MILITARY: Marine Corps increasingly eyeing Afghanistan

Combination of factors suggest local troops may play larger role in the 'other war'

By MARK WALKER - Staff Writer | Saturday, July 19, 2008 5:09 PM PDT ∞

Last fall, Marine Corps Commandant James Conway proposed moving his 25,000 troops in Iraq to Afghanistan, arguing that the fight there better suited the firepower of the service's air and ground task forces.

He may soon get what he asked for, and local troops could well be in the mix.

With the Pentagon reporting growing stability in Iraq and calling for more U.S. troops in Afghanistan to counter a resurgent Taliban and increasing numbers of foreign fighters, there is speculation the Marine Corps soon may have a much larger role in what some call the nation's "other war."

Commanders in Afghanistan, which the U.S. invaded after the 9/11 terror attacks, say they need 10,000 more troops to counter the rising violence.

The sense of urgency was heightened last week when nine U.S. Army troops were killed and 15 wounded when their remote outpost near the Pakistan border was attacked by what officials estimated were about 200 fighters.

The question for Pentagon planners now is where the additional troops will come from this year. Several sources said they believe Camp Pendleton and Miramar Marine Corps Air Station forces could be among those tapped for duty in 2009.

Pentagon officials refused to discuss deployment plans. Said Maj. David Nevers: "There are certainly discussions under way at senior levels about how ---- and how quickly ---- to send additional forces to Afghanistan. Many considerations are at play, not the least of which is the pace of the drawdown in Iraq."

Helland's desires

Camp Pendleton's Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland, head of Marine Corp forces throughout the Middle East and commander of the base's 40,000-strong I Marine Expeditionary force, is among the leadership backing a greater presence in Afghanistan.

He made that clear during a recent interview with the North County Times after a May briefing with his command staff at Camp Fallujah in Iraq's Anbar province.

"Whether or not we ... become firmly entrenched in Afghanistan remains to be seen," the general said. "Afghanistan is a great place for Marines, a great place for us to set up and continue to be part of the fight against the terrorist activity in that part of the world."

During his briefing at Camp Fallujah, Helland told more than three dozen officers in the room that he knew that moving to Afghanistan was in their thoughts as combat operations wind down in Iraq.

And while Afghanistan makes sense for a force known for its combat prowess, the general said, the Pentagon thinking at that time was not to add to the 3,400 Marines and sailors from Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and Twentynine Palms sent to that country this spring.

Two months later, however, finding more troops for Afghanistan is now at the top of the Pentagon's agenda.

The Marines now in Afghanistan represent the largest deployment of leathernecks since shortly after the invasion of Afghanistan in the fall of 2001. They were slated to come home in October until the reported spike in violence prompted Defense Secretary Robert Gates to order them to stay through November.

Factors in play

There are several factors at work that suggest an increased Marine presence in Afghanistan in the coming months, and that those troops could come from local bases. There are about 60,000 U.S. and NATO troops there now, with American forces about 35,000 of the total.

The Bush administration this month said it hoped to bring more troops home from Iraq this fall and Iraqi government officials said last week they want to assume security responsibility for all 18 of their provinces by year's end.

A final decision on troop levels there will come after a September report from U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq.

Marine ground units from Camp Pendleton and aviation units from Miramar assigned to Iraq early this year are nearing the end of their seven-month deployments. A headquarters group and two base regimental combat teams are being replaced by similar units from Camp Lejeune.

With those rotational cycles in mind, Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, could soon turn to Conway's proposal.

"We are clearly working very hard to see if there are opportunities to send additional forces (to Afghanistan) sooner rather than later," Gates told reporters Wednesday.

A report compiled by Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association International, a nonprofit military research group in Virginia, said there were 314 insurgent attacks in Afghanistan in June, up 40 percent when compared with June 2007.

"The fight remains tough and complicated," Mullen said during a Pentagon briefing last week. "One need look no further than the well-coordinated attack on the Wanat outpost to see that the enemy in Afghanistan has grown bolder, more sophisticated and more diverse."

He said the border area is a "launching pad" for the insurgency and that he is increasingly worried about the border region.

Mullen also singled out the work of the Marines in the southern area of Afghanistan, fueling speculation that Pentagon planners may call on the Marine Corps to send in more of its troops.

"I spoke with Marines based in the south," Mullen said of his visit to Afghanistan earlier this month. "To a person, they wanted me to know about and they showed me the positive changes they have helped bring about, the villages they can now enter, the Afghan police and forces they are training and trying to improve."

And he underscored commanders' calls for more manpower.

"It's a tougher fight ... and they need more troops to have the long-term impact that we all want to have there," Mullen said.

'Itching for a fight'

A senior Marine officer in Iraq said last week that as the Iraqi army and security forces assume primary responsibility for security in Anbar, where local Marines have been stationed since 2003, U.S. troops are looking ahead.

"Guys are itching for a fight," he said on the condition his name not be used. "If you're a young Marine or you're a battalion commander and you want to use your assets the way they're supposed to be used, Afghanistan is the place you want to be."

Much of the work in Anbar now involves civil affairs and training of Iraqi army and security forces and shrinking combat assignments. While there is work still to be done in Anbar, the officer predicted that Marine Corps forces will be greatly reduced in the province by year's end.

Marines, he said, are growing anxious to move on.

"Not a whole lot of us signed up to pass out soccer balls," he said. "We're looking and watching, and there's no doubt guys want to get into the fight there."

Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.