A Battlefield Tourist

24th MEU Extended in Afghanistan

Jul 3 at 3:03pm by David Tate

The 2,200 members of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Force (MEU) will be in Afghanistan a month longer than expected and are now due home in November instead of October.  That announcement came from Marine Colonel David Lapan to the Associated Press July 3rd.  The confirmation follows weeks of rumors that the Marines would be extended. 

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates also reiterated that the unit is a surge force and there are no plans to immediately replace the Marines when they finish their mission.   In 2004, the 22nd MEU was also extended a month before departing Afghanistan without replacement.

The extended month all but assures the Marines are destined for a new hot spot as things around Garmser, where the combat element of the MEU is concentrated, remain relatively quiet.  A Marine spokeswoman tells me that the situation is Garmser is considered “stable”.  However, sporadic contact with Taliban fighters still occurs along the Marines’ southern line. 

According to Captain Kelly Frushour, Battalion Landing Team (BLT) 1/6, spent most of May fighting the 120 degree heat while holding the key route from Garmser toward the Kandahar/Pakistani border, in the area east of the Helmand River.  The Taliban was wedged in between the Marines and the river to the west.  In late May, the Marines punched out south and west of their positions, clearing the area as they went.

With a majority of the insurgent population having been pushed out of the Marines’ current area of operations, most of June was spent by Marines conducting census patrols trying to determine who belongs and who doesn’t.  Security patrols also regularly turn up unexploded ordinance, weapons caches and IEDs.

Image:  BLT 1/6 during combat operations in early May.  Provided by 24th MEU Public Affairs.