Marjah

Marines in Marjah witness "extreme special ops measure"

By Gina Cavallaro on June 17, 2011 Afghanistan, Battle Rattle, Marjah, Reserve

Marjah, Afghanistan – It started with two bursts of gunfire outside the Hesco walls of the patrol base, a small square in the center of town at the governor’s compound. Within moments, the 3rd Platoon Marines of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Marines, were mustered by their vehicles wearing the required uniform: shoes, pants and weapon. It was about midnight. After a quick head count, and a determination that the gunfire had come from unknown activity between Afghan police, the Marines were told by platoon sergeant Staff Sgt. Chad Cada they could stand down and resume their sleep. But something…

1st Recon heading to Marjah

By Tony Lombardo on June 2, 2010 Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Marjah

First Reconnaissance Battalion is on its way to Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, and the 1,000 Marines will soon be joining the fight in Marjah. The battalion’s area of operations will include the Sistani Desert, to Marjah’s west, and Trek Nawa, to Marjah’s east. For more information check out this story by Marine Corps Times Staff Writer Dan Lamothe, who spoke with Brig. Gen. Joseph Osterman, commander of 1st Marine Division (Forward) at Leatherneck.

Now reporting live from Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan

By Dan Lamothe on May 29, 2010 Afghanistan, Camp Leatherneck, Embedded journalism, Marjah

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — Good morning, friends. Photographer Tom Brown and I successfully hopped a CH-53 flight night last night from Camp Hanson in Marjah to Camp Leatherneck. While that means our time with 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, has come to a close, we’ll be posting a variety of photographs and blog entries in the next few days in this space that shows what life is like for those Marines, who took great care of us while we were embedded with them. We’ll also be blogging about life here at Leatherneck again and pointing out some of the more serious…

Fond memories of Marjah’s Yellow Schoolhouse

By Dan Lamothe on May 21, 2010 Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Marjah

CAMP HANSON, Afghanistan — Today, Tom Brown and I said goodbye to the Yellow Schoolhouse, a former school in Marjah where two squads of Marines from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, now patrol from and live. I’m now at Camp Hanson, home to 3/6’s headquarters, and awaiting for potential transportation to another 3/6 company of Marines. In the meantime, however, I wanted to take a minute to reflect on my time at the schoolhouse, which more closely resembles the Marine Corps I hoped and expected to see downrange than anything else to date. To say it’s hard living at…

Video: Marines, journalists caught in Afghanistan firefight

By Dan Lamothe on May 20, 2010 Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Marjah

MARJAH, Afghanistan — Some of you may have read that Marine Corps Times was caught in the middle of a firefight here yesterday afternoon. Well, here’s footage to match, courtesy of Tom Brown, who whipped out his video camera after diving next to me into a Marjah canal: [HTML1] Again: Everyone came out of this safe and sound, and five men were later detained. Sometimes, good luck can be found in Afghanistan.

Armed gunmen open fire on Marine patrol, journalists

By Dan Lamothe on May 19, 2010 Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Marjah

MARJAH, Afghanistan — The bullets snapped overhead angrily, and all I could feel were the insects crawling up and down my legs and the sludgy water seeping into my boots. That’s how I’ll remember an ambush on a Marine patrol today, in which I saw my first warzone firefight. It began at about 12:30 p.m., as 10 members of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, and six Afghan National Army soldiers pushed east on a dirt trail splitting two agricultural canals in central Marjah. The sky was clear and the air temperature had crept into the 90s, as the hot Afghan sun…

Life at the Yellow Schoolhouse unfolds

By Dan Lamothe on May 18, 2010 Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Marjah

MARJAH, Afghanistan — It’s day three for Tom Brown and I today at the Yellow Schoolhouse, a school built by the U.S. in Afghanistan in the 1950s. We went on a patrol with Marines on Sunday, and while it was uneventful, it was clear just how active the Taliban has been recently in this area. The patrol took us through several areas where Marines have been ambushed recently, including one Thursday in which eight to 10 insurgents opened fire on a group of Marines from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines. An Afghan National Army soldier was killed in the…

Now reporting live from the Yellow School of hard knocks

By Dan Lamothe on May 16, 2010 Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Marjah, Vehicles

MARJAH, AFGHANISTAN — Hello from the ‘stan, friends. Tom and I have made another move, leaving Patrol Base Yazzie yesterday to spend some time with the Marines of the Yellow Schoolhouse, a deserted Afghan school for which Marine Corps leadership has high hopes. Third Platoon from India Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines rotates squads through here on a revolving basis. As you can see, the school is rather, uh, rustic. There are no windows, numerous holes in the roof and a variety of birds and insects sharing the building with the Marines deployed there. I’ll have substantially more to a…

A walk on the green side

By Dan Lamothe on May 14, 2010 Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Marjah

PATROL BASE YAZZIE, Afghanistan — As I mentioned earlier this week, it isn’t hard to find marijuana while traveling with Marine fire teams based here to patrol Marjah. Tom Brown captured just how easily this morning with this eye-opening photograph. For some of Tom’s work that doesn’t appear on Battle Rattle, check out the Military Times Line of Sight blog. All the fans of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, will probably get a kick out of this photo.

The view from the edge of the Sistani Desert

By Dan Lamothe on May 12, 2010 Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Marjah

PATROL BASE YAZZIE, Afghanistan — We’re closing in on 10 p.m. here in Afghanistan, and I just realized we haven’t shared much new on the blog today. I’ve spent most of the day preparing a long magazine-style feature for next week’s Marine Corps Times that will cover Taliban tactics in Marjah, and how the Corps counteracts them. Above, a photograph I took last night while out with Marines from 2nd Platoon, 3rd Squad, of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, on patrol. I’m certainly not the photographer that Tom Brown is, but I jumped at the opportunity to show what the Sistani…

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