AND for your post 650
(A long time Canteen tradition on 50 and 100 posts.)
YOUR POST 650
What about Repo Man?
Thanks, ArcLight, for stopping in with your movie pick.
Marine from 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment help to repair a town in Afganistan. The Marines, alongside local and American contractors, installed electricity, billeting, head facilities, and numerous other improvements to insure that the base would be able to house follow on units for years to come. Photo by: Capt. Brendan G. Heatherman, Assistant Operations Officer 3rd Battallion, 6th Marine Regiment
3/6 Marines rebuild, provide security for Afghanistan town
Submitted by: Marine Forces Pacific
Story Identification #: 2004730181727
Story by Capt. Brendan G. Heatherman
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (July 26, 2004) -- The town of Surobi isn’t much different than any other village in Afghanistan. Roughly forty-five miles east of Kabul, the town pours down from a mountain into a riverbed where villagers bathe, wash clothes, and seek relief from the relentless summer heat.
The bazaar along the hectic main road through town is typically packed with colorfully painted trucks, half-starved livestock, and shoppers with children making their way through their daily routine. Shopkeepers peddle their trinkets, linens, and Pepsi Colas to truck drivers and taxi cabs making their way from Kabul to Jalalabad and back, toiling along the brutal, unimproved road.
Elsewhere in town, scores of children flock to poorly maintained and equipped schools, the sick seek help from the town doctor, who is regrettably ill-equipped, and women carry their babies on the side-roads.
It’s a difficult life for the people, compounded by the fact that evil men of the old regime lurk in the hills surrounding the town, terrorizing the people who strive for nothing more than progress.
The terrorists burn schools and threaten potential voters. The people live with the realistic threat of the Taliban and Hizb-I-Islami terrorists within an arms reach of their families. It’s not much different from any other town in Afghanistan, with one exception…the presence of the men of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment.
Forward Operating Base Surobi lies just northwest of the town, nestled securely at the base of the Naghlo Dam, the major supplier of power for not only Surobi, but also the capitol city of Kabul.
“Our mission here is to provide security for the district and provide civil, military and humanitarian assistance to the people,” said Capt. Conlon Carabine, Headquarters and Service Company commander and camp commandant for the base.
“Our presence here has been extremely helpful to the people and to the district police and highway patrol,” he added.
Gen. Dauod, Surobi district police chief agrees. “The Marines have helped rebuild our town and keep the Taliban from threatening the area,” he said. “I consider them friends.”
The mission introduces a new concept to the Marines, one that they will need a period of time adjusting to.
The concept is to disrupt enemy operations in the district using the combined arms effect of combat and humanitarian operations, two seemingly exclusive methods used simultaneously.
The base overlooks a swift-flowing river sweeping out from the dam, high mountains, and rusted, hulking relics from the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan from several decades ago. The base itself is a former retreat for the wealthy in the area and was once served as headquarters for Gilbuddin Hikmatyar, the leader and founder of Hizb-I-Islami, one of the major terrorist organizations in the country. The Marine contingent arrived in the town in May, relieved a detachment from 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, who had been in the area for more than a month.
ArcLight.....#650!!