Back in April I posted a blog about a squad of Marines and their patrol tactics. I was very impressed by not only the techniques the Marines were utilizing but also their restraint in dealing with an apparently hostile population.
Today, Tom Ricks included in his blog a story of a Marine in Afghanistan and how they integrated a couple of reporters who were looking to get a story on the Marine's use of FETs (female engagement teams). Once again I was impressed by the Marines who took the time to sit down with the reporters and learn what the reporters hoped to accomplish and then placed them with different squads throughout their stay. The Marines ensured that the reporters saw what they wanted to see and the reporters made sure to stay within the ground rules that the Marines established.
I'm not saying that the Marines are far superior than the other services, all I'm saying is that in this particular situation the Marines did an excellent job in media interaction and getting their story out. My last unit, 1-14 Cav did essentially the same thing when we had media arrive and other than my cultural landmine, some stupid comments by stupid lieutenants, and a misquote by our squadron XO, we had excellent dealings with the media.
One other element of the article caught my attention and that was the Marine's description of a particular IED infested area dominated by the Taliban and what the Marine's did to improve the situation. They put a patrol base right next to the main village and the marketplace...where the people are. The population grew to trust the Marines and the Afghan Army soldiers because they were living essentially where they were living and could protect them. Civilians pointed out IEDs and passed on information on any Taliban infiltrating into the area. That's how you defeat an insurgency.
Very similar to what we did in 1-23 IN as part of Operation Arrowhead Ripper in 2007. After securing the western half of Baqubah with the help of the Iraqi Army and 5-20 IN (5-20 occasionally does things right) my battalion was ordered to establish two combat outposts in the city. We could have placed the COPs in the areas with the most historic enemy activity (the main road that went north to south through the city and then cut east across the river) but that wouldn't have made a lot of sense. Enemy attacks were highest on that road because that's where American activity was highest. It was the primary route between the brigade headquarters at FOB Warhorse and a base in the eastern part of the city, FOB Gabe. A single combined armor/mech infantry company was the only American forces in western Baqubah before my battalion arrived and all they could really do with their lack of manpower was hold that road open, so that is where they were attacked.
So we built COPs away from the main road in two neighborhoods where it was assessed the enemy actually "lived", as opposed to where they were "working". The buildings we occupied were both abandoned houses of significant size. A sizable portion of the population had fled prior to our operation (both civilians and insurgents) and so there were plenty of homes to choose from. Neighbors told us one of the homes we took over was owned by one of the insurgent leaders who had fled the city so score 1 for us.
Going off topic because I can...as I was walking through this house with the S3 (operations officer) and some engineers I noticed a spoon on the floor. I picked it up and as I looked at it another soldier and I said at the same time, "there is no spoon." Good times. In another room there was a teddy bear on a shelf. A quick reminder that these men we were hunting and who were doing their best to kill us also had families. War sucks.
Back on topic...the owners (or possibly renters, I can't recall) of the other home we took over eventually returned. Iraqis in general are pretty tolerating of difficult situations and according to the company commander understood that this building could no longer be their home. They accepted a significant financial compensation for the home (which as I mentioned earlier they may not even have owned) as well as our apologies.
Establishing those COPs worked out tremendously and enemy activity was curtailed. There were still problems and attacks of course and we would eventually lose 4 soldiers and an interpreter to a booby trapped house. However, because we had 2 companies living with the population we began to gain the trust of the population. People came to us with concerns as well as information; the Iraqi Army saw we were willing to endure the same hardships they endured; and the Iraqi police gained locations in which to recruit and train new members.
War still sucks, though.
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