The Last Journey
Today is actually
On
Friday, September 3, I decided to spend all day with Sgt. Jimmy Bernard and his
group of Marines at the CMOC. That in
itself is a story all by its’ lonesome but for now, I’ll just say I
spent the day with Jimmy. The COMC is a
very fun, interesting, crazy and downright “happening” place here
at COP Turbett.
It is a mixture of civil affairs, medical clinic, translator tent
hang-out, and center of activity for all the locals to come and find
“projects” the 
with a 2010 twist to it and
starring all Marines. In short, the
Marines from Weapons Company have been assigned as a kind of civil affairs
group to oversee dispersing of funds for approved projects to selected
individuals who usually are not working with the Taliban. However, that is not always the case. Some are playing both sides against the
middle in this complicated little corner of the world and from this vantage
point one 
can only observe and try and
figure it all out later, if one has the energy to do so. Either way, what goes on at the CMOC on a daily basis is
quite remarkable and is basically State Department work being carried out by US
Marines. As always, if someone want the job done, they usually call upon the Marines
because they know how to get things done.
While
at the CMOC, I saw many, many children being brought in to be treated for minor
ailments ranging from stomach flu to infected blisters. The Navy corpsmen who
are always attached to the Marines, treat each patient and log the flow of
traffic into their records. 
Watching these children
being brought in reminds me of something on the line of doctors without borders
or operation smile, both organizations dedicated to helping those in need with
various medical and dental situations in underdeveloped nations across the
globe. Here, the parents bring in the their kids who are always very dirty and in need of a
good bathing. I don’t know how
these kids don’t come down with some serious infectious diseases. Cleanliness is just not a big priority
here.
The
Navy “docs” I see treating these kids always manage to keep the
kids from crying. I would imagine that
one of these medics will see more in one deployment than perhaps some full time
medical practitioners stateside might see in a multiyear setting. As the patients are treated, free of charge,
a building of trust between the locals and the Marines ensues and little by
little some forging of relationships is developed. Doing something for the people seems to help
strengthen ties and root out undesirable elements opposed to moving forward in
these parts.
In the afternoon, I
accompanied the crew from the CMOC to go and check on the progress of the
building of the school on the west side of the COP, just a few hundred meters
outside the wire. We went over there on
foot patrol in full battle gear as always, in the middle of the hot
afternoon. What I observed was very slow
progress on the actual building of the school, which in my view is not
progressing very rapidly at all.
It’s a simple construction, mostly cinder blocks being laid, but
so far all that has been erected has been a footing with maybe one layer of
cinderblocks laid half way around the perimeter of the structure. When we spoke to those who had been tasked
with the actual work on the project, it was quite apparent they pretty much had
been loafing around and possibly indulging in the local weed that is grown here
in abundance. Getting things done is
always like pulling teeth especially when taking into consideration huge chasms
between cultures on how and when something should be finished. It is possible that this particular project
will get done, but at the moment, as an outside observer, I have my
doubts. Time will tell.
We
returned back to the CMOC after having been outside for less than an hour and I
watched as activity resumed at the meeting place for those seeking
projects. At the moment, future projects
are on hold as more funding for such activities goes through its’ lengthy
process. I have no idea where the money
comes from to fund these projects but I know it does not come from anywhere in 
Later
this day on Friday, I was invited to dinner at the CMOC with the crew as well
as some of the Afghan Army folks, including the Afghan Lt who is the XO. Captain Zepeda joined us and during dinner one
of his Marines came in to give him a message.
The message was that a Marine had lost his life and was from Echo
Company. The atmosphere immediately
turned very quiet and it is one of those moments that I will not forget. Echo Company is just down the road a
ways. They have had serious losses since
I’ve been here. The rest of the
meal time went by and people pretty much finished up their food and went to
their various hooches to bed down for the night. It had been a crazy sort of day and at the
end it was a terrible sobering reminder that we are at all times in a war
zone. People die and some of them are US
Marines.
This
was the end of
Now
comes
I would
now go on two relatively simple patrols this day with Sgt. Mathers
and his squad both in the morning and in the later afternoon. The idea behind these patrols would be to
mingle with the local residents who live here and get a feel for how things are
going for them. It is also way to pick
up unsolicited intel that at
times is very valuable to those fighting this war. We also were out and about in the residential
areas to remind the residents that school was scheduled to begin on Sunday,
September 5th, which is the next 
day. We know that Taliban insurgents have been
spreading the word that schooling the children of the local residents is
something they highly frown upon. That
in itself seems to be good enough reason to fight this war lately, among other
things. Getting the females to come to
school will prove difficult.
The
morning patrol was set in brilliant morning light and for a brief time some of
the photos proved to be better than mid day lighting. The patrol in the morning was to the west
side of the COP and is in a residential area that looks more like parts of
Mexico that I have seen in years past.
But here the beauty of what would be in 
here in
During
the evening patrol, we set out at around 1730 (
We
spent about an hour or so walking through the village and stayed out until
dusk. It was easy walk and one I am glad
I went on. So, on both the patrols I
went on with Sgt. Mathers and his squad, we seemed to
do a presence patrol and inform the folks that 
school was on. Each time we do these kind
of patrols some of the local folks will greet us. There are always elders around and a large
gathering of kids always ensues. Yet, at
the same time I always notice some particular looks among some of the younger
male adults. You just get a feeling that
they are not really happy about you being there. It is apparent at least from the feel and
sense of things that many folks are just waiting for the opportunity to turn
you in to the Taliban and make life hell for you. It feels more like walking through a gang
neighborhood rather than walking through enemy territory. The people here seem much more uneducated
than other places I’ve been but they also seem much more cluey to what an outsider is doing and perhaps how to deal
with that scenario which is not uncommon to them. It is just complicated.
Between
the two patrols on this day, I went with the CO and the mobile assault team in
vehicles up to a position where 1st platoon is placed. There, I attended a ceremony that recognized
the promotion of a Marine to Cpl. I
wanted to go along and see this as I have tried now to get to know as much of
my surroundings as possible. Once there,
I visited with doc Lauderman, a corpsman I have known
from my time in Fallujah. I also happened to meet another corpsman who
was pushing out to even a further position.
His name is HM2 Gonzales who happens to be from
Saturday ended with dinner
once again at the CMOC where I was invited.
No doubt I have now eaten too much here but there will be a chance to
get rid of the excess weight. During the
day I occasionally heard far off explosions and gunfire coming from other
positions nearby. I also heard jets high
above and saw cobra helicopters from time to time circling in the
vicinity. Other patrols that went out
this day, including the one I usually would have gone 
on, did end up drawing
fire. No one was injured and no loss of
life happened. But it seems as though
the enemy is always somewhat elusive and does things to harass and
intimidate. They also have been known to
do such things so as to calculate how the Marines react and plan
accordingly. It is a never ending
struggle at the moment. Time will once
again tell how things go for this area.
This
is the end of
Jim
Spiri
