U.S. Marines pushing deeper into Taliban territory in Afghanistan's Helmand River Valley are short of basic equipment and supplies ranging from radios and vehicles to uniforms.
Here in Garmsir District, critical supplies of food, water and ammunition are being dropped to troops by helicopters ferrying sling-loads to bypass roads implanted with bombs, leaving little room to carry other gear.
Several Marines from one company, for example, ripped their pants during an arduous foot march and are still waiting for replacements — some in boxer shorts, officers said.
"We're short vehicles, we're short frog-suits [uniforms] ... radios are trickling in," said Gunnery Sgt. Robert Larosa of 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. Larosa said that the lack of basic gear is unprecedented in his experience, which includes seven other deployments. "This is a first," he said.
Another logistical challenge is that Marine camps and outposts here are mainly being built from scratch because the Marines are the first coalition forces to move into southern Helmand in significant numbers, and the area lacks existing facilities to house them.
Many supplies did not begin to arrive until the Marines themselves deployed, Larosa said, and with intensive operations underway, their delivery is still lagging behind.
With such urgent demand for critical items, non-essentials such as mail, toiletries and tobacco have become rare luxuries at Marine outposts. "They either send chow and water or mail — I'd much rather have the water" in the 100-plus degree heat, said Larosa.
Still, the deprivation is taking a toll. "No mail, no PX. People are starting to get ornery," said one officer. Mail has arrived about three times in the past month and a half.
Marines in the battalion are exploiting every possible opportunity to get supplies needed for the troops. For example, when Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson flew in for a commanders' meeting at Camp Delhi today, he was asked to bring with him a fresh supply of plastic "wag" bags that Marines use to dispose of human waste.
"Hey, did we get the wag bags?" Nicholson asked his staff before departing.
Earlier this week, Larosa decided to launch a one-man supply chain. Armed with orders from his men and a large plastic crate, he jumped on a helicopter to the nearest large base, Camp Leatherneck near the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah. Once there, armed with $1,200 of his own money, he literally stripped the PX shelves of cigarettes and chewing tobacco.
Larosa's shopping spree irritated customers at Leatherneck, but, arriving back at the camp in Garmsir, he was greeted as a conquering hero.
"This is my craziest deployment yet," he said. He is keeping the stash of tobacco at the foot of his cot until he can distribute it all to those who placed orders.
I seem to recall the press making similar supply shortfalls into shit storms when Bush was president. Where is their outrage now?
May 31st, 2013, 19:29
vector7
Re: Marines Waiting on Basic Supplies in Afghanistan
Marines at Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan will lose a key daily meal starting Saturday, causing some to forgo a hot breakfast and others to work six-plus hours without refueling on cooked food, according to Marines at the base and Marine Corps officials.
The midnight ration service — known there as “midrats" — supplies breakfast to Marines on midnight-to-noon shifts and dinner to Marines who are ending noon-to-midnight work periods. It's described as one of the few times the Marines at Leatherneck can be together in one place.
The base, which is located in Afghanistan’s southwestern Helmand Province, flanked by Iran and Pakistan, also will remove its 24-hour sandwich bar. It plans to replace the dishes long offered at midnight with pre-packaged MREs, said Marine Corps Lt. Col. Cliff Gilmore, who has been deployed in Afghanistan since February.
The moves, though unpopular with many Marines on the ground and their families back home, are emblematic of the massive drawdown of American troops in Afghanistan and the dismantling of U.S. military facilities. More than 30,000 U.S. service members will leave Afghanistan in coming months as the U.S. prepares to hand responsibility for security to Afghan forces in 2014.
While no Marine at Camp Leatherneck agreed to speak on the record, many are privately angry about the hit on base morale.
"This boils my skin. One of my entire shifts will go 6.5 hours without a meal. If we need to cut back on money I could come up with 100 other places,” one Leatherneck-based Marine wrote in an email this week to his wife and shared with NBC News. (The Marine declined to speak on the record.) “Instead, we will target the biggest contributor to morale. I must be losing my mind. What is our senior leadership thinking? I just got back from flying my ass off and in a few days, I will not have a meal to replenish me after being away for over 9 hours.”
Until Saturday, Leatherneck’s dining facility will offer its customary four meals per day. After June 1, the menu drops to three daily meals and, eventually, there will be only two hot meals served, Gilmore revealed in an email to the impacted Marines, adding: “Any time a dining hall meal is eliminated it will be replaced from a plentiful stock of MREs (Meals Ready to Eat — or any one of several creative acronyms our Marines have come up with.)”
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May 31st, 2013, 19:32
American Patriot
Re: Marines Waiting on Basic Supplies in Afghanistan
Interesting.
When we used to drop in and set up Tactical Air Bases we had hot meals by the NEXT morning, and on tear out day, we had a hot meal.
Then again, we were Air Force and used to making sure shit was set up quickly. Marines are used to breaking shit quickly....
