American Eagle
MILITARY PROFESSIONAL
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- May 25, 2010
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The latest from the front line
Its much easier getting shot at than gaining trust..were trying to correct 30yrs of mayhem with words, not weapons
Sun join's 'Mighty Munch' Marines on hearts and minds mission
Hearts and minds mission ... Marine with local children'Tache force
THE men of M Company, part of 42 Commando, have more traditions and in-jokes than any other battalion.
They grow ridiculous moustaches on tour and many have sneaked a drag outfit in their kit, which they claim "sends ladies wild with desire" on nights away from the war zone.
The Commandos even have their own language. Anything excellent is "hoofing" and "threaders" means exhausted.
Eccentric ... M Company men
Anyone who messes up on a job is forced to spend days caring for an invisible labrador on the end of a stiff wire lead and collar.
Intelligence Officer Captain Sam Hughes explained: "This goes back to the Eighties when the unit dog died and the duty officer buried it in a skip.
"The Commanding Officer was furious and made him walk around with a metal wire dog lead."
Another tradition involves a ban on M Company talking to females.
Captain Hughes said: "This goes back to our time on ships, to stop Marines seducing women. If anyone is caught chatting to a woman he has to carry a giant rat around.
"It's a 20kg bag with a large cardboard nose.
"You have to carry it in the top flap of your kit. It weighs a flipping ton."
By VIRGINIA WHEELER in Helmand, Afghanistan
Published: Today
DEEP in the dusty heartlands of Afghanistan's Helmand Province lies a small corner of hell known as The Jungle.
This stretch of dense vegetation has over the years run with the blood of British soldiers as Taliban fighters exploited the cover to launch ferocious attacks.
But Major Matt Parker, commanding 230 Royal Marines in the region, won't rest until The Jungle is renamed The Garden.
"We can't allow areas or people to become bogeymen," he said.
"We've had to build trust here from absolutely nothing. There were some hard battles fought by other British regiments to wrest away Taliban control. Lives were lost. But we've come a phenomenal way."
Major Parker's men are engaged in the most advanced and intelligent counter-insurgency strategy against any enemy in the HISTORY of warfare.
Described by one Marine as "winning hearts and minds - the turbo-charged version," the tactic is believed by British generals to be the solution to ending a conflict that, at nearly ten years, has lasted as long as both World Wars combined.
So successful have the Marines been at gaining locals' trust, The Sun can reveal that in the past few months a staggering 30 Taliban have turned supergrass, informing on warlords' activities to help the Brits.
Through a mixture of charm, diplomacy and warfare tactics such as "disrupt and disturb" - where soldiers flood an area with men to flush out insurgents - the region has seen some of the most dramatic improvements anywhere in Afghanistan.
And in a war where the Taliban have embraced Twitter to spread propaganda - and the country's president this week said that peace talks are the only solution - the Brits' exceptional diplomatic talents are proving vital.
The Sun joined M Company of the Royal Marines - known as the Mighty Munch - as they set about transforming this former Taliban-stronghold and opium-rich region into an area free from insurgent intimidation.
In just a few short months, the Commandos' record here is mightily impressive.
From 1,368 small arms attacks on British forces and their allies last year, up to May this year there had been only 161.
And from 509 IED (improvised explosive devices) found laid in the region last year, this year has seen a drop to just 89.
Reassured locals have taken it upon themselves to stop insurgents unleashing firepower on the Marines at least three times recently.
And a few weeks ago a young boy even ran up to Commandos to warn them of an enemy fighter - and pointed out two Taliban bombs.
Shop talk ... Marines visit shop of pharmacist Mohammad Hashin as they build relationships with the local community
Operating out of Patrol Base Khaamar, the Commandos are in charge of a 25 square kilometre area of Helmand's Nad-e Ali North district that was once a major IED-making area.
Together with an attached unit of Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers and Afghan police, who the Marines are helping to organise and train, they patrol the area daily with such care that they already know the names of thousands of locals.
Developed from the successes of the British counterinsurgency strategy adopted in Northern Ireland, it is also an exhausting process requiring endless patience and maturity from the young men.
One said: "It's much easier getting shot at than gaining the respect and trust of an Afghan community. We're trying to correct 30 years of mayhem through words, not weapons. It's incredibly difficult. I'm mentally knackered every single day."
The Commandos' struggle to help Afghanistan defeat the Taliban is vital for Britain as the insurgents would knock the country back to the Dark Ages and foster worldwide terrorism if they regained power.
The nerve centre of M Company's operations is a sandbag-insulated bunker at PB Khaamar which resembles a Second World War command HQ.
Inside this "Ops Room" photographs of dozens of local elders line the walls - with notes on their personalities, quirks and influence in the community.
Crossing cultures ... a weekly 'shura' meeting between Marine officers and Afghan elders held near Patrol Base Khaamar
Next to these are rows of suspected Taliban fighters and bomb-makers in the area - with "detain on sight" jotted beneath. Every week a planning meeting held by Marine officers discusses problems facing the local community, suggesting simple solutions such as providing shopkeepers with shutters to improve security.
Intelligence Officer Captain Sam Hughes, 28, said: "We had the mindset from the start that our aim was not to fire rounds. In Nad-e Ali now, 3,167 compounds have been mapped. We know the names of who lives there, their personalities, what they do. Any strangers are immediately spotted.
"We've wiped out a lot of Taliban mid-level command so many of the insurgents left are young. Some are just 17.
"These teenagers still have respect for the village elders and are young enough to be re-integrated. We understand now that we're not going to completely wipe out the Taliban but we can empower the state to stop them taking hold ever again."
Central to the strategy is the weekly "shura" or "meeting".
Over endless cups of tea village elders discuss grievances with Major Parker and the ANA and police.
Afghan elder Haji Lawang said: "In 16 months I haven't missed a single shura with the British. Before Major Parker came along the troops weren't listening. They were always breaking promises, destroying fields, using flares and artillery. But we had a good relationship with 3 Para and now the Marines. They make promises and complete promises.
At ease ... the ANA's Abdul Rahman, Sun's Virginia, ANA commander Colonel Malik Zelgai and Capt Nick Woodhams
"In the past four months there have been warnings from the Taliban but no attacks here. If you kill ten Taliban, 15 more spring up. The answer is not fighting, it's talking."
The British Army officer in charge of co-ordinating the 40 ANA who live and work alongside M Company is Captain Nick Woodhams.
The 28-year-old Royal Scots Dragoon Guardsman looks like a Second World War flying ace and uses his charm and humour to train the Afghans in fighting and organisational techniques. Capt Woodhams spends hours talking to white-bearded ANA company commander Abdul Rahman, known as Mili Baba (Father Christmas) in local language Dari, and even started smoking a pipe so the Afghan soldiers would respect him.
"It tastes disgusting, I hate it," he said.
"The British are very good at understanding different cultures. And as the ANA and ANP will run Afghanistan when we leave, we have to engage with them and the Taliban - like we did with the IRA."
ANA battalion commander Colonel Malik Zelgai said he is convinced the ANA will successfully "sustain Afghanistan and defeat the Taliban" when the British leave. He added: "The British forces came to Helmand to help people. We are grateful to the great nation of Britain."
Major Parker, 33, is "incredibly proud" of the Royal Marines' work.
He said: "Every man, from the youngest bloke upwards, has to be a diplomat, an agriculturalist, politician, economist and - first and foremost - a Marine. The resilience and intelligence with which they respond is staggering.
"But along with all the grave business there is a startling degree of levity - one minute they're treading through a minefield, the next they're taking the mickey out of each other."
Read more: Sun joins Marines involved in the most advanced counter-insurgency strategy in HISTORY in Afghanistan | The Sun |News|Campaigns|Our Boys
The latest from the front line
Its much easier getting shot at than gaining trust..were trying to correct 30yrs of mayhem with words, not weapons
Sun join's 'Mighty Munch' Marines on hearts and minds mission
Hearts and minds mission ... Marine with local children'Tache force
THE men of M Company, part of 42 Commando, have more traditions and in-jokes than any other battalion.
They grow ridiculous moustaches on tour and many have sneaked a drag outfit in their kit, which they claim "sends ladies wild with desire" on nights away from the war zone.
The Commandos even have their own language. Anything excellent is "hoofing" and "threaders" means exhausted.
Eccentric ... M Company men
Anyone who messes up on a job is forced to spend days caring for an invisible labrador on the end of a stiff wire lead and collar.
Intelligence Officer Captain Sam Hughes explained: "This goes back to the Eighties when the unit dog died and the duty officer buried it in a skip.
"The Commanding Officer was furious and made him walk around with a metal wire dog lead."
Another tradition involves a ban on M Company talking to females.
Captain Hughes said: "This goes back to our time on ships, to stop Marines seducing women. If anyone is caught chatting to a woman he has to carry a giant rat around.
"It's a 20kg bag with a large cardboard nose.
"You have to carry it in the top flap of your kit. It weighs a flipping ton."
By VIRGINIA WHEELER in Helmand, Afghanistan
Published: Today
DEEP in the dusty heartlands of Afghanistan's Helmand Province lies a small corner of hell known as The Jungle.
This stretch of dense vegetation has over the years run with the blood of British soldiers as Taliban fighters exploited the cover to launch ferocious attacks.
But Major Matt Parker, commanding 230 Royal Marines in the region, won't rest until The Jungle is renamed The Garden.
"We can't allow areas or people to become bogeymen," he said.
"We've had to build trust here from absolutely nothing. There were some hard battles fought by other British regiments to wrest away Taliban control. Lives were lost. But we've come a phenomenal way."
Major Parker's men are engaged in the most advanced and intelligent counter-insurgency strategy against any enemy in the HISTORY of warfare.
Described by one Marine as "winning hearts and minds - the turbo-charged version," the tactic is believed by British generals to be the solution to ending a conflict that, at nearly ten years, has lasted as long as both World Wars combined.
So successful have the Marines been at gaining locals' trust, The Sun can reveal that in the past few months a staggering 30 Taliban have turned supergrass, informing on warlords' activities to help the Brits.
Through a mixture of charm, diplomacy and warfare tactics such as "disrupt and disturb" - where soldiers flood an area with men to flush out insurgents - the region has seen some of the most dramatic improvements anywhere in Afghanistan.
And in a war where the Taliban have embraced Twitter to spread propaganda - and the country's president this week said that peace talks are the only solution - the Brits' exceptional diplomatic talents are proving vital.
The Sun joined M Company of the Royal Marines - known as the Mighty Munch - as they set about transforming this former Taliban-stronghold and opium-rich region into an area free from insurgent intimidation.
In just a few short months, the Commandos' record here is mightily impressive.
From 1,368 small arms attacks on British forces and their allies last year, up to May this year there had been only 161.
And from 509 IED (improvised explosive devices) found laid in the region last year, this year has seen a drop to just 89.
Reassured locals have taken it upon themselves to stop insurgents unleashing firepower on the Marines at least three times recently.
And a few weeks ago a young boy even ran up to Commandos to warn them of an enemy fighter - and pointed out two Taliban bombs.
Shop talk ... Marines visit shop of pharmacist Mohammad Hashin as they build relationships with the local community
Operating out of Patrol Base Khaamar, the Commandos are in charge of a 25 square kilometre area of Helmand's Nad-e Ali North district that was once a major IED-making area.
Together with an attached unit of Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers and Afghan police, who the Marines are helping to organise and train, they patrol the area daily with such care that they already know the names of thousands of locals.
Developed from the successes of the British counterinsurgency strategy adopted in Northern Ireland, it is also an exhausting process requiring endless patience and maturity from the young men.
One said: "It's much easier getting shot at than gaining the respect and trust of an Afghan community. We're trying to correct 30 years of mayhem through words, not weapons. It's incredibly difficult. I'm mentally knackered every single day."
The Commandos' struggle to help Afghanistan defeat the Taliban is vital for Britain as the insurgents would knock the country back to the Dark Ages and foster worldwide terrorism if they regained power.
The nerve centre of M Company's operations is a sandbag-insulated bunker at PB Khaamar which resembles a Second World War command HQ.
Inside this "Ops Room" photographs of dozens of local elders line the walls - with notes on their personalities, quirks and influence in the community.
Crossing cultures ... a weekly 'shura' meeting between Marine officers and Afghan elders held near Patrol Base Khaamar
Next to these are rows of suspected Taliban fighters and bomb-makers in the area - with "detain on sight" jotted beneath. Every week a planning meeting held by Marine officers discusses problems facing the local community, suggesting simple solutions such as providing shopkeepers with shutters to improve security.
Intelligence Officer Captain Sam Hughes, 28, said: "We had the mindset from the start that our aim was not to fire rounds. In Nad-e Ali now, 3,167 compounds have been mapped. We know the names of who lives there, their personalities, what they do. Any strangers are immediately spotted.
"We've wiped out a lot of Taliban mid-level command so many of the insurgents left are young. Some are just 17.
"These teenagers still have respect for the village elders and are young enough to be re-integrated. We understand now that we're not going to completely wipe out the Taliban but we can empower the state to stop them taking hold ever again."
Central to the strategy is the weekly "shura" or "meeting".
Over endless cups of tea village elders discuss grievances with Major Parker and the ANA and police.
Afghan elder Haji Lawang said: "In 16 months I haven't missed a single shura with the British. Before Major Parker came along the troops weren't listening. They were always breaking promises, destroying fields, using flares and artillery. But we had a good relationship with 3 Para and now the Marines. They make promises and complete promises.
At ease ... the ANA's Abdul Rahman, Sun's Virginia, ANA commander Colonel Malik Zelgai and Capt Nick Woodhams
"In the past four months there have been warnings from the Taliban but no attacks here. If you kill ten Taliban, 15 more spring up. The answer is not fighting, it's talking."
The British Army officer in charge of co-ordinating the 40 ANA who live and work alongside M Company is Captain Nick Woodhams.
The 28-year-old Royal Scots Dragoon Guardsman looks like a Second World War flying ace and uses his charm and humour to train the Afghans in fighting and organisational techniques. Capt Woodhams spends hours talking to white-bearded ANA company commander Abdul Rahman, known as Mili Baba (Father Christmas) in local language Dari, and even started smoking a pipe so the Afghan soldiers would respect him.
"It tastes disgusting, I hate it," he said.
"The British are very good at understanding different cultures. And as the ANA and ANP will run Afghanistan when we leave, we have to engage with them and the Taliban - like we did with the IRA."
ANA battalion commander Colonel Malik Zelgai said he is convinced the ANA will successfully "sustain Afghanistan and defeat the Taliban" when the British leave. He added: "The British forces came to Helmand to help people. We are grateful to the great nation of Britain."
Major Parker, 33, is "incredibly proud" of the Royal Marines' work.
He said: "Every man, from the youngest bloke upwards, has to be a diplomat, an agriculturalist, politician, economist and - first and foremost - a Marine. The resilience and intelligence with which they respond is staggering.
"But along with all the grave business there is a startling degree of levity - one minute they're treading through a minefield, the next they're taking the mickey out of each other."
Read more: Sun joins Marines involved in the most advanced counter-insurgency strategy in HISTORY in Afghanistan | The Sun |News|Campaigns|Our Boys
