[R-G] Huge U.S. camp arises in Afghan Desert of Death

[Anthony Fenton]

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSISL43643820090507

Huge U.S. camp arises in Afghan Desert of Death
Thu May 7, 2009 3:29pm EDT

By Andrew Gray

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A huge U.S. military camp is  
taking shape in the baking heat of southern Afghanistan for thousands  
of extra U.S. troops charged with defeating a resurgent Taliban.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Camp Leatherneck, with concrete  
blast walls and semi-cylinder sand-colored tents, on Thursday as he  
surveyed preparations for what will be the biggest wave yet in a year  
that is seeing U.S. troop numbers doubled.

The camp is being constructed in Helmand province next to a British  
base, Camp Bastion, as Marines and other forces dramatically expand  
their presence in the most violent area of Afghanistan and heartland  
of the Taliban movement.

Construction workers clambered on the wooden frame of a new  
headquarters building as Gates spoke at the camp, where the majority  
of more than 8,000 marines now flowing into southern Afghanistan are  
expected be based.

"This place was desert at the end of January. I mean: nothing, said  
Navy Captain Jeff Borowy," the top U.S. military engineer in southern  
Afghanistan.

"Now you've got a 443-acre secure facility," he told reporters  
traveling with Gates.

ATLANTIC WAY

Miles of sand walls topped with coils of barbed wire line the roads at  
the camp, linked to its British neighbor by a street nicknamed  
Atlantic Way.

If placed end to end in the United States, the sand walls at  
Leatherneck and eight other sites being built for the troop influx in  
southern Afghanistan would stretch for a distance of 175 km (110 miles).

The marines at Camp Leatherneck are also building a giant parking area  
for helicopters and airplanes by laying down a mat of metal alloy on  
the desert floor. With a length of 4,860 feet a width of 318 feet, the  
mat will be the second largest of its kind in the world and the  
biggest in a combat zone, said Marine Lieutenant Colonel David Jones,  
commander of the Marine Wing Support Squadron 371, based in Yuma,  
Arizona.

The new bases are a tangible sign of the increased resources devoted  
to Afghanistan by U.S. President Barack Obama, who accused his  
predecessor George W. Bush of neglecting the war in Afghanistan to  
focus on the conflict in Iraq, which Obama opposed.

Even before he completed a review of Afghanistan and Pakistan  
strategy, Obama ordered 17,000 extra U.S. troops to Afghanistan,  
including the 12,000 Marines.

"We are now resourcing our counterinsurgency appropriately," said U.S.  
Army Brigadier General John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in  
southern Afghanistan.

"Our allies have done the heavy lifting for us in the southern region  
for a long time," he added. "The Brits, the Canadians, the Dutch have  
taken a lot of casualties."

Getting supplies to the remote desert -- named the Desert of Death by  
local tribesmen because of its extreme summer heat and desolation --  
and building the camps in time for the influx of troops has posed  
challenges, Borowy said. In one innovative attempt to deal with the  
conditions, marines bagged up recycled water from camp showers and  
kitchens and used it to prepare sand for the aircraft parking area.

"We're in the middle of the desert so getting water's pretty  
interesting," Borowy said.

(Editing by Peter Graff)