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FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELARAM II, Afghanistan (5/22/2012) — The
Marines and sailors with Regimental Combat Team 6 and its
subordinate battalions have been working nonstop on a combat
operation referred to as Operation Jaws since February.
A Marine with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment lays in the prone while an M1A1 Abrams tank moves in the background, April 18,
2012. The Marines of Charlie Company and Alpha Company, 1st Tank Battalion took part in a month-long clearing operation in the Geston
valley of the northern Helmand province. Photo by USMC Cpl. Ed Galo |
The operation's goal was to disrupt the enemy and
establish stronger footholds in areas where insurgents have
seen few American or coalition forces. The latest phase of
the operation took place in the Geston Valley where Marines
and sailors with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine
Regiment cleared over 10 villages of insurgents.
Maj. Jonathan O'Gorman was charged with the execution of the
operation.
“It was nice to get
out there and be closer to the Marines; actually talk to
guys on the radio and run the battle,” said O'Gorman,
assistant operations officer, RCT-6. “In that sense it was
exciting. I wouldn't say, necessarily that (being charged
with the execution) was hard, I would say there were some
challenges in terms of what we were trying to do.”
While the Marines of Charlie Co., 1st Bn., 8th Marines,
cleared the village compounds, the personnel tasked with
handling the operations from a command level worked to shape
the battle for them. Using aviation assets, they observed
the activity on the battlefield, searched for insurgents,
and kept an eye on the Marines moving on the ground.
When coalition forces on the ground took fire from enemy
mortar teams, the Marines in the command operations center
located the insurgents and were able to target them with a
High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.
The execution
of an operation is no easy feat. Since O'Gorman was in
charge of that execution, he had to work with different
sections within the regiment such as intelligence sections,
planning sections and command operations centers within
Charlie Co. and 1st Tank Battalion to make the operation a
success.
According to O'Gorman, normally when an
operation needs to be conducted, an order is given to one of
the battalions. Due to the Geston valley's remote location,
there was no battalion close enough to issue the order. The
regiment had to take personnel from different sections and
make a command specifically for this operation.
“We
had our direct support tank company, Alpha Company, 1st
Tanks, we had Charlie Co., and we also had our regimental
engineers, Alpha Company, 1st Combat Engineer Battalion that
all formed a battalion-like configuration,” said O'Gorman
referring to the units that came together for the latest
part of Operation Jaws. “But we needed a command and control
node for it. So what we did is from each section of the
regiment between admin, intel, operations, logistics and
communications, we pulled a lieutenant out, with me in
charge. (We) had to get up there a couple days early and had
to train on how to be a battalion-like configuration.”
On the ground, it was easy to see how well the planning
had gone from the higher command elements. The Marines had a
constant supply of food, water and fuel for their trucks. If
someone was injured, medical evacuation capabilities were
readily available.
“That was a little bit of a
challenge, to take guys that never work together because the
regimental staff is so big. They don't communicate with one
another on a daily basis, and what ever interactions they do
have doesn't involve fighting companies in the attack,”
O'Gorman added. “So we got them up there and we basically
had to drill guys through the whole concept of taking an
intelligence report, announcing it in the (command
operations center), what that would mean operationally and
what actions that particular lieutenant was responsible for
doing.”
By USMC Cpl. Ed Galo
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2012
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