NEWS, SPORTS, COMMENTARY, POLITICS for Gloucester City and the Surrounding Areas of South Jersey and Philadelphia
"A friend is one who joyfully sings with you when you are on the mountaintop, and silently walks beside you through the valley." ~William Arthur Ward
By Staff Sgt. Luis
P. Valdespino Jr., USMC
Special to American Forces Press Service
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| HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan, March 17, 2008 - Special operations Marines
deployed to Afghanistan's Helmand province operate at a fast pace.
A special operations Marine examines a poppy
plant handed to him by an Afghan National Army soldier (right) in Afghanistan's
Helmand province during a patrol through a village in which they were looking
for Taliban fighters. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Luis P. Valdespino
Jr.
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.
| | Accompanied
by a small group of Afghan National Army soldiers, the Marines are constantly on
the go: visiting villages, distributing humanitarian aid and always searching
for insurgents. Their breaks between operations vary from 12 hours to three
days.
Part of the 2-year-old Marine Corps Forces Special Operations
Command, they thrive on missions that have them patrolling for enemy forces. "We
don't like being on the (forward operating base)," one MSOC Marine said.
In the northern part of the province, an MSOC leatherneck said, his
Marines were attacked four times throughout a four-day mission. He described how
they overcame enemy machine-gun positions, mortar attacks and rocket-propelled
grenades. "Needless to say, we silenced their weapons," another MSOC Marine
said.
On their next mission, a three-day assignment in the province's
north-central region to visit villages, the Marines slept on the desert ground –
in sleeping bags, but not on cots. On foot patrol through the first village with
no schedule constraints, they took no shortcuts. In full combat gear, they
searched all compounds, streets and paths in the village. When it was secure,
they set up distribution sites for the humanitarian aid they brought with them.
On the second day, the unit came under attack within five minutes of
arriving at a small village. Immediately, the MSOC Marines positioned themselves
throughout the village and began engaging the enemy insurgents. Halfway into
what turned out to be a nearly four-hour battle, a Marine who seemed to never
rest said with a grin, "We're not done yet." He seemed unfazed that earlier a
rocket-propelled grenade missed him by less than two feet.
Despite
several other close calls, the Marines relentlessly pursued the insurgents until
they secured the village, and the Taliban fighters were either killed or fled.
Before they were done, the MSOC hospital corpsmen cared for and treated
villagers injured by insurgents.
Afterward, Marine leaders met with
village elders and committed to return with much-needed aid and support, as long
as the Marines had the villagers' support.
(Marine Staff Sgt. Luis P.
Valdespino Jr. serves with Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan
Public Affairs. He recently spent 16 days embedded with a Marine special
operations company deployed to Afghanistan's Helmand province from the 1st
Special Operations Battalion, Camp Pendleton, Calif. The names and specific
locations of special operations personnel are not used in this article for their
security and for the security of their mission.)
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Related Sites:
Combined Security Transition Command
Afghanistan
U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations
Command |
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Marines with a Marine Special
Operations Company take aim on Taliban fighters in a Helmand province village.
Afghan National Army soldiers and the MSOC Marines were visiting the southern
Afghanistan village when they were attacked by Taliban fighters. U.S. Marine
Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Luis P. Valdespino Jr.
Download screen-resolution
Download high-resolution |
 |
An Afghan boy receives a school
bag from Afghan National Army soldiers and a Marine Special Operations Company's
team member. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Luis P. Valdespino Jr.
Download screen-resolution
Download high-resolution |
 |
Marines with a Marine Special
Operations Company and an Afghan National Army soldier position themselves to
fight Taliban fighters who attacked them a few minutes earlier. ANA soldiers and
MSOC Marines were visiting the southern Afghanistan village when they were
attacked by Taliban fighters. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Luis P.
Valdespino Jr | |
