CF and Marines in the field in Afstan (plus Aussie and Brit updates)

Our troops maintaining a necessary presence:

At Afghan outpost, relative luxury of Kandahar is world away

PANJWAI DISTRICT, AFGHANISTAN — Warrant Officer Devin Ramos had flashbacks to Vietnam movies the first time he was dropped off by a helicopter at one of the tiny outposts the Canadian military has scattered throughout the Panjwai district.

"It reminded me of a little fort bristling with machine guns and wire," he said.
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The 34-year-old Edmonton-based soldier with the 3rd Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry has spent the bulk of his tour since he arrived in February stationed at outposts, and recently headed up the one in Zangabad.

The station, which is officially named Platoon House Boyes, opened late last year in an effort to hold ground in the hotly contested and turbulent Panjwai district and help train Afghan police. It is named in honour of Sergeant Jason Boyes who was killed in March after stepping on an explosive device a few hundred metres from the station...

At the outposts, there is no plumbing or mess halls or air conditioning, and daytime temperatures now top 40 C. Soldiers use a urinal and outhouse, complete with honey bags - plastic bags filled with waste...

Concerns about isolation have increased in recent weeks because road convoys to resupply the soldiers have become extremely rare as a result of concerns about improvised explosive devices [emphasis added], or roadside bombs. Soldiers are left to hike in and out of the volatile area with all their belongings. Supplies, including military rations, water and fuel, are delivered by helicopter drops...

When not out patrolling or meeting with locals, soldiers often work around the outpost, including building common areas. Nothing is wasted...

Despite the hardships, WO Ramos said the majority of soldiers who are stationed at the isolated stations are happy with their assignment.

"This is an adventure. It's something you'll remember. It's why you are in the army," he said.

US Marines taking back territory (the reporter, Carlotta Gall, has sometimes seemed to have an, er, attitude--see Update here):

Optimism Grows as Marines Push Against Taliban

GARMSER, Afghanistan — For two years British troops staked out a presence in this small district center in southern Afghanistan and fended off attacks from the Taliban. The constant firefights left it a ghost town, its bazaar broken and empty but for one baker, its houses and orchards reduced to rubble and weeds.

The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit patrolled the southern Afghanistan village of Hazarjoft on May 21. The unit is planning to move on in the next few weeks.

But it took the Marines, specifically the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, about 96 hours to clear out the Taliban in a fierce battle in the past month and push them back about 6 miles.

It was their first major combat operation since landing in March, and it stood in stark contrast to the events of a year earlier, when a Marine unit was removed in disgrace within weeks of arriving because its members shot and killed 19 civilians after a suicide bombing attack.

This time, the performance of the latest unit of marines, here in Afghanistan for seven months to help bolster NATO forces, will be under particular scrutiny. The NATO-led campaign against the Taliban has not only come under increasing pressure for its slow progress in curbing the insurgency, but it has also been widely criticized for the high numbers of civilian casualties in the fighting.

The marines’ drive against the Taliban in this large farming region is certainly not finished, and the Taliban have often been pushed out of areas in Afghanistan only to return in force later. But for the British forces and Afghan residents here, the result of the recent operation has been palpable...

After a month in the region, the marines have secured only half of a roughly six-square-mile area south of Garmser. Taliban forces operating out of two villages are still attacking the southern flank of the marines and are even creeping up to fire at British positions on the edge of the town.

But the bigger test will come in the next few weeks as the marines move on and the Afghans, supported by the British, take over [emphasis added]. The concern here is that the Taliban will try to blend in among the returning villagers and orchestrate attacks...

Update: I wonder how typical this is (brave officers to so publish):

Australian infantry troops are ashamed of their "second rate" role in Iraq and Afghanistan and want to see combat as well as protection and reconstruction roles, according to an army major who served in Iraq.

In an article titled "We Were Soldiers Once" in the latest edition of the Australian Army Journal, Major Jim Hammett, who served in Iraq, Somalia, East Timor, and Tonga, said some infantry soldiers were ashamed of wearing the Australian uniform.

"The restrictions placed on deployed elements as a result of force protection and national policies have, at times, made infantrymen ashamed of wearing their Australian uniform and regimental badge," Hammett wrote.

"(They) have resulted in the widespread perception that our army is plagued by institutional cowardice."

In a second article in the journal, Captain Greg Colton, second-in-command of Sydney's 3rd battalion, said troop morale had deteriorated because infantry were kept away from frontlines like "downtown Baghdad, Basra and Helmand province."

"There is a growing sense of frustration within the ranks of the infantry that regular infantry units are only receiving perceived second-rate operational taskings," wrote Colton...

Then there's this familiar problem, this time with the Brits:

Fears for patrol vehicles as blast kills serviceman in Afghanistan
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The underside of armoured vehicles deployed in Helmand has proven to be highly susceptible to mines buried by the Taleban, and the Ministry of Defence is preparing to add extra armour to key vehicles. The relatively new Viking armoured troop-carrying vehicle – which was built for the Royal Marines for use in Norway but is now being used across desert routes in northern Helmand – has proven to be vulnerable to the mines, which are suspected of being supplied from Iran. Five Vikings have been destroyed by mines...[more here]

Yet more:

Failing the troops in Afghanistan

I think we've done pretty well regarding our Army; now to get those Air Force Chinooks, Griffons and UAVs in the field in their support.