Face of Defense: Marine Recalls Camp Bastion Attack

By Marine Corps Sgt. James Mercure

Regional Command Southwest

AFGHANISTAN, Sept. 27, 2012 – “There was blood down my leg after I got shot,” recalled Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Ethan Burk, who was present during the Sept. 14 insurgent night attack on Camp Bastion here in Helmand province.

Burk, a hazardous materials management coordinator with Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward), was on his way to work when he heard the first rocket-propelled grenade explode behind him.

Avoiding the giant fireball from the explosion, he had driven straight into an ambush of heavily armed insurgents firing at his four-wheeled tractor, which had no armor to stop the barrage of bullets striking all around him.

“I could see the muzzle flashes from the corner of the compound,” said Burk, a Milford, Texas native. “That’s when I realized they were all aiming at me. I felt something hit my arm, but I thought I had just banged it on something. Then I rolled out of the [tractor] and ducked. When I reached for my rifle they started shooting at me again, and that’s when I realized they had a lot more firepower than I did because they were firing too fast for just regular AK-47s.”

Maneuvering behind a barrier, Burk could only see and judge the insurgents’ movements in the darkness by their muzzle flashes. So he pressed on, trying to use the flight line’s light to see where the insurgents had holed up so he could get the drop on them.

After moving to a covered position, one of his friends and the only other Marine in the area, Lance Cpl. Kevin Sommers, a cryogenics technician, jumped over a barrier and almost landed on top of Burk. The two Marines waited for the insurgents to try and flank them. When they didn’t, the pair climbed over concrete barriers to get better firing points at the enemy.

“Once we realized they weren’t coming after us, we jumped over the T-walls and cleared out the area behind the barriers. At that point the British [quick reaction force] showed up, and the [helicopters] were shooting from their main guns at the insurgents fighting position right overhead,” Burk said. “We flagged the soldiers down with a light and yelled ‘Marines, Marines, Marines’ to let them know the situation. The guy in charge of the British QRF told us to go get my arm checked out because he saw the blood on my uniform.”

After Burk and Sommers checked in for accountability, Burk went to a corpsman and found out he had been shot in the elbow by one of the insurgent’s machine gun rounds.

“After I had it X-rayed, they found two pieces of the bullet still lodged in my arm and they had to surgically remove it,” Burk explained. “After the whole ordeal, they asked if I wanted to go home because I was injured, and I told them I just got here, why would I want to go home?”

Force Arrests Taliban Leader Linked to Camp Bastion Attack

From an International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Release

KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 18, 2012 – An Afghan and coalition security force today arrested one of the Taliban leaders behind the Sept. 14 Camp Bastion attack, military officials reported.

The Taliban leader was taken into custody in Helmand province’s Nad-e Ali district following joint efforts by Afghan and coalition forces to track down the Taliban insurgents responsible for the attack, officials said. No civilians were harmed during the operation.

The Taliban leader is suspected to have provided support to the insurgents whose attack killed two International Security Assistance Force service members and caused damage to multiple aircraft. ISAF forces killed all but one of the attacking insurgents, who was wounded and is in ISAF custody.

The security force also detained two suspected insurgents as a result of this operation, officials said.

In other operations today:

-- A combined force arrested the leader of a Taliban attack cell and seized dozens of improvised explosive device-making components in the Nahr-e Shahi district of Balkh province. The arrested Taliban leader was known as an IED expert and is believed to deploy IEDs in frequent attacks in addition to providing them to other insurgents operating in the region.

-- An Afghan-led, coalition-supported force arrested a Haqqani network leader, detained two other suspects and seized several firearms in the Nadir Shah Kot district of Khost province. The Haqqani leader is suspected of planning and directing attacks throughout the region, often collaborating with senior Haqqani leaders in Pakistan. Prior to his arrest, he is believed to have orchestrated an IED attack that injured two Afghan soldiers.

-- A combined force killed an armed insurgent, detained another suspect, seized firearms and safely destroyed explosives during a search for a Haqqani leader in the Pul-e Alam district of Logar province. As the security force approached the leader’s suspected location, an armed insurgent maneuvered from the compound and opened fire on the Afghan and coalition troops. The security force returned fire, killing the armed insurgent. No civilians were harmed in the exchange.

NATO Chiefs Examine Afghan Campaign, Post-2014 Posture

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT – The NATO chiefs of defense had a good discussion on events in Afghanistan and alliance plans in the region, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said today.

Dempsey spoke aboard a C-40 aircraft taking him from Sibiu, Romania -- where the NATO Military Committee met -- to Ankara, Turkey.

The meeting was the first for the chiefs of defense since the Chicago Summit where alliance heads of state approved the NATO Strategic Plan for Afghanistan. The plan includes how the alliance will remain engaged in the country post-December 2014, when the NATO International Security Assistance Force mission ends.

ISAF commander Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen briefed the chiefs via video-teleconference. “He briefed on the campaign as well as his thinking of the timing of future decisions on things like the enduring presence and the rate at which the [NATO] forces will decline,” Dempsey said.

“This meeting was to validate the way ahead for the decisions to be made,” he said. Each nation will review its commitments, and the political leaders will decide how best to move forward.

It is important to note that the United States is not yet finished recovering the surge forces, which will happen by the end of this month. At that point, Allen will present his semi-annual campaign review.

“After the review and following the decisions made in Chicago, the analysis will be brought forward,” Dempsey said. “Sometime by the end of the year, I would expect, we would begin to have an idea of what our post-2014 presence [in Afghanistan] will be.”

With that information, Allen said he can make plans to get from 68,000 U.S. forces to the number needed on January 1, 2015.

The chiefs also discussed insider attacks -- where Afghan security forces, or those disguised as security forces, fire on coalition troops. There was another instance of that yesterday when a member of the Afghan Local Police allegedly killed two British soldiers.

“We’re all seized with [the insider attack] problem,” Dempsey said. “You can’t whitewash it. We can’t convince ourselves that we just have to work harder to get through it. Something has to change.”

Commanders in Afghanistan are doing all they can to reduce the problem -- vetting, counterintelligence agents in the force, a guardian angel program or changing the posture of the force.

“But we’ve got to make sure our Afghan counterparts are as seized about it as we are,” Dempsey said. “We have to get on top of this. It is a very serious threat to the campaign.”

The attack on Camp Bastion in Helmand province was not an example of an insider attack, Dempsey said.

“We pulled the intelligence string -- we and the Brits -- and the initial assessment is that it was a breach of the perimeter and there is no indication at this point that it was aided by anyone inside,” he said. “It’s really too soon to tell. We certainly need to continue to examine that.”

Two U.S. Navy Sailors to represent American Talent in British Talent Contest in Afghanistan

By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jonathan Carmichael, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 11 Public Affairs

HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan (NNS) -- Two Sailors assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 11 will compete with service members from the U.K. and U.S. in a talent contest, Aug. 31, 2012 being held on the British Camp, Bastion.

Logistics Specialist 2nd Class Laquita S. Brooks, and Construction Mechanic Constructionman Kevin E. Quarles were among six Americans awarded automatic entry in the British talent competition following a talent contest on Camp Leatherneck, Aug. 4.

The Camp Leatherneck talent contest showcased talents of American service members from the Navy, Marine Corps, Army, and Air Force as well as civilians employed on the base.

Quarles placed 2nd in the Camp Leatherneck talent contest with "Empty Chair," a song he wrote and performed on acoustic guitar.

"It was an awesome opportunity. I loved it," exclaimed the Watertown, Tenn. native. Quarles' performance drew cheers from the crowd and praise from the judges for its originality and passion.

Brooks, originally from Jacksonville, N.C., placed third on Camp Leatherneck with a performance of her self-penned poem, "Self Will." Judges gave positive remarks for a strong performance, originality, and her ability to keep the interest of nearly 400 audience members.

"It was as if the audience became a blur, and I could only hear myself," said Brooks who developed a technique of self isolation to combat her nervousness on stage. "I tell myself, whenever I'm performing, 'it's just you. Relax and do your thing.'"

Of the 16 contestants who participated in the Camp Leatherneck talent show, the top six, as scored by a panel of judges, were invited to compete in the upcoming British talent competition.

Brooks and Quarles are each preparing original material for next week's performance.

Quarles, 22, has been writing songs for years. He said that he is likely to polish up one of his existing songs and focus on giving the best performance that he can for the crowd and judges on Camp Bastion.

Writing poetry is something that 29-year old Brooks began doing in middle school. "The idea is there," said Brooks of the new poem she will perform in the upcoming talent show. Though it is not yet written, Brooks is confident that inspiration will come to her when the time is right.

Homeported in Gulfport, Miss., NMCB-11 is deployed to Afghanistan to conduct general mobility, survivability engineering operations, defensive operations, Afghan National Army partnering and detachment of units in combined/joint operations area - Afghanistan in order to enable the neutralization of the insurgency and support improved governance and stability operations.

Face of Defense: Marine Earns Silver Star for Valor

By Marine Corps Cpl. Jeff Drew

2nd Marine Division

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C., July 12, 2012 – He watched as five Marine buddies beside him were cut down by enemy machine gun fire during a fierce firefight against insurgents in Marjah, Afghanistan, nearly two years ago.

Within seconds, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Cole joined his brothers-in-arms on the ground as a three-round burst lifted his 200-pound frame and 80 pounds of gear completely off the ground, moved him five feet in the air, and slammed him into the dirt -- all in less than half a second.

Cole, a Woodstock, Ga., native, had taken three rounds into the ceramic plates protecting his body. He was down, but not wounded. The injured Marines made their way into a nearby canal for cover as Cole provided suppressive fire with his rifle. With half of the Marines on the patrol wounded, they tried radioing for extraction, but couldn’t reach anyone. No help was on the way and approximately 20 insurgents entrenched only 30 meters from their position were headed in their direction and they were out for blood.

The morning of August 17, 2010, in Afghanistan started early for Cole. He woke at 4 a.m. to stand four hours of guard duty. As he finished his time on post, an early-morning patrol returned and he helped cook food for them before cleaning his rifle and restocking on water. He heard through the grapevine about another patrol going out soon and he wanted in on the action. In the three and a half weeks that his unit, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, had been in-country, Cole had already been on 46 missions, luckily without incident.

The patrol that changed his life forever consisted of six Marines from his squad as well as a Navy corpsman and three Marines from a Professional Mentor Team, a group primarily responsible for training and working with Afghan National Security Forces. It was a reconnaissance mission -- to photograph the local landscape and populace and learn as much as they could about the area. At 1:30 p.m. the patrol made their way to a location they had visited just the night before. They spoke with local Afghans and searched mud compounds. Around 3:30 p.m. they left the final compound, then a crack of gunfire filled the air and they found themselves in the fight for their lives. The patrol was pinned down by heavy enemy fire; five Marines were wounded and they were unable to contact anyone on the radio.

“Thirty minutes into the firefight, I heard screams that the enemy was advancing toward us,” Cole said as he recounted his actions that day. “I took a machine gun from my buddy who was shot and gave him my rifle. I put the machine gun in my shoulder and started firing. Then I got up on the road and shot from my hip in a sweeping motion from left to right. I shot 150 rounds off, and as I did, I was shot three more times. A round hit my plates again and two rounds went through my arm.”

“This time it felt like a sunburn,” Cole said, as he remembered the feeling of the rounds penetrating his arm. “My bone vibrated and severed my nerve and blew out the inside of my upper arm, I couldn’t feel anything. It spun me around and threw me into the ditch.”

Immediately the Marines put a tourniquet on the wounded Cole in an effort to stop the bleeding. As the sixth injured service member, the Marines knew they had to move -- quickly. They made their way into a nearby compound as enemy fire dug into the mud walls. The enemy was advancing and all Cole could hear were the calls over the radio.

“All channels, anywhere, anything around us that can receive us -- we need help now!”

Another tourniquet and a pressure dressing were applied to Cole’s arm but he was still losing blood -- time was running out. Despite his grievous wounds, Cole continued to shoot at the enemy, making sure the Marines on patrol remained covered and safe.

As if by some miracle, the sound of attack helicopters broke through the cloud of gunfire. The Marines, running low on ammunition and badly wounded, continued to return fire as their air support offered protection for a medical evacuation. A British CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter landed under heavy fire from the nearby insurgents. The Marines, supporting one another, staggered toward the rescue helicopter in the midst of enemy fire and climbed aboard.

Cole was flown to Camp Bastion where he immediately went into surgery. Nearly 18 hours later he was stabilized. The call that he was injured went out to his family and his brother was grateful that his older sibling hadn’t been more seriously wounded.

“My mom called me at work and told me I needed to come home,” said 20-year-old Perris Cole. “The first thing I asked was, ‘Is he alive?’ she said, ‘Yeah,” and then we had to wait six or seven days for him to get back to the states. We were just impatient, waiting. I was scared, but I was just happy he was alive.”

After a short stay at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., Cole joined the Wounded Warrior Battalion – East on Camp Lejeune and began the journey to recovery.

Cole was awarded the Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest military combat decoration for valor here on July 10 for his actions that day in Afghanistan. Cole adamantly denies that he is a hero and that when he decided to stand up on that road, he was just doing his job.

“I don’t think I deserve it,” Cole said. “Nothing I did comes close to the Marines I was with. Pinned down in a ditch, wounded, they fought for an hour against an enemy that got within 30 meters. Not once did they waiver. This award isn’t my award. It’s their award and all the guys who we lost who can’t wear it now, I’ll wear it for them since they can’t.”