Operation Azada Wosa: the 24th MEU's progress in Garmsir, Afghanistan

Guns Magazine, Dec, 2008

After arriving in mid-March 2008 the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit began planning counterinsurgency operations in the Garmsir District of Helmand Province, Afghanistan. "The geography of Afghanistan is the geography of water. People live, crops grow and trade routes are all located within 10 kilometers either side of the river. Beyond that, it is barren desert," said Col. Peter Petronzio, commanding officer, 24th MEU, ISAF.

The Helmand River, the longest river in Afghanistan, runs north to south through the center of the province and through the center of Garmsir. In the northern part of Garmsir there is an intricate canal and irrigation system, built by USAID in the 1950s.

With their eyes turned to Garmsir, the Marines' first task was to secure key routes though the district center just south of the southernmost British forward operating base, and a region in which NATO-ISAF forces had not had a presence in years. Although the southern border of Afghanistan is porous and offers many routes through it, all traffic converges on the river at Garmsir. The Helmand River bulges at the northern edge of the district, which is why the Marines dubbed the area the "snake's head."

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"Fighters and weapons funneled through there, it was a stop along the way to other locations in and out of Afghanistan," said Maj. Carl McCleod, intelligence officer, 24th MEU, ISAF. Even knowing this, the true value of Garmsir to the insurgents didn't become clear until the fight began. "We were told the insurgents would fight for a few days and then scatter," McCleod said, "but that's not what happened."

Azada Wosa Begins

It's April 28th and more than 1,000 Marines sit and wait, some near helicopters, others in vehicles parked in a vast, vacant desert, all covered by a moonless sky, but a hitch delays their assault.

The AV-8 Harriers set to launch from Kandahar Airfield lose refueling tanker support. Without refuel capabilities the planes are grounded. This delay has a ripple effect on the entire operation--setting everything back about 40 minutes and requiring some on-the-spot creative problem solving.

"We couldn't punch into the predetermined landing zones because we didn't have the objective secure or at least have eyes on it (from the Harriers)," said air mission commander Capt. Brandon L. Whitfield, officer in charge, Tactics and Planning, Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron-365, 24th MEU, ISAF. "I had to push the skids (the AH-1Ws and UH-1Ns--the fire support from above) in first, which was completely not planned--but it worked out, to get eyes-on, to make sure the landing zone was secure and then I had to bring the assault (troops in the CH-46E and CH-53E helicopters) in."

Some Marines jokingly called it Operation Rolled Ankle. Too many Marines charging off aircraft in the dark into unfamiliar and difficult terrain under the weight of full combat load and gear sustain ankle and leg injuries. At one point during the insert the battalion commander, Lieutenant Col. Anthony Henderson, comes over the radio and says, "When you come off the helo, it's quiet here, so walk off the aircraft."

Motorized Charlie Company arrives at a pre-staged launching point near the southernmost friendly outpost, south of them are Alpha and Bravo Company Marines. As the first beams of dawn break over the horizon the Marines are in place. Charlie Company is set to create a diversion in the north, the plan being the insurgents could not react to a 3-pronged attack and they would certainly not be ready for the Marines when they woke up in the morning, explained Maj. Mark D. McCarroll, battery commander, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 24th MEU, ISAF. "They had no idea we were going to land that far south. We literally dropped in behind them," said McLeod. "It took them a few days to realize we were there in that size of force behind them."

With adrenaline pumping through their veins, Marines perform the last few function checks on gear and weapons. Birds chirp in the trees, and it's quiet enough to hear the babbling water in the canals. This is as tranquil as Garmsir will be for the next month.

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Just after 8:00 am on the 29th the sound of automatic weapons firing crackled through the air, Charlie Company, motorized but clearing the north on foot, was in contact with enemy forces. For the next 48 hours Charlie Company wielded the power of combined arms with the precision of a sculptor, wreaking havoc on insurgent positions, before the fighting began to ebb and flow with intense firefights followed by hours of nothing. To the south, Alpha and Bravo companies began getting regular contact, catching some insurgents by surprise as they tried to escape to the south.

In less than 12 hours the Marines penetrated into the enemy-held territory of the Snake's Head and seized key crossing points and terrain. For the next 35 days, the Marines and insurgents engaged in approximately 170 engagements.

Operations in May were maneuver warfare in its truest form; a constant struggle to gain the position of advantage over the enemy while fighting to keep the battalion supply lines open. "The enemy consistently fought from fortified positions to include hardened structures they evicted civilians from," said Maj. Todd Mahar, operations officer, BLT 1/6, 24th MEU, ISAF. "They dug textbook trench lines and bunker systems and at times had mutually supporting positions."