Cpl. Cresswell Stanaway looks over packages at the Camp Leatherneck postal operation center, Dec. 21. The postal Marines have worked extensive hours during the past few weeks to process and distribute the influx of holiday mail arriving here to get to the service members before Christmas. Photo by Pfc. Mark A. Garcia

Spending the holidays away from family is a routine occurrence for many service members, but during the holiday season, receiving a package from a loved one is a welcomed distraction.

The postal operations center here is working overtime to distribute every package to the service members in time for Christmas.

The postal operation center has had to reorganize their Marines so they get as many people to sort the mail during daylight hours. Also, numerous volunteers have volunteered to help sort mail.

Cpl. Cresswell Stanaway, who is in charge of overseeing the distribution of mail throughout Helmand province from Camp Leatherneck, says that she and her Marines have to work as a team. During the holidays Stanaway, from Houston, says that the influx of mail slows the distribution process down, but with additional help from other Marines sorting the mail, the mail is being sent to its destination in a timely manner.

Gunnery Sgt. Thurman McNeill, postal operations chief, says that he has to run a skeleton crew at night so that more Marines can be available to help process the mail so service members receive their packages before Christmas.

With the help of the postal Marines and volunteers, the postal operations center can process between 45-50 pallets per day, which can add up to thousands of packages being sorted and distributed daily.

Stanaway said that to sort the influx of packages arriving here there is a system in place that once the mail arrives it can be sorted and sent to its destination. During the holidays there are at least three flights each day to get the mail out to service members. Often, service members are waiting on a package, but operational duties require them to leave before it arrives. The postal operations center has this in mind too.

McNeill, from Hollywood, Fla., says that if a Marine is waiting on a package from home and he or his Marines sees it, they will deliver it by hand. He says the postal operations center does this during the Christmas season so that the Marines can get their packages, especially those that come in at the last minute.

Even though the Marines are working exhausting hours preparing and distributing the mail, they say that the happiness that they see on the Marines’ faces is worth the effort.

McNeill said that during the holidays, “When a Marine does receive mail out here I know it does put a smile on their face, because they’re getting mail from back in the states.”

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Story by Sgt. Shawn Coolman

Cpl. Jon P. Anderson (left) and Lance Cpl. Edward V. Miuccio (right), both with Regional Combat Team 2, motor transport, detachment 1, help decorate a christmas tree at their workplace, Dec. 21 at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan. The Marines are planning a secret Santa gift giving during Christmas day as they spend time with their family away from home, each other. Photo by Cpl. Megan Sindelar

In a combat zone it is hard for Marines to spend Christmas away from their families, but this year Marines at Camp Leatherneck are celebrating Christmas with their second family: each other.

Regional Combat Team 2, motor transport, detachment 1, have planned different things to do while spending their Christmas holiday away from home. The detachment recently received a Christmas tree which is now lit up inside their workplace.

“I have a friend in I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), she hooked it up and got us a Christmas tree, lights and some ornaments,” said Lance Cpl. Edward V. Miuccio, line noncommissioned officer with RCT 2, motor transport, detachment 1. “Everybody likes the tree; it’s very festive and keeps our morale up.”

Along with the Christmas tree, the Marines drew names for a secret Santa gift exchange on Christmas day.

“We are going to get each other something small just to show our appreciation for each other,” said Miuccio, from Wayne, N.J.

Staff Sgt. Freeman J. Lowe, maintenance chief with RCT 2, motor transport, detachment 1, said that he is going to give all of his Marines the opportunity to call home to talk to their families and loved ones.

“Wishing their loved ones a merry Christmas is the most important thing,” said Lowe, a husband and father of three girls.

Lowe said he has a couple surprises for Christmas day for the Marines besides providing the opportunity to call home. He is having dinner catered and plans to sit around with all the Marines and share experiences from the 10 months they have spent in Afghanistan.

“The family of Marines around you keep you motivated and focused on the mission at hand,” Freeman said. “We celebrate in our own way here in Afghanistan.”

Miuccio said it’s hard here during Christmas. He misses his family and friends, but the Marines are here to complete the mission.

“It’s what we do,” said Miuccio.

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Story by Cpl. Megan Sindelar

First Lt. Timothy McCormick, assistant operations officer, Brigade Headquarters Group, Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan, drinks freshly-purified water with locals. The water was cleaned with the solar-powered water purification system assembled here, Feb. 16. The system cleans out bacteria and diseases in the water, making it safe for locals to drink.

NAW-ABAD, Helmand province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan – Marines with Brigade Headquarters Group, Marine Expeditionary Brigade–Afghanistan, assembled a solar-powered water purification system here, Feb. 16, in order to provide the community with clean, drinkable water.

Cpl. David T. Bernabe, a combat engineer with Brigade Headquarters Group, Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan, opens solar panels on a solar-powered water purification system here, Feb 16. The water purification system can filter 60 gallons of water per minute. (Photo by: Lance Cpl. Franklin E. Mercado)

This is the first time the system is being used outside of Camp Leatherneck, said 1st Lt. Timothy McCormick, the assistant operations officer with BHG.

The system requires little to set up and is very efficient. The water purification system can filter water at a maximum rate of 60 gallons every minute.

Its ability to run with very little effort from the user makes the system simple. Because it is low maintenance and runs on solar energy, the only thing the user needs to do is change filters as they get dirty.

“The simplicity of the system makes this a great opportunity for these people to have clean water,” said McCormick. “The clean water will be rid of most of the bacteria and diseases it [typically] contains.”

Due to the contamination in the water, locals are not drinking as much water as they should, which leads to dehydration, said McCormick.
If the system is successful, it will encourage the usage of the purification system elsewhere, said McCormick.

“We filtered non-potable water through the purification system while it was on Camp Leatherneck,” said Navy Lt. j.g. Jefferson Moody, environmental health officer with MEB–Afghanistan. “The system got rid of most of the bacteria in the water and made it safe to drink.”

“Depending on how well the people are helped by the purification system, consideration will be taken to figure out where else we can set them up,” said McCormick.

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Story by: Lance Cpl. Franklin E. Mercado

Navy Seabees walk toward the Regimental Combat Team 3 Combat Operations Center, May 13, at Camp Leatherneck. The sailors said there will be no down time for them in between projects while in Afghanistan. Photo by Cpl. Aaron Rooks

The Marines affectionately call the structure “Noah’s Ark,” for its similarities to the vessel built before flood waters covered the earth in biblical times.

In the rugged desert of southern Afghanistan sit hundreds of tents occupied by Marines for as far as the eye can see.

Rising above the dust and grit that blow across the Helmand plains, one object stands out majestically amongst Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan’s sprawling tent city at the unit’s base of operations at Camp Leatherneck.

The Marines affectionately call the structure “Noah’s Ark,” for its similarities to the vessel built before flood waters covered the earth in biblical times.

This modern-day ark, built for Marines in less than three months by sailors of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 5, looms over all other structures across the desert camp.

“In my 19 years in the Navy, I have never built a building this big,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Thomas Damron, a supervisor for the construction of the 12,000 square-foot structure. “This is the largest wooden structure I’ve ever seen Seabees build.”

Damron, a Port Hueneme, Calif., native, said the building is the largest building made by the Navy outside the U.S. since World War II and will be used for coordinating various aspects of MEB-Afghanistan’s mission, which includes counterinsurgency operations and mentoring and training Afghan national security forces.

Construction of the massive building began two months before MEB-Afghanistan arrived in Helmand province. Damron said the Seabees are currently on schedule to meet their deadline for finishing the Ark, but only because of the sweat and perseverance that has come from the naval construction workers involved.

“We’re all pushed to our limits,” Damron said. “A construction job of this size takes an average of five months to complete. We’re doing it in less than three.”

The sailors each work an average of 12 hours every day at the least. By the time the sun rises, on average, the temperature is 85 degrees, said Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Amber Chambliss, hospital corpsman, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 5. She said temperatures lately can reach 125 degrees by mid-day.

“This job they’re doing can be extremely dangerous,” Chambliss said, of working both inside and outside the building, which currently lacks air conditioning. “Dealing with the heat is a serious issue alone, not to add the possibility of falling off the roof.”

The Miami native said individuals who work on the job site drink anywhere from two to three gallons of water daily. And it’s necessary, she said, noting the fact that if one of the workers falls out, the job will become even harder to complete on time.

The day-to-day job hasn’t been easy, Damron said. In order to reach their completion deadline, the Seabees work nearly non-stop, taking an hour-long break for lunch and 10-minute breaks every hour to rest. Reaching their completion time has required every one of those minutes saved, he said.

“This is one of the toughest jobs some of us have ever done because of the elements and working conditions,” Damron said. “It’s controlled chaos. We’ve been building this at more than two times the speed it would take on average to complete. Everyone is constantly doing different things, moving different directions, accomplishing one job, then moving toward the next.”

“Look at them, you can se the exhaustion in their faces,” said Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Garrison Hardisty, project supervisor. “And they’re only halfway through the day. They’re all pushed to the limit.”

Hardisty said everyone is physically drained when they leave the job site in the evenings. The job has taken an obvious toll on Damron, who said he’s lost more than 30 pounds since he arrived in Afghanistan. But, Hardisty said, they return each day and never give up.

And even though returning each day reminds them of the grueling tasks ahead, it also reminds them of how far they have come in such a short amount of time.

“Everyone’s excited to see the end result,” Damron said, enthusiastically. “We’re all proud to have had a part in this building. It will be around for years to come.”

Petty Officers 2nd Class Landon Church and John Nicholas, project lead electrician and utilities man respectively, said they were confident in the building becoming operational by its deadline. Church, a Byron, Mich., native, said he and his team of electricians have installed more than 10,000 feet of wiring throughout the building to support hundreds of computers. Nicholas, a Boise, Idaho, native, said the facility will also be climate-controlled, ready to accept those who will work there when it opens.

As the clock continues to count down, the Seabees remain resilient, motivated by purpose and commitment. But as one job nears an end, others add up by the week. After the brigade command center is complete, they will move on and continue to build the Regimental Combat Team 3 and Camp Leatherneck Garrison Combat Operations Center, also 12,000 square-feet each.

“As soon as this job is complete, we will carry on to the next,” Damron explained. “There will be no rest for us.

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Story by Cpl. Aaron Rooks