GARMSIR DISTRICT, Afghanistan — In a counterinsurgency struggle where winning the people is the key to victory, connecting with the female population is critical.
Four female Marines from Combat Logistics Battalion 8 and one female civil affairs Marine attached to Regimental Combat Team 3 linked up with Company F, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment for a three-day series of patrols with the specific purpose of engaging with the Afghan women here, July 27-29.
Military leaders from the strategic to tactical levels have constantly reinforced the need to build relationships with the local populace in Afghanistan in order to win this population-centered war. Female Marines can play a significant role when it comes to reaching out to women in Afghan society.
"Understanding the nature of the environment and the culture here, women are not seen out in public often. This was a way to reach out to half of the population," said Lt. Col. Leonard DeFrancisci, detachment commander of 4th Civil Affairs Group, which is an asset of RCT-3. "It is a good way to gain the perspective of women in Afghanistan, especially since there was a recent increase of Marines in the area."
The five female Marines started their mission with Co. F by traveling in a convoy to a nearby village, where they dismounted and began to interact with the locals.
"We just asked basic questions to try and understand their perspective and what was important to them," said Lance Cpl. Jasmin A. Gagnon, a civil affairs Marine with RCT-3 and the only female Marine attached to the regiment. "The Afghan women definitely felt more comfortable interacting with other women, and some of them just wanted to talk."
As a civil affairs Marine, Gagnon is specifically trained in effective techniques to interact with locals and gauge their needs and concerns. The primary concerns of the local women were security and education for their children.
"In one of the villages we visited, a man and his wife invited some of the members of the patrol into the house after we knocked on their door," said Gagnon, who used a male Afghan interpreter to communicate with the residents. She explained that the man of the house was grateful to the Marines for respecting their culture by knocking on the door rather than entering the house forcibly. "They offered us tea, and we had a nice conversation," said the 23-year-old Falls Church, Va., native.
The team visited one village per day, and they were able to interact with numerous Afghan women during the patrols.
One local woman approached the female Marines crying, Gagnon recalled. "She said, 'thank God the Marines are here because I know things will be better now.'"
Gagnon, who is on her first deployment, considered their mission a success.
"I would like to go out and do it again," she said. "I think it is important for the women of Afghanistan to know we are here to listen and help them."
Date Taken: | 08.02.2009 |
Date Posted: | 08.05.2009 00:58 |
Story ID: | 37152 |
Location: | GARMSIR DISTRICT, AF |
Web Views: | 485 |
Downloads: | 308 |
This work, Female Marines connect with Afghan women during patrols, by LTC Kurt Stahl, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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