Check out this photograph above. It shows the modest chow hall at Combat Outpost Taghaz, a small combat outpost in Afghanistan where I lived with Marines for about a week last fall while gathering information for a couple of stories. The adviser team shared the base with a platoon from 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, which provided overwatch security in the region. I bring this up after reading today that some service members at Camp Leatherneck, the Marine Corps’ largest base in Afghanistan, are angry that commanders have apparently decided to dump the midnight ration service and 24-hour sandwich bar in…
Browsing: Taghaz
COMBAT OUTPOST TAGHAZ, Afghanistan – I was lifting weights Tuesday night in the dusty, prison-inspired gym here when Cpl. Byron Willis ran up to two of his fellow Marines. “The dog ate all the cigars!” he exclaimed. Willis, 24, was referring to Sgt. Crank, the improvised explosive device detector dog on post. Willis, Crank’s handler, and the black Labrador retriever are assigned to Weapons Company 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C. The back story: A sergeant had teased Crank with a toy football earlier in the day but wouldn’t let him have it, Willis said today. When…
TAGHAZ, Afghanistan – Sometimes, you have to get a little muddy in life. That’s a good lesson learned in Afghanistan, at least. It came up today while on foot patrol in this area with members of Marine Border Adviser Team 1, as they pushed on foot from their outpost in southern Helmand province to a nearby tactical checkpoint that members of the Afghan Border Police call home. It wasn’t a long patrol, to be certain. We hiked perhaps a mile from Combat Outpost Taghaz in Khanashin district to the checkpoint, maneuvering past camels, sheep, scraggly bushes -– and through a…
KHANASHIN, Afghanistan – From behind his wooden desk, Lt. Col. Rasoul held court for hours today, answering Marine questions about everything from his unit’s recent operations to insurgent activity in the region. The short, bearded commander of the Afghan Border Police unit here meets with Marine Border Adviser Team 1 regularly near the village of Taghaz, discussing the way ahead as their partnership evolves. The advisers –- attached to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines -– are gradually pulling back from assisting with day-to-day operations for the ABP battalion as the U.S. drawdown continues, and Rasoul knows it. Photographer Colin Kelly and…
COMBAT OUTPOST TAGHAZ, Afghanistan – If you’re going to spend a month in Afghanistan, you may as well visit the frontier while you’re there. Photographer Colin Kelly and I moved across Helmand province’s Khanashin district today, hopping a long convoy ride here from Combat Outpost Payne. We rolled through the desert with Marine Border Adviser Team 1. The unit is attached to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., but primarily comprises Marines from Camp Pendleton, Calif., and other West Coast installations. BAT-1 – and yes, they use a bat signal as a logo some of the time…
COMBAT OUTPOST TAGHAZ, Afghanistan – If you’re going to spend a month in Afghanistan, you may as well visit the frontier while you’re there. Photographer Colin Kelly and I moved across Helmand province’s Khanashin district today, hopping a long convoy ride here from Combat Outpost Payne. We rolled through the desert with Marine Border Adviser Team 1. The unit is attached to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., but primarily comprises Marines from Camp Pendleton, Calif., and other West Coast installations. BAT-1 – and yes, they use a bat signal as a logo some of the time…
