Bloomington native shapes Afghanistan

Photo By 1st Lt. Scott Murdock | Captain Aaron Fisher, Support Company commander with 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group (Forward), and a Bloomington, Ill., native, inspects his Marines’ progress on Route Tiffany in northern Helmand province, Afghanistan, April 4, 2012. During his second combat deployment, Fisher led Support Company in constructing roads that facilitate travel and commerce in southwest Afghanistan.  

HELMAND PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN

04.12.2012

Story by 2nd Lt. Scott Murdock 

Regional Command Southwest

HELMAND PROVINCE, Afghanistan – As company commander of Support Company, 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group (Forward), Capt. Aaron Fisher has a significant impact on the development of southwest Afghanistan.

Fisher, a native of Bloomington, Ill., is currently serving his second deployment to Afghanistan and has had an opportunity to see firsthand the progress he has helped create.

“When I was here last, we had a 12-year-old boy turn his father in for making IEDs,” Fisher said. “We asked him why he’d do that. He said he learned in school that IEDs are bad and that bad people make them.”

Fisher has led several route construction projects that have improved the infrastructure of Afghanistan. He explained that the roads built by 9th ESB help make hospitals, schools and commerce more accessible to rural Afghans. This kind of progress also deters insurgent activity because the local population becomes less susceptible to insurgent manipulation in exchange for support.

“Basically wherever you put pavement, terrorists go away,” said 1st Lt. Andrez Posada, Motor Transportation Platoon commander with Fisher’s Support Company.

Fisher understands the importance of local involvement, and can often be found meeting with village elders and farmers, discussing what Marines and Afghans can offer each other. During a recent mission, Fisher joined village elders alongside the construction site and explained that the road his Marines were building is for the Afghan people, and that he was not there to pose a threat to their lives or livelihood, as insurgents have been.

“I am a peaceful man,” Fisher assured them. “I have a family. I believe in God.”

Marines have made amazing progress in Afghanistan, thanks to the hard work and dedication of people like Fisher and the Marines of Support Company. The roads of southwest Afghanistan will remain long after the departure of U.S. forces, as will the legacy of the Marines who built them.

• Date Taken: 04.12.2012
• Date Posted: 04.12.2012 09:20
• Story ID: 86619
• Location: HELMAND PROVINCE, AF