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Corps prepares to augment Afghan force levels

As many as 7,000 additional Marines could be sent to Afghanistan in the coming months, a move that would increase the Corps’ footprint there to about 18,000 overall, the service’s top officer said in late August.

“There are over 11,000 Marines in Afghanistan, and I think we need more,” Commandant Gen. James Conway told Marines on Aug. 19 during a visit to Al Asad air base in Iraq, according to a news release.

Conway discussed future troop levels again five days later during a visit with the governor of Afghanistan’s Helmand province, saying he believes a request for more Marines is imminent. He has “made clear at every turn,” however, that any decision to do so belongs to Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said Maj. Dave Nevers, the commandant’s spokesman.

“What the commandant is telling his Marines is that should a request for additional forces come, the Marine Corps will be ready to respond to it,” Nevers said.

About 11,000 Marines and sailors with the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade moved into southern Afghanistan this spring and have since spread through 11 districts in Helmand, Farah and Nimruz provinces. Conway has said he does not want the total number of Marines there to exceed 18,000, so he can ensure units have adequate “dwell time” between combat tours.

Today, the Corps is preparing training and predeployment schedules based on the assumption that Marine forces in Afghanistan could grow to include two regimental combat teams as soon as February, said Chief Warrant Officer-5 Jeffrey Eby, the Corps’ senior gunner. Currently, 2nd MEB includes only RCT-3 (reinforced), which comprises four infantry battalions and a light armored reconnaissance battalion.

The MEB launched its first major offensive — Operation Khanjar — on July 1, sending about 4,000 Marines and 650 Afghan troops to clear insurgents and provide security ahead of the Aug. 20 Afghan presidential elections. The brigade has transitioned to the second phase of that operation and is building combat outposts and forward operating bases throughout the region, said Maj. Bill Pelletier, a MEB spokesman. Marine officials said it is too early to discuss whether additional Marines sent to Afghanistan would fall under the MEB or what their mission might be.

“Obviously a greater number of forces would give us increased capacity to concentrate in the areas where our Marines are situated,” Pelletier said. “At the same time, additional Afghan security forces are really the solution to security in Afghanistan.”

Growing the Afghan force

Afghan leaders agree with that assessment. The southern part of the country is home to the world’s largest poppy crop, which is used to produce heroin, and it remains painfully short on Afghan soldiers and police. But that’s improving.

To help fill the void, the Afghan government has sent troops from other parts of the country, including a battalion from the capital, Kabul, to the MEB’s area of operation, said Col. Burke Whitman, who oversees the MEB’s integration with Afghan National Security Forces. Additionally, police and army units continue to generate new forces, he added.

“When we launched our July 1 operation we started with around 650,” Whitman said. “Now we’ve partnered with more than 2,000 — and that’s army and police. We’ll see that growth continue gradually and consistently.”

Ultimately, the MEB wants one Afghan soldier or police officer for every Marine in the AO, he said.

“We’re close to that … in some respects,” Whitman said. “In two cases now, we have an Afghan battalion partnered with one of our battalions. We’ve got a commander in relationship with a commander.

“At every level, we have an embedded partnership with these Afghan forces,” he said. “Living together, working together and eating together. We trust each other. We’ve got each other’s backs.”

In October, the MEB plans to open a joint security academy, a boot camp of sorts for Afghan police forces. The training, meant to complement instruction U.S. and coalition forces conduct elsewhere in theater, will take place at the Shorabak Afghan army base adjacent to Camp Leatherneck, the MEB’s homestead in Helmand. The training will last eight weeks and include courses in ethics, firearms and arrest techniques, Whitman said.

Those efforts should help the Afghan National Security Forces to grow dramatically during the next year. The goal, he said, is to have them take the lead in providing security for their country.

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Staff writer Dan Lamothe contributed to this report.