On the Ground In Helmand, Afghanistan

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An F/A-18C Hornet, assigned to the "Stingers" of Strike Fighter Squadron 113, holds in the port observation position on a British Royal Air Force L-1011 refueling aircraft while another Hornet from Carrier Air Wing 14 takes on fuel over Southern Afghanistan, Oct. 9, 2008. The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and CVW 14 are providing support to coalition forces on the ground in Afghanistan. U.S. Navy photo by Cmdr. Erik Etz

Afghanistan Diary: Mapping The Human Terrain
In Helmand, Part I -- The Danger Room

After over a month of heavy fighting in Garmsir district, southern Helmand province, Marines of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit settled down to the tedious routines of counterinsurgency. They carried out a census in the surrounding villages – “mapping the human terrain,” they call it – and started conducting security patrols. Contact with the enemy was sporadic: the occasional “pop shot” with small arms or RPG fire or roadside bomb. One of the Marines' hulking Mine-Resistant, Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles was hit by what was described to me as “a little baby IED” but other, potentially deadlier, devices had been discovered, like double-stacked antitank mines.

On a late August evening, I tagged along with a rifle platoon on a patrol of one of the villages. At the point of departure, Sergeant Samuel Grammer’s voice crackled over the radio: “Mitchell, did you bring flex cuffs?”

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My Comment: I wish there were more on the ground stories like this.