Radio Check-Thumb Check

Cpl. Joshua King, a scout observer with 2ndANGELICO, checks his radio after they survived an IED explosion that rolled his vehicle in Helmand province Aug. 18, 2009.photo Sgt. Christopher R. Rye

Joint Patrol

Cpl. Christopher Mullins, with One Five and his Afghan Partner patrol their perimeter of security at the Nawa bazaar in the Helmand province, Afghanistan, on Sept. 8, 2009. photo USMC Lance Cpl. Jeremy Harris

Honor Guard for an dead Afghan Soldier

U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Joe Hamilton, an artillery officer attached to one five, takes cover from the wind blast of a SH-3H Sea King helicopter leaving Patrol Base Jaker,Aug. 21, 2009 with the body of a dead Afghan National Army soldier . The Marines of the 1st Battalion assisted as honor guard for the soldier killed fighting the Taliban in his country. USMC photo William Greeson

Patrol Outside Fire Base Fiddlers Green

Staff Sargent William Eddy leads his men on a patrol outside Fire Base Fiddlers Green in the Helmand River valley. These Marines belong to three eleven. Eddy's number two man must be a terp. No weapon, no ammo, no gloves.
USMC PHOTO Christopher R. Rye

Ridge Patrol

Marines from first platoon Alpha Company 1/7 on ridge patrol above Dulab Iraq

USMC PHOTO CPL Shane S. Keller

MK-19 ORC Ready

Patrol Base Jaker post with a MK-19 automatic grenade launcher mounted LOCK AND LOAD READY, for ORC contact. The Mk 19 fires 40mm grenades. This bad boy can make poison arrows fall from the sky and the pillars of Heaven shake at a rate of 60 grenades per minute. YOU Got a Problem with that? The MK19 has minimum kickback. In fact, Its a pussy cat. You know what that means? Do you? It means this can Hold perfectly STILL and KILL from any flat surface you happen to have. Any. Anywhere. Boat. Whatever. How can it do that? I hear you say. Well, boys and girls, this ORC CHILD KILLER uses the blowback effect from the chamber pressure from each round fired to reload and re-cock (just like your old DI explained about your M-14) ahh, but that's not all, you too can have a more exciting life as you learn that this beauty can lob grenades at ORC CHILD KILLERS 1,500 meters away. Maybe even further? Humm. USMC photo Staff Sgt. William Greeson

All Female Team In Farah Province

Marine Lt. Johanna Shaffer, a watch officer with Combat Logistics Battalion 3,shares a cookie with an Afghan child during the first mission of her all-female team in the Farah province.

Story/photo Lance Cpl. Monty Burton
The Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force Afghanistan- all female Marine team-- is talking with the Afghan female population in southern Afghanistan -- a task considered culturally unacceptable for the male Marines. Marine Corps Capt. Mike Hoffman, commanding officer of 3/8’s Company I, said the all-female team is an important asset for his Marines.

“[The team] provides us access to half of the population that we normally do not have access to,” Hoffman said. “They did extremely well interacting with the female villagers.”

Marine Corps 2nd Lt. Johanna Shaffer, the team leader, said their first mission, a cordon-and-search operation in support of Operation Pathfinder, was very successful.

“We were accepted by both the men and women villagers and were able to obtain valuable information about the way they lived and what they thought about the Marine Corps operating in the area,” Shaffer said.

During the mission, the female Marines donned brightly colored head and neck scarves as a sign of cultural respect to the Afghan women.

“The scarves showed the Afghan women that we were women too, and we respect their culture,” Shaffer said. “They automatically felt more comfortable with us. They showed us their homes, and even though they didn’t have much, they were still very generous to us. They accepted us as sisters, and we’re glad that we were here to help them.”

Although Afghan women tend to be more reserved than Afghan men, they still have a large influence on their children, Shaffer said, so engaging with them is important.

“If the women know we are here to help them, they will likely pass that on to their children,” she said. “If the children have a positive perspective of alliance forces, they will be less likely to join insurgent groups or participate in insurgent activities.”

Hoffman said the female Marines also were accepted by the village men.

“They were not opposed by the villagers,” Hoffman said. “They had no problem allowing [the team] the chance to interact with their women.”

The concept employed by her team varies greatly from the program in Iraq because of differences in Afghan culture, Shaffer said.

“The cultural background here is completely different than that of Iraq,” Shaffer said. “Women here are more timid than in Iraq. There is less of a chance that an Afghan women would try to harm us, because they understand that we are here to help them.

“We also do not know much about the daily life of Afghan women,” she continued. “This provides us not only the opportunity to learn about the women, but also to build and maintain faith and trust of the Afghan women.”