The Long Road Ahead

I am currently serving with some superb U.S. and British officers in the Current and Future Operations section, where operational orders are drafted developed and published. These guys are the truly brains of the command and conceive all of the rough draft orders and concepts of operations that upon approval, form the basis of operations conducted by the combined military forces utilize in this region.

The office is a pressure cooker, with planners putting in 12-16 hour days every day of the week. What keeps them going is a bottomless coffee pot and a great sense of shared humor among the members of the group.

Nothing in a military environment is executed without a written order, and in Afghanistan, our forces have to coordinate closely with higher headquarters in Kabul, as well as the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, referred to as GIROA.  it's a very complicated and extremely cumbersome process, but somehow it works. 

This command's particular region of interest lies within the Helmand Province, one of 34 provinces in Afghanistan. It is one of the largest Afghan provinces and arguably the most unstable. To make matters worse, the Helmand province yields the highest quantity of illicit opium, morphine, and hashish in the country, all of which funds the insurgency and the Taliban via illegal "taxation" of the farmers. The illegal flow of narcotics out of Afghanistan destabilizes the government and hinders the transition of military operations from coalition forces to the Afghan National Security Forces, or ANSF.

Each regional command (RC) has thousands of soldiers, Marines, and coalition forces working as mentors/trainers and partners to the ANSF. The ANSF not only includes the Afghan military, but also incorporates  the various Afghan National Police forces, including the Afghan national police, civil order police, counter narcotics police, and even local and tribal police. The poppy problem alone is enough to keep the police forces busy, which make the training and mentoring piece a huge task as we lead them to self-sufficiency.

Back to the officers of the FOPS section - one particular Marine officer assigned to assist in the transition of counter-narcotics operations from the coalition forces to the Afghans is Major Sean Dynan, an Annapolis grad who has is on his 5th deployment. A former company commander right here in Helmand, his company operated only a few miles away from where we currently work. In 2008, Maj. Dynan had a PBS reporter embedded with his company. Although reporters often sensationalize their experiences or inaccurately portray their subjects, this particular PBS reporter appears to have conveyed a very realistic and accurate portrayal of what is still occurring on a daily basis in Helmand Province. The report shows how  military operations have radically changed from the WWII, Korea and Vietnam eras, when the military man was simply a war-fighter. Today, our Marines are not only war-fighters, but also peace-keepers simultaneously filling military, civil, law enforcement and humanitarian roles.

Although the video is nearly 3 years old, it could have been filmed yesterday. The situation portrayed in 2008 remains the same in much of the Province. You'll see The blurred civil-military mission continues in Afghanistan today.

Here's the link:  Reporter Embed in Helmand

Happy 236th Birthday

Yesterday was the 236th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Marine Corps. The Corps is rich in history and tradition and all Marines begin learning our traditions the day they enter boot camp or Officer Candidate School. Ask any Marine who Chesty Puller is or why we wear a blood stripe on the side of our dress trousers and they'll know. There's not a Marine alive, past or present, who can't recite the Marine Corps hymn word for word.  

One of our yearly traditions involves taking a moment to celebrate the founding of our Corps, better known as the Marine Corps Birthday. No matter where Marines are stationed, you'll certainly hear them wishing each other happy birthday. If circumstances arise, the celebration will often include some sort of cake cutting, even if it is simply a pound cake pulled from an MRE pouch in the field. It's a day we all reflect on our heritage and honor those who served in the Corps before us.  I've spent a several birthdays deployed - Iraq, Liberia, Turkey -  and we've always celebrated the birthday in one form or another. This year was no different.

Due to the size of the FOB (Forward Operating Base), several different celebrations occurred yesterday. Despite the immense walls that ring the FOB's outer perimeter, most of the units have internal compounds that are also surrounded by Jersey barriers and concertina wire for added security. As such, each unit is somewhat cut off from the other, hence the decision to hold multiple celebrations.

Sure enough, the 2nd Marine Division (MARDIV) held their own celebration within the larger Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) compound. The celebration was held outside during sunset, with great care taken to ensure the traditional pom and circumstance held back at home was included. A color guard was present, as was a small band put together for the occasion. A series of rough-hewn benches were hastily constructed for Marines and their guests to sit on and were filled to capacity. 

The MARDIV even set up a large video screen to play the Commandant's video-taped 236th B-Day message - if you have a moment, please take a look - it's a great video and helps explain to those who've never been part of the Corps why we Marines are so proud of our service Commandant's Birthday Video.  

During the ceremony, the 2nd MARDIV Commanding General (CG) was the guest of honor. Behind the General, an honor guard marched out and the flags were retired for the evening. Following the presentation of the Commandant's video message, a birthday cake measuring at least 6' long was carried out of the building and in placed in front of the gathered crowd. As tradition goes, the Guest of Honor received the first piece; the oldest Marine present received the second (he was 55), while the 3rd piece went to the youngest Marne present, born in Sept, 1992. 

It was a nice ceremony. Having attended many variations of Marine Corps birthday celebrations, from simple cake cutting at a friend's home to the Commandant's Ball in Washington, D.C., the 2nd MARDIV celebration was more than acceptable. The CG reminded everyone, whether they were a Marine who'd just returned from patrol or a clerk working administrative issues aboard the Camp that they were all part of the continuing  legacy of the Corps. He reminded us thank our families for their sacrifice, as they are the ones left behind, taking care of things at home. I thoroughly enjoyed the event, which renewed my faith in the Corps and the bond I feel toward my fellow Marines, past and present.

Heroes

This morning, I read a tattered news article that was tacked to the wall inside our compound. The Marines chronicled in the story are heroes. Heroes are not celebrities. They are not sports figures. They are men like Lance Corporal's Dominguez and Love, the men whose photographs appear on the front page of the article. Please take a look... Heroes

The fight rages on in the Sangin District. There, heroes are common. We call them Marines.

Chance Encounter

Nov. 3, 2011

Before leaving the transit base in Manas, Kyrgyzstan, I was grazing at the chow hall salad bar and noticed a long-time friend standing directly in front of me, completely oblivious to my presence. It was Col. Ken Desimone, my counterpart from the Inspector General’s Office at Camp Lejeune. Ken had deployed to Afghanistan last March as the Officer in Charge (OIC) of the Provincial Police Training Team in Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan. During his tour, the Police Station where Ken and his team were living was hit twice by suicide bombers, both times killing a number of Afghan National Police Officers whom Ken’s team was mentoring. As Ken later noted, it was sheer luck that neither he nor his Marines were injured or killed, as the building was nearly destroyed by the force of the blasts. After each bombing, the Afghani Police rebuilt the station, which still remains a favorite target of insurgents. 

Since meeting each other as young Lieutenant’s in 1988, we have managed to stay in touch and have since served together in a variety of units and locations. In 2005, I ran into Ken in Fallujah, Iraq, where both of us had deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. At that time, Ken was serving as a mentor to the Iraqi Border Police, which later became the subject of a story I wrote and subsequently published in Leatherneck Magazine. A draft version was posted to this blog in 2006 - Leatherneck Border Story

As Ken glanced up from his salad-filled plate, we couldn’t help but laugh aloud at our surprise encounter. For the remainder of the evening, we swapped stories and quickly caught up. 

In Iraq, Ken joked that based upon our assignments at that time, he was a “meat-eater,” whereas I was simply a “leaf-eater” (similar to the long-standing argument that grunts, or Marine infantry, are superior to Marines in combat service support roles). This time, however, Ken acknowledged that our chance meeting at the salad bar was a sure sign that he too had finally become a leaf-eater.

The Waiting Game

Nov. 2, 2011

We arrived in Kyrgyzstan at 4:30 a.m. following a 14 hour flight, with an anticipated 24-96 hour layover before heading on to our next destination. Our current location is strictly a way-point where forces temporarily halt en route to Afghanistan, although the newly elected Kyrgyz President, Almazbek Atambayev, has decided that the base may close by the end of 2014. As noted in today’s edition of Stars and Stripes, the base is used by both the military and civilian airlines, which certainly is a cause of conflict among the Kyrgyz citizens.

It's very cold here – the temps were in the low 30's when we arrived and never rose above 45 degrees the rest of the day. Upon landing, we were shuttled to a large Quonset hut where we received an in-brief and temporary lodging. It took approximately 3 hours for our gear to be moved from the airstrip to the staging area, where we found that it had accidentally been combined with another unit’s baggage. It was quite frustrating to sort through 600 identical bags in order to find your own.  There's no Delta baggage crew here to do that job, but thankfully the Marines jumped in, took charge, and had the bags separated and identified within 30 minutes. As we sorted our gear, I was thankful to be wearing a cold weather jacket, as the weather was "bone chilling" cold.  

Time drags by at waypoint locations. For the transient service member, there is little to do but sleep, eat, and perhaps read a book or check your e-mail if an internet drop is available aboard the base. As was the case in Iraq and Kuwait, the Kyrgyz base provides several Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) tents for transients to relax, catch a movie, and order a coffee. These days, it seems rare to find a base or FOB without internet access, and it is not untypical to find troops “Skyping” their loved ones via video-chat, a technology that would have been unimaginable a mere decade ago.

Mules and Packhorses

“On the field of battle man is not only a thinking animal, he is a beast of burden. He is given great weights to carry. But unlike the mule, the jeep, or any other carrier, his chief function in war does not begin until the time he delivers that burden to the appointed ground…In fact we have always done better by a mule than by a man. We were careful not to load the mule with more than a third of his weight.”

- S.L.A. Marshall, The Soldier’s Load and the Mobility of a Nation, 1950

 

                                                                               Before packing...

In preparation for deployment, we were issued our gear/equipment from the CIF, or consolidated issue facility. Every Marine who has previously deployed knows the drill…it’s the same at every supply point, be it a Battalion warehouse or a base facility the size of the CIF. Show up, stand in line and wait…then wait some more. No matter what time of day or day of the week, it is almost guaranteed that a line has already formed at the door. 

For current deployments, the CIF regulates the type and quantity of gear a Marine draws from the facility. Unlike the hodge-podge collection of “off-the-shelf” equipment individually purchased by Marines during the early days of OIF/OEF, today’s gear list has been refined and contains equipment that rivals the Blackhawk, Bianci and Safari-land items that Marines had added to their combat load over the last decade. 

Gone are the days of H-harnesses, butt packs, ALICE packs and MOLLE packs. These days, Marines draw the same high-speed gear that was previously available only to professional mountaineers or expeditionary climbers. Today’s gear list includes improved load bearing equipment (ILBE), a fancy name for mountain backpacks. It also includes arctic parkas, booties and mittens; flame resistant outer-garments and fleeces of varying colors and thickness. No longer does a Marine have to scrounge for gear that’s appropriate for the varied climates of a particular geographic region. It’s all available at the CIF.

Enhancing the load is the addition of modern, technologically advanced protective gear, or PPE (personal protective equipment). Flak vests are relics of the past, replaced by modular tactical vests (MTV) complete with enhanced small arms protective inserts (E-SAPI) that weigh over 30 lbs. combined. The inserts are basically bullet-proof plates that protect the torso of the wearer. The plates may be heavy, but they’ll stop a bullet from most enemy rifles. Tack on the weight of the vest and the various attached accoutrements such as ammo magazines and your IFAK (improved first-aid kit) and you easily add an additional 45 lbs. to your torso. Of course, this doesn’t include the weaponry, clothing and personal items a Marine also carries into theater.

In 2003, the Corps drafted a combat load report that reported the average weights of gear that a Marine takes on deployment. The typical Marine carries 48 lbs of gear in his assault load, which is the average amount of gear carried during combat operations. The approach march load, part of which is shed before entering a combat situation, was estimated at 71 lbs.  Considering the existence load, or the total amount of gear that a Marines takes with him on deployment averages 138 lbs, is it any wonder that many Marines and soldiers alike suffer from back and shoulder injuries? Although the quality of today's gear has vastly improved, the Marine’s ability to carry that gear into battle has not changed in 235 years. Although S.L.A. Marshall noted “we were careful not to load the mule with more than a third of his body weight,” we have yet to find a more efficient - and plentiful - means of carrying equipment to the battlefield besides the grunt on the ground, the true packhorse of the Corps.  

           ....and after.

Activation

After a 5 year respite, the Corps has finally decided to activate me again for deployment overseas. Although this was mostly a result of my own doing, I am excited, albeit somewhat anxious, to once again deploy in support of our global war on terrorism. My role has certainly changed, as I have moved on from my previous billet of USMC Field Historian. However, I will continue to post weekly observations "from the front" in order to provide an on-ground perspective of life in an active theater of war, without the typical political or media spin found in stories published at home. To be continued....

A Test of Faith

The evening was warm, virtually indistinguishable from the night before. It was the fall of 2005, just a month away from the first national elections in post-Saddam Iraq. A dozen young Marines relaxed inside the open porch of the Oasis, a crude plywood shack that served as chapel, watering hole and gathering spot for the Marines of Regimental Combat Team 8 aboard Camp Workhorse, a small "warrior base" nestled inside the larger confines of Camp Fallujah, Iraq. Amid the haze of half-smoked cigars and cigarettes, a single officer sat quielty, listening to the ebb and flow of conversation, knowing full well the good humor belied the events experienced by the Marines of the RCT over the previous days and weeks.

United States Navy CDR Dale C. White, then-Chaplain for RCT-8, 2nd Marine Division (forward) had become a father figure to most, a man whom many Marines would seek for guidance, comfort and encouragement. Despite his rank, the cross on his collar made him the most approachable officer in the battalion, which the Commander understood as one of the most important aspects of his job. From the moment he'd arrived in Iraq, Chaplain White knew his duties were much more involved than simply providing spiritual services. "I had probably 150 Marines from 8th Marine Regiment when I was at Camp Lejeune,” recalled White, a New York native. “Now I'm the pastor for 1200 Marines, because of all of our attachments (to include) tanks, tracks, the batteries, counter-battery, CEB...none of them came here with a chaplain. That was a surprise to me. I'm doing far more counseling, marriage counseling, coping with combat stress and those types of things, than I had expected." White waved at a young Marine strolling past, a freshly filled coffee mug in hand. "We've got an ongoing coffee mess from 0530 on," White says in response to the passerby. "We started brewing just one pot of coffee a day, now we're up to about twenty." Like many other men of the cloth, CDR White quickly became a shoulder to lean on, a man who'd listen without interruption, an officer whom junior Marines felt comfortable approaching despite the rank on his collar. "To realize someone (of such) rank is here to care for them," says White, "is a blessing. Here at the battalion, there's no bad time to talk. Come in whenever you want. If it's two in the morning, my RP (religious perogram specialist) will come and get me."

Since the creation of the first Continental Navy, chaplains have honorably served the United States Naval forces . Strictly noncombatants, they carry no weapons and are virtually forbidden to engage hostile forces. They include, but are not limited to Roman Catholics, Methodists, Lutherans, Baptists, and Protestants, as well as those of the Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim faiths. Normally accompanied by an enlisted religious program specialist, or RP, they serve in every major Marine Corps unit at home and overseas. Inevitably, serving chaplains have died in action, sometimes in significant numbers. The U.S. Army and Marines lost 100 chaplains killed in action during WWII, a casualty rate greater per capita than any other branch of the services except the infantry and the Army Air Corps. Many have been decorated for bravery in action (five have won Britain's highest award for gallantry, the Victoria Cross). The Chaplain's Medal for Heroism is a special U.S. military decoration given to military chaplains who have been killed in the line of duty, although it has to date only been awarded to the famous Four Chaplains, all of whom died in the USAT Dorchester sinking in 1943 after giving up their lifejackets to others. (1)

Over the last 4 years, Operation Iraqi Freedom has offered no exception to the dangers facing today's Navy chaplains. Captain Bryan Weaver, former Division chaplain for the Second Marine Division (Fwd), Camp Fallujah, Iraq in 2006, commented on the effects of combat on Marines and Sailors who've served in Iraq. "Men who come out to a combat zone either find their faith or they lose their faith. Most Marines who come to a combat zone will use the opportunity to do a lot of soul searching. Even I do that. It's a great opportunity for reflection…and for honing our spiritual disciplines and spiritual direction. That's what I bring to the table as Division chaplain - I provide spiritual direction to the Regimental chaplains, who in turn to do so for the battalions." Reflecting upon his own experience in Iraq, Weaver continued. "When a chaplain goes out to a forward firm base or the front lines, the morale increases. We bring a sense of hope and stability to the Marines. It really encourages the Marines...it provides a sense of home (to them). It's important to be seen, not holed up behind a desk somewhere.” Captain Weaver paused, searching for an appropriate explanation. “It's leadership by example. I subscribe to MBWA - ministry by walking about. Men need encouragement. They feed off of that. Life out here is hard. A chaplain brings intangibles to the table - enthusiasm, attitude, spirituality. You can't put your hand on it, but you know when it's present."

Weaver's view of chaplains at war echoed the sentiments of New York Times best selling author Stephen Mansfield, who commented on the state of the military chaplains during a 2005 interview with the National Review online. Remarking on the progress they've made over the last three decades, Mansfield stated "Military chaplains are not chosen according to a denominational quota system as they were during the Vietnam era. They are chosen according to a “best qualified” standard. This means that the chaplains serving today are deeply committed to ministering to the fighting man and woman and have met very high standards for entrance into the corps. Some of them are even decorated warriors themselves who left the military and then returned as chaplains. They are doing a hard job gloriously." (2)

Doing a hard job gloriously came easy to LT William Stewart. Assigned to the II Marine Expeditionary Force (Fwd) in 2005-2006, LT William Stewart found himself ministering primarily to US Navy Seabees assigned to the tactical movement teams (TMT) of Naval Marine Construction Battalion 22. Originally enlisting in the Navy in 1984, Chaplain Stewart served as a religious program specialist for 5 years on active duty before entering the Naval reserves in 1989. Following the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Stewart applied for the US Navy Chaplain Corps and was subsequently assigned as Chaplain to his former unit, NMCB-22. "A lot of the duties are typical of what you think a Chaplain would be doing," stated Stewart. "I provide services, bible studies, prayer meetings and counseling. (In Iraq), I also do a lot of what I call movement prayers for TMT's, basically convoy escorts. You never know when there's going to be a convoy leaving the wire. I try to do a prayer before each of these if I'm available. It doesn't matter what time they leave, day or night, because I found that it really comforts folks to have that prayer.” LT Stewart smiles, recalling the reactions of his sailors. “Goodness, the stories of people coming up to me, saying "Chaps, I know that prayer saved us today"... is very humbling to me, because I don't feel like I have that much power. But I guess that person I'm praying to upstairs - hopefully, he did see them through - they believe in that, they trust in that; it gives them confidence."

Despite their commonalities in faith, the chaplains of OIF hail from a wide variety of backgrounds. LT Brian Crittendon was a former Marine Corps CH-46 pilot in the early 1980’s. Resigning his commission in 1985 to become a civilian chaplain, he spent 13 years as a civilian pastor before deciding to return to the military. In 2004, LT Crittendon reported to the Second Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, only this time in the uniform of a sailor, not a Marine. Deploying to Iraq in 2005, LT Crittendon set up shop inside a derelict rail car at the abandoned Al Qaim train station, commonly referred to as the “soul train” by resident Marines. Ministering to the men of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, Chaplain Crittendon faced one of his toughest days in November, 2005 when an insurgent ambush wounded 12 Marines and killed 4 of their comrades from 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. Rushing to the forward rescuscitative surgical suite (FRSS), Chaplain Crittendon prayed over the dead and wounded. “I had two primary roles while I was down there. One was to minister to those who were hurt...to make contact with them, pray with them, encourage them and to bring them as much comfort (to them) as I can. The other is to keep an eye on the staff and to be a presence there (for) the spiritual encouragement of the staff." Crittendon continued. "There were points where I was putting my arms around surgeons and nurses and technicians who were having a long day....we stopped and I held prayer for everybody who was involved." Crittendon recalled the moment the Regimental Commander walked into the FRSS, encouraging his wounded Marines as surgeons struggled to save a fellow Marine who ultimately passed away from his wounds. "I view these men as being, in a sense, ministers to their country," said Crittendon of the Marines with whom he serves. "They have a mission...they've been called as much to their job as a warrior as I've been called to be a minister." Crittendon quickly changed the topic with a lighter comment . "The good news story for me, especially as a minister, (was when) a young man found his faith and asked me to baptize him a few hundred yards from the Syrian border, with his company...it will always be a highlight (for me) as a Christian minister."

Evey chaplain who experiences combat ministry comes away with a greater appreciation for the men and women they serve. "There's no doubt that being in combat, with rounds coming and IED's going off, that those Marines have a very different life than sailors on a ship," explains Chaplain White of RCT-8. "It's life or death (here). Whereas I can go on a cruise and come back with everyone alive, that's not the case here. There is definitely a level of committment and a level of risk that far exceeds anything we've had on a carrier.

Even though you could lose your life on a flight deck very easily, the rubber meets the road here.

1. Wikipedia Online - Military Chaplains
2. NRO - God and Man on the Front Lines, a Q&A by Kathryn Lopez, May 27, 2005