With things seemingly winding down in al Anbar, Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children are casting around for new work:
Marine Corps leaders are devising a plan to send thousands of additional combat troops to Afghanistan to wage aggressive warfare against the Taliban that they expect could take years.
The Marines would like to deploy more than 15,000 troops if Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, newly named head of the U.S. Central Command, approve. About 2,300 Marines have already been sent to Afghanistan to replace units from Twentynine Palms, Calif., and Camp Lejeune, N.C., that are returning home after eight months.
MajGen John Kelly commands 1 MEF (Forward) in Anbar, and insists that the decision to draw down from the formerly restless western Iraqi province will be made on its own merits, not on any eagerness to get into a new scrape, at least for his own part. Not all of those he commands appears to share his sympathies:
(MARFORCENT commander LtGen Samuel) Helland met with corporals and sergeants (in Iraq), several offered to reenlist if they could be assured of going to Afghanistan, where they face a much higher probability of engaging in combat.
For the Marines, there is a sense of unfinished business in Afghanistan. In early December 2001, soon after the Taliban government was routed, Marines were part of a plan to attack the mountains of the Tora Bora region where Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was believed to be.
But even as Marines waited at Kandahar airport to board helicopters, U.S. officials called off the attack, preferring that Afghan forces finish the task of capturing or killing Bin Laden and his top lieutenants. Instead, Bin Laden and many of the others escaped and are still at large.
More troops are definitely needed in Afghanistan, troops equally willing to make friends or fight, depending upon their reception. When it comes to such as these, Marines are tough to beat.
Still, the young Marines should be careful what they wish for: With battle stars come battle scars.
Speaking of which, the 2008 Valour-IT fundraiser is almost complete. If you haven’t given already, think it over. Think what you could do for a troop who laid it all on the line for you, and who sacrificed more than just his time.
Think what you could do with only five bucks.
I wouldn’t dream of linking my own blog if not for a good cause, but here’s a sample of what a stack of Fives contributed by you all could do… (scroll down).
Wow – this could have a serious impact on my closest friend and her family. One of her nephews is currently in al Anbar – and is a Marine eager to do what Marines do. He was very disappointed he wasn’t sent to Afghanistan. Bears close scrutiny that’s for sure.
Let not anyone be confused; this is an attempt to get the Marines out from under the Army in Iraq and consolidate them all in a MAF/MEF under a USMC 3-star all of their own so they can run their own show like they did in I-Corps in RVN–even if nominally under the aegis of an over-all (but distant) Army CINC.
Send em on, but no more REMFs, please. Ground troops, forward, only. All the better that they’re Marines.
Yeah Virgil, but I bet they like being under NATO even less…
Hell, Pogue, if they can ignore the Army–which they usually do–they can sure as hell ignore NATO!
VX, And just how does that historically immature/ chip on the shoulder attitude contribute to the accomplishment of the joint mission … ?? Best
Joint mission? What joint mission? With NATO?
VG: I don’t know that it’s so much a matter of ignoring NATO or Army as it is ‘interpreting’ the ROE, which has always been a Marine specialty. For them ‘Mission Accomplished. Aye, Aye. Sir’ is the sought after goal, not who’s happy about it or how it got done at mission’s end. Always worked for me and the rest of the bubbas…
Here’s another noteworthy place to go and donate, with actual interaction not only required but gratefully responded to: Marine You can branch out from there to donate to the Service and member of your choice. I’ve found it a great opportunity to make the whole OIF/OEF a very personal matter.
So many wonderful folks overseas really do enjoy hearing from us, and whatever we can send is always gratefully received. Take a moment, Gang. You’ll not be sorry.
Lex, a comment sent your way elsewhere.
V/R
Hey guys, I have nothing but respect for the USMC, and by dint of the fact that I spent a year in DaNang with the 1st MAW on the other side of the field and the 1st Mardiv HQ and III MAF HQ all around us, I probably have a greater appreciation and understanding of the Marine “MO” than the average USAF “zoomie,” I made the comments I did more with a chuckle than anything else. But having seen the machinations of the Marines to stay away from the grip of the AF during Operation Niagra at Khe Sanh when we took over the scheduling of Marine air under the “single-manager” system that was imposed upon them by the JCS at the behest of the AF, I think I have as better feel than many for the attitude the USMC holds about “joint” ops.
Look, you think it’s not political? When, after Tet, the Army presence was beefed up in I-Corps
with the 82nd and 101st and the 1st of the 5th Mech, the Army demanded a Corps designation
and got it, just to compete with Lt. General Chapman over at IIIMAF. It was designated 21st Corps, under Lt, Gen Crossen, USA. with HQ up at Hue-Phu Bai. To say that a pissin’ contest ensued between the two 3-stars with the USAF in control of all the air, is an understatement. And, while “jointness” has gotten better through the years (hey, I even managed to sneak in a Joint Service Commendation piece of bright colored ribbon thingee myself!) don’t tell me that the differing philosophies and force structures that follow from that and, in turn become part of the feedback loop that drives further policies, don’t
serve to create tensions during ANY joint ops.
All I was trying to do was to note the tendency of the Marines to remain independent–despite the fact they are often op-con’d under the Army as in under MacArthur in WWII and again in Korea. The CG of the 1st MARDIV in Korea is on record, btw, as saying that he never wanted to operate under the Army again, so difficult a time did he have with the differing philosophies of the Army Corps CG that he was under.
SOoooo…….All I was doing is observing that some things never change–much.
Joint mission? I thought they did away with the drug thingie… Of course, if Columbia is part of NATO now, that might mean something…
BHWAAHAHAHA!! It is to laugh, Mongo.