Sangin Valley

This following is a story from our daily email updates about the area we are in - Sangin Valley.  Last year at this time the British were the main forces here, but were taking very heavy casualties and decided to back out.  So, naturally, the Marines said they would take the ball.  Can you imagine going to work everyday knowing that someone in your platoon has a good chance of stepping on an IED?  And when they do find an unexploded IED,  a group of men called EOD springs to action to defuse and/or detonate each and every one.
One word - Courage!

Medevac Helo over Sangin Valley

Marine Corps Times

By Gina Cavallaro

July 25

SANGIN, Afghanistan -- Lance Cpl. John Farias parked himself in front of a video camera June 2 and fumbled his way through a seven-minute greeting to his family in Texas. A rifleman with 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, he discussed the austere living conditions at his patrol base, and his craving for sushi.

Farias, 20, talked about the way Sangin -- easily the nastiest place left for Marines in Afghanistan’s Helmand province -- was forcing him to “grow up.” “If you don’t take your responsibility to the fullest,” he told the camera, “one of our friends might die.”

Three-and-a-half weeks later, Farias was killed when his squad came under enemy fire during a patrol in the Upper Sangin Valley. His video appeared on YouTube several days later.

As of July 13, Farias is one of 12 men assigned or attached to the battalion lost here since it arrived in March from Camp Pendleton, Calif. Marines engage the enemy directly, but improvised explosive devices remain the biggest threat, officials said.

“We’re taking more casualties than anybody else, but this isn’t Tarawa -- I’m not taking 50 per cent casualties,” said Lt. Col. Tom Savage, 1/5’s commander, referring to Marines’ epic fight in the South Pacific during World War II. “The sky isn’t falling in Sangin,” he said. “We’re going to take casualties this summer, but it’s because this place is a minefield.”

The mission here is straightforward: Hold on to gains made over the fall and winter by Camp Pendleton’s 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, which also took heavy casualties in Sangin. And although officials said things are better than they were last year at this time, when Marines replaced the British forces that had patrolled this area for years, the focus remains on security. So far, only fragile inroads have been made in allowing the local government to take hold.

The Helmand districts of Marjah and Garmser, once hotly contested areas that were cleared by Marines over the past 18 months, are close to making the transition to full Afghan government control, said Marine leaders operating in those areas. But Sangin is going to take time, effort, sacrifice and manpower.

Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, and members of 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, both out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., were sent to Sangin to supplement 1/5, inflating the battalion’s end strength to about 1,200. Another 40-plus replacement Marines were expected to arrive soon and help round out some of the squads hit hard by casualties.

There are thousands of IEDs within 1/5’s area of operations, which includes about 25 positions. And Savage’s Marines will never find them all, he said. Although they’ve unearthed nearly 400 unexploded bombs, more than 50 have been detonated by Marines on foot patrols, killing and wounding more than 100 troops.

Since the poppy and wheat harvests concluded, the Taliban have gone into high gear in their fight against Marines. The area, Savage said, is teeming with various enemy factions and is known as a commercial center for drug lords and other thugs who tax the population as a way of funding their activity. It’s profitable terrain that the Taliban want to keep at all costs.

June was a turning point. The Marines had been patrolling in relatively calm areas that seemed to light up overnight. More gunfights erupted, and dormant bombs began exploding underfoot, Savage said. It was as though the enemy had “unplugged IEDs” that were lying in wait while the harvests were finished, he said.

“This place is a sieve for the Taliban. There are literally thousands of IEDs here,” Savage said. “We find some but not all, and they keep putting in more. We just have to get through the summer fighting season.”

When Marine Corps Times arrived in Sangin in early July, Farias’ unit, 3rd Platoon, Bravo Company, had experienced the battalion’s toughest direct firefight to date, Savage said. He described the morale among those men as “not happy, but stoic.”

“Shooting back helps,” he added, referring to the frustration his troops feel when they’re targeted by IEDs, and unable to see or respond to their attackers.

Savage makes it a point to punch out often from the battalion headquarters at Forward Operating Base Jackson and visit his Marines when they’ve been in tough fights and taken losses.

“We talk a lot about the ‘hunter, not hunted’ mindset,” he said. “And it’s not just the Marines. A couple of platoon commanders have had a hard time with it. … The best thing is to get them right back out.”

Lance Cpl. Jack Woodworth, 22, was the only one left on his team in 3rd Platoon after the others were killed or wounded. He was put on the bench at FOB Jackson for almost a month before he was cleared to return to duty. Farias, whom he described as a close friend, was killed while Woodworth was still sidelined at Jackson. The two were looking forward to celebrating Farias’ 21st birthday when 1/5 returns home later this year.

“He was every average Marine: single, loved to party,” Woodworth said. “We were going to go out for his first legal drink when we got back.”

Capt. Ryan Hunt took command of Bravo Company on June 11 when the company’s commander was wounded by an IED. Hunt had been commander of Headquarters and Service Company, and, at the urging of Savage, had kept current on intelligence and activity throughout the AO.

“I knew it was more kinetic, morale was down. But we did a lot of talking about things, and they’re pulling together,” Hunt said of Bravo Company. “Some squads pulled together faster, but they’re all back in the fight and ready to close with and destroy the enemy.”

Bravo’s 1st Platoon is the hardest hit, Hunt said. But the experience has “bonded those guys.”

So far, Hunt has held a couple of “mini shuras” with local elders, but progress is slow. One held recently at Patrol Base Atoll, not far from Jackson, focused on security rather than deep government engagement. Nothing can happen here in earnest until the people feel safe to work with the district community council or the Americans.

Living conditions are rough at the company’s patrol bases, he said, and the Marines are often faced with drinking treated well water while on patrol because they can’t keep themselves supplied with enough bottled water at the base. The battalion pushes out supplies to the company as quickly as it can, he said, and they send help when it’s requested, whether it’s attack aircraft or intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets.

“Higher headquarters understands we’re fighting in a minefield, pretty much,” Hunt said. “The company gets air support when it needs it: rotary, fixed-wing, even armed ISR.”

Half of his squads are led by corporals, but he expects to be able to get sergeants into those slots once replacements trickle in.

On July 2, Woodworth loaded up his gear in a mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle and headed back with his guys from Bravo to Patrol Base Faheem, north of Jackson. Officials described it as the northernmost company positions in 1/5’s AO. The Marines’ objective there is to siphon enemy activity away from Sangin’s district center.

It’s treacherous up there. Farias died not far from Faheem, named for a fallen Afghan soldier, and Woodworth said he expected he’ll soon see more firefights and more carnage from IEDs.

“I can’t just stay here at Jackson,” he said. “I’m a leader of Marines. I want to go do my job.”