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GLOBE Serving Camp Lejeune and surrounding areas since 1944
THURSDAY JANUARY 5, 2012
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VOLUME 74 EDITION 1 FIREBASE SAENZ, AFGHANISTAN
SANGIN DISTRICT, AFGHANISTAN
Marines push COIN along Route 611
Photo by Cpl. Bryan Nygaard
Lance Cpl. Paul Flores, a combat engineer with Company A, 9th Engineer Support Battalion, helps empty the sand from a dismantled HESCO barrier at Firebase Saenz, Helmand province, recently.
CPL. JAMES CLARK
Regimental Combat Team 8
Combat engineers tear down patrol bases throughout Helmand province CPL. BRYAN NYGAARD 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward)
Firebase Saenz has been destroyed. Its defenses have been torn down and its walls have been completely leveled. This destruction was not caused by insurgents – it was the handiwork of Marines with 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward). With the recent reduction and reorganization of troops, FB Saenz is the first of several forward operating bases being demilitarized in Helmand province. The firebase, which covered a little more than 11 acres of Afghan desert, was built more than a year ago and named after Sgt. Jose Saenz III, who was killed in action, Aug. 9, 2010. During its existence, FB Saenz housed Marine artillery units armed with M-777 Lightweight Howitzer cannons that provided indirect fire support for coalition ground forces operating in the northern half of Helmand province. After convoying north from Camp Leatherneck, the Marines of 9th ESB worked diligently from Dec. 13 through 15 to properly dismantle the base and ensure that there was little, if any, footprint from the Marines. “Even though it can be difficult (demilitarizing the base),
INSIDE THE GLOBE
you kind of just want to wreck the place, you know, have some fun with it,” said 1st Lt. Andrew Fassett, commander of first platoon, Company A, 9th ESB. “But, (the Marines) have been doing a good job taking everything down and making sure to keep it neat so it fits on the truck. We did the right job in terms of cleaning up after ourselves here in Afghanistan.” Doing the right job included emptying sandbags, pushing down berms and coiling up hundreds of yards of razor-sharp concertina wire surrounding FB Saenz. One of the more challenging tasks was dismantling the numerous HESCO barriers that made up the guard posts at each corner of the base. HESCO barriers are military fortifications that have seen extensive use in both Iraq and Afghanistan. A typical HESCO is four feet tall and three feet wide and is made of a collapsible wire mesh container with a heavy-duty fabric liner that is usually filled with sand. The Marines used tractors, forklifts, electric saws, shovels, pick axes, bolt cutters, knives and their hands to rip apart the HESCO barriers that once protected the Marines at FB Saenz from explosive blasts and small arms fire. “It’s pretty tedious work for myself and the other Marines,” said Lance Cpl. Zachary Couch, a combat engineer with Company A. “Using all the power tools, especially the bolt cutters - those get hard after a while…after at least two or three seven-foot HESCO’s, chopping them down from top to bottom. It gets pretty tough.”
The Marines who were equipped with the electric saws were able to cut through the wire mesh with relative ease compared to the bolt cutters. The sparks they produced lit up the evening sky and resembled fireworks that could be seen on the Fourth of July. As darkness fell, the Marines used the headlights from the tractors to aid them in their disassembly of the HESCOs. As they continued working deep into the night, the temperature dropped below 20 degrees, forcing them to put on more and more warming layers. A little bit before midnight, the Marines called it a day. There were no tents to house them, so they slept inside their armored vehicles. Several Marines would cram into one vehicle and sleep in some very awkward and uncomfortable positions on top of their packs and body armor. The more Marines that crammed into a vehicle, the warmer it got inside. The Marines woke up the next morning, the sun shone on their weather-beaten faces that were still covered with sand from the day before. They grabbed their tools and slowly made their way back to where they had left off the night before. During the night, the bulldozers had pushed over and flattened the berms that made up the walls of the base, thereby removing protection from any possible insurgent fire. From then on, the Marines had to wear their helmets and body armor. Although it made it slightly more difficult for the Marines to accomplish their duties, it did increase their protection against any
possible enemy fire. Cpl. James Hernandez, a fire team leader in Company A, was still sore from the day before and recovering from small burns inflicted by the sparks that the electric saw created. With fatigue wearing on the Marines under his charge, he would frequently gather them around him and offer some words of encouragement and motivation. “I hate the cold,” said Hernandez. “It just gets to you after a while. That’s when all the morale starts going down when it starts getting cold or in the morning, trying to get everyone out of the racks or out of the vehicles which are a little bit warmer than outside. “It gets kind of tiring every once in a while, trying to figure out how to keep the morale up and try to keep them going as fast as they’ve been going … it wears you out a little bit.” Lance Cpl. Tameka Demps, a combat engineer in Company A, finds her motivation in the work that she does. “I just like to work. I like to be busy,” she said. “If I stop, I just, I don’t know – I feel like I’m not doing anything. I like doing this. It’s exhausting, but it’s fun.” Standing at barely five feet tall, Demps was constantly working, picking up pieces of HESCO that probably weighed as much as she does. Over time, her pace slowed down a bit, but she would never be seen with idle hands. Once all the work was completed, she grabbed a trash bag and began picking up small pieces of trash that were on the ground. “It’s just helping out with
The dirt along Route 611 has been pulverized to dust, turned to a trail of fine powder dotted with boot prints belonging to the Marines of Company A, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division (Forward). The footprints cover the landscape, blown away by wind, convoys of armored transports and civilian caravans, only to be replaced the following morning by another series of exhausting patrols. Each day the Marines and sailors of first platoon depart Patrol Base Florida and make their rounds through their area of operations in the Sangin District. When they first arrived, their presence was greeted with malevolent intent, in the form of small arms and indirect fire. Even the patrol base itself became a target. In the months following their arrival, the insurgency has been pushed to the fringes – replaced by a local populace struggling to find a voice after a long silence due to past fear and intimidation. Traveling roads and footpaths that have become as familiar as the streets where they grew up, the Marines of Company A, have come to recognize the faces of the men and children they pass during each patrol. They know histories and stories, having literally exchanged words while breaking bread. The key to their success, the Marines say, lies in their understanding of counterinsurgency operations – not the bland and dry version presented at press conferences or during presentations, but something more tangible and raw, something more simple and honest – that, when done right, will keep them safe. “It's Marines doing what Marines do and the knowledge that COIN on the small scale will bring them home,” said
Cpl. Henry Kornegay, a squad leader. “Be decent and they'll keep (improvised explosive devices) out of the village.” The cornerstone of counterinsurgency strategy lies in empowering the public, and in doing so making the insurgency irrelevant. “When we first arrived it was pretty kinetic for the first week or two, even the patrol bases were getting shot at. (We) pushed out a pretty aggressive patrol rotation,” said 1st Lt. Edward Yoo, a platoon commander. “People began telling us that security has improved.” However, with the end of their deployment in sight and their area of operations seeing steady improvement, the Marines must fight a different threat – complacency. “In a COIN fight, security comes first,” said Yoo. “By doing the basic things and building trust, the area has calmed down a lot, which is the result of doing the less flashy things each day. It's easy to lose focus so close to the end … need to focus on shuras and collecting as much data as possible to bring (our replacements) into a good place.” Though they have come far, the Marines of Company A understand their time is not yet up and there is still a job to do, explained Kornegay, knowing that though the area has seen a break in the violence, it can return at any moment, and only their instincts and self discipline will keep it from spilling over when and if that time comes. “(I’m) really fortunate to have a squad where complacency isn't a threat,” continued Kornegay, who is now on his second deployment with 1st Battalion, 6th Marines. “Everyone acts the same as if we're taking contact every day. People talk about having a switch – I think it’s something that's built in. Marines are still Marines. If you give them a mission, they're still going to do it.”
SEE ENGINEERS 6A
FORWARD OPERATING BASE NOLAY, AFGHANISTAN
SECNAV visits FOB Nolay, awards two Marines 2ND LT. JAMES STENGER
COMBAT ENGINEERS PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR OPERATION EAGLE HUNT PAGE 6A LEJEUNE SPORTS 1B INSIDE LEJEUNE 1C CLASSIFIEDS 3C CAROLINA LIVING 1D
2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward)
The Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus traveled to Afghanistan recently to visit with Marines and sailors of Operation Enduring Freedom. As part of his tour, Mabus met with troops from 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward) aboard Forward Operating Base Nolay recently. While there, he awarded two Marines with the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and congratulated them on a job well-done. Sgt. Stacy McGuffin and Cpl.
Clinton Haller, were honored to receive recognition by the Navy’s senior civilian leader. Brig. Gen. Michael Dana, the commanding general of the 2nd MLG (Fwd.), then gave Mabus a tour of the various logistics lots and facilities on FOB Nolay, offering an assessment of 2nd MLG’s progress in retrograde operations. As the leading logistics organization in Regional Command Southwest, 2nd MLG (Fwd.) is well underway in the process of accounting for, sorting and redistributing Regional Command Southwest’s gear and equipment.
Photo by 2nd Lt. James Stenger
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus (center) and Brig. Gen. Michael Dana (right), commanding general of the 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward), award two Marines with Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals aboard Forward Operating Base Nolay, recently.