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?”

Combined Force Detains Insurgents, Seizes Narcotics

From an International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Release

KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 27, 2012 – A combined security force detained several suspected insurgents during an operation to arrest a Taliban facilitator in the Washer district of Helmand province today, military officials reported.

The facilitator is alleged to coordinate the movement of insurgent fighters and weapons, as well as coordinating attacks across northern Helmand province, officials said.

The security force also seized multiple assault rifles and several pounds of illegal narcotics, officials said.

Also today, an Afghan-led, coalition-supported force killed a number of insurgents and detained two suspects during a search for a Haqqani leader in the Sabari district of Khost province. The sought-after insurgent leader is linked to multiple rocket-propelled grenade attacks on Afghan and coalition security forces. The security force also seized several assault rifles and other military equipment.

In Sept. 26 operations:

An Afghan-led, coalition-supported force recovered a cache of weapons, improvised explosive devices and IED-making components in the Qalat district of Zabul province. The force found some pressure plate IEDs, 573 pounds of ammonium nitrate, 220 pounds of potassium chloride, 55 pounds of homemade explosive, 33 pounds of aluminum powder, RPGs, ammunition, and two Afghan National Security Forces uniforms.

In Sept. 23 operations:

-- Al-Qaida facilitator Abdul Rauf was killed along with two other insurgents during an airstrike in the Marawarah district of Kunar province. Abdul Rauf was a Pakistani al-Qaida facilitator who coordinated the movement of foreign fighters into Afghanistan. He also constructed IEDs for use in attacks against security forces. No civilians were harmed and no civilian structures were damaged during the operation.

Marines Charged in Desecration Incident Face Trial

From a Marine Corps Combat Development Command News Release

QUANTICO, Va. – Charges against two Marines were referred to trial by courts-martial Sept. 21 for their alleged involvement in urinating on deceased Taliban fighters and for posing for unofficial photographs with human casualties in Afghanistan.

Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Richard P. Mills, commanding general of Marine Corps Combat Development command, referred the charges.

The incident allegedly took place during a counterinsurgency operation near Sandala in the Musa Qala district of Afghanistan’s Helmand province on or about July 27, 2011. The charges were referred to courts-martial by Lieutenant General Richard P. Mills, the Commanding General of Marine Corps Combat Development Command.

Marine Corps Staff Sgts. Joseph W. Chamblin and Edward W. Deptola also were charged for other misconduct that allegedly took place during the same operation, including being derelict in their duties by failing to properly supervise junior Marines, failing to require junior Marines to wear their personal protective equipment, failing to stop and report the misconduct of junior Marines, failing to report the negligent discharge of a grenade launcher, and failing to stop the indiscriminate firing of weapons.

Deptola also is charged with failing to stop the unnecessary damaging of Afghan compounds and wrongfully and indiscriminately firing a recovered enemy machine gun.

Both Marines are assigned to 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Last month, three Marines received nonjudicial punishment for misconduct that came to light during several investigations into the desecration incident, shown in a video that became public and circulated widely on the Internet in January. Disciplinary actions regarding other Marines will be announced at a later date, officials said.

The charges are accusations against the individual Marines, officials emphasized, and the accused are presumed innocent and are guaranteed the right to due process under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

“There are other pending cases related to this incident. In order to preserve the integrity of the investigations and to ensure fair and impartial legal proceedings in the future, we will not discuss evidence or specific findings of the investigations,” the command said in a written statement. “We will be as forthright as possible while preserving the rights of the accused and the fairness and integrity of the military justice process.”

Combined Force Kills Taliban Weapons Dealer

From an International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Release

KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 25, 2012 – An Afghan and coalition security force killed a Taliban weapons dealer and destroyed his cache of illegal weapons during an operation in the Omnah district of Afghanistan’s Paktika province today, military officials reported.

Hizbullah, the weapons dealer, and another armed insurgent maneuvered on the Afghan and coalition troops as the security force approached Hizbullah’s compound, officials said. The security force engaged both armed insurgents, killing them. No civilians were harmed.

Hizbullah acquired and provided firearms, ammunition and explosives to Taliban insurgents under his command, enabling them to conduct attacks against security forces throughout the region, officials said. He also was believed to have been attempting to acquire a heavy machine gun and additional equipment for future insurgent attacks.

A number of suspected insurgents were detained in the operation, officials said. The security force also found and destroyed assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, an RPG launcher, fragmentation grenades and ammunition.

Also today, a combined force arrested the leader of a Taliban cell and several other suspects in the Panjwai district of Kandahar province. The arrested leader’s insurgent cell is suspected of conducting small-arms fire and improvised explosive device attacks against Afghan and coalition forces. He also allegedly is linked to attempts to acquire weapons -- including mortar rounds -- for future attacks. The Taliban leader also was believed to be involved in a plot to kidnap Afghan security officers.

In a Sept. 23 operation, an International Security Assistance Force patrol seized 1,150 pounds of opium during a drug interdiction operation in the Reg-e Khan Neshin district of Helmand province. The ISAF patrol discovered the drugs after stopping and searching a vehicle traveling along a known narcotics smuggling route. ISAF troops detained the driver and destroyed the opium.

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.”