MARJAH, Afghanistan - Bombs and booby traps slowed the advance of thousands of U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers moving Saturday through the Taliban-controlled town of Marjah — NATO's most ambitious effort yet to break the militants' grip over their southern heartland.
More than 1,000 British troops engaged in the launch of Operation Moshtarak in Afghanistan have secured their "key objectives", the Ministry of Defence has said.
Continue reading "Anti-Taliban Attack: 'Key Objectives Secured'" »
For the assault on Marja in southern Afghanistan, Marines are drilled yet again about the inadvertent killing of civilians, which could undermine what they are trying to accomplish.
Reporting from The Outskirts Of Marja, Afghanistan - The Marines of Charlie Company had just landed outside Marja and were itching for the fight with the Taliban when they learned that a group of Afghans with shovels and wheelbarrows were digging holes in the road nearby.
Continue reading "Marines' life-and-death decisions in the 'fighting hole'" »
The long-discussed operation against the Taliban in Marja is one of the biggest of the war. Along with targeting the insurgents' grip on Helmand province, it's a test of the Afghan army's abilities.
Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan, and The Outskirts Of Marja, Afghanistan -- Thousands of U.S., British and Afghan troops moved to seize the Taliban stronghold of Marja early Saturday in what the Marine general leading the assault called a "big, strong and fast" offensive aimed at challenging the insurgency's grip on a key southern Afghan province.
Continue reading "Marines launch offensive in southern Afghanistan town" »
MARJA, Afghanistan — Thousands of American, Afghan and British troops attacked the watery Taliban fortress of Marja early Saturday, moving by land and through the air to destroy the insurgency’s largest haven and begin a campaign to reassert the dominance of the Afghan government across a large arc of southern Afghanistan.
CAMP LEATHERNECK, AFGHANISTAN -- Thousands of U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers traveling in helicopters and mine-resistant vehicles began punching into a key Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan early Saturday, as one of the largest operations to assert government control over this country got underway.
Continue reading "U.S. Marines launch major offensive in Afghanistan" »
When Marines rumble into the Taliban stronghold of Marjah in Helmand province for one of the largest offensives of the Afghanistan war, they'll be battle-testing a powerful new weapon, the Assault Breacher Vehicle
When the the Marines currently stacked up in Afghanistan's Helmand province waiting for a long-planned offensive against the Taliban finally make their move, they'll be coming with a powerful new weapon that looks like a cross between a tank and hell's own backhoe.
Continue reading "Marines roll out Assault Breacher Vehicles for Marjah Afghanistan offensive" »
NEAR MARJAH, Afghanistan -
U.S. and Afghan forces ringed the Taliban stronghold of Marjah on Thursday, sealing off escape routes and setting the stage for what is being described as the biggest offensive of the nine-year war.
Continue reading "US and Afghan troops ring Taliban stronghold" »
NEAR MARJAH, Afghanistan — U.S. and Afghan forces ringed the Taliban stronghold of Marjah on Thursday, sealing off escape routes and setting the stage for what is being described as the biggest offensive of the nine-year war.
Continue reading "U.S. Troops Close Taliban Escape Route Before Major Offensive" »
KABUL — The Taliban vowed on Thursday to fight back with a "hit and run" guerrilla campaign against Western and Afghan forces preparing to storm one of their key strongholds in southern Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Taliban vow guerrilla warfare against NATO troops" »
SISTANI, Afghanistan -- In comes "The Joker."
Continue reading "Marines push 'The Breacher' against Taliban lines" »
NEAR MARJAH, Afghanistan (AP) -- U.S. Marines and Taliban insurgents exchanged gunfire Thursday on the outskirts of Marjah, a southern militant stronghold where American and Afghan forces are expected to launch a major attack in the coming days.
Continue reading "Taliban, Marines exchange fire as battle looms" »
NEAR MARJAH, Afghanistan — U.S. and Afghan forces pushed Tuesday to the edge of the southern Afghan town of Marjah, poised to seize the major Taliban supply and drug-smuggling stronghold in hopes of building public support by providing aid and services once the insurgents are gone.
Continue reading "U.S., Afghan Forces Poised to Seize Taliban Stronghold" »
Marines Test Taliban Defenses Before Attack on Key Militant Stronghold
(CBS/ AP) U.S. Marines fired smoke rounds Wednesday and armored vehicles maneuvered close to Taliban positions to test insurgent defenses ahead of an anticipated attack on the biggest militant-controlled town in southern Afghanistan.
Continue reading "U.S. Inches Closer to Major Afghan Assault" »
OUTSKIRTS OF MARJAH, Afghanistan — US Marines came under attack from insurgents armed with sniper guns and rocket-propelled grenades as they geared up Wednesday to overwhelm a Taliban bastion in Afghanistan.
Continue reading "US Marines under fire ahead of Afghan assault" »
U.S. Marines Head up Force of 30,000 NATO and Afghan Troops Preparing to Attack Taliban Stronghold
(CBS) It is the eve of battle and today the Marines on the outskirts of Marjah got their marching orders from their commanding officer.
Troops face fury of animal rights campaigners after eating scorpions and drinking snakes' blood
With tasks such as drinking the blood of a cobra and eating scorpions, you could be forgiven for thinking the latest I’m A Celebrity! series was under way.
LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan - In anticipation of operations in central Helmand, a variety of organizations and individuals, including combined force commanders, have been paying close attention to civilian movements. Commanders in the area are reporting no significant increase in persons moving out of Nad-e Ali District in the last month.
Continue reading "Central Helmand Residents Encouraged to Remain in Homes" »
OUTPOST BELLEAU WOOD, Afghanistan — Take a desert of yellow-orange dust so flat it looks like Mars, with a freezing wind that blows so hard it can lift a large tent.
Continue reading "US Marines expectantly await battle in harsh Afghan desert winter" »
TOOR GHAR, Afghanistan — US Marines on Tuesday stepped up preparations for a major assault on a key Taliban bastion in southern Afghanistan hailed by officers as the biggest offensive of the eight-year war.
Continue reading "US Marines gear up for major Afghan assault" »
HELMAND PROVINCE, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan – Marines and sailors of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, battled Taliban insurgents, Feb. 9, after conducting a successful helicopter-borne assault to seize a key intersection east of the insurgent stronghold city of Marjeh.
Continue reading "Marines Fight Insurgents, Secure Key Intersection on Road to Marjeh" »
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — Heading into battle to seize a Taliban stronghold, U.S. Marines are keenly aware of one factor that could snatch defeat from the jaws of victory: Afghan civilian casualties.
Continue reading "Marines focus on civilian safety in Afghanistan" »
By mid-February, Marines will be out of Iraq.
KABUL — The commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan said Sunday a major offensive will send a "strong signal" and clear insurgents from their southern stronghold, as residents fled ahead of the assault.
Continue reading "Afghan assault to send 'strong signal': McChrystal" »
LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Taliban militants are massing and preparing for a big fight ahead of a major NATO offensive in an insurgent stronghold in southern Afghanistan, villagers fleeing the area said on Sunday.
Continue reading "Taliban dig in for big assault, say Afghan villagers" »
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION
FUTENMA — “Everybody was kind
of on edge, you could tell,” said Petty
Officer 2nd Class William Harris recently
referring to a mission last July
in Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Corpsman recognized for valor in Afghanistan" »
The attack will be aimed at Marja, the last community held by the militia in Helmand province.
Reporting from Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan - The U.S. Marines and Afghan army plan a massive assault on Taliban fighters in Marja, the last community under Taliban control in a sprawling, lawless region once dominated by the insurgency, a top Marine said Wednesday.
Continue reading "Marines, Afghan army plan massive assault on Taliban" »
The Marines of Bravo Company left their patrol bases early Saturday morning. To their west were the Taliban pickets who defend the outer limits of Marja, an insurgent enclave in Helmand Province. The Marines turned in the opposite direction, heading to Forward Operating Base Spin Ghar, their company command post.
KARARDAR, Afghanistan — The Marine infantry company, accompanied by a squad of Afghan soldiers, set out long before dawn. It walked silently through the dark fields with plans of arriving at a group of mud-walled compounds in Helmand Province at sunrise.
Continue reading "As Marines Move In, Taliban Fight a Shadowy War" »
Counterinsurgency, in some circles and by some descriptions, can sound like a glamorous military art. More than often it is not.
Continue reading "Counterinsurgency, One Stuck Truck at a Time" »
NAWA, Afghanistan — Marine 1st Sgt. Fredrick Smith was eyeballing the strange-looking convoy of vehicles that had come to a halt near a remote patrol base in the desert wasteland of central Helmand province.
Continue reading "Marines pressing Afghan army to take larger security role" »
Patrols are a constant for the Marine infantry in Afghan outposts. The Marine Corps believes that little keeps a unit as safe, as effective or as informed as having a constant — and constantly changing — presence moving over the ground.
Continue reading "Shave Every Day. Shower Every Two Months." »
NAWA, Helmand Province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan – Hundreds of Marines, sailors and civilians of 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, gathered during a memorial service in Nawa to honor two fallen Marines and a civilian journalist.
Continue reading "Marines in Nawa Honor Two Fallen Brothers, Civilian Journalist" »
SHOSHARAK, Afghanistan — If luck is the battlefield’s final arbiter — the wild card that can trump fitness, training, teamwork, equipment, character and skill — then Lance Cpl. Ryan T. Mathison experienced its purest and most welcome form.
Continue reading "Foot on Bomb, Marine Defies a Taliban Trap" »
Anyone who has spent much time in the Afghan war could guess the sights and the living-standard particulars of Combat Outpost Sullivan, the home in Helmand Province for much of Weapons Company, First Battalion, Third Marines.
ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com) - Some 500 Marines from the St. Louis area are going to be part of a special place in history. They are among the last combat battalion of Marines to leave Iraq. The marines are part of the 3rd Battalion, 24th regiment based at Lambert. They should all be back in the U.S. by the end of January. It's a major step in the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq; a step that many spouses of the marines can't wait to happen.
Continue reading "St. Louis Based Marines Among The Last to Leave Iraq" »
KADENA AIR BASE, OKINAWA, Japan — Though Marines have been deploying alongside their Navy brethren for more than 234 years, there is still room for new adventure and first-time experience within the Corps’ ranks. The Marines and sailors of 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines (BLT 2/7) can testify to that fact as they prepare to embark on the unit’s inaugural deployment with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU).
Continue reading "BLT 2/7 ready for first-time experience" »
NAWA, Afghanistan – Dozens of elder men from Nawa District's Shorshorak area and the city of Marjeh took part in a historic first official meeting between Afghan people and their governmental leaders near Forward Operating Base Fiddler's Green Jan. 8.
Continue reading "Afghan Government Leaders Join Nawa, Marjeh Citizens in Historic First Meeting" »
MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. —
Hundreds of Marines and sailors from 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment and their augments said goodbye to families and friends this week as they boarded buses, to begin a journey which will take them through the South Pacific as part of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit.
NAWA, Helmand province, Afghanistan — Dozens of Nawa citizens lined the district center’s main street in the rain to see President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai during his visit here Jan. 2.
Continue reading "Karzai, McChrystal visit citizens, Marines in Nawa" »
NAWA, Helmand Province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan – After a helicopter's strong winds leveled the base gym and floodwaters inundated the chapel tent at Forward Operating Base Geronimo three weeks ago, construction is now underway to rebuild and expand these facilities to better serve the Marines and sailors of 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment here.
NAWA, Helmand Province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan — In the still winter night near Forward Operating Base Geronimo Dec. 27, a team of Marines from the logistics operations section of 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, peered skyward through heat-sensitive thermal monoculars and waited.
Continue reading "Air drops deliver precious supplies to 1/3 Marines in Afghanistan" »
HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Beanie Babies.
Continue reading "Marines Deliver Smiles, Beanie Babies to Afghan Children" »
NAWA, Afghanistan – Within minutes of leaving the protective barriers of Observation Post Khers for a security patrol Dec. 21, a squad of Marines and Afghan national army soldiers heard the sharp pops of small arms fire nearby.
Continue reading "Marines at 'ManBearPig' Patrol in Nawa's Wild West" »
NAWA, Afghanistan – When the unoccupied car of a Nawa citizen careened down a steep canal embankment and splashed into the swift, cold waters just outside Forward Operating Base Spin Ghar Dec. 22, Marines quickly came to the rescue.
CAMP SCHWAB, Okinawa — A 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion Marine here received his nation’s second highest award for valor Friday.
Continue reading "Marine awarded Navy Cross for Afghan heroics" »
NAWA, Afghanistan - An irrigation ditch bisects the main thoroughfare of this town in Helmand province, and shops line each side of the street.
Continue reading "Afghan Town's Progress Provides Encouragement" »
NAWA, Afghanistan — Sayed Alim stood on the firing line, a Marine by his side and M-16 service rifle in his hand. When the whistle blasted, the Afghan National Army soldier quickly spun to his left and delivered two rounds without hesitation nearly center into a 12-inch circle, drawn on a silhouette target.
Continue reading "Marines Hone Afghan Soldiers' Marksmanship" »
NAWA, Helmand Province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan – Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen visited Patrol Base Jaker Dec. 17 to tour the base and the Nawa district center, and spend time with Marines and sailors assigned here.
Continue reading "JCS Chairman Visits 1/3 Marines in Afghanistan" »
Hey, I’m the guy you just about blasted out of his driver’s seat with your horn when we missed the green light at the mall entrance. Anyway, I’m not mad about it. We’re all under a lot of pressure this time of year. Before you know it, Christmas morning arrives, and so there’s not much time to get the right stuff for everyone. And not only did we miss that light because I was daydreaming, but we also would have surely sat through another one if you hadn’t honked, because I really wasn’t there. You couldn’t have known, but I was so very far away at the time, in a place that I’ve actually never been. I was in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan.
The Marines and Sailors of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) conducted a combination of exercises and operations during its 2009 patrols of the Asia-Pacific region.
Operation Cobra's Anger Is Intended to 'Cut Off Enemy Supply and Communications Lines'
Marines are trying to make good on President Obama's promise to "reverse Taliban momentum" in southern Afghanistan, launching with the first major offensive since the president spoke about his Afghanistan plans Tuesday night.
Continue reading "Marines Launch New Offensive in Afghanistan's Helmand Province" »
KABUL, Afghanistan – U.S. Marines and Afghan troops Friday launched the first offensive since President Barack Obama announced an American troop surge, striking against Taliban communications and supply lines in a southern insurgent stronghold, a military spokesman said.
COMBAT OUTPOST NUKHAYB, Iraq – In a small corner of Iraq known as Combat Outpost Nukhayb, Marines fended for themselves in the chow hall for some time. When they got a hankering for some down-home cooking, someone whipped up a meal on the four-burner stove, but without much extra time in their busy schedules, many found solace in the microwave oven. Cpl. Ryan Schmidt, a cook with Marine Wing Support Squadron 472, intends to make a few changes to the menu.
Continue reading "Cookin' Up a Dust Storm: Marine Puts TLC Back Into Chow" »
The Second Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment will hold a memorial service this morning at Marine Corps Base Hawaii to honor nine Marines and one sailor who sacrificed their lives while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom during their deployment this year.
Continue reading "Marine Corps Base Hawaii holding memorial service today to honor 10" »
USS ESSEX, At Sea (Nov. 14, 2009) -- —
In a display of flexibility, coordination and efficiency, more than 1100 Marines, sailors, and assets assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, (MEU) embarked aboard the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) and the forward-deployed dock landing ship USS Tortuga (LSD 46) at White Beach Naval Facility during an in-port reconfiguration, Nov. 9-11.
But many residents in the insurgent heartland fear the U.S. troops may leave abruptly, leaving the area for the Taliban to retake.
Reporting from Nawa, Afghanistan - When 500 U.S. Marines descended on this Taliban stronghold overnight, Afghan civilians were immediately suspicious about the intentions of the heavily armed Americans.
Continue reading "Afghanistan: Marines bring some calm in Helmand" »
OKINAWA, Japan (November 6, 2009) -- Approximately 300 Okinawa-based Marines returned from an Afghanistan deployment Sunday.
Continue reading "300 Marines return home safely from Afghanistan" »
Sergeant went to thank them for gifts … and got a welcome-home party in return
Just in time for Veterans Day, Marine Sgt. Andrew Valora went to an Oro Valley elementary school last week to give his thanks for a classroom's support while he and others were deployed overseas.
'Island Warriors' suffered 9 deaths on deployment to volatile south and west
KANEOHE BAY — Marine Lance Cpl. Larry Draughn lost both legs and part of his hand in May when he stepped through a doorway and set off a roadside bomb in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan.
ARLINGTON, Va. - An Evansville Marine injured in Afghanistan was one of 25 soldiers awarded personal mobility vehicles at a ceremony in Arlington, Va., on Thursday.
Continue reading "Evansville Marine, wounded in Afghanistan, receives electric vehicle" »
Man loses lower leg in Monday’s helicopter wreck; parents fly from the county to see him
A Marine captain and San Luis Obispo High School alumnus is recovering in a hospital in Germany after he lost one of his lower legs and suffered other serious injuries in a helicopter crash Monday in Afghanistan.
HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan – The most significant Marine Corps operation since the Battle of Fallujah in 2004 and the largest helicopter insertion since the Vietnam War took place July 2 as Marines spread out into the Helmand River valley to secure what was called one of the most violent provinces in all of Afghanistan at the time.
Continue reading "First Marine RCT in Afghanistan Concludes Historic Deployment" »
CLARK AIR BASE, Philippines — Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit traveled to Baguio City, Philippines, to deliver food and clothing to landslide victims Oct. 4.
USS DENVER AT SEA, (Oct. 20, 2009) – — A CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter hovers 20-feet above the ground, as Marines below link it to a cargo net filled with relief supplies. A signalman from Landing Support Platoon (LS Plt.) gestures to the pilot and the helicopter takes off baring the 14,000-pound load.
Continue reading "Red Patchers, Dragons provide essential assets" »
FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELARAM, Farah Province, Afghanistan – Marines from 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment conducted Operation Germinate to clear Taliban insurgents out of a pass through the Buji Bhast Mountains near here Oct. 6-10, 2009. The pass is the most direct route from the southern plain here to the district center of Golestan District in the mountains, where part of 2/3's Company F is located.
Continue reading "Marines Clear Taliban From Buji Bhast Pass" »
MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. — The Lava Dogs of 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, concluded the second phase of the Clear, Hold, Build Exercise here Monday after five days of combined arms urban operations.
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP BUTLER, OKINAWA, Japan (October 6, 2009) -- In the aftermath of Tropical Storm Ketsana that struck the Republic of the Philippines Sept. 25, U.S. Marines and Sailors based in Japan have come to the aid of the Philippine people.
Continue reading "Full Steam Ahead for Humanitarian Assistance Operations in Pacific Region" »
A Kaneohe Marine was killed and another was injured when the truck they were riding in crashed near San Diego on Wednesday during a training exercise.
Continue reading "Kaneohe Marine killed, another hurt during training exercise in California" »
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP BUTLER, Japan, Oct. 2, 2009 – The U.S. military is providing critically needed disaster-relief supplies to mitigate suffering and prevent further loss of life in the wake of Tropical Storm Ketsana, which struck the Philippines on Sept. 25.
Continue reading "Marines, Sailors Bring Aid to Philippines" »
WHITE BEACH NAVAL FACILITY, OKINAWA, Japan (Sept. 28, 2009) – — Approximately 2000 Marines and sailors from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) kicked off their Fall Patrol of the Asia-Pacific Region, Sept. 27.
Continue reading "31st MEU commences fall patrol of the Asia-Pacific region" »
FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELARAM, Nimruz province, Afghanistan – Some people go cave exploring for fun, but when there is a possibility of stumbling on explosive materials, an armed enemy or a nasty surprise they've left to be triggered in the dark, it's about as far from fun as you can get.
Continue reading "Marines Investigate Insurgents' Underground Highway" »
COMBAT OUTPOST BAKWA, Farah province, Afghanistan – The Marines here have found fighting insurgents alone won't bring peace in this region. Experience has shown that Marines must also develop strong relationships with the locals to bring about positive change.
GOLESTAN, Afghanistan — Toting assault weapons while strolling among vegetable shops in combat gear may look strange, but US Marines believe buying groceries is key to winning Afghan hearts and minds.
Continue reading "Marines go shopping to win Afghan hearts and minds" »
MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII —
First Lt. Rebecca M. Turpin received the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device at Combat Logistics Battalion 3’s Warriors’ Field Sept. 4, for her actions under enemy fire during the battalion’s last deployment to Afghanistan from October 2008 to May 2009.
Continue reading "54 Hours of Valor: female Marine awarded Combat V" »
DAHANEH, Afghanistan (AP) ― The pomegranate grove looked ominous.
The U.S. patrol had a tip that Taliban fighters were lying in ambush, and a Marine had his weapon trained on the trees 70 yards away. "If you see anything move from there, light it up," Cpl. Braxton Russell told him.
Continue reading "AP IMPACT: Calm _ Then Sudden Death In Afghan War" »
(AP) The operation started really early Wednesday morning on this town called Dahaneh. It's south of Now Zad a few miles. It is Taliban-controlled. Alfred (Associated Press writer Alfred de Montesquiou), and Ken (AP Television News Cameraman Ken Teh) were put on the assault helicopter which landed outside the compounds they intended to raid. I was stuck on a 7-ton truck with ANA (Afghan National Army) soldiers, an NPR reporter and another American guy, who is a civilian military adviser.
Continue reading "Journal Entries Of AP Photographer In Afghanistan" »
FAIRBORN, Ohio -- It was a homecoming in Fairborn for a disabled Marine who got a hero’s welcome from thousands of people.
FAIRBORN — Marine Lance Cpl. Larry Draughn Jr. credits his remarkable recovery after losing both legs in Afghanistan on May 31 to his stubbornness and something he learned from his late father.
Continue reading "Local Marine loses both legs, not his spirit" »
MIANPOSHTEH, AFGHANISTAN – Two months ago, the Marines of Echo company pushed into this farming community, set up a series of outposts, and launched a series of patrols and raids to put the Taliban on their heels. On Thursday, the militants struck back, attacking four different Marine units in seven hours and dealing Echo company its first casualty in more than three weeks. One Marine was shot through the chest and arm, but is expected to make a full recovery.
Continue reading "Danger Room in Afghanistan: The Taliban Push Back" »
In Afghanistan's Helmand province, one U.S. Marine captain says, militants are like the hairs on your head — pull them out and more grow back.
Continue reading "Marines Find Afghan Mission Is A Matter Of Trust" »
DAHANEH, Afghanistan – A week after Dahaneh was pried from Taliban control by U.S. Marines, and little more than 36 hours before Afghans select a president, election workers finally reached this Helmand province town and began to register voters.
Continue reading "Afghans register to vote in former Taliban town" »
NIMRUZ PROVINCE, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan – Marines from Company E, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan, and soldiers from the Afghan National Army retrieved about 1,300 pounds of opium during a raid of a suspected opium storage compound to the south of the city of Delaram, Nimruz Province, Afghanistan, Thursday, July 30, 2009.
Continue reading "Marines find large opium cache near Delaram" »
We were crouched down in a field, the earth steaming with the heat of the sun and the air thick with humidity. Two Marines were kneeling down beside me.
"All we've done since we got here is get blown up," one of them said. And then they started to talk.
KHAWJA JAMAL, Afghanistan — The governor had good news for the Afghans who met him here Sunday: Residents in this southern village can finally register to vote in the upcoming election.
Continue reading "Afghans told they can vote _ as mortar shells fly" »
OKINAWA, Japan (NNS) -- The forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) offloaded the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) Aug. 13 after successfully completing Talisman Saber 2009
Continue reading "Essex Says Sayonara to 3/5 BLT, Offloads 31st MEU" »
KHAWJA JAMAL, Afghanistan — Put on body armor, check weapons, cover head and shoulders with a scarf
Continue reading "Female Marines key to reaching Afghan women" »
US Marines were locked in battle with Taliban fighters late on Friday, as they continued efforts to secure the strategic town of Dahaneh in the southern Afghan province of Helmand.
ANP HILL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Cpl. Justin Thompson crawled out of his rat hole dug deep into a wind-beaten, barren hilltop. Stepping over mounds of protective sand bags, he watched the sun rise over the Now Zad valley, a Taliban stronghold.
Continue reading "A day in the life of a Marine combat outpost" »
DAHANEH, Afghanistan — The British jet called in by U.S. Marines had the Taliban position in sight, but the pilot refused to fire, a decision that frustrated Marines on the ground but was in line with new orders by the top U.S. commander to protect civilians.
Continue reading "Restrictions limit ability to return fire" »
WASHINGTON, Aug. 12, 2009 – Hours into the new Operation Eastern Resolve II in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, defense officials report that U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers are confronting “some resistance” as they work to secure the area for the Aug. 20 elections.
Continue reading "Effort Aims to Secure Southern Afghanistan for Elections" »
DAHANEH, Afghanistan — Helicopter-borne U.S. Marines backed by Harrier jets stormed a Taliban-held town in southern Afghanistan before dawn Wednesday in an operation to secure the country ahead of presidential elections.
Continue reading "Marines assault Taliban town in Afghanistan" »
Military officials on Aug. 6 identified a sailor killed in southwestern Afghanistan as Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Anthony C. Garcia.
Logistical Difficulties Inhibit Troops During Clashes in Southern Afghan Province
GARMSIR, Afghanistan, July 19 -- Marines pushing deep into a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province battled insurgents in a day of firefights around a key bazaar Sunday, as an operation designed as a U.S. show of force confronted resistance from Taliban fighters as well as constraints on supplies and manpower.
USS ESSEX, At Sea (NNS) -- Sailors assigned to the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) worked closely with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) July 17 to improve combined meteorological efforts during exercise Talisman Saber 2009 (TS09).
Continue reading "Essex, Australian Forecasters Work Together to Improve Meteorological Teamwork" »
USS ESSEX, At Sea (NNS) -- Sailors from Assault Craft Unit (ACU) 5 and Beachmaster Unit (BMU) 1 took a trip to the beach aboard a landing craft air cushion (LCAC) vehicle July 17.
Continue reading "Assault Craft Unit 5, Beachmaster Unit 1 Conduct Successful Beach Landings" »
USS ESSEX, At Sea (NNS) -- The forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) and the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) conducted a full-scale amphibious assault off the coast of Australia as part of exercise Talisman Saber 2009 (TS09) July 15.
AYNAK, Afghanistan — Afghan villagers had complained to the Marines for days: The police are the problem, not the Taliban. They steal from villagers and beat them. Days later, the Marines learned firsthand what the villagers meant.
Continue reading "Crooked Afghan police challenge Marines" »
A Hawaii-based Marine died Friday at Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Maryland from wounds suffered during a bombing late last month in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, according to reports.
U.S. Marines deployed across an Afghan river valley are waging war on insurgents not by targeting their bases but, rather, by protecting communities.
NAWA, Afghanistan -- Most of the mud-brick stalls that line the street in this sweltering town on the Helmand River closed down a year ago when Taliban fighters began swaggering through the bazaar, levying taxes on merchants and seeding the roads with homemade bombs. Shopkeepers placed their wares behind padlocked tin doors, teachers shuttered the school, the doctor abandoned the health clinic and residents with means fled to other parts of southern Afghanistan
After seven days of seizing poppy-rich areas of southern Afghanistan, the Marine Corps is planning a shift to gain the trust of Afghan civilians but expects the Taliban to return and fight for the land, the top Marine commander there said Wednesday.
Continue reading "2nd MEB makes gains, expects more fighting" »
CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — U.S. Marines trapped Taliban fighters in a residential compound and persuaded the insurgents to allow women and children to leave. The troops then moved in — only to discover that the militants had slipped out, dressed in women’s burqas.
Continue reading "Marines push militants out of Taliban region" »
During the day and night, the Marines of 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Company G bravely patrol through the mine-infested city of Now Zad.
Continue reading "U.S. Marines Patrol Through Mine-littered Battlefield" »
FARAH PROVINCE, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan – "Everyone always looks forward to going outside the wire on missions," said Army Staff Sgt. John Smith, an infantryman who provides security for Provincial Reconstruction Team-Farah in Afghanistan's Farah province.
"They enjoy meeting the local population and watching the children play.
That's our motivation, to see how happy the children are and that they now have a future ahead of them."
Continue reading "Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan Gauges Progress in Farah" »
NAWA, Afghanistan – Taliban militants were nowhere in sight as columns of U.S. Marines walked for a third day Saturday near this town in southern Afghanistan, but the desert heat proved an enemy in its own right.
Continue reading "Marines battle heat, small-arms fire in Afghanistan" »
Capt. Paul Webber is serving in Afghanistan
A U.S. Marine from the foothills who has a knack of finding himself in the thick of the fray is asking area residents to help aid American efforts in Afghanistan.
Continue reading "Marine seeking medical items to establish clinic" »
A CROWD has gathered at Cairns' wharf to farewell the USS Tortuga and USS Essex.
NOW ZAD, Afghanistan — Marines patrol slowly along streets laced with land mines and lined with abandoned shops, clinics and homes.
As night falls over this Afghan ghost town, the only sounds are the howling of coyotes and the creaking of tin roofs in the wind.
Continue reading "Stalemate in Afghan town shows task ahead" »
NOW ZAD, Afghanistan -- The vehicles were heading to inspect a suspected tunnel when the Taliban struck, firing mortars that landed close by. Machine gunners atop the vehicles and troops in an open-sided truck scanned the scene for plumes from weapons fire.
Continue reading "Afghan firefight shows challenge for US troops" »
More than 1,000 Kaneohe Marines became part last week of the 10,000-member Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan, which will beef up counterinsurgency operations with Afghan forces in the southwestern part of the country. They will also train local army and police officers.
CAMP BASTION, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan – From dawn until dusk, a unit of Marines works diligently preparing an aircraft parking expansion to support the scheduled increase of U.S. Marines and service members in the southern region of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, May 1.
Soldiers hope to build on existing peace
Kaneohe Marines who have deployed more than once to Iraq say the country is now far more peaceful and amenable to community building projects.
Marines often speak of brotherhood, but in a remote Afghan village a sisterhood has been born.
Continue reading "Female patrol finds unlikely new ‘sisters’" »
S. Korean marines trained by U.S. forces at Rodriguez Range
The crack of small-arms fire filled the air at Rodriguez Range on Tuesday as troops from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment worked with South Korean marines to sharpen their urban combat skills.
SEOUL — The annual Key Resolve/Foal Eagle exercises were to kick off Monday, scheduled to last through March 20.
Continue reading "U.S., South Korea begin exercise amid North Korea’s threats" »
CAMP SCHWAB, Okinawa — Tears as well as chuckles filled the small chapel here Friday during a memorial service for Sgt. Michael H. Ferschke Jr.
Continue reading "Marines and family gather to recall sergeant who saved comrade’s lives" »
HAT YAO, Thailand — More than 500 U.S. Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and the Royal Thai Marine Amphibious Assault Vehicle Battalion stormed the beach here Friday in a combined exercise that kicked off the final weekend of Cobra Gold 2009.
Continue reading "Cobra Gold 2009: U.S., Thai forces practice landing in heat, rough seas" »
Members of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit have spent the past 10 days in Thailand for the multinational exercise Cobra Gold, which wraps up Tuesday.
The pressure is on for hundreds of volunteers who plan to build a playground in four days.
The Marines have landed at Aikahi Playground, some 360 of them from Marine Corps Base in Kaneohe, to help with an ambitious task; start building a playground Friday and finish it by Monday.
Continue reading "Volunteers Work to Build New Playground in 3 Days" »
GULF OF THAILAND, Thailand — From its serene northern mountains dotted with Buddhist temples to the lowland coastal plains lined with coconut plantations, Thailand this week is covered with a thick haze and nearly 7,000 U.S. troops — joined by more than 4,000 others from Thailand, Japan, Indonesia and Singapore — who have come for the 28th annual Cobra Gold exercise.
Continue reading "Cobra Gold 2009: Building trust high on the agenda" »
CAMP SCHWAB, Okinawa — I began my duty in 1944 and have no plans to retire.
USS ESSEX, At sea (January 29, 2009)--The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit commenced their annual Spring Patrol of the Asia Pacific region Jan. 28.
A gunnery sergeant was awarded the Silver Star on Thursday, four months after he helped fight off insurgents in Iraq by calling for his vehicle to be rammed into a building, then leading the recovery of a wounded Marine inside.
Continue reading "Okinawa-based gunny receives Silver Star" »
LONDON, Ky. — A 19-year-old Marine from Kentucky was killed in a surprise attack in Anbar province, Iraq, his mother said.
CAMP HANSEN, Okinawa, Japan-- —
The Marines and sailors of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit conducted a mixture of exercises and operations as they patrolled the Asia-Pacific region during 2008.
Lawmakers’ pleas for award of Medal of Honor denied
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has rebuffed pleas from Capitol Hill to award the Medal of Honor to a Marine who died smothering a grenade, saying “the evidence presented did not meet the exacting ‘no doubt’ standard necessary.” The comments came in a Nov. 18 letter Gates sent to eight members of California’s congressional delegation. The group asked President George W. Bush to review a Pentagon decision announced in September to deny Sgt. Rafael Peralta the military’s highest honor.
Continue reading "Gates: Peralta evidence left room for doubt" »
SEOUL — About 2,000 U.S. Marines based in Okinawa and mainland Japan stormed a South Korean beach on Thursday during an annual landing exercise with their South Korean counterparts.
Continue reading "U.S. Marines hone landing skills with S. Koreans during exercise" »
SEOUL — About 2,000 U.S. Marines based in Okinawa and mainland Japan stormed a South Korean beach on Thursday during an annual landing exercise with their South Korean counterparts.
Continue reading "U.S. Marines hone landing skills with S. Koreans during exercise" »
SEOUL — About 2,000 U.S. Marines based in Okinawa and mainland Japan stormed a South Korean beach on Thursday during an annual landing exercise with their South Korean counterparts.
Continue reading "U.S. Marines hone landing skills with S. Koreans during exercise" »
SEOUL — About 2,000 U.S. Marines based in Okinawa and mainland Japan stormed a South Korean beach on Thursday during an annual landing exercise with their South Korean counterparts.
Continue reading "U.S. Marines hone landing skills with S. Koreans during exercise" »
Marines and sailors are headed to Anbar province, but first, the pain of leaving family -- again.
Reporting from Camp Pendleton -- The drill was new to some of the families attached to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 369. But it was a familiar and heartbreaking scene Sunday for most, who said goodbye yet again to hundreds of Marines deploying to Iraq for repeat tours.
Continue reading "Another tour in Iraq, another tearful goodbye for Marines" »
BAGONG BARRIO, GUIMBA, Republic of the Philippines — The clouds opened up letting the sun shine down on the quiet village of Bagong Barrio, a farming community where an overcrowded school is getting a much needed classroom and a face lift as part of Amphibious Landing Exercise 2009.
FALLUJAH, Iraq – Most Marines agree taking care of the man on your left and right is the number one concern in combat.
Hawai'i's congressional delegation has added its voices to those seeking a presidential review of the Pentagon's decision to award the late Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta — whose body shielded others from a grenade blast — a Navy Cross instead of the Medal of Honor.
Continue reading "Hawaii delegation joins move to review slain Marine's award" »
Sergeant covered a grenade with his body to save comrades in Iraq
SAN DIEGO - A California congressional delegation asked President Bush on Friday to posthumously award the Medal of Honor to a Marine who was chosen to receive only the second-highest medal the Navy can bestow for valor.
Continue reading "Bush urged to review denied Medal of Honor" »
SAN DIEGO - A Marine sergeant singled out by President Bush for throwing his body on a grenade to save his comrades in Iraq will receive the prestigious Navy Cross rather than the nation's highest military award, military officials said.
Continue reading "Marine praised by Bush won't get Medal of Honor" »
OKINAWA, Japan — As the Marine Corps’ only forward deployed Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), the Marines and sailors of the 31st MEU concluded MEU Exercise (MEUEX) 08-2 with plenty of success and lessons learned, Sept. 11.
Continue reading "31st MEU molds unit cohesion during island-wide exercise" »
KARMAH, Iraq – In an act of defiance toward al-Qaida in Iraq, Karmah sheikhs and Marines with Task Force 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, recently held their first meeting since a suicide vest attack killed 20 local leaders and key tribal figures and three Marines, June 26, 2008.
SUBYHAT, Iraq – Marines and Sailors with Task Force 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, conducted a cooperative medical engagement in the Karma and Subyhat areas to assist the local population in receiving medical care August 11th and 12th.
LAHIB, Iraq – The desert environment can be harsh on crops and livestock without the steady flow of fresh water, and in a place like Iraq, a fresh flow of water is hard to come by.