Photo By Staff Sgt. Alfred V. Lopez | U.S. Marines with Echo Company and the Headquarters and Service Co., 2nd Battalion,...... read more read more
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NAWA DISTRICT, Helmand province, Afghanistan – The Marine Corps is an American machine. This machine fights battles, participates in humanitarian relief efforts and executes counter-insurgency operations around the world on a daily basis.
Like any machine, it runs on fuel, be it food, ammunition, medical supplies or petroleum. Without these basic necessities, the daily efforts made by Marines and sailors to mentor Afghan security forces in southern Helmand would not be possible.
Keeping this machine running is a constant operation. Here in Nawa, the pipeline that keeps feeding this machine is the Headquarters and Service Company, 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment motor transport platoon.
“Our mission is to sustain the battalion with whatever support they need,” said 2nd Lt. William Mahone, the motor transport platoon commander and 24-year-old native of Charlottesville, Va. “We move whatever they need throughout the battlespace.”
The platoon journeys to various patrol bases and combat outpost every day, to keep the machine grinding.
“We have to provide our own security, and man our own crew-served weapons during our convoys,” said Sgt. Robert Williams, a motor transport platoon sergeant and 25-year-old native of Dunnellon, Fla. “We load, transport and off-load all the supplies that the battalion needs.”
On average, about 28,000 gallons of water, 11,000 gallons of fuel and other various resources are delivered by the platoon every week.
“Fuel is the biggest factor of our mission tempo,” said Sgt. Dashun Deloach, a platoon sergeant with H&S Co. and 25-year-old native of Columbus, Ga. “Without the fuel, vehicles won’t run and generators can’t power the patrol bases.”
Neither rain nor sandstorms can stop their daily deliveries. But like any mission, re-supplying the Marines, sailors and Afghan National Army soldiers in the far corners of the battlespace has challenges.
Navigating narrow Nawa roads where the threat of improvised explosive devices still exists has been the platoon’s biggest challenge.
“The terrain is the biggest challenge we currently have,” Mahone explains. “There are a lot of canals crossings that barely give us any leeway on either side.”
“Sometimes it takes us about forty-five minutes to go six kilometers,” Deloach added.
Through careful planning and preparation, the convoy navigates these obstacles to provide the warriors with their necessities.
“We go over the routes on our mission briefs… talk about where the choke points are and what to do during certain crossings.” Mahone said. “Once the drivers are more familiar with the roads, they’ll be able to better navigate through these obstacles.”
For the next seven months, it will be up to the motor transport platoon to keep the Marine Corps machine well fueled and well fed in Nawa.
“The battalion can’t accomplish the mission without us,” said Deloach. “We don’t just bring the fuel, we are the fuel for the battalion.”
Editor’s note: Second Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment is assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5, 2nd Marine Division (Forward), which heads Task Force Leatherneck. The task force serves as the ground combat element of Regional Command (Southwest) and works in partnership with the Afghan National Security Forces and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to conduct counterinsurgency operations. The unit is dedicated to securing the Afghan people, defeating insurgent forces and enabling ANSF assumption of security responsibilities within its area of operations in order to support the expansion of stability, development and legitimate governance.
| Date Taken: | 12.13.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 12.15.2011 09:45 |
| Story ID: | 81429 |
| Location: | NAWA DISTRICT, AF |
| Web Views: | 1,069 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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