In Afghanistan, a recent change of command ceremony saw Major General Charles M. Gurganus assume command of NATO’s Regional Command Southwest (RC-SW) from Major General John A. Toolan, Jr. RC-SW consists of the Afghan provinces of Helmand and Nimruz.

The U.S. Marine Corps has held the responsibility for RC-SW for some time. Helmand Province has been the scene of fierce fighting against the Taliban while Nimruz has been far calmer. MG Toolan spoke with reporters yesterday about the situation in his AOR at the end of his tour.
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A Marine from 2nd Platoon, Alpha Company, 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, uses a metal detector to sweep a culvert during a route reconnaissance mission of Route Red, which extends from Highway 1 to Shir Ghazay, Jan. 2. The purpose of the mission was to document inclines and declines in the route, sharpness of curves, the shortest width during the route, and where culverts were located or needed to be placed on the route to prevent wash out. Photo by Cpl. Meredith Brown

Marine engineers with 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward) have nearly completed two major route construction and improvement projects in Helmand province.

As of Jan. 3, elements of the Okinawa, Japan-based 9th Engineer Support Battalion completed the road surfacing phases of Routes Red and 611, which each provide north and south passage on their respective sides of the Helmand River. Additional measures are now being put into place over the course of the next month to ensure their permanence, while also marking total project completion.

“We’ll continue minor improvements along both routes, including culvert emplacements,” said Capt. Christopher Kaprielian, a native of San Mateo, Calif., and operations officer for 9th ESB.

The installation of culverts, Kaprielian explained, will allow for proper drainage of rain water, thus preventing the roadways from simply washing away.

Two Marines from 2nd Platoon, Alpha Company, 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, use a metal detector to sweep a culvert during a route reconnaissance mission of Route Red, which extends from Highway 1 to Shir Ghazay, Jan. 3. The purpose of the mission was to document inclines and declines in the route, sharpness of curves, the shortest width during the route, and where culverts were located or needed to be placed on the route to prevent wash out. Photo by Cpl. Meredith Brown

Work on the routes began last year with 9th ESB’s predecessors, the Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based 7th ESB, which completed nearly half of the work before going home in late November.

“A lot of cross coordination was involved,” said Kaprielian. “The combined effort was truly unique.”

In terms of Route Red alone, he noted expert integration across the Marine Air-Ground Task Force to secure the volatile region through which Route Red intersects. Support from Regimental Combat Teams 6 and 8 was especially critical in allowing the engineers to continue construction efforts.

The enhanced roads are essential to International Security Assistance Force operations, and perhaps most importantly, the livelihoods of Afghan locals in the region due to the proximity of the routes to several major population centers. Safe roadways will present a viable means of transportation and facilitate economic expansion well into the future.

Route Red connects Gereshk and Shir Ghazay, while Route 611 serves as the main thoroughfare through the Sangin and Kajaki Districts.

Not unlike Route Red, the region through which 611 traces was also a hotbed for insurgent activity. Operation Eastern Storm, a major offensive spearheaded by the Marines of 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, launched last October to secure the Upper Sangin Valley from the Taliban-led insurgency. The secured and improved route will now allow ground convoys to deliver equipment and parts required to install a third turbine at the Kajaki Dam, located northeast of the village of Kajaki.

The dam was built in 1953, and according to the United States Agency for International Development, the additional turbine is part of an ongoing project to bring more reliable power and irrigation to the region. Once operational, this enhancement will improve energy distribution through Helmand and Kandahar provinces.

Story by Sgt. Justin Shemanski
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Maj. Nina D’Amato, the education officer for Regional Command Southwest, uses her skills as an educator in the United States to help build the education system in Helmand province.

As a middle school vice principal, D’Amato fits the job very well because she understands how school systems are structured and what is necessary for those systems to run properly.

“I am very fortunate, as a Marine Reservist and a middle school principal, I think I bring a very unique background to this position,” said D’Amato. “My training has given me the ability to frame something so massive and put it into slots that people can understand.”

During her deployment, great strides have been made in education in Helmand province. In Marjah, one of the most hostile regions in Helmand province prior to the Marines’ arrival in RC (SW), there were only community-run schools and very few of them. Now there are nine schools in Marjah educating 1,000 students, 40 of which are females. The increase in schools and students shows that progress is being made and D’Amato has been making a difference.

“As I read the reports, I understand that communities want schools across Helmand province,” D’Amato said.

Like many Marines, D’Amato is learning many different lessons she can use when she returns to the states. Carrying a book to write all these down is her way of remembering the lessons learned over the course of her year-long deployment. These lessons range from professional to leadership skills that apply not only to her job as an educator in San Francisco, but also to her future goals.

“The same challenges I have in the United States with teachers and systems and data collection are the same challenges here,” said D’Amato. “The leadership lessons are different, the political lessons I learn are different. So, every lesson I learn I try to write it down, because you can just suck it in.”

D’Amato is also involved with a girls school near Kabul. She is on the board for the school and performs those duties on top of her already large responsibilities of educating the youth here and in the Unitied States. This dedication shows her commitment to the advancement of education in Afghanistan.

“Afghanistan will always stay with me,” D’Amato commented. “I hope to go and become a principal when I get back, but I’m keeping my options open.”

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Story by Lance Cpl. Jeremy Fasci

Marine Cpl. Cory J. Gibson of Lacey, Wash., receives the Bronze Star Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device from Lt. Col. Joseph Raftery during a ceremony at the Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Training Center here, Monday. Gibson was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device for his heroic actions taken after an improvised explosive device attack on his squad in Helmand province, Afghanistan, Aug. 26. Photo by Warren Wright

Initiative, courage and dedication are just a few of the words used to describe the heroic and selfless actions taken by then Lance Cpl. Cory J. Gibson after his squad was hit by an improvised explosive device while assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 7, Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan.

For his heroic actions on Aug. 26, 2009 in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, Gibson was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with the Combat Distinguishing Device in a ceremony held at the Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Training Center here, Monday, Nov. 1.

According to the Secretary of the Navy Instruction 1650.1g, the Bronze Star Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device is awarded to individuals who distinguish themselves by heroic or meritorious achievement while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States.

“The Marine Corps puts a lot of weight on combat awards,” said Capt. Lance Day who served as Gibson’s company commander during their tour in Afghanistan. “As a company commander, to have a Marine with the guts to do what he did, it’s an absolute bonus. It’s something I’ll never forget.”

Gibson, a resident of Lacey, Wash., distinguished himself by taking immediate action to help his injured squad mates after the explosion. The IED injured seven out of the eight Marines in the squad, including Gibson’s squad leader who suffered severe arterial bleeding.

Injured himself, Gibson moved from Marine to Marine, providing first aid to those who needed it and radioed a situation report and a request for support from his higher headquarters.

Once the medical evacuation helicopters arrived on scene, Gibson helped carry his injured comrades to the casualty evacuation site, carrying some Marines more than 100 meters with a full combat load.

Wounded with a severe concussion and fragmentation wounds to his lower extremities, Gibson refused to take a seat on the evacuation helicopter, waiting until all of his fellow Marines who were more severely wounded were evacuated.

“Today we’re here to present an award to (Gibson) for his actions and participation in Operation Enduring freedom over there in Afghanistan. It’s quite a story and I’m humbled by it,” said Lt. Col. Joseph Raftery, the inspector instructor for the 4th Marine Landing Support Battalion based here. “Few words can sum up what kind of Marine Cpl Gibson is.”

“He took the initiative right away,” said Raftery. “It took courage to carry on and bring his fellow marines to safety.”

“The Strength, the bearing, the love for fellow marines, your actions and presence of mind; take all that and it sums up, in my eyes, a hero and a dedicated marine,” said Raftery.

When speaking to Gibson, Raftery said, “I know you don’t consider yourself a hero, but in my eyes, you’re a hero to me, you’re a hero to that battalion.”

“I didn’t do what I did for the award,” said Gibson. “It feels like a big deal, but it’s not a big deal. I’m glad I got it and I’m glad they recognized me, but I would have rather not lived that day.”

Even though Gibson would prefer to have not experienced the event, it has not swayed his dedication to his country and to the Marine Corps. Gibson, currently a college student, is planning on re-enlisting in the active duty Marine Corps so that he can deploy again and serve alongside his fellow Marines.

Story by Sgt. Warren Wright
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Sgt. Guadalupe Rodriquez is currently deployed to Helmand province, Afghanistan and is assigned to the female engagement team, Regimental Combat Team 7. She is a motor transportation mechanic, but volunteered for the FET as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Rodriquez, 29, is from Sells, Ariz. Photo by Sgt. Heidi Agostini

Sgt. Guadalupe Rodriquez, dressed in more than 60 pounds of combat gear, sat and flipped through pages of Cosmopolitan magazine, stopping at the horoscopes section.

“Scorpio,” she started to read aloud. “You have the travel itch on the third…this is a great time to score trips to tropical locales. Relax at the beach or lake in a nearby town.”

Her four teammates burst out in laughter, all looking around at the Marjah farmland surrounded by desert.

The desert environment isn’t new to Rodriquez, who was raised in Sells, Ariz., although she finds it ironic that she left one desert, only to find herself in another a few years later. Rodriquez, who has been in the Corps for five years, deployed to Afghanistan in March and is currently assigned to the female engagement team, Regimental Combat Team 7. This is her second deployment, the first to Afghanistan, where she is part of the Marine Corps’ newest program, aimed at establishing relationships with local Afghans, particularly women.

“With this culture, you have to speak with the Afghan males before you talk to the women,” said Rodriquez, 29. “We try to engage the entire population – men, women and their children. The toughest challenge I’ve encountered is trying to get the males to allow us to talk to the women. They have very strong beliefs in their culture which makes it hard for us.”

The FET usually find themselves on patrol or convoys and every so often they come across unforgiving water canals waiting for the next victim. Will the Marine make the jump, or miscalculate and continue on with the mission in wet boots and clothes?

“I remember my first patrol,” Rodriquez smiled. “When we came up to that water canal, it was more than what we were expecting. We jumped into it with both feet.”

Before she joined FET, Rodriquez was a motor transportation mechanic. Like most jobs in the Marine Corps, hers is a male-dominated occupation. She enjoys being a mechanic and even works on cars outside of work. She has her sights set on vintage trucks and a 1967 Mustang.

Now that Rodriquez is assigned to FET, she spends her days interacting with local Afghans and making sure her Marines are well taken care of. She is the first one to wake up on mission days, and usually the last to hit the rack. But before she does, Rodriquez spends a good half hour brushing her hip-length hair, inherited from her Native American and Mexican ancestry.

Sgt. Guadalupe Rodriquez hands snacks to a family waiting to receive medical care during a women's medical engagement held outside Combat Outpost Riley, July 10. Rodriquez is assigned to the female engagement team, Regimental Combat Team 7. This is her second deployment, first to Afghanistan. Photo by Cpl. Megan Sindelar

Many noticed her leadership style during pre-deployment training, including Capt. Natalie Kronschnabel, FET platoon commander, RCT-7. Rodriquez made sure the Marines were caught up on their pre-deployment training and ensured they were physically and mentally prepared for their deployment.

“She’s very professional,” said Kronschnabel. “She’s fair with the Marines and when I push tasks down to her, I know they’ll get done the right way.”

Kronschnabel adds that even though the entire FET is dispersed throughout the province, Rodriquez maintains contact with all members of the FET program and ensures they are treated and used properly by their respective battalion.

While on a FET mission, she searches Afghan women and converses with them with either a linguist or the little Pashtu she picked up during training and during her current deployment. Her intent is to find out more about the population in the village and their living conditions.

“By asking them questions and taking an interest in their well-being, it shows the Afghans a different side of Marines,” said Rodriquez. “When Afghans see or think of Marines, they assume they’re all male. But when they see female Marines, they feel more comfortable with us. We’re like the third gender out here because we can speak with men, women and children, whereas the male Marines can only speak with Afghan men and children. “

It’s an honor for Rodriquez to be part of the elite team comprised of female Marines. She believes this breakthrough will change the way female Marines are viewed in a combat situation. FET Marines are overcoming obstacles and leaving their own footprint in Afghanistan.

“Deploying to Afghanistan and being part of this team is an amazing opportunity,” said Rodriquez. “I wouldn’t trade this for anything else. Its definitely life-changing and it opens up your eyes, but it’s very humbling as well.”

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Story by Sgt. Heidi Agostini