Photo By Lt. Col. Kurt Stahl | U.S. Marines patrol to the small town of Dahanah neighboring Now Zad, Helmand...... read more read more
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DAHANAH, Helmand Province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan — Now Zad has come to be known recently as an abandoned city marked by intense fighting between Taliban militants and U.S. Marines, but there is more to the battlefield here than the regular firefights alone.
While Now Zad has been abandoned by its former civilian population, a civilian populace does exist in neighboring towns.
The Marines of 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Company G regularly transfer between kinetic operations in Now Zad and relationship building with the residents of surrounding communities. On June 25, the Marines conducted one patrol for this purpose to a neighboring village called Dahanah.
"This patrol was significant because it was one of the first times that any U.S. or NATO force visited this particular village, and there is no doubt that the town is controlled by the Taliban," said 1st Lt. Jared Sprunk, an infantry officer with Co. G.
The Marines met with one of the village elders over some food he offered, and they engaged in open conversation to try and understand one another better.
"Offering food was significant because it is a sign of welcoming in traditional Afghan culture," Sprunk said. "This was the first time we have been offered food in any of the towns around Now Zad."
The Marines considered the conversations to be very productive, and they were impressed that the village elder felt comfortable accepting their gifts with the Taliban observing the meeting from only a couple hundred meters away, according to Sprunk. "I think it shows that the people here are willing to work with us," he said.
On the return from this particular meeting, the patrol received small arms fire after only traveling about 500 meters from the town they were just visiting. The direct fire did not last long enough to determine where it originated, so the patrol was unable get positive identification of the enemy and return fire.
Even though they were not able to engage the enemy on this occasion, the patrol showed the neutral population that the Marines are here to help Afghanistan, according to Sprunk. "It puts a human face on who we are, and it may make them less likely to help the Taliban," he said. "We are doing everything here — the full spectrum of counter insurgency operations."
"It was the perfect example of a counter-insurgency fight — one minute we are talking with friendly villagers; five minutes later the Taliban is shooting at us," said 2nd Lt. Malachi Bennett, a platoon commander with Co. G.
The progress here is not immediate, but it is steady. U.S. Marines with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, and 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, have operated in Now Zad over the past year, and each unit made significant advances.
"We are building on the efforts of the last two companies of Marines that were here," Sprunk said. "We are just now getting to the point where we can interact with the populace in the area, and we are able to do this because the Marines with 2/7 and 3/8 did such a good job of pushing the Taliban back."
| Date Taken: | 06.26.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 07.02.2009 07:22 |
| Story ID: | 35876 |
| Location: | DAHANAH, AF |
| Web Views: | 728 |
| Downloads: | 599 |
This work, Now Zad Marines conduct counter insurgency operations, by LTC Kurt Stahl, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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