Illinois Marine returns to Marjah district, reflects on progress

Photo By Cpl. Tommy Bellegarde | Des Plaines, Ill., native, Cpl. Jeffery Rice, a squad leader with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, leads his squad on a security patrol through a rural area. The 21-year-old is currently serving on his second deployment to Marjah district, Helmand province, after pushing into Marjah proper on his first deployment with 1/6 during Operation Moshtarak in February 2010. The company is currently attached to 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment.  

PATROL BASE BEATLEY, HELMAND PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN

12.01.2011

Story by Cpl. Tommy Bellegarde  

II Marine Expeditionary Force   

PATROL BASE BEATLEY, Helmand province, Afghanistan – In February 2010, Des Plaines, Ill., native Cpl. Jeffery Rice pushed into Marjah, Helmand province, with other Marines and sailors from 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, to rid the area of a thriving insurgency during Operation Moshtarak.

Today, Rice finds himself back in Marjah district nearly two years later, pleased with how the area has progressed.

Rice served as a turret gunner with a mobile section last deployment, but his desire to learn, his leadership and his enthusiasm elevated him to his current position as a squad leader. Now he is responsible for the welfare of his subordinate Marines and the planning and execution of patrol missions.

“We have Corporal Rice who came in – we selected him early on in the workup (for the deployment) to take over a squad,” said Vancouver, Wash., native 1st Lt. Jordan Harris, the commanding officer of 3rd Platoon, Charlie Company, 1/6. “He’s a machine-gunner by trade, but a smart and just driven individual.”

Rice, 21, is currently serving with 3rd Platoon in Budula Qulp, Marjah district, approximately nine miles away from 1/6’s headquarters last year at Forward Operating Base Marjah in the heart of the city. He has seen many changes to the area.

“When it comes to kinetics, last deployment it seemed that every day at least one part of Charlie Company was getting into a firefight or having a patrol base shot at or something – it was an everyday event,” said Rice. “Compared to last deployment, it’s a totally different ballgame. Out here though, it’s (been) maybe once or twice a week, and things have died down considerably since we first got here.”

Rice believes the improvement of security is largely due to the development of Afghan security personnel in the area, including the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police.

“I think the biggest thing we’ve done is expand their local defenses, like the ANA, the ANP, the (Afghan Local Police), and push them out farther so now they’re impacting more areas,” said Rice. “They’re providing more security to the area then they had before.”

Rice has also noticed a marked change in the ways the area’s residents perceive the coalition forces.

“Anytime we come around it’s more handshakes and smiles than anything else,” said Rice. “Last deployment, anytime Marines came around, usually people left because they knew something was going to happen, but this deployment we’ve done a good job of having the local populace come to our side. That’s really disrupted the enemy’s plans, so the people are out more.”

Rice takes pride in the progress he and his fellow Marines helped start in Marjah district with the historic offensive in 2010 that the area's residents continue to enjoy today.

“I think, for the most part, everyone can take notice of how much we’ve affected this area, and I think they’re definitely going to take pride in it, especially when we pull out of here,” said Rice. “We’re going to be able to say the reason this war is over with is because we were the ones who went in there and helped the Afghan people help themselves.”

Editor’s note: Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, is currently attached to 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, presently assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5 in 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 Force 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: 12.01.2011
• Date Posted: 11.30.2011 23:45
• Story ID: 80745
• Location: PATROL BASE BEATLEY, HELMAND PROVINCE, AF