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CAMP DWYER, Afghanistan – Earlier this month, approximately 700 Marines and sailors with Combat Logistics Battalion 3, 1st Marine Logistics Group, arrived here to begin their seven-month deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The battalion’s mission while deployed is to provide combat logistical support to various subordinate units of Regimental Combat Team 1.
Prior to conducting independent missions within their vast, southerly area of operations, the Marines and sailors of CLB-3 must first conduct joint operations with their Camp Pendleton-based counterparts, CLB-5. For several months, CLB-5 personnel successfully maintained their area of operations, and are now preparing to transfer the region’s logistical responsibilities to CLB-3.
The units’ joint operations have been as diverse as they have been numerous. These operations have included route familiarization and clearance, logistics patrols, resupplying forward operating bases, road maintenance and vehicle recovery missions.
The operational tempo is high and the terrain is difficult, but the members of CLB-3 have several readily available resources to help them perform, said 1st Lt. Greg Cummings, platoon commander, Security Platoon, Headquarters and Service Company, CLB-3. The “relief in place” operations, which will culminate with the official transfer of authority, have been quite helpful to CLB-3.
“The learning curve is steep, but my Marines are picking it up quickly,” the 25-year-old West Chester, Pa., native said. “As general support security, we’re here to do whatever [the battalion] needs us for – personnel escorts, detainee handling, wrecker missions, fixed site security – basically anything that occurs within our area of operations.”
Given the projected size of CLB-3’s area of operations and scope of their future missions, the unit’s versatility as a logistics battalion will play a key role in the successful execution of logistical and supplementary operations.
Road and local repairs serve a dual purpose for the battalion, Cummings said. These operations help increase CLB-3’s mobility, which is vital for a logistics battalion, but they also help the Afghan populace. Community projects will ultimately help rebuild Afghanistan’s infrastructure.
In June, the Hawaii-based CLB-3 was augmented with nearly 450 additional Marines and sailors from Marine Corps bases throughout Japan. After conducting more than 60 days of pre-deployment training in the U.S., the battalion is finally on the brink of operating independently in Afghanistan. For Pfc. Daniel K. Marks, a combat engineer with CLB-3’s Engineer Company, arriving in Afghanistan is an exciting and surreal experience.
“I’m ready to get out there and start doing [my job],” said Marks, a 20-year-old native of Maiden, N.C. “The terrain [here] is the most difficult aspect to adjust to. During the Enhanced Mojave Viper training exercise [at Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif.], we could simulate everything except the ‘moon dust.’”
The Marines and sailors of CLB-5 are set to depart Afghanistan in a few weeks after finalizing their changeover with CLB-3. The official transfer of authority between the two logistics units is scheduled to occur later this month.
| Date Taken: | 10.08.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 10.13.2010 08:32 |
| Story ID: | 58013 |
| Location: | CAMP DWYER, AF |
| Web Views: | 240 |
| Downloads: | 6 |
This work, CLB-3 arrives in Afghanistan, conducts joint missions with CLB-5, by Sgt Daniel Woodall, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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