SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST 3RD PLATOON’S TRAINING RAMPS UP IN JAPAN » Pages 2-6
Volume 7, No. 43 ©SS 2015
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2015
urban warfare
Afghan soldiers at a base near the Kunduz airport watch the sun set over Taliban positions. JOSH SMITH Stars and Stripes
BATTLE FOR KUNDUZ TESTS AFGHAN TROOPS IN CITY STREETS » Page 11
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SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST
CLIMATE CHANGE Squad leaders get chance to give orders during training at Camp Fuji BY M ATTHEW M. BURKE
SECOND IN A THREE-PART SERIES
Stars and Stripes
CAMP FUJI, Japan — Newly minted Marine Sgt. Donald Horn was deep in unfamiliar territory. Not only was the squad leader in the bonechilling shadow of Mount Fuji — far from the desolate deserts he had deployed to in his Marine career — but he was about to deliver a battle plan for his unit to assault two People’s Chinese Defense Force sandbag bunkers, anchored by machine guns. The live-fire maneuver would be the first chance for his unit from 3rd Platoon, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment to fight on Asian soil — even if it was just a training exercise against a fictitious enemy. After always following orders, this time he was getting a taste of giving them. Several months into its deployment from Camp Lejeune, N.C., the 3-2’s training regimen was moving into hyperdrive. Writing assault orders was still relatively new
to most of 3rd Platoon’s squad leaders, and each would have a shot at it before leading an attack. Horn spent the better part of a day drafting his, intently crouched over loose sheets of paper, looking more like a bespectacled university student than a battle-hardened grunt. The assault to take out the positions would be complex, and the squad would be strategically complemented by mortars (the only part of the assault that would be simulated), machine guns and a Shoulder-Launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon, courtesy of elements of the company’s weapons platoon that had been attached for the mission. Any mistakes in timing could expose the Marines to friendly fire. The day before the assault, Horn laid out his plan under the watchful eyes of platoon leadership, 1st Lt. Matthew Mannion and Staff Sgt. Mark Mlachak. Horn carefully issued precise instructions for each team — where to be, when to be there and what to do with their firepower.
Lance Cpl. Kyle Littell moved pieces on a model of the battlefield that symbolized the Marine fire teams moving through one objective to the next. Horn’s Marines listened intently and took notes. Afterward, he explained the process. “I look at what I have available, assets-wise and manpower-wise, and I figure out the best way tactically to execute” the mission, Horn said. “I’m probably going to need a support-byfire; I’m probably going to need to maneuver. If I have machine guns, I need to figure out where I’m going to set them up. … We can’t afford to have somebody go too far left and run in front of a machine gun.”
Misery that binds The 3-2 arrived in Japan in February through the Unit Deployment Program, which brings stateside Marine units to Asia for sixmonth rotational deployments. SEE PAGE 3
Third Platoon squad leader Cpl. Curtis Beam leads his Marines as they maneuver and destroy a pair of simulated Chinese reinforced sandbag machine-gun bunkers in a live-fire exercise in mid-April with Japan’s tallest peak, Mount Fuji, in the background. M ATTHEW M. BURKE /Stars and Stripes
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SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST
‘I’m not the guy who yells all the time’ BY M ATTHEW M. BURKE Stars and Stripes
Staff Sgt. Mark Mlachak is the epitome of the Parris Island drill instructor he once was — imposing, intimidating and able to cuss an out-of-line Marine with the best of them. All business, all the time, the 14-year Marine Corps veteran is a motorcycle and gun enthusiast and gym addict, covered in tattoos, with his head shaved bald and a large wad of dip perpetually packed into his lower lip. At the same time, he can be kind, warm and funny, serving as the enlisted leader of India Company, 3rd Platoon and father figure to Marines who work diligently for his approval, an occasional smile or a dirty joke. As an NCO, he’s an adviser, tactician and enforcer. But he doesn’t hang his hat on his experience from deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan and Haiti and bark out orders. Instead, he listens and works with his subordinates to come up with the best solutions. “He’s a very approachable guy,” said 3rd Platoon squad leader Sgt. Donald Horn. “He likes to work with you, versus over you. I prefer his leadership style because it gives us more freedom to throw ideas at him, instead of him just telling us what to do.” Horn said that Mlachak has his quirks and things he is unwilling to bend on, but nothing has been unmanageable or unjustified. During an exercise in Korea, Mlachak watched as Horn set up several Marines from his squad on a gravel road, lying on their stomachs, rifles facing a fortified bunker up a hill in front of them. They appeared to be exposed directly to
M ATTHEW M. BURKE /Stars and Stripes
Staff Sgt. Mark Mlachak, left, watches intently as his 3rd Platoon Marines go through the Japanese Self-Defense Force’s Military Operations on Urban Terrain town at Camp Fuji in April. Mlachak is tough but respected for the way he leads the 3rd Platoon as its highest ranking enlisted leader. the bunker’s field of fire. “I don’t like this,” Mlachak said as he walked over. Horn explained his reasoning, and there was logic behind it. Company elements had threaded the needle to fit everyone into the gap, and the men needed to be there so they could quickly suppress and assault their objective. They also had to stay left of machine guns and rockets that would be firing on the target. Horn and Mlachak talked it out privately like equals and settled on a compromise. Mlachak moved the men into some cover in relatively the same area. “That’s one of the things I’ve taken from my time as a squad leader,” Mlachak said. “I didn’t like it when plans were given to me and I didn’t have any input. My squad leaders, especially Sgt. Horn, have a lot of experience, so we talk through the plan and find a happy medium.” He said he tries to get to know his men and understand what motivates them.
FROM PAGE 2
The program cooled during the height of America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, then ramped up again in 2012 as the Obama administration launched its “pivot” to the Pacific, home to key shipping lanes and a region where tensions among the major powers date back centuries. The 3-2 Marines’ evolution in training for Asian contingencies began in March when they headed for the Jungle Warfare Training Center
“I’m not the guy who yells all the time,” he said. “I did that for three years at Parris Island. That’s not my personality. I try to [expletive] create a work environment where guys want to be here and want to be around, and if you’re yelling 24/7, that just becomes your normal voice. … Someone who’s been yelled at their whole life isn’t going to react to that. “If I’ve got a platoon that wants to work for me and I can get that through by shooting the [expletive] with them on occasion and cracking on them when I need to, then it works,” he said. Cpl. Logan Hampton, a team leader in 3rd Platoon, enjoys working with Mlachak. “He’s really authoritative,” Hampton said. “He’s a drill instructor so he’s got that still imprinted in him — nothing against that. … I’d say he’s 90 percent serious and 10 percent he’ll let loose. ... If he’s joking around with you, he either likes you or feels comfortable with you.” Mlachak had a very structured
in Okinawa’s remote north. The Marines — nicknamed the “Betio Bastards” — slogged through a week of hellish mud, water and dense bush. A month later, they traveled to the small Marine base Camp Fuji for the next leg. At Fuji — named for Japan’s tallest peak, which towers over the base and its blooming cherry blossom trees — they would experience a new kind of hell: freezing temperatures, heavy rain, sleet, several feet of snow and, of course, more mud.
upbringing in Painesville, Ohio. He worked, ran track and wrestled. There was little time for anything else. He almost went to art school instead of joining the Corps, even though the military was ingrained in him. “Up until I was probably about in high school, I had always wanted to be a Marine,” he said. “My grandfather was a Marine drill instructor, Korea, Vietnam. My dad was a Marine. ... I was always in the woods with my suitcase full of guns, playing, so it was just a natural choice.” His career spans two of America’s longest wars, and he had a front row seat for both. Now he must transition from two wars to none. It will be challenging to keep his Marines focused on training, especially since many of them joined primarily to fight. “It’s a challenge to keep them going, especially the guys that did join while everything was going on,” Mlachak said. “As much as training is a necessity, they get frustrated with it, so you’ve got to find a way to sell it to them.” Marine training can be somewhat robotic at times due to safety concerns, and ranges can be overly restrictive — when conditions aren’t downright miserable, like trudging through mud and sleeping without a tent. “That’s where having that connection and being able to sit down and talk to them one-on-one, man-to-man, with rank not really involved and be like, ‘Hey, I get it. I know why we’re doing it, but here is what we can still take away from it.’ ” burke.matt@stripes.com
Though each platoon had temporary barracks, grunts don’t do comfortable. They slept out in the field, holed up at the Japan Self-Defense Force’s Military Operations on Urban Terrain town, or MOUT. The mock town was an eerie, empty city center with large concrete structures and intersecting paved streets. There were portable toilets, but no windows, no heat and no furniture except for a random chair. SEE PAGE 4
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Sgt. Donald Horn, center, relays the plan for assaulting an unsecured building to his squad. Lance Cpl. James Spooner stands to his right and Lance Cpl. Michael Vaquera to his left.
Aided by cover-fire, 3rd Platoon Marines charge two simulated Chinese reinforced sandbag machine-gun bunkers during a livefire exercise at Japan’s Camp Fuji in April.
Through a dense fog, Marines go over the top to assault an unsecured building at Camp Fuji’s MOUT town, which stands for Military Operations on Urban Terrain, in April.
FROM PAGE 3
He would give them a few nights in the barracks when the temperatures and weather became untenable. But not this night. After chow, 3rd Platoon went out for fireteam night raids. They found an unoccupied building and climbed to the top floor. In silence, except for the pounding rain outside, they took turns creeping through the halls in night-vision goggles, rifles at the ready. As they approached each door, they would stack to cover all angles, then tap each other on the shoulder to signal readiness and movement. The sounds of doors being kicked in echoed throughout the dark, dank passages. As they moved into a room with lightning quickness and precision, they flicked on rifle-mounted flashlights to blind any enemy that lay in wait. No live rounds were fired; instead red dots on chests indicated scores. “We haven’t really done a lot of night training, and it is important,” Horn said later. “But they did better than I thought they would” with their limited night-vision goggle experience.
his squad to the far edge of the mock town, out of sight of the other Marines who waited to start the day. He wasn’t leaving anything to chance. When it was game time, he wanted his men ready. They found an empty building and went inside. Horn stood outside facing the façade. He timed them as they ran out, provided security and leapt over a concrete barricade in full gear, rifles up, searching for targets. “Slow down,” Horn told Lance Cpl. James Spooner and Littell as they passed him. “You guys have to slow down.” More practice followed, kicking in doors and making entry. In a stack outside one room, Littell was in the lead, followed by three others. Littell spun in first in one fluid motion and immediately wrapped around the door, checking behind it. All four swept into, and through, the room. Horn followed, watching intently. “Hey Littell. When you come in, don’t [expletive] spin,” he said softly as he mimicked what the young Marine had done. “Your back’s open. If you’re the first one in, you ride the door.” Horn pinned the open door to the wall with his hip. He then scanned the room with his rifle, checking every corner. “Everyone else comes in, picks up the room,” he said. “Then you can [expletive] check behind the door.” Horn’s experience, gleaned from multiple tours of Afghanistan, is highly valued, according to his Marines. In a subsequent practice run, with Spooner going first, the New Jersey native forcefully pinned the door to the wall as Horn had done.
It was cold during the day, and temperatures cruelly plummeted at night. Marines dressed in layers with winter hats and gloves. The concrete where they made their beds was capable of sucking the warmth out of a Marine in minutes. Reports spread of purported cases of hypothermia as sleet and snow caught units exposed in the field. The Marines wore their misery on their faces at dinner until Capt. Jeffrey Cummings — a hard-charging, barrel-chested Iraq War veteran with an enthusiasm for discomfort and danger — arranged a rare hot meal to boost morale. As officers served the enlisted ranks first, Horn’s squad was rife with smirks and wry grins as if they were getting away with mischievous behavior. To pass the time and take their minds off their general discomfort, they had given each other women’s names and a matching persona and staged “fights,” in character on the third deck of the building. Mannion smiled and shook his head. He was used to such acts of dark comedy between bursts of gunfire, knowing they help the Marines persevere through adversity. Cummings said sharing the misery brings the men closer. But as he prepared to sleep on cold concrete in the building next door, he wrestled with pulling them out over safety concerns. When does it become “too” miserable, where the Marines lose focus and don’t retain their training?
‘Just keep going’ Most of the Marines woke the next day saying they had stayed warm overnight. Privately, some admitted the cold had worked its way into their bones. “Out here is frustrating,” the 19-year-old Littell said days later, sick from an apparent cold. “It’s cold at night. Generally, it’s been cold and raining during the day. … But, can’t complain.” Horn summed up the Marine mind-set. “If I’m hurting, I just sit there and talk myself through it, in my head — ‘Just keep going.’ If it gets cold, just think, ‘At least it’s not raining.’ If it’s raining, be glad it’s not cold. If it’s cold and raining, just be like, ‘Wow, this sucks.’ ” He smiled. “It’s all about mental toughness.” Under a heavy fog and sporadic showers, Horn took
Bang-bang-bang-bang When it was show time, they took a position on the first floor of a building across the street from the target and did some reconnaissance. “You know what you’re doing when you hit the building?” Horn asked the first team. “When you come in, look at me; I’ll tell you where to go. I have no idea what it looks like in there.” SEE PAGE 6
Lance Cpl. Jordan Hefner, right, expels the shell of a highexplosive round from the chamber of his rifle’s M203 grenade launcher after firing downrange while India Company executive officer 1st Lt. Phillip Richard looks on. PHOTOS BY MATTHEW M. BURKE /STARS AND STRIPES
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SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST FROM PAGE 4
With one team covering the far door of the target building, another jumped out the window and quickly made its way across the street and stacked at the door. Hands were placed on shoulders, fleeting glances were exchanged and nods provided confirmation of readiness. The door was kicked in. The Marines quickly poured in and discovered a labyrinth of hallways and rooms. They paused as if frozen, rifles trained on every angle and opening. Horn began barking orders and moving Marines into place as they began searching the area. Finally came the verdict: “Building clear.” The second building featured the same myriad hallways and rooms, but added staircases and a balcony with a brilliant field of fire on a large, open room below. Enemy footsteps echoed ominously. Lance Cpl. Tyler Thompson and Lance Cpl. Ryan Foret entered a room and eliminated one enemy. “Bang-bang-bang-bang,” they shouted. As he lay dead on the floor, the enemy let a grenade roll from his fingers with the pin pulled. Foret looked up for Thompson, but he was gone. He ran to the nearest door and looked at it painfully, not wanting to kick it down to escape, and realizing he was likely a casualty. As the 1st Squad Marines proceeded up the stairs, an enemy soldier stood in a doorway shielded from sight, with a perfect line of fire. “Bang-bang-bang-bang,” he yelled as the Marines appeared. They answered with “Bang-bang-bang-bang.” At the end of the training scenario, 1st Squad stood around as Mannion and Mlachack critiqued their performance. “For working as a squad on a building with this layout, you did well,” Mlachack said. “You went through. At least you made a decision to go a certain way. It may not have necessarily been the best, but what’s not to say if you had come this way. …” He made a gesture with his hands, singling out the large room where they were standing. “Maybe somebody over there had a view on you that you couldn’t have covered,” he said. “That’s the problem with MOUT. It’s risky, no matter what you do. You could do everything right, cover every [expletive] aperture, but there’s something you don’t see.” Littell said the training would come in handy anywhere. “We’re going to go fight people, and people are generally going to be in buildings,” he said. “The more we do, the better we get at it.”
‘Know what cover is’ Finally came the week’s culminating event, the assault on the bunkers. The weather cleared after a day of heavy rain. The Marines appeared at ease even though they would be running and gunning while avoiding friendly machine guns and shoulder-fired rockets. The bunkers were essentially dark depressions in the muddy earth, with berms in the rear, targets for people and pallets for cover.
M ATTHEW M. BURKE /Stars and Stripes
Lance Cpl. Jordan Carbo, left, and Cpl. Jordan Bundy clear the street below as they secure the second floor of a building in Camp Fuji’s MOUT town in April. “Aggressiveness, and the second law of the infantrymen are going to be huge out here: Know what cover is,” Cummings bellowed before the exercise’s start. Protected by a berm, Horn crouched in the reeds and observed the battlefield. Then he clicked the radio and gave coordinates for a twominute burst of suppressive fire. Moments later, there was a whistle, followed by the boom of a simulated mortar. Then another. On Horn’s signal, his squad leaned over the top of the berm and concentrated rifle fire on the first target. It sounded like a shooting gallery, and the enemy soon pinpointed their location. “You’re taking heavy effective fire!” Mannion yelled from behind their position. The Marines went over the top of the berm and charged their target. They fanned out on the field below and dropped to their stomachs, shooting back at the bunker. Horn paused momentarily, watching. Then he, too, went over the top. The rat-tat-tat-tat-tat of machine guns rang out from the left. Horn’s squad attacked up the middle and swung out to the right like a swinging gate, then jumped in holes in the ground that looked as if they had been caused by shells. “Increase your rate [of fire],” Horn yelled. “I’m out,” a Marine shouted. “Reloading,” said another. “I got you,” came a reply. “Covering,” said yet another on the right flank.
“Rocket,” yelled a Marine from Weapons Platoon on the right. There was a deafening bang as the rocket zipped toward the target. The air filled with smoke as it struck its intended target with withering effect. “Move, move, move, move,” Horn yelled. Marines poured out of their positions and approached the target up the middle. They ran forward, staying low, trying to maintain their balance on the uneven terrain. They jumped over ditches and ran through thick reeds that crunched under their feet. Horn and three others were in striking distance now. They closed on their target, changing magazines as they walked, and eliminated all inside. They then took the position and turned on the second target, which was being peppered by the Weapons Platoon machine guns and surrounded by the Marines. Littell ran forward, hit the deck in front of the bunker, then popped up and lobbed a grenade. Horn and four other Marines charged the second target much as they had the first. “Western objective destroyed,” they shouted. “Cease fire.”
Looking forward
See the first installments of the series, plus more photos and videos of the 3rd Platoon’s deployment
The next day, Mannion and Mlachak threw the Marines a curveball. Instead of giving the current team leaders some extra practice with their M203 under-the-barrel grenade launchers as scheduled, they calculated who would likely be getting out when they returned to Lejeune, and gave the training to the next crop of team leaders instead. That included Littell and Lance Cpl. Andrew Luna from 1st Squad. The two were grateful for the opportunity to lead and even more grateful to shoot high-explosive anti-tank rounds. “We’re getting toward the end of the deployment,” Horn said. “Lot of guys are going to be leaving. Those that are staying, we need to start building their confidence in themselves. Because all they know is, ‘This guy tells him, and he tells me.’ That’s all they understand. “It’s all about getting them confident in leading someone else because they’re so used to following. And just getting them spun up on everything they need to know so they can teach guys coming in under them.”
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COMING OCT. 23
Live-fire exercises near the DMZ in South Korea ONLINE
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MILITARY Petty Officer 2nd Class Isaac Payne moves a pile of laundry between the washing machine and the dryer on the guided-missile destroyer USS Carney on Sept. 24. STEVEN BEARDSLEY/Stars and Stripes
CHORES OF DUTY ‘No one job greater than any other’ aboard guided-missile destroyer USS Carney BY STEVEN BEARDSLEY Stars and Stripes
ABOARD THE USS CARNEY IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN his 7,000-ton guided-missile destroyer can knock out a ballistic missile and defend itself from attack at the same time. Just don’t expect its industrial washers to safely clean decorative bunting. That’s what Petty Officer 2nd Class Isaac Payne learned when he was handed several bags of red, white and blue decorations last month, all to be readied to hang on the ship’s rails before its arrival in Spain. The Carney’s industrial washers and dryers would have ruined the delicate fabric. “It’s got to be hand-washed and scrubbed,” Payne said. So it goes on one of the U.S. Navy’s most technically advanced warships, which will make its first missile patrol in November. Loaded with political and strategic significance because of its Aegis ballistic-missile defense system, the Carney is home to a workforce that includes cooks and clothes washers in addition to engineers and boatswain’s mates. All play a role in keeping the ship at sea, its officers say. “One thing we always tell sailors is there is no one job greater than any other job,” the Carney’s executive officer, Cmdr. Peter Halversen, said. The Carney and its crew of about
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The Carney, pictured at sea on Sept. 24, was the last of four American warships to arrive in Rota as part of a ballistic missile-defense shield.
Seaman Vanessa Aguilar waits as Senior Chief Petty Officer Noel Martinez inspects the galley before dinner on Sept. 23.
300 officers and sailors arrived in Rota, Spain, on Sept. 25, one of four American guided-missile destroyers that will make regular ballistic-missile defense patrols in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. Only a few officers and sailors have any direct role in the missile-defense system; much of the crew works to keep the ship’s propulsion and life-support systems going. Many sailors juggle multiple roles, something common to the Navy’s smaller ships, including frigates, destroyers and cruisers. Payne is the ship’s barber on most mornings. In the afternoons, he helps wash clothes — about 350 pounds each day — and manages inventory for the ship’s store. He also suits up for regular damage-control drills. The ship’s medical officer, Senior Chief Petty Officer Noel Martinez, acts as the local health inspector, checking the ship’s galley and the
cleanliness of its water supply when not updating medical files or scheduling immunizations. “Downtime? When I sleep,” Martinez said with a laugh, “usually at the end of the day. And that’s if we don’t have someone who’s ill or gets ill in the middle of the night.” Petty Officer 2nd Class Branden Rabb maintains damage-control equipment like oxygen masks and radios from a small space below deck. He stands watch in the engine room and participates in several damagecontrol drills a week. Engineers take special pride in their knowledge of a ship’s lower decks, bow to stern. Petty Officer 2nd Class Jason Phillips, a gas turbine technician, said he can go for days without going topside. The ship’s mission depends on engineers’ ability to keep it moving, he said. “So as long as we keep the power going, the propul-
sion going, topside can do whatever they want,” he said. Food, laundry and the ship’s store fall under the supply department. All are important, said Lt. Jessica Bronson, assistant supply officer. “Morale is huge on a ship, whether it be just keeping the crew caffeinated to stay awake for the long watches. … Something as simple as having a soda really does mean a lot to the crewmember,” she said. The challenge for officers and chiefs is to connect sailors with the mission and occasionally break up the monotony of weeks at sea, Command Master Chief Jon Lonsdale said. “It’s important that every time we get a new check-in, we say, ‘Look, this is what the ship’s designed to do, this is our main mission. However, here’s how you fit into it,’ ” he said. “We always try to work that to them.” There was little time for reflection and plenty of work to be done as the ship neared Rota. The exterior paint needed to be touched up, the bunting hung. Preparations would soon begin for the Carney’s first patrol. Everyone was excited to see their new home, Bronson said. They were also ready for a break. “To be honest, by the end of the day most people are just going to find somewhere to crash,” he said. “They will eventually get out into Rota, but it will probably be in the next couple of days.” beardsley.steven@stripes.com Twitter: @sjbeardsley
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An Afghan soldier fires a rocket-propelled grenade at Taliban positions on the outskirts of Kunduz during mop-up operations this month. It took nearly two weeks of house-to-house fighting before most pockets of Taliban resistance had been eliminated.
AFGHANISTAN
PHOTOS
BY
JOSH SMITH /Stars and Stripes
TAKING IT TO THE STREETS Afghan forces’ urban warfare deficiencies evident in Kunduz BY JOSH SMITH Stars and Stripes
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan — The Afghan army’s limitations in urban fighting were on full display during the two-week effort to drive the Taliban from Kunduz — a city that the insurgents overran in a single day. The Taliban announced Tuesday they were pulling out of Kunduz, insisting they had not been beaten but had chosen to withdraw to spare further civilian casualties. Afghan forces had pushed Taliban fighters from most of the city in two weeks of
For additional photos and a video from Kunduz, go to stripes.com/go/urban fighting after the millitants’ biggest battlefield success since they were driven from power in 2001. Even though Afghan security forces have finally prevailed, the Taliban’s ability to seize a major city — especially one far from their traditional southern strongholds — threatens to change the character of the war, which had been fought mostly in rural areas. The overstretched Afghan security forces now face
the grim prospect of urban warfare, with the militants threatening several other provincial capitals. “The Taliban have the capability to fight like they did before 2001,” Afghan army Brig. Gen. Ahmad Habibi said Saturday as he nodded toward his troops firing rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns on the outskirts of Kunduz. “The terrorists fought the NATO coalition, and they are still fighting now.” Before the U.S.-led invasion of 2001, the Taliban had seized Kabul and nearly all major cities. SEE PAGE 12
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AFGHANISTAN
An Afghan soldier fires a rocket-propelled grenade at Taliban positions on the outskirts of Kunduz during mop-up operations. FROM PAGE 11
The Afghan security forces, however, have had little experience with full-scale urban warfare — a weakness that was clear during the Kunduz fighting. Raining down fire on outnumbered Taliban fighters barricaded in houses below, Habibi’s troops struggled with old weaponry, sometimes banging rocket-propelled grenade launchers on the ground to get them to work; and in one instance, they threw an apparently faulty RPG warhead down the hill into residential houses below. At one point, debris from the back blast of an RPG fired carelessly by an Afghan soldier tore a chunk of flesh from the leg of a comrade. In their initial assault on Kunduz, the Taliban successfully exploited weaknesses in the security forces, which far outnumber the insurgents. Insurgents not only successfully infiltrated the city, but their forces in neighboring provinces prevented reinforcements from reaching Kunduz for days. Soldiers on the front lines told of frantic efforts to escape the advancing Taliban forces as government control collapsed in a matter of hours in Kunduz on Sept. 28. Residents and security forces alike said police largely melted away without much of a fight, while army troops were too far away to quickly respond. Sgt. Abdul Ghani, who commands an American-made Mobile Strike Force Vehicle, was among the reinforcements
dispatched to the city on the first day to try to stem the insurgent offensive. Driving into the city in their armored vehicles, the troops were ambushed by Taliban fighters. The soldiers returned fire with their vehicles’ turretmounted machine guns and grenade launchers, fighting their way out of a flurry of automatic gunfire and incoming rockets. In the face of the onslaught, Ghani said, his force of three vehicles fell back to the base at the old fortress Bala Hisar, north of the city. As Taliban fighters closed in on the besieged troops and police at the fortress, the defenders collapsed. Some ran away, and dozens reportedly surrendered. Ghani said his trucks, packed with soldiers, burst from the base and rammed through several insurgent roadblocks before escaping to rejoin the majority of the city’s defenders, who had retreated to the airport and a nearby army base south of Kunduz. Other security forces weren’t so lucky. In the burned-out remains of a police station, officers told of a lightning Taliban assault that left at least eight of their colleagues dead. Among other shortcomings, Afghan National Defense and Security Forces are often plagued by poor coordination, and are known for staying in static defensive positions like checkpoints and bases, the top American and coalition commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Campbell, told Congress last week.
An Afghan commander examines damage to his armored fighting vehicle caused by a Taliban rocket during battles in Kunduz.
PHOTOS
BY
JOSH SMITH /Stars and Stripes
Headquarters staff for the Afghan army’s 2nd Brigade, 209th Corps, set up a forward command post in a vast cemetery on the outskirts of Kunduz city during a clearing operation Saturday. “In general, I would characterize the ANDSF’s performance this fighting season as uneven and inconsistent,” he said, arguing that Afghan leaders will need to learn how to better decide “when to take the offensive, when to defend, and where to assume risk.” “They do not possess the necessary combat power and numbers to protect every part of the country,” Campbell said. “This makes it very difficult for the ANDSF to counter the Taliban’s ability to temporarily mass, seize an objective, and then blend back into the population when confronted with an ANDSF counterattack.” The already overstretched Afghan troops are being asked to defend an increasing number of areas. According to The New York Times, the United Nations estimates that the Taliban have spread through more of the country
than at any point since 2001, challenging contentions by Campbell and other military officials that the government still controls “nearly all” of the district centers. The Taliban advances in the face of struggling security forces have also drawn American troops into the fight. U.S. special operations troops in Kunduz conducted night raids alongside Afghan commandos, and American airstrikes are credited with helping prevent a total government loss in Kunduz. The increased fighting in urban areas has exacted a terrible toll on the civilians caught in the crossfire. An American airstrike reportedly called in by U.S. special forces on Oct. 3 struck a charity hospital, killing at least 22 medical staff and patients, some of whom burned to death in their beds. Aid organizations also reported abuses by Taliban
fighters as they stormed into the city. The debacle in Kunduz is a dire warning of what could come as the Taliban attack more cities, said Jason Lyall, director of the Political Violence Field Lab at Yale University. “In particular, the operation shed light on the poor morale of the ANSF and their lack of coordination with local militia and among senior commanders,” Lyall said. “Figuring out whether the ANSF will fight, and what the local populations will do when the Taliban arrive, will be key lessons if the Taliban shift to more urban operations. Since many key urban centers are now partly or mostly encircled, this may represent the next phase of the war.” Farshad Usayn and Zubair Babakarkhail contributed to this report. smith.josh@stripes.com
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MILITARY
McHugh: Army on ‘ragged edge’ of readiness BY COREY DICKSTEIN Stars and Stripes
WASHINGTON — The Army’s top civilian on Monday urged Congress to provide the military every cent it can as instability around the world forces soldiers to expand their training to combat increasing threats. Army Secretary John McHugh said Monday that the number of missions and the questions about money have left U.S. forces at “the ragged edge” of its ability to prepare. Unpredicted fighting around the globe following the U.S. drawdowns in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the rise of the Islamic State group, Russian intervention in eastern Ukraine and the rapid rise of terrorism in Africa, have forced the Army to spend more money on training soldiers to withstand a wider variety of threats, McHugh said, speaking at the annual conference of the Association of the United States Army. Outside the United States, the Army has about 180,000 soldiers stationed in some 140 locations serving on dozens of missions, which include advising Afghan and Iraqi security forces, reassuring NATO
allies in Eastern Europe and training alongside partners in South Korea and Japan. Those missions have stretched U.S. forces and become more tenuous with the lingering uncertainty about the defense budget and a stopgap resolution to keep the federal government open, which is set to expire Dec. 11. McHugh said the number of missions and the questions about money has left U.S. forces at “the ragged edge” of its ability to prepare. “We are in an extraordinarily rare position in American history where are our budgets are coming down but our missions are going up,” he said, noting the Army operates on a$120 billion budget, which has decreased from a high of $144 billion in 2010. “My greatest fear is what comes next — what don’t we see that’s heading toward us at this moment? What don’t we see that will face us and our allies? And, will we be agile and ready enough?” Gen. Mark Milley, Army Chief of Staff, listed Army readiness as his No. 1 priority since he became the service’s top officer in August. “The world outside the boundaries of the United States
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Military mail used to smuggle marijuana C OREY D ICKSTEIN /Stars and Stripes
Secretary of the Army John McHugh, left, and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley speak at the AUSA conference in Washington on Monday. — the velocity of instability is increasing as we sit here … it is increasing,” Milley said Monday, speaking alongside McHugh. “There are a lot of things going on around the world today that present a very real threat to the security of the United States and the security of our interests… So as we look to the future, it’s incumbent that we maintain our abilities and capacities as a military.” For the Army, it means shifting its training focus from the counter insurgency operations its conducted in Iraq and Afghanistan the last 14 years to focusing on a “hybrid threat” — terrorism and conventional warfare with near-peer forces from nation-states, Milley said. That’s forced a major shift in training focus and increased partnership with National Guard and Reserve units. “We’re an Army of 18 divisions, not an Army of 32 brigades and 10 divisions,” Milley said, counting the Reserve and Guard units. “We’re 18 divisions and 60 brigades. We’re 980,000 strong today, not 490,000 strong. We’re a total Army with three components. And that’s fundamental.” At major training centers
This publication is a compilation of stories from Stars and Stripes, the editorially independent newspaper authorized by the Department of Defense for members of the military community. The contents of Stars and Stripes are unofficial, and are not to be considered as the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. government, including the Defense Department or the military services. The U.S. Edition of Stars and Stripes is published jointly by Stars and Stripes and this newspaper. The appearance of advertising in this publication, including inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsement by the DOD or Stars and Stripes of the products or services advertised. Products or services advertised in this publication shall be made available for purchase, use, or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, physical handicap, political affiliation, or any other nonmerit factor of the purchaser, user, or patron.
© Stars and Stripes, 2015
BY SETH ROBSON Stars and Stripes
— such as the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., or the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk in Louisiana — where soldiers have spent the last 14 years focusing on countering insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan, newly designed “decisive action” rotations have included regular Army units working with Reserve and National Guard units to prepare to face an enemy with similar capabilities. That type of “tough, realistic training” conducted by all three Army components is the only way to ensure the Army is prepared for its next battle, said Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of the Army Forces Command. “Over the last 14 years, we’ve demonstrated that the United States Army cannot meet the demands of the nation without the total force,” Abrams said at the AUSA conference. “… There are countless examples of successful partnerships that are contributing significantly to building readiness. It is through these types of exercises that we build readiness together.” Only through training, Milley said, will the Army be ready to operate on the ground. “At the end of the day, the first and opening shots of any conflict are likely fired from the sea or from the air, but the final shots are usually delivered on the ground — delivered by soldiers or Marines, or Special Forces soldiers,” the general said. “… Ultimately wars are decided on the ground, (and) at the end of the day it’s still going to be necessary to close with and destroy your enemy.”
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Smugglers used U.S. military mail to bring 3.7 pounds of marijuana into Japan through Yokota Air Base — home of U.S. Forces Japan in western Tokyo, according to U.S. and Japanese officials. “Japanese customs officials at Yokota Air Base discovered marijuana being sent to an APO box in September,” Yokota officials said Tuesday in a statement. Japan’s National Police Agency and the U.S. military were immediately notified, and Tokyo Metropolitan Police are leading the investigation, the statement said. The marijuana, valued at 8.5 million yen, or $71,000, originated in Canada, Japanese broadcaster TBS reported. The package was sent as unofficial mail to a U.S. servicemember who was unaware of its contents, according to police quoted by Japanese broadcaster NHK. The servicemember handed the package to a Japanese national who passed it to a citizen of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines at Kodaira Station in Tokyo, according to the NHK report. Both were arrested. Smugglers have used the military mail system to send drugs across international borders in the past. In the statement, Yokota officials said they work with Japanese agencies to prevent and investigate any and all forms of potentially illegal activities. “While third parties may occasionally attempt to circumvent the law, we continually educate our airmen on APO guidelines, vigilance, and the (uniform code of military justice),” the statement said. “Should violations occur, they are addressed immediately.”
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robson.seth@stripes.com Twitter: @SethRobson1
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