bobdina
05-17-2010, 12:46 PM
Marines expanding their Afghanistan combat territory
Commander of leatherneck forces says tough fight awaits his troops
By MARK WALKER - mlwalker@nctimes.com | Posted: May 16, 2010 8:03 pm | (3) Comments | Print
U.S. Marines are expanding their combat territory to include two more Afghanistan provinces as their commander predicts a tough fighting season ahead.
Maj. Gen. Richard Mills said Friday that a new regional command he is overseeing will include Helmand province, where the Marines have focused their efforts for the last two years, and Nimruz and Farrah provinces to the west and northwest. The expansion roughly triples the size of the Marines' combat territory.
"We'll be taking on that new mission ... and we'll have two main ground combat elements," Mills said during a videoconference from his headquarters at Camp Leatherneck, a 443-acre Marine enclave within the main British Afghanistan base of Camp Bastion. The official announcement about the command is expected on July 1 .
Mills, who heads Camp Pendleton's 1st Marine Division, assumed command of Marine forces on the ground in Afghanistan about a month ago.
Nearly 20,000 Marines are now serving in Afghanistan, about twice the number from just a few months ago. Mills' forces have greatly expanded their operations up and down the Helmand River Valley, a key strategic area for insurgent Taliban forces and one of the primary poppy production areas.
Mills said that while "tremendous progress" has been made, the post-poppy harvest fighting season will exact a toll.
"We have some tough fighting in front of us and some sacrifices we are going to have to make," the 59-year-old general told reporters gathered inside a Camp Pendleton conference room.
Commanders such as Mills are facing a July 2011 timeline outlined by President Barack Obama to begin bringing U.S. forces home from the war, now in its ninth year. That's adding pressure to speed the development of the Afghan army and police forces as well as create a more effective and less corrupt central government.
"This is going to be a critical year," Mills said, acknowledging the next 13 months are crucial in determining how much progress U.S. and coalition forces can make in weakening the Taliban. "The key to any timeline is the manning and progress on the capability of the Afghan forces ... and the Afghan people to take over and conduct their own affairs."
Absent a negotiated settlement, many military experts have said that U.S. and NATO forces will need five more years to defeat the Taliban.
Mills, who saw his first combat action during two tours of duty in Iraq, didn't put a number of years on it, but he acknowledged the job won't be over when he's due to come home in spring 2011.
"There's a job to be done here, and it's going to take some time to do it," he said. "What you have to do in this part of the world is manage expectations. You have to make sure that people understand what progress is and what the possible end state is, and that's a challenge."
Two from Camp Pendleton killed
The toll Mills and other U.S. commanders, including Obama, have predicted will rise in the coming weeks is already at hand for the Marine Corps. At least six Marines have been killed in the last two weeks, including the first two from Camp Pendleton.
The two Pendleton troops, Cpl. Jeffery W. Johnson of Tomball, Texas, and Sgt. Kenneth B. May Jr. of Kilgore, Texas, died in Helmand on Wednesday from injuries suffered in a roadside bombing.
Johnson and May had five combat deployments combined and are the first troops killed since more than 9,000 Marines from Camp Pendleton and nearby Miramar Marine Corps Air Station arrived in the south-central province earlier this spring.
Helmand situation
Despite the recent deaths, Mills cited steady gains in clearing and holding more areas of the expansive Helmand province.
"We are occupying many of the population centers, and within those centers we are making progress in governance, economic development and security."
The towns of Marjah and Now Zad are examples where Marines have rooted out the Taliban in recent months and established rapport with tribal elders. That leads to tips on where Taliban fighters are located and where roadside bombs, the weapons responsible for about two-thirds of all troop deaths and injuries, are buried.
"We now have success stories like that up and down the valley," Mills said during the videoconference that started at 10 p.m. local time in Afghanistan.
He had particular praise for female Marines, who make up about 7 percent of his troops. Female "engagement teams" working with Afghan women have been able to develop a wealth of important tips, he said.
"It's opened up a whole new area for us," Mills said. "They are gathering valuable intelligence and ... have been a tremendous benefit to us across the board."
Women also are piloting aircraft, driving trucks in convoys and performing a variety of other support tasks. U.S. policy forbids women from direct combat assignments.
Poppy fight
Poppy cultivation that expanded greatly when the Taliban controlled the Afghan government continues to provide the insurgency with the money to pay its fighters and purchase arms and bomb materials.
While the Marines are not directly going after the opium or heroin it produces, Mills said that 5 tons of raw opium have been seized in recent weeks and that coalition forces have cut poppy production roughly in half.
Farmers have said they will switch to crops such as wheat rather than poppy, said Mills, who joined the Marine Corps 34 years ago after spending a couple of years in the construction industry.
Call staff writer Mark Walker at 760-740-3529.
http://www.marines.mil/Pages/Default.aspx
Commander of leatherneck forces says tough fight awaits his troops
By MARK WALKER - mlwalker@nctimes.com | Posted: May 16, 2010 8:03 pm | (3) Comments | Print
U.S. Marines are expanding their combat territory to include two more Afghanistan provinces as their commander predicts a tough fighting season ahead.
Maj. Gen. Richard Mills said Friday that a new regional command he is overseeing will include Helmand province, where the Marines have focused their efforts for the last two years, and Nimruz and Farrah provinces to the west and northwest. The expansion roughly triples the size of the Marines' combat territory.
"We'll be taking on that new mission ... and we'll have two main ground combat elements," Mills said during a videoconference from his headquarters at Camp Leatherneck, a 443-acre Marine enclave within the main British Afghanistan base of Camp Bastion. The official announcement about the command is expected on July 1 .
Mills, who heads Camp Pendleton's 1st Marine Division, assumed command of Marine forces on the ground in Afghanistan about a month ago.
Nearly 20,000 Marines are now serving in Afghanistan, about twice the number from just a few months ago. Mills' forces have greatly expanded their operations up and down the Helmand River Valley, a key strategic area for insurgent Taliban forces and one of the primary poppy production areas.
Mills said that while "tremendous progress" has been made, the post-poppy harvest fighting season will exact a toll.
"We have some tough fighting in front of us and some sacrifices we are going to have to make," the 59-year-old general told reporters gathered inside a Camp Pendleton conference room.
Commanders such as Mills are facing a July 2011 timeline outlined by President Barack Obama to begin bringing U.S. forces home from the war, now in its ninth year. That's adding pressure to speed the development of the Afghan army and police forces as well as create a more effective and less corrupt central government.
"This is going to be a critical year," Mills said, acknowledging the next 13 months are crucial in determining how much progress U.S. and coalition forces can make in weakening the Taliban. "The key to any timeline is the manning and progress on the capability of the Afghan forces ... and the Afghan people to take over and conduct their own affairs."
Absent a negotiated settlement, many military experts have said that U.S. and NATO forces will need five more years to defeat the Taliban.
Mills, who saw his first combat action during two tours of duty in Iraq, didn't put a number of years on it, but he acknowledged the job won't be over when he's due to come home in spring 2011.
"There's a job to be done here, and it's going to take some time to do it," he said. "What you have to do in this part of the world is manage expectations. You have to make sure that people understand what progress is and what the possible end state is, and that's a challenge."
Two from Camp Pendleton killed
The toll Mills and other U.S. commanders, including Obama, have predicted will rise in the coming weeks is already at hand for the Marine Corps. At least six Marines have been killed in the last two weeks, including the first two from Camp Pendleton.
The two Pendleton troops, Cpl. Jeffery W. Johnson of Tomball, Texas, and Sgt. Kenneth B. May Jr. of Kilgore, Texas, died in Helmand on Wednesday from injuries suffered in a roadside bombing.
Johnson and May had five combat deployments combined and are the first troops killed since more than 9,000 Marines from Camp Pendleton and nearby Miramar Marine Corps Air Station arrived in the south-central province earlier this spring.
Helmand situation
Despite the recent deaths, Mills cited steady gains in clearing and holding more areas of the expansive Helmand province.
"We are occupying many of the population centers, and within those centers we are making progress in governance, economic development and security."
The towns of Marjah and Now Zad are examples where Marines have rooted out the Taliban in recent months and established rapport with tribal elders. That leads to tips on where Taliban fighters are located and where roadside bombs, the weapons responsible for about two-thirds of all troop deaths and injuries, are buried.
"We now have success stories like that up and down the valley," Mills said during the videoconference that started at 10 p.m. local time in Afghanistan.
He had particular praise for female Marines, who make up about 7 percent of his troops. Female "engagement teams" working with Afghan women have been able to develop a wealth of important tips, he said.
"It's opened up a whole new area for us," Mills said. "They are gathering valuable intelligence and ... have been a tremendous benefit to us across the board."
Women also are piloting aircraft, driving trucks in convoys and performing a variety of other support tasks. U.S. policy forbids women from direct combat assignments.
Poppy fight
Poppy cultivation that expanded greatly when the Taliban controlled the Afghan government continues to provide the insurgency with the money to pay its fighters and purchase arms and bomb materials.
While the Marines are not directly going after the opium or heroin it produces, Mills said that 5 tons of raw opium have been seized in recent weeks and that coalition forces have cut poppy production roughly in half.
Farmers have said they will switch to crops such as wheat rather than poppy, said Mills, who joined the Marine Corps 34 years ago after spending a couple of years in the construction industry.
Call staff writer Mark Walker at 760-740-3529.
http://www.marines.mil/Pages/Default.aspx