Route 611

Browsing: Route 611

‘Spy blimps’ keep watch over Marines, Taliban in Afghanistan

By Dan Lamothe on May 18, 2012 Afghanistan, Embedded journalism, Gear, Infantry, Kajaki, Sangin

Smile, Taliban. The Marines are watching you. As mentioned in my new story outlining the current fight in Afghanistan’s volatile Sangin district, Marine forces in northern Helmand province are using tethered “spy blimps” to watch for insurgent activity. The most common is the Precision Ground Surveillance System, a 70-foot aerostat balloon that floats over many combat outposts up and down Route 611 from Sangin to Kajaki. Army Times colleague Lance Bacon wrote about their capabilities last month. First Battalion, 7th Marines, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif., also has one larger Persistent Threat Detection System, which carries hundreds of pounds of…

Gunfire and children: A day on the ground in Sangin

By Dan Lamothe on April 27, 2012 Afghanistan, Battle Rattle, Embedded journalism, Infantry, Sangin

FORWARD OPERATING BASE TABAC, Afghanistan – In just a few short hours, I saw both sides of Sangin. On one hand, photographer James Lee and I visited a shura, or meeting, that brought together 67 boys and 25 girls at the gates of this base, the headquarters of Dog Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif. Most of the children sat obediently in straight rows on the ground as two interpreters and two Marines with a Female Engagement Team taught lessons about geography, civics and poetry. A few hours later, we heard our first gunshots fired in…

Browsing: Route 611