I found what looks to be an official blog by the 24th meu, so while i am not going to be updating this site for a while you can turn to the units official blog for updates and comments on their progress in Afghanistan.
April 9, 2008
March 2, 2008
The End…
Thank you to all of our visits over the past few months. I will be away for a number of months on business. I enjoyed the learning experience that came with this blog, and was glad to see the interest in the Marines of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. My flickr and youtube accounts will remain active if you want to continue to link or view them. The comment system will be changed to allow comments without approval.
Goodbye,
the24thmeu.wordpress.com admin
February 26, 2008
General Discusses Marine Deployment to Afghanistan
By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 26, 2008 – Nearly a third of the 3,200 Marines scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan next month will be stationed in NATO’s southern and western regional commands to train Afghan security forces to face upcoming threats, a top U.S. military official said today.
The bulk of the 1,000 outbound Marine trainers will be stationed at Regional Command South, part of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, and a “little bit” of the unit will deploy to Regional Command West, said Army Maj. Gen. David M. Rodriguez, commander of Combined Joint Task Force 82, based at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.
“That was the commander of ISAF’s request and desire, and I think it was mainly focused on what he thought was the biggest threat this coming spring,” Rodriguez told reporters during a Pentagon news conference.
Regional Command South, where an additional 2,200 Marines will land next month to assist counterinsurgency operations, controls task forces in the provinces of Uruzgan, Helmand, Kandahar and Zabul. Regional Command West includes Herat province, a swath of land along Afghanistan’s border with Iran.
Rodriguez, who also commanders NATO’s Regional Command East and the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, acknowledged that insurgent activity tends to increase in spring months as weather in Afghanistan moderates. The general said, however, that he does not characterize the uptick in enemy attacks as an “offensive.”
“We’re expecting the same type of things that (insurgents) did this year,” he said. “They will try to attack the Afghan security forces and the Afghan government leadership by both (improvised explosive devices and car bombs), as well as suicide bombers.”
(more…)
February 24, 2008
AFP: Hungry for action, US Marines relish Afghan mission
CAMP LEJEUNE, North Carolina (AFP) — Some of them have never left American soil, but at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, troops from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit say they can’t wait to be deployed to Afghanistan.
The unit’s 2,200 troops ship out in March to support the 50,000-strong NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in anticipation of a spring offensive by Taliban insurgents fighting especially in the south.
In the white corridor of one of their barracks, young Marines dressed in camouflage fatigues and with hair shaved joke with each other while they wait for an anthrax vaccination between exercises.
As they roll up the sleeves of their t-shirts, the medical becomes more of a tattoo competition — the needle piercing the arm of one recruit branded with the Marines’ symbol of an eagle perched on top of the globe.
It was the troops’ second shot to cover them in the event of a chemical attack, explained medic Dwayne Friday.
Nearby, in a large clearing in the middle of a pine forest, the Marines prepare to simulate an attack on their convoy. Wearing a beige fleece, Justin Whatley, 21, a new recruit from Mississippi, waits patiently in his Humvee.
Gates: Marines expecting fight from Taliban
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
(PressMediaWire) CANBERRA, Australia, Feb. 24, 2008 – The Taliban in Afghanistan will resort to more terror killings because they have been unsuccessful against NATO and U.S. troops in direct combat, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today. “What we are likely to see is more use of terror — killings of school teachers, local officials, things like that, the use of (improvised explosive devices) to try to sap the will of coalition partners as well as the Afghans and to bring discredit to the Afghan government because of its seemly inability to bring security to the rural areas,” Gates said at a roundtable discussion with U.S. and Australian reporters.
This has led to a change in the nature of the conflict in that region, he said. Gates said the Taliban is resorting to more insurgency-type tactics. “The Taliban has seen over the last year and a half or so that they cannot defeat the NATO or our forces in regular kinds of conflict where they bring scores or hundreds of people to battle. They lose all the time when they do that,” Gates said.
Gates lauded military successes in the region over the past few years, but said that gains could be compromised if troop strength isn’t sufficient to hold the gains. The Taliban occupy no territory in Afghanistan at this point nor have they won any military engagements.
“The problem is that, while we were able to clear the Taliban in certain areas when we had an operation, we don’t have enough force to be able hold some of those areas. It’s the same kind of problem we encountered in Iraq,” Gates said. “The way to deal with this long term clearly is (developing) the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police. So it has to be a partnership between ourselves and the Afghans, with more and more of the effort gradually shifting to the Afghans.”
February 23, 2008
AFP: US Marines prepare for ‘different kind of fight’ in Afghanistan
Having tried but failed to convince its allies to commit more troops to Afghanistan, the Pentagon last month ordered the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit based at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina to deploy in March.
They are due to arrive ahead of an expected spring offensive by the Taliban, who make use of very different tactics and terrain to the insurgents in Iraq.
“We are expecting a different kind of fight” than the type of attacks combat troops are used to dealing with in Iraq, said Captain David Lee, part of a reconnaissance unit attached to the Marines.
“In Iraq, the enemy was engaging us through IEDs (improvised explosive devices), they would run and hide,” said Lee. “In Afghanistan, the Taliban will come and shoot at us, get into a gunfight. We didn’t get a lot of that last time I was in Iraq.”
February 14, 2008
For these Marines, with misery comes espirit
David Wood, Baltimore Sun
In their last combat exercise before they get a week’s leave and then depart for Afghanistan, Marine Cpl. Marvelous (”Marv”) Agabi and his platoon found themselves thigh-deep in icy muck and molasses-colored swamp water, on a combat patrol that seemed to go nowhere for hours.
“No swamps in Afghanistan,” muttered Agabi as he slowly raised his leg to avoid losing his boot to the swamp. “That I know of,” he added as he plodded ahead.
Agabi, born in Nigeria, came to Maryland as a baby. Now, he’s a fire team leader and has done a combat tour in Iraq.
In the swamp was 1st platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, deploying to Afghanistan next month as the core of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
Afghanistan is indeed not known for its swamps. On the contrary, most of the time I’ve spent there I’ve been inhaling dust. But the icy cold that enveloped Agabi’s platoon last night, and the pouring rain that dumped on their makeshift patrol base in the woods near Camp Lejeune, had a high misery index.
But judging by the high spirits as we clambered out of the muck, maybe that’s the best preparation for Afghanistan. How is it that the harder Marines train, the more miserable they are, the sharper their humor and the more durable their esprit?
Maybe it’s a generational thing. But nobody mentioned the Big Muddy, either
February 11, 2008
JDN: Marines load ship for deployment
February 2, 2008 – 12:13AM
Getting hundreds of trucks, Humvees and other large pieces of machinery and gear onto a ship is not quite “as simple as snapping your fingers,” said Capt. Mark Windham, embarkation officer for the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit.Add a time crunch, and the task of becomes even more daunting, Windham said.But Windham, along with dozens of Marines, soldiers, longshoremen and other workers faced the challenge Friday – using their planning and packing skills to safely load more than 500 pieces onto the U.S.N.S. Algol.The packing process is one of the first steps in the unit’s road to Afghanistan. Just two weeks ago, MEU officials learned the unit will deploy to Afghanistan in the next two months in support of the NATO International Security Assistance Forces there. Roughly 800 other Marines based in Twentynine Palms, Calif., also will deploy at roughly the same time, though those Marines will work as trainers with the Afghan National Army.
The 24th MEU had been planning a deployment on the ships of the U.S.S. Nassau Strike Group, but when they learned they would be going to Afghanistan, it made more sense to send the gear on the U.S.N.S. Algol, said Capt. Kelly Frushour, public affairs officer for the 24th MEU.
The Algol – a vehicle cargo ship – was already on its way to the Middle East, carrying Mine-Resistant, Ambush-Protected (MRAP) vehicles for the Army, Frushour said. The ship had enough space for the MEU gear, so the Marines decided to use that ship and leave the Nassau ships available for other missions, she said.
The moving process began Monday, when Marines started driving their vehicles from Camp Lejeune down to the state port in Wilmington. On Friday, Marines staged the vehicles and other gear while port workers loaded the pieces onto the ship.
But the loading involves a complex plan, to make the weight evenly distributed on the ship and nothing is damaged, Windham said.
“I can’t just stack it up on the weather deck,” he said, referring to the top floor of the ship, which is exposed to the weather. “When we pull (the ship) off the pier, we don’t want it to sink.”
Marines from Landing Support Detachment, Combat Logistics Battalion 24 helped the process by controlling the equipment in the staging area, Windham said.
“Anything that’s going wrong, they’re fixing it. And if something’s going right, it’s because of them,” he said.
While the majority of the Marines and sailors of the 24th MEU won’t leave for at least a few weeks, Sgt. Billy Miller is one of a handful who is leaving with the ship – to ensure all the gear arrives safely.
The “super cargo” Marines explain how the vehicles work to the civilians loading them on the ship, make sure everything is loaded properly and fix anything that breaks en route, so everything is ready to go on arrival, Miller said.
For example, Miller said, a Humvee may seem like a regular truck, but it runs differently and an unfamiliar driver could mess up the engine. The super cargo Marines make sure that doesn’t happen, as well as finish up paperwork and mechanical work that couldn’t be completed because of the time crunch.
“Anything that doesn’t get done, we’ll do it,” Miller said.
February 10, 2008
Gates talks Afghan with Europe
Munich Conference on Security Policy (Munich, Germany)
As Delivered by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, Munich, Germany, Sunday, February 10, 2008
“There is little doubt that the mission in Afghanistan is unprecedented. It is, in fact, NATO’s first ground war and it is dramatically different than anything NATO has done before. However, on a conceptual level, I believe it falls squarely within the traditional bounds of the Alliance’s core purpose: to defend the security interests and values of the transatlantic community.
During the 1990s, even as we tried to predict what form the threats of the 21st century would take, Afghanistan was, in reality becoming exactly what we were discussing in theory. Subsequent events during the ensuing years have shown that:
· Instability and conflict abroad have the potential to spread and strike directly at the hearts of our nations;
· New technology and communications connect criminal and terrorist networks far and wide, and allow local problems to become regional and even global;
· Economic, social, and humanitarian problems caused by massive immigration flows radiate outward with little regard for national borders;
· A nexus between narcotics and terrorists increases the resources available to extremists in the region, while increasing the drug flow to European streets; and
· The presence of safe havens, combined with a lack of development and governance, allow Islamic extremists to turn a poisonous ideology into a global movement.”
February 6, 2008
LA Times: Afghan officials request Marines
KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — As the most powerful Afghan official in the troubled southern province of Kandahar, Ahmed Wali Karzai says he knows just how to tame the shadowy Taliban campaign of suicide bombs and assassinations that have raised the specter of a country sliding toward anarchy.
He wants more American soldiers on the ground.
“The Canadians are fine, but Americans are Americans — the mentality is different,” said Karzai, chairman of the provincial council in Kandahar where the Canadian-led military mission has struggled to contain the regrouped Taliban.
Amid the recent deluge of discouraging reports citing declining security in swaths of southern Afghanistan, Karzai’s is a rare voice of optimism, claiming that U.S. special forces already have begun to turn the tide in Kandahar with targeted strikes against individual commanders of the fundamentalist group, which was ousted from power six years ago.
“These operations are extremely quiet. They cause no civilian casualties and no damage to the villages,” said Karzai, whose power derives in part from being the younger brother of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
“The Americans are very professional,” he said. “They go in; they get out. It’s just like you see in the movies.”
Karzai is about to get his wish for a greater American presence. About 3,200 U.S. Marines are set to deploy to Afghanistan in coming weeks, most of them ticketed for a seven-month stay in southern Afghanistan, the Taliban’s traditional heartland and home of its revived insurgency.
Beleaguered Canadians in Kandahar can’t wait for the Americans to arrive either. They acknowledge that their 2,500 troops have not been enough to create much of a footprint across the province. And they say they are not able to undertake regular patrols of the dangerous back roads in the fertile farming region outside the city of Kandahar, with the result that the Taliban now operates with impunity in some villages not far from the provincial capital.
February 4, 2008
MarineTimes: New Details of MEU’s Afghan Mission
The Corps will deploy 3,200 Marines to Afghanistan this spring as part of a “surge” offensive, marking its first large-scale deployment to the country since 2004.
The troop buildup is expected to last through October, Conway said.
“If there is a determination to send more Marines to Afghanistan, I would certainly be respectfully requesting that we reduce our presence in Iraq beyond the 1-to-1 to get us to a more likable ratio that our troops and their families can live with,” Conway said.
The Corps has “in recent days” finalized the missions for the Afghanistan deployments of Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and Twentynine Palms, Calif.-based 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, he said.
“The MEU will not hold ground, but they will have a tremendous reactionary capability in the south and in the east and where the commander may see a need for a rapid employment of forces,” he said. The battalion will hold onto terrain and work closely with the Afghan army and police forces.
February 2, 2008
January 29, 2008
State of the Union: Bush outlines Marines Afghan task
“In Afghanistan, America, our 25 NATO allies, and 15 partner nations are helping the Afghan people defend their freedom and rebuild their country. Thanks to the courage of these military and civilian personnel, a nation that was once a safe haven for al Qaeda is now a young democracy where boys and girls are going to school, new roads and hospitals are being built, and people are looking to the future with new hope. These successes must continue, so we’re adding 3,200 Marines to our forces in Afghanistan, where they will fight the terrorists and train the Afghan Army and police. Defeating the Taliban and al Qaeda is critical to our security, and I thank the Congress for supporting America’s vital mission in Afghanistan.”
– President George Bush, Jan 28, State of the Union.
January 28, 2008
BaltimoreSun: What has become of Afghanistan?
David Wood, Baltimore Sun
Ever since Afghanistan’s Taliban were swept from power by the spectacular teamwork of Special Forces, Marines and American air power, U.S. strategy there has been uncertain and uneven. Actually, it’s been lacking. Bush is sending reinforcements, but there’s no sign yet of a winning strategy. Especially here at Camp Lejeune, where I spent several days last week with the Marines of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. They’ve been given seven months to save Afghanistan – and no blueprint on how to do it.
For five years, the Bush White House has insisted that Afghanistan is NOT the central front of its Global War on Terrorism, and the Pentagon has dutifully followed by maintaining that Operation Enduring Freedom is an “economy of force” effort. Meaning, Afghanistan gets what’s left over from the “real” war in Iraq. Thus shoved onto the back burner, the enemy has metastisized into a bigger and better al-Qaeda and reconstituted Taliban that are shaking the foundations of nuclear-armed Pakistan, as well.
It isn’t just manpower or combat power that’s been short in Afghanistan, but ideas. How to stabilize the vast country beyond the fringes of Kabul where the government’s influence begins to fade? How to marginalize Taliban and al-Qaeda forces operating in and out of neighboring Pakistan? How to deal with poppies? How to help Afghanistan become a thriving nation and a bulwark against extremism?
Touring Afghanistan last year with Gen. James Conway, the Marine Corps commandant, I heard again and again from senior American commanders that they desperately needed if not a coherent strategy, at least more troops. I’ve spent time with U.S. forces on the ground in Afghanistan, and I know there are none better. But the best grunts in the world are handicapped if they are not operating under a coherent strategy. Ours have been handicapped.
Now, with mounting alarm that the United States could actually lose in Afghanistan, Bush has agreed to send in the Marines.
January 27, 2008
BlackAmericaWeb.com: Dealing with the 24th MEUs deployment
Date: Sunday, January 27, 2008
By: Sherrel Wheeler Stewart, BlackAmericaWeb.com
About 2,220 Marines and sailors, part of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit at Camp LeJeune, N.C., are getting ready to ship out this spring to Afghanistan. They’ll stay there at least seven months to boost combat troop levels in time for an expected Taliban offensive.
Since the war on terror began, thousands from Camp LeJeune, the gigantic military base near the coast of North Carolina, have been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. Many of them have returned. Some have not.
Camp LeJeune is the lifeblood for Jacksonville, N.C., the city that surrounds the camp. The base generates $3 billion in commerce each year, coming from payrolls and contracts let to support the structure required to train and equip Marines, according to base’s website. It is home to an active duty, dependent, retiree and civilian employee population of nearly 150,000 people.
The camp is spread out over 156,000 acres, with 11 miles of beach. It includes satellite facilities at Camp Geiger, Camp Johnson, Stone Bay and the Greater Sandy Run Training Area.
Troop levels for Afghanistan and Iraq
Iraq
2007:
January — 137,000
February — 138,000
March — 145,000
April — 144,600
May — 148,000
June — 155,300
July — 156,300
August — 164,000
September — 161,200
October — 166,000 (peaked during the month at 170,000)
November — 160,000
December — 156,000
2008:
As of Jan. 25 — 158,000
Projected for July — 135,000
Unofficial goal expressed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates for December 2008 — 100,000
Afghanistan
2007:
January — 26,000
February — 25,200
March — 24,300
April — 24,100
May — 26,500
June — 23,700
July — 23,800
August — 24,000
September — 24,500
October — 25,000
November — 25,000
December — 25,000
2008:
As of Jan. 25 — 28,000
Projected for March-April — 31,200
January 15, 2008
Official: USMC announces units for Afghanistan deployment
HEADQUARTERS MARINE CORPS — The Marine Corps will deploy approximately 3,200 Marines and sailors to Afghanistan in response to a specific request for additional forces from the NATO-International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) commander in Afghanistan.
These seven-month deployments are scheduled to begin this spring and will enable commanders in Afghanistan to maintain the initiative against the Taliban and reinforce NATO-ISAF.
The bulk of the additional forces will come from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Comprised of about 2,200 Marines and sailors, the MEU is scheduled to deploy aboard amphibious shipping. It will join Regional Command South and conduct full-spectrum operations.
Approximately 1,000 Marines will come from 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, from Twentynine Palms, Calif. The battalion will deploy by air and assist in the training and development of the Afghan National Security Forces.
These Marines will bring the total number of Marines deployed to Afghanistan to approximately 3,600. In addition, the Marine Corps is expected to maintain its presence in Iraq, currently with 23,000 Marines.
For more information, call the HQMC Media Branch at (703) 614-4309.
January 11, 2008
ArmyTimes: 3,000 Marines could be headed to Afghanistan
The Pentagon has received a U.S. Central Command request to send roughly 3,000 Marines to Afghanistan to bolster the combat troop-strapped NATO force and counter a possible spring offensive by Taliban insurgents.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who has expressed concern that six years of progress in Afghanistan could be reversed if NATO efforts falter, is expected to begin considering the request beginning Friday. He is not, however, expected to make a snap decision, according to press secretary Geoff Morrell.
“It is highly unlikely that he will approve this on the spot,” Morrell said Wednesday evening. “He has more thinking to do on this matter. It’s a serious commitment of additional troops. And he wants to discuss it with some additional people.”
The NATO International Security Assistance Force, now roughly 41,700 troops — 14,000 of them U.S. — bolsters efforts by the Afghan army and police forces to provide security and stability in war-torn country so its young government can rebuild and become more economically secure. A parallel effort by the U.S.-led Combined Joint Task Force 82 — 12,000 U.S. and 1,200 other coalition troops — focuses on defeating anti-government extremists. (more…)
