Marines, sailors guard edge of empire

Courtesy Photo | Marines from Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment quickly man the perimeter during an indirect fire attack against Camp Blessing. Blessing is the most remote manned Marine Corp post in Afghanistan and constantly receives enemy fire.  

IRAQ

01.10.2006

Courtesy Story

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MCB Hawaii
Sgt. Robert M. Storm

NANGALAM, Afghanistan (Oct. 2, 2005) -- Camp Blessing is arguably one of the most successful bases in Afghanistan. This is due to 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment who patrol the base, one of the most remote and smallest Marine Corps post in Afghanistan.

They have confiscated thousands of pounds of enemy munitions and captured numerous suspected anti-coalition militia personnel.

"We do our best to make ourselves parts of the community out here since we're so far away from other bases," said 1st Lt. Patrick E. Kinser, assault force commander, from Jonesville, Va. "We've established such a relationship with the local population that when we get attacked they get upset."

The Marines and sailors attribute much of their success to the way they treat the locals with respect. When villagers come forward at other bases, they may be taken in for questioning and held under guard, and they often don't return to give more information due to the perceived lack of respect. Many people that do have information often bypass closer bases and make a longer trip to Camp Blessing to give vital intelligence because of the respect they have of the Marines.

"We treat them with courtesy and respect. I can walk out the front gate, and the first 50 people I see know me by name, and I know them and who their families are," said 1st Lt. Matt D. Bartels, camp officer-in-charge, from Minneapolis, Minn. "They come to us with medical problems. Farmers that injure themselves and little kids that are hurt come to us, and our (corpsmen) patch them up as best they can. We even helped fix up a donkey that fell off a cliff because it was important to them."

The Marines and sailors at Camp Blessing have recovered twenty-seven weapons caches in the short four months they have been in country. The laundry list of recovered enemy weapons includes rocket propelled grenades with launchers, rifles and machineguns with thousands of rounds of ammunition, hundreds of mortar rounds with launching systems, explosives with detonators and hundreds of other items.

"We also routinely intercept traffic from enemy radios. We always invite them to the base for tea. They answer by cursing us in Pashto all the time; we always get a good laugh out of it," said Bartels.

"We're the only Marine self-ran post in Afghanistan because we're so isolated," said Gunnery Sgt. James L. Berger, camp gunnery sergeant, from Tampa Bay, Fla. "We do everything on our own out here. Our shower facilities and chow may not be as good as other bases, but we're Marines and sailors, so we're used to making do with less."

• Date Taken: 01.10.2006
• Date Posted: 01.10.2006 12:42
• Story ID: 5063
• Location: IQ