Training Afghans As Bullets Fly: A Young Marine’s Dream Job

Corporal Conroy at Firebase Vimoto. In Corporal Conroy's war, two Marines train Afghans in weapons, tactics, first aid, hygiene and leadership. They keep the firebase supplied with ammunition, water, batteries and food. Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

From New York Times:

FIREBASE VIMOTO, Afghanistan — Three stone houses and a cluster of sandbagged bunkers cling to a slope above the Korangal Valley, forming an oval perimeter roughly 75 yards long. The oval is reinforced with timber and ringed with concertina wire.

An Afghan flag flutters atop a tower where Afghan soldiers look out, ducking when rifle shots snap by.

This is Firebase Vimoto, named for Pfc. Timothy R. Vimoto, an American soldier killed in the valley two years ago. If all goes according to the Pentagon’s plan, this tiny perimeter — home to an Afghan platoon and two Marine Corps infantrymen — contains the future of Afghanistan. The Obama administration hopes that eventually the Afghan soldiers within will become self-sufficient, allowing the fight against the Taliban to be shifted to local hands.

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My Comment: For the past few months the New York Times has been writing dispatches on what American soldiers are doing on the front lines .... sigh .... this is about time.

The public deserves the right to know what our sons and daughters are doing in these wars .... blogs provide a useful resource, but it is news organizations such as the Times that can provide a more consistent and big picture point of view. I can only hope that more dispatches will be produced in the weeks and months ahead.