A Battlefield Tourist

Marines Prepare to “Surge” Into Afghanistan

Jan 11 at 1:01am by David Tate

Official movement is underway to send a surge force of 3,000 US Marines into southern Afghanistan, the Pentagon reported January 9th.  The move has been speculated and downplayed for months.  Reports are tapping the men and women of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), based at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina.  Their mission will most likely take them to southern Afghanistan, augmenting forces in time for the spring fighting season.
 
While US Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, has yet to approve the request due to concerns over a shortage of manpower, news released January 10th may make the decision much easier.   Maj. General Walter Gaskins told the Associated Press that violence has dropped so significantly in Anbar Province, that security for that region would be handed over to the Iraqis in March.  Gaskins currently leads all Marine and Army units in Anbar.

In October, Marine Corps Commandant, General James Conway, raised the idea that the Marines’ mission in Anbar was complete and that the Army should be given control of the province in order for the Marines to get back to their expeditionary mission.  Currently, I Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) based at Camp Pendleton, Ca. is assigned to Anbar for the first half of 2008 and is in the process of replacing II MEF Marines from Camp LeJeune.

History of the “Surge” Strategy in Afghanistan
 
The term “surge force” is most commonly associated with the war in Iraq; a term which gained great exposure when it was adopted by the Bush administration as a change in strategy for that conflict.  However, the first use of a “surge force” in the Global War on Terror happened in Afghanistan in the spring and summer of 2004.

At that time, Afghanistan was preparing for its first free presidential election in its history.  In order to stabilize the Taliban sanctuary of northern Kandahar Province and southern Oruzgan Province, more than 1,500 US Marines “surged” into the area in late April 2004 under the moniker, “Task Force Linebacker”.
 
Over the next three months, the MEU’s Battalion Landing Team (BLT 1/6) conducted 15 named operations throughout the area, culminating in July with a joint Marine/Army operation in the western Zabul/eastern Oruzgan area around the insurgent stronghold of Deh Chopan.  The unit was eventually withdrawn in August 2004.  
 
In the end, 22 MEU’s mission netted several tons of weapons and materials, killing a confirmed 101 insurgents with another 116 captured.  The unit also completed more than 100 civil affairs projects which included the treatment of over 2,100 medical and dental patients.

About the MEU’s mission, then overall commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Lt. General David Barno said, “Never in the history of Operation Enduring Freedom has there been an offensive operation like the one the 22nd MEU conducted. Never have we been this successful. You have made history here.”   In all, more than 60,000 Afghans were able to vote because of the Marines’ mission.

MEU Surge Force 2008
 
When the Marines land in Kandahar, they will be repeating a record-setting event for a Marine Expeditionary Unit, eventually pushing at least 550 miles inland from any major body of water, which is where the Marines’ support ships are located.  The MEU should be completely in country by April 2008.  If it is, it means the schedule they will be on is nearly identical to the timetable previously established by the 22nd MEU in 2004.

Expect advance elements of the MEU to land at Kandahar Airfield by early-March, with the remainder of the contingent following within a month.  While a rear element will most likely stay at KAF, the bulk of the unit (at least 1,800 Marines) will most likely establish a permanent FOB from which their command element will operate and the Battalion Landing Team will use as a base of operations.

Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said the Marines would be used to, “.. bolster efforts to hold off another expected Taliban offensive in the spring.”  That characterization may be farthest from the truth as the Marines from the MEU’s Battalion Landing Team will be on a high-octane offensive designed to put a stop to any offensive before it starts.

Where the MEU eventually lands is obviously uncertain, but a near-certain bet is that they are destined for the place in northern Helmand/Kandahar, southern Oruzgan that contains the most number of known Taliban fighters.  While the Marines’ mission may officially be seven months in duration, combat operations will last no longer than three months, with the unit pulling out by September.