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 MUSA
QAL'EH DISTRICT, Helmand province, Afghanistan (2/6/2012) - The
“Magnificent Bastards” of 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines have been
proving their motto “second to none” while deployed to the Musa
Qal'eh District in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
“We're
working toward ANSF (Afghan National Security Forces) development,”
said Capt. Isaac Moore, 35, Afghan national advisor team officer in
charge, from Wasilla, Alaska. “The goal is to make them better and
get them in the lead. We want to transfer security to them.”
According to Moore, some of the key efforts by the Marines have been
to demilitarize many of the posts that were occupied by other
battalions and consolidate them. The operational area once had 19
posts; this has since been reduced down to single digits. Previous
battalions deployed to the area had done most of the fighting,
allowing 2/4 to conduct more training and reconstruction.
The consolidation has two main effects. While the Marines were
spread out, they had a hard time conducting training and rebuilding
efforts. Their manpower was put toward protecting the area and
self-preservation. As much of the fighting has declined,
consolidating the positions has allowed the Afghan forces to take
stewardship of territory from the Marines and focus greater efforts
on reconstruction and training.
“The battalions that were here before us did a lot of the heavy
lifting. They fought tooth and nail together with the ANA (Afghan
National Army) to claim this territory,” Moore said. “They fought
hard for all the ground so that we could come in and train the ANA
better so that they can unify and hold it. We have four-man teams
that spend all day, every day with the Afghans.”
Those
four-man teams are partnered with the Afghan forces in every aspect.
They eat, live, patrol and guide them constantly. This is almost a
complete reversal from previous years when the Afghans would have
small teams accompanying the Marines to learn.
The “Magnificent Bastards” of 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines have been deployed to Afghanistan since August 2011. Their main efforts have been reconstruction and creating a security bubble from which the Afghan National Security Forces can operate independently. Photo by
USMC Staff Sgt. Robert Storm, Feb. 2, 2012 |
Besides training, Afghan forces and the Marines of 2/4
have been concentrating on conducting reconstruction
efforts. They reinforced and helped with construction of
posts for both the police and army forces.
“We've
been knocking stuff down all over,” 1st Lt. Adam Sims said,
26, platoon commander, combat engineers, from Dallas, Texas.
“It's a strange combo. We've been demilitarizing many of our
own posts, but we've been building up posts for the ANSF.”
The creating of a security bubble in their area of
operations also led to one of the more significant
accomplishments for the regional command, the building of a
bridge in the district.
“During the rainy season,
the local river swells and becomes impassable. Even our
vehicles can't cross it. This effectively cuts the district
in half, and stops supplies to many people. The bridge
unifies the district no matter what the season,” said Capt.
William Patrick, 35, headquarters company commander, from
San Diego, Calif. “We provided security while other units
were able to come in and build the bridge.”
By USMC Staff Sgt. Robert Storm
Regimental Combat Team 6
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2012
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