[R-G] US Marines prepare for 'different kind of fight' in Afghanista

[Anthony Fenton]

US Marines prepare for 'different kind of fight' in Afghanistan

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jCws7y41JrUgfcTcBVwHw1yfZ8jQ

CAMP LEJEUNE, North Carolina (AFP) — For the 2,200 US Marines being  
deployed to southern Afghanistan next month, training for a mission  
fighting Taliban insurgents has meant adapting to a different type of  
enemy.

Having tried but failed to convince its allies to commit more troops  
to Afghanistan, the Pentagon last month ordered the 24th Marine  
Expeditionary Unit based at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina to deploy  
in March.

They are due to arrive ahead of an expected spring offensive by the  
Taliban, who make use of very different tactics and terrain to the  
insurgents in Iraq.

"We are expecting a different kind of fight" than the type of attacks  
combat troops are used to dealing with in Iraq, said Captain David  
Lee, part of a reconnaissance unit attached to the Marines.

"In Iraq, the enemy was engaging us through IEDs (improvised  
explosive devices), they would run and hide," said Lee. "In  
Afghanistan, the Taliban will come and shoot at us, get into a  
gunfight. We didn't get a lot of that last time I was in Iraq."

He said that basic training for patrolling and shooting was the same  
for both theaters but that the Afghan deployment had required some  
fine-tuning.

"In the past two months, we focused more on the use of close air  
support, cover fire and supporting arms," he said, while supervising  
shooting practice for around 15 Marines firing assault rifles at  
targets 500 meters (yards) away.

Besides combat training, the soldiers have been taking language  
lessons, to help them be better understood among the Pashto and Dari- 
speaking Afghans.

"We've got language classes where we learn to say things like 'we are  
going to search your houses,'" explained one young Marine.

"Regarding training, you always wish you had more time. But we are  
absolutely ready," said the unit's commander, Colonel Peter  
Petronzio, sitting in an office surrounded by bags packed and ready  
to go.

"You have to be ready to go anywhere. Could be in Lebanon, could be  
in Iraq, could be in Afghanistan," said the commander, a veteran with  
24-years in the Marines.

His troops could be deployed in the violence-torn south or the east,  
where they would be used to support the 50,000-strong NATO-led  
International Security Assistance Force, with stability, security,  
and development duties.

"Everything we do focuses on counter-insurgency: we realized that in  
the last four or five years. That's the fight we are in now," he said.

The deployment will be backed up by around 20 helicopters, including  
combat, assault, transport and heavy-lift choppers.

The Marines' arrival is a major boost for NATO troops who have for  
months been asking for helicopter reinforcements. Afghanistan has in  
the last year seen its most violent period since the fall of the  
Taliban in 2001.

The Marines will be supporting Canadian, British and Dutch troops  
deployed in the troublesome south, a hotspot for violence where the  
most deadly skirmishes have occurred and where opium cultivation is  
flourishing.

While Secretary of Defense Robert Gates upset US allies in January by  
saying troops in the south, mainly from Britain, Canada and the  
Netherlands, were not properly trained to fight an insurgency,  
Petronzio was at pains to reach out.

"I can't wait to get over there and see what we can do collectively.  
We are not going over there to show everybody how to do it, we are  
going over there to help," he said.

"I am sure we will work fine together. These countries have great  
troops."