The sound of gunfire and explosions fill the air, summer has come, and once more war has come to Helmand Province. In one of the largest military operations seen in Afghanistan since the start of the war, Marines from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade have launched a wide ranging operation deep into the Helmand River Valley, a major poppy producing region, and a hotbed of Taliban activity.

Operation Khanjar

The operation has been dubbed, “Khanjar,” and commanders are calling it the largest Marine action since the 2006′s battle of Fallujah, and the largest Marine airlift since Vietnam.…

The sun had just set this evening when the alarm went off – “Condition Red”. Everyone, including us, ran to find our body armor and helmets. Mortars hit near Camp Bostick, where we are currently based, but three other locations were also attacked at the same time. Two of them were nearby small outposts. The last attack was against Camp Bostick’s Quick Reaction Force (QRF) shortly after it left the base to reinforce one of the smaller outposts that was under attack.…

The attack on Bariali did a great deal to diminish its infrastructure; much of the outpost had been burned, broken, or simply collapsed in the chaos, leaving little for International Forces to work with in the following days. This proved to be a matter of critical importance for the future of Bariali, as the infrastructure of any Observation Post  is a hugely important matter for the soldiers who live and work within its walls.

Towers and watchposts provide valuable sightlines for International Forces, because as the attack on Bariali demonstrated, seeing the enemy coming is truly the first line of defense.…

It is an unfortunate fact that sometimes stories are lost in the maelstrom of information that seems constant and, at times, overwhelming. Events that should be brought to our attention are often buried, relegated to a series of words at the bottom of television screen, numbers without context or meaning. Such is the case of Bariali, an Outpost that was attacked and ultimately overwhelmed by Taliban forces on May 1st of this year.

3 Americans, 2 Latvians, and 5 Afghanis were killed when enemy forces attacked the outpost at daybreak, superior numbers attacking with small arms fire and the element of surprise.…

May 1st, Observation Post Bariali was overrun during a surprise attack by Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters. Three American soldiers, along with two Latvians and five Afghans died in the fight. Little notice was made back home of the horrible battle here. Swine flu was the topic number one in the American media. Death on an Afghan mountain top was lost somewhere in that day’s events.

Situated along Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan, Bariali overlooks three river valleys that serve as major insurgent smuggling routes – the Hlelgal, Daring and Konar.…

In a region where isolation is the rule, meetings of any sort take on a special gravity. Such is the case with Shura councils, meetings of representatives from various villages that occur far less frequently than truly needed.

One of the greatest challenges facing Afghanistan is the lack of presence the elected government has in areas remote as the eastern mountainous regions bordering Pakistan. Major cities such as Kabul and Kandahar have the natural infrastructure to facilitate a significant government presence, but in the remote reaches of the the country it is another story entirely.…

In the moments before a howitzer fires, time seems to slow even as activity speeds to a frenzy, the mammoth gun playing host to a group of soldiers with one goal in mind: fire the round quickly, accurately, and without incident. A soldier shouts, coordinates and direction spilling from his mouth, numbers and letters arranged so oddly is seems as though he speaks another language. There is a curious cadence to his speech, a rhythm that the rest of the soldiers follow without question.…