No More Hot Meals For U.S. Marines In Afghanistan

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The Drawdown Diet: Marines Steamed By Loss Of Hot Meal At Afghanistan Base -- NBC 

Marines at Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan will lose a key daily meal starting Saturday, causing some to forgo a hot breakfast and others to work six-plus hours without refueling on cooked food, according to Marines at the base and Marine Corps officials.

The midnight ration service — known there as “midrats" — supplies breakfast to Marines on midnight-to-noon shifts and dinner to Marines who are ending noon-to-midnight work periods.

It's described as one of the few times the Marines at Leatherneck can be together in one place. The base, which is located in Afghanistan’s southwestern Helmand Province, flanked by Iran and Pakistan, also will remove its 24-hour sandwich bar.

It plans to replace the dishes long offered at midnight with pre-packaged MREs, said Marine Corps Lt. Col. Cliff Gilmore, who has been deployed in Afghanistan since February.

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My Comment: An Army marches on it's stomach .... for these US Marines .... dinner is going to be cold.

U.S. Military Launches Probe Into Successful Taliban Attack At Camp Bastion That Destroyed A Squadron Of Marine AV-8B Harrier Jets

Image: The Camp Bastion attack involved three tightly choreographed teams of militants. New York Times

U.S. Military Launches Probe Into Deadly Assault In Afghanistan -- Washington Post

The U.S. military has launched a formal investigation into whether a two-star Marine Corps general and his subordinates bear responsibility for lax security at a large coalition base in southwestern Afghanistan where a Taliban ambush killed two Marines and destroyed a half-dozen U.S. fighter jets.

Although the attack last year resulted in the largest loss of allied materiel in the 11-year-long Afghan war, Maj. Gen. Charles Gurganus, then the top U.S. commander on the base, did not order a formal U.S. military investigation into the security lapses.

The Washington Post reported in April that British forces, who were responsible for security on the side of the base that was attacked, handed off the job of manning watchtowers to Tongan soldiers, who left several of the towers unmanned. Security patrols of the perimeter, which are conducted by the Marines, also had been scaled back substantially in the months leading up to the attack.

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Previous Posts On This Successful Taliban Attack At Camp Bastion That Destroyed A Squadron Of Marine AV-8B Harrier Jets

How The Taliban Succeeded In Penetrating Camp Bastian And Destroying Six U.S. Harrier Jump Jets -- September 17, 2012
U.S. Marine Harrier Squadron Commander Killed In Taliban Attack At Camp Bastion -- September 18, 2012
Inside Camp Bastion -- September 24, 2012
The Aftermath Of The Taliban Raid On Camp Bastion Is Still Being Felt -- September 25, 2013
The Battle At Camp Bastion As Told By Those Who Fought The Insurgents -- October 2, 2012
New Detials On The Taliban Attack Against Camp Bastion -- February 11, 2013

My Comment: Maj. Gen. Charles Gurganus .... who was the top U.S. commander on the base at the time ... is now slated for a third star. Hmmmm .... it looks like someone is in disagreement with this promotion.

One Last Patrol In Afghanistan

Staying Alive For One Last Patrol In Afghanistan -- David Zucchino, L.A. Times

Photography and video by Carolyn Cole
Reporting from KHOGIANO, Afghanistan

Minesweeper Kyle Klobuchar helps keep his comrades safe in Kandahar province for seven months. They've been shot at, but on their last mission the roadside bomb remains the biggest fear.

Spc. Kyle Klobuchar spends his days listening intently to the beeps, hums and warbles of a hand-held explosives detector known as a Minehound.

He likes to think of the tones as the warble of either a baby turkey, adolescent turkey or adult turkey. Each tone indicates the presence of metal, copper wire, explosives or other components of the roadside bombs known as IEDs.

So naturally Klobuchar's buddies in 3rd Platoon, Comanche Company gave him a nickname: the Bomb Whisperer.

In the seven months since arriving here in western Kandahar province, the easygoing 22-year-old from a small town in Minnesota had uncovered more than a dozen of the crude but lethal improvised explosive devices.

Now he was taking the lead on one more mission: the platoon's last combat patrol in Afghanistan before packing up and heading home.

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My Comment: No one wants to be a casualty .... and more to the point .... not on the last mission/patrol in Afghanistan. But with foreign forces now committed to leaving Afghanistan this mindset is now changing .... no one wants to be the last soldier killed in that country.

Remembering The Heroes Of A Forgotten War

Alpha Team Renegade from left Tom Murach, Brandon Prescott, Frankie Phillips and Kevin Cardoza. (Via Facebook)

Heroes Of A Forgotten War -- Michael Daly, Daily Beast

Though it’s all too easy to ignore, the conflict in Afghanistan continues to claim the lives of great Americans. Michael Daly on some of the soldiers we lost in May.

Earlier this month, the whole country was touched and cheered by the video of 9-year-old Alayna Adams throwing out the first pitch at a Tampa Bay baseball game only to discover that the man behind the catcher’s mask was her father, back from a long deployment in Afghanistan.

Among the kids who will never see their father again are the six daughters and three sons of 14 American servicemen who have died this month in a faraway war that we seem to have forgotten before it even ended. They include the two young sons of Army Staff Sgt. Michael Simpson.

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My Comment: Words escape me ....

As U.S. Bases Close Down In Afghanistan, Coalition Troops Prepare To 'Rough-It'

U.S. Army Spc. Matt Cullen, right, conducts a mission brief before departing Forward Operating Base Farah for a meeting with the Farah City mayor at his office in Farah City, Afghanistan, May 14, 2013. Cullen is assigned to Provincial Reconstruction Team Farah. U.S. Navy photo by Chief Petty Officer Josh Ives

Coalition Troops Are Ready To ‘Rough It’ While Closing Afghan Bases -- Washington Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — Troops stationed at bases in Afghanistan enjoy some of the comforts of home: living quarters, bathroom facilities, cooked meals, even laundry and mail services.

But as the U.S.-led coalition withdraws, life will become more “expeditionary,” meaning troops will begin roughing it with fewer amenities, said the top engineer for U.S. and coalition forces.

“Does that mean we’re going to be with a rucksack and living in a tent, eating MREs three meals a day? No. There’s a gradual transition. Expeditionary standards do have a limit,” said Army Brig. Gen. Michael C. Wehr, referring to meals ready to eat — portable, foil-encased food that does not require cooking.

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My Comment: The most interesting line in this story comes from Army Brig. Gen. Michael C. Wehr ....

.... “I’m being a little bit tongue-in-cheek here, but Wi-Fi is the last thing to get cut,” Gen. Wehr said. “But my point is, there may be two hot meals and one meal ready to eat.”

If given a choice .... I suspect that most soldiers will be willing to sacrifice in having fewer amenities .... with the exception of one .... their internet connection back home.

Taliban Insurgents Are Starting To Test Afghan Forces

Credit: Alyson Hurt/NPR

Taliban Raid Tests Coalition's Surge Gains -- Wall Street Journal

KABUL—A large number of Taliban insurgents, aided by foreign fighters, have tried to overrun the district of Sangin in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, triggering a two-day battle that seemed to be abating by Tuesday night, Afghan officials said.

At least four Afghan policemen and several insurgents were killed in the clashes, some of the most serious combat since the Taliban launched their annual spring offensive last month.

Sangin, known for its opium production, has long been a Taliban redoubt. Helmand, including Sangin, was the focus of President Barack Obama's troop surge, with tens of thousands of U.S. Marines flooding the province in 2010-11.

In a separate attack on Tuesday, a roadside bombing killed seven Afghan policemen in the western province of Herat, a local government spokesman said.

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My Comment: I expect more Taliban raids from now to the eventual withdrawal of ISAF troops .... and when most of these troops are gone .... these same Taliban raids are going to escalate into major military operations and and holding of territory.

Reports Of A Major Taliban Offensive In Afghanistan Are Not True

Coalition Plays Down Afghan Reports Of Major Battle In Helmand -- New York Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban attacked Afghan police posts in a violent and long-contested corner of southern Afghanistan, setting off two days of clashes that left at least six police officers dead, Afghan officials said Tuesday, though the American-led coalition played down the violence as little more than “drive-by shootings.”

The Afghan government portrayed the fighting in the Sangin district of Helmand Province, which began Monday, as a major victory for its forces, with officials describing a massive Taliban effort to overrun the area. Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor, put the number of attackers at 1,000 and said Arab and Chechen insurgents — that is, Al Qaeda members — were fighting alongside the Taliban.

The Taliban also claimed to be engaged in a broad assault on Sangin, saying in a text message to reporters that insurgents had overrun three police posts and were close to taking more.

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Update: ISAF Statement on Media Report of 500 -1,000 Insurgents in Helmand Attacking Check Points -- ISAF

My Comment: When I first read of reports of a major Taliban offensive in Helmand province I was surprised .... the logistics of assembling 1,000 fighters and then coordinating a string of attacks is no easy feat. It now appears that initial reports were exaggerated, but this news story reveals how nervous everyone is in Afghanistan right now as ISAF forces prepare to leave.

The Tech Of The Army’s ‘Last’ Afghanistan Brigade

The robotic K-Max helicopter shown here in a file photo is flying re-supply missions in Afghanistan, opening up the era of unmanned logistics. Lockheed Martin

Robot Guns, Combat Facebook: The Tech Of The Army’s ‘Last’ Afghanistan Brigade -- Danger Room

The latest robots and high-tech electronic warfare, silently watching over soldiers as they sleep. Rickety but vital helicopters whose pilots devise new tactics to make up for aging hardware. Hand-carried devices that promise to end age-old battlefield dilemmas but end up causing more problems than they solve.

These are the most important techs in arguably the most important U.S. Army brigade in the waning months of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. The Texas-based 1st Brigade of the 1st Armored Division is the "last brigade" -- the final full-up combat unit with a major frontline role before American forces in Afghanistan switch to a strictly training and advisory role.

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My Comment: Quite a collection of impressive gear.