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    Georgian Liaison Team assists 33rd Light Infantry Battalion during Afghanistan deployment

    Georgian Liaison Team assists 33rd Light Infantry Battalion during Afghanistan deployment

    Photo By Cpl. Clayton Vonderahe | COMBAT OUTPOST SHUKVANI, Helmand province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan - Marines,...... read more read more

    COMBAT OUTPOST SHUKVANI, HELMAND PROVINCE, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF, AFGHANISTAN

    06.03.2011

    Story by Lance Cpl. Clayton Vonderahe 

    II Marine Expeditionary Force   

    COMBAT OUTPOST SHUKVANI, Helmand province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan - Marines with the Georgian Liaison Team, Regimental Combat Team 8, are currently operating out of Shukvani, Afghanistan in efforts to support the Republic of Georgia’s 33rd Light Infantry Battalion.

    The GLT has been entrusted with the responsibility to provide guidance to the battalion as well as coordinate additional support with higher echelons within the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force.

    “We have a very good friendship; they are doing a very good and helpful job for us,” said Maj. Vasil Pareshishvili, chief of staff for the 33rd Battalion. “If we did not understand each other it would be very hard for us to work together as a team.”

    “We are that crucial interface between the Georgian commander and the regimental commander,” said Maj. Christopher Kemp, the GLT commanding officer. “You have obvious language barriers that have to be worked through and because the Georgian battalion is not a standard Marine battalion, a lot of enablers are attached in direct support of their battalion.”

    The enablers, support sections of Marines, provide services to the Georgians they, as an infantry battalion, would not typically have among their own ranks, such as mechanics, satellite communication specialists or explosive ordinance disposal technicians.

    “We are there to coach, mentor, advise and bring these entities together to create a synergy and enable them to accomplish their mission just as a Marine battalion would. There are well over 100 enablers here in support of the Georgians. In some ways it’s kind of like a TV show producer, we bring all the pieces together; we bring them to the table and iron out the differences to get a desired product,” said Kemp.

    The 33rd Battalion holds the same responsibilities as any Marine battalion within RCT-8, and their responsibilities are intensified by the kinetic area of surrounding Shukvani, located between the southern district of Musa Qal’eh and northwestern district of Sangin, approximately 300 miles southwest of Kabul, the nation’s capitol. The land surrounding Shukvani provides a critical economical route for commerce between Sangin and Musa Qal’eh and is important to the overall mission in Afghanistan.

    “Their general responsibilities are counterinsurgency [COIN] operations within their area of operation,” said Kemp. “We are in a key piece of terrain; they are reaching out to the people in these towns through information operations, trying to separate the good people from the insurgents. They also partner with the Afghan Nation Army.”

    The Marines in the GLT are afforded a unique opportunity to work closely with one of the 48 troop-contributing nations currently in Afghanistan, as well as the only Georgian presence. The Georgian-Marine bond started with the GLT Marines visit to the Republic of Georgia to help ensure the battalion’s preparation for deployment by teaching the Battalion important skill sets important to operating in Afghanistan and working under a Marine command.

    “It was very close with our mission in Afghanistan,” Pareshishvili said in reference to the training and further referenced the adversity the battalion would face had they not completed the training. “There are very big differences. We are orthodox Christians and the Afghan citizens are Muslim. In Georgia we have four seasons, but in Afghanistan we see just the sun and no rain, it is very hot. But we are also military, so we are prepared to go anywhere.”

    The 33rd Battalion is the only Georgian presence in Afghanistan, making the Marines assigned to the GLT the only ones in Afghanistan to take part in the unique and rare mission.

    “We are extremely happy to be able to take part in such a mission. I recognize this mission may not continue to go on forever and it’s a very unique experience. I think very few people will have the pleasure in saying they actually took part in helping the Georgians in Afghanistan.”

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 06.03.2011
    Date Posted: 06.04.2011 01:02
    Story ID: 71573
    Location: COMBAT OUTPOST SHUKVANI, HELMAND PROVINCE, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF, AF

    Web Views: 685
    Downloads: 1

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