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PATROL BASE BOLDAK, Afghanistan - It's an hour before
sunrise and the Marines of Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd
Marine Regiment, actively search through the littered debris
scattered across the floor of the abandoned house. The
golden hues from their flashlights filter through the rooms
as the Marines comb the darkness for any signs of
disturbance.
Marines use their scopes to locate an insurgent who fired a rocket-propelled grenade on his platoon's position during an early morning patrol near Patrol Base Boldak
on July 31, 2013. Wells is the platoon commander with 1st Platoon,
Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment. (U.S. Marine Corps
photo by Sgt. Bobby J. Yarbrough)
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The smell of moldy straw lingers in the air as Cpl. Quinton
McCloud and his military working dog, Zamp, search through a
bundle of half-empty grain sacks stacked in the corner of
the main room. Across the courtyard, Lance Cpl. Michael
Stock swings his metal detector back and forth sifting
through the trash inside one of the goat pens, beads of
sweat rolling down his face.
Two weeks ago, a sniper
fired several shots at them from inside the compound as they
patrolled the nearby fields. The Marines believe insurgents
have been using the house as refuge and now they are
searching for any evidence that could prove it—a buried
weapons cache, residue leftover from making homemade
explosives, or wiring used to connect improvised explosive
devices.
Staff Sgt. Javier Jimenez, the platoon sergeant, asks a few
Marines to climb atop the interior compound walls to skim
the top of the building. As they scan the rooftops with
their flashlights, small glints of pewter twinkle beneath a
tiny pile of dried poppy stalks.
The Marines draw
back the stalks and discover three spent ammunition
cartridges buried in the dirt. As they unearth the rounds
and place them in an evidence bag, Jimenez radios to the
rest of the company that the platoon had just found remnants
of lethal aid.
For the company, finding the rounds
was a small victory: Operation Grizzly IV had just begun and
they had found evidence they could attribute to insurgency.
Fighting Insurgency
Firefights and roadside bombs have dwindled for many of the
areas in Helmand Province; however, not in Washer, a small
farming community surrounded by a vast stretch of rolling
desert. The Marines closely monitor the area around Camps
Bastion, Leatherneck, and Shorbak (BLS) because insurgent
activity has continued to proliferate. Afghan National
Security Forces have not established a permanent base in
Washer, so Fox Company patrols the area to prevent
insurgents from infiltrating the local community and
attacking the bases.
Since an attack on Camp Bastion
in September 2012, Coalition forces here have expanded their
reach into local communities surrounding the bases to
prevent similar attacks.
According to Capt. Andrew
Nicholson, Fox Company commander, his unit serves as the
first line of defense for BLS.
“There are still
individuals here in Helmand who want to do harm to coalition
forces,” said Nicholson. “As a unit, our job is to prevent
attacks from occurring at or near the bases. We methodically
focus our efforts on the local communities and conduct daily
operations to prevent those attacks from happening.”
Since Fox Company's arrival in March, the unit has
consistently encountered resistance by insurgents. According
to Cpl. Michael Emerson, a designated marksman with 1st
Platoon, the unit's operational pace is the reason for much
of the fighting.
“As a unit, we constantly have a
presence in the local community,” said Emerson. “We have
platoons patrol for days at a time and our persistent
interaction in the community disrupts much of the enemy's
movement.”
Operation
Grizzly
Fox Company has become strategically
important to Regional Command (Southwest). Over the last
year Coalition forces have focused on building the Afghan
National Army, Afghan Local Police, and Afghan Uniformed
Police through security force assistance. Fox Company is one
of the few Marine Corps units in Helmand province still
focused on counterinsurgency operations.
Fox Company
understands that insurgency is cyclical—lethal aid and
personnel frequently flow in and out of areas. To combat
this activity, the unit conducts operations, such as
Operation Grizzly, to locate caches of lethal aid and
identify individuals who are connected to insurgent
activities.
The unit recently completed Operation
Grizzly IV, where they maintained a steady pace cordoning
and searching compounds, conducting day and night security
patrols, and establishing an expeditionary patrol base.
The two-day operation, much like the rest of Fox
Company's deployment so far, involved harassing fire from
insurgent snipers, which also included rocket-propelled
grenades and machine gun fire. Once, a roadside bomb
exploded and temporarily disabled a vehicle. Fortunately, no
Marines were injured during any of the engagements.
The operation proved effective—the Marines were able to gain
a large amount of information about the insurgents from the
local population, they discovered evidence of lethal aid,
and one insurgent was killed during a firefight.
The Future of Washer
Nicholson said the end of Fox Company's deployment will mark
the beginning of a new chapter in Washer. Plans for the
Afghan National Army to assume responsibility for security
here are in progress and Fox Company will likely be the last
Marine Corps unit to serve in their current capacity.
Nicholson has faith the ANA will be able to maintain
stability in the region and he knows the positive influence
his unit had on Washer will be felt by the Afghans there
long into the future.
“As our time here comes to an
end, our unit has a lot to be proud of,” said Nicholson.
“The contributions the Marines have had on Afghanistan will
be felt for generations to come. I couldn't be any prouder
of my Marines and what they have done for the security of
Afghanistan.”
More photos of Fox Company's
Marines Vital To Protecting Coalition Bases In Helmand
By USMC Sgt. Bobby J. Yarbrough
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2013
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