One Million Steps: A Marine Platoon at War
Page 23
SEMPER FIDELIS!
Lt. Gen. John Kelly
Appendix B
3RD PLATOON AND KILO COMPANY 3/5 EXCERPTS FROM DAILY LOGBOOKS
OCTOBER 2010
14 SH Catherwood KIA, 2 amputees, 1 other wia
15 SH-3 [Sledge Hammer 3rd Platoon] clearing bldgs. Continuous firefight. Lt. West, Boelk Ubrando, IED SAF
16 Patrols night (14-20 Marines) with no contact.
16 Afghan digs hole in road; sniper misses him
18 3-1 patrol in contact in cornfield; 3-3 hit with mg [machine gun]; 2 en [enemy] kia; 2 civ kia; one civ wia
19 3-1 blows up an IED; trip wire ied wounds two snipers; three hours later, Q1E moderate SAF; CAS 2 GBUs; one hour later, blow IED; one hour later, blow Brit mine
20 17 q1e; gunshot in ribs
3-3 saf 62 83 q1f
3-1 takes saf [small arms fire]; kill one with icom; Sibley hit by SAF in ribs; 3-3 out as qrf [Quick Reaction Force]; women and kids flee; 2d round of saf; 81s ([mortars] fire; Hughie hit at PB Fires, followed by another firefight
21 3-2 takes saf; 3-3 takes out 7-ton truck as qrf
22 3-1, 3-2 and 3-3 all on patrol; explosion for unknown reasons
23 ied Dominguez double amputee b17 q1e + 3 concussions
24 3-1 gets radio HET ID B6 Q1A Finds 12.7 heavy rounds. SAF I en kia
26 3-1 ptl pb fires hit by saf
27 3-3, 3-2 on ptl; find and blow an ied
28 SH-3 with 40 pax out for 3 day ptl. 3-2 ambushed in canal/Weese evacd/ fight Q1A e pos + mosque 2 500 lbs bombs; at night, 20 w/IR try to move on 3-2 Was this patrol a turning point in terms of morale and aggression?
29 find wpns and ied stuff
30 still clearing Gorcie, Fearon and Hess are bitching
31 farmer steps on ied single amp 15 yr old;
NOVEMBER
3 Nov all 3 sqds in contact; mark ied with ir chem
6 1 cas kia farmer
7 cpl cook shoots man with icom; find 3 ieds 8-15 Nov too busy to keep log
10 McCulloch takes shrapnel
16 census ptl; boy shows ied, leads 3-2 across field but won’t go near tree line; usual bounding by one ft w/sbf by other to search compounds; farmers complain re damage; shot at en spotter; pics and info taken and put into computer; takes too long
16 std ptl sqd + 5 ANA, PC, 2 STA, 3 MG, 1 engn, 1 NE [Navy enlisted], 1 RO [straight radio operator], route to mosque ied signs; 3 on mopeds shadow ptl; cut through vines to avoid; in courtyard ana eventually uncover two shovel heads, 3 illums, 6 mortar fins, 2 icom chargers, opium tar, blue powder, wires, vials of animal medicine, AK clng gear in mosque, man in next field seen running away, no LNs in area
16-18 afghan holiday; no enemy shoot in zone
16 3-1 finds ied; p8t bldg. 6 family happy to see marines; moped man searched an let go; 2 hrs later same man with icom on moped hit; moped destroyed; meet farmer who says he shuts all doors at 1800, so never sees T; poor and asks for money; told about ied for money program; found blood in compound near where moped guy shot; farmer said it was a lamb
17 PB Fires post shoots at two men
17 3-2 confirms some compounds have elec power
18 3-3 provides basic med care to a few kids
19 At bldg 23, family came out. Took pictures of man, of house, his kids and elderly woman. Claimed to be his mother who[se] husband had been killed several months ago. Elderly woman acted unhappy with our presence. All lns [local nationals] saying they were afraid we would kill them. Also a woman at bldg 18 with no husband and young kids said she had to move there because her house had been bombed 10 days ago and the kid’s father had been killed. She was their grandmother.
19 shoot at icom; farmers bring body to patrol base
19 3-1 himars ville P8S bldg15, 16 talks to farmer who said he commuted to work from desert; showed damage; took his pic and gave him chit on rite in rain paper; another wanted $ for 4 dead goats and 2 cows; dogs had eaten. Asked for pics of bones; took census of two families afraid of us; thought we’d kill them; house had been bombed; kids’ father killed signed chit for 14 trees blown up; find two batteries in waterproof plastic with wires (3-2)
20 0900 P8Q garcia double amp ied was at point with vallon eod finds 2d ied Delany spotted—set up u shaped ambush in buffalo grass; Hur saw mam outside bldg. 39 w icom; shot and missed; mam ran into bldg. and ten mins later came out with shovel did this twice in and out; snipers hit center mass;
20 3-1 engineer wia by ied; find a 2d ied; farmer again asks for damage money “must try to take care of him soon to avoid him getting frustrated and helping Taliban with his land next to PB Fires.”
20 3-1 finds ammonium nitrate cache and receives accurate saf 200 m
21 3-2 w conducts census under harassing fire
21 3-1 withholds fire to avoid hitting kids (per usual, not reported to company level because no TIC)
22 3-2 Garcia calls 6omm vs bldg. 11 himars ville, clear with m67 frags, begin tse bldg. 19 firefight Delany throws frags banshee in bldg. 3 takes fire 10 ieds destroyed during ptl
22 3-1 kills two w aks, chest rigs, radio antenna in himars fight all day
23 3-1 again engaged
24 ist night ptl 3-3 out at 0400 and back at 0900
24 3-3 Sgt Byram? [Sgt. Deykeroff] ied tripped by engr from 1-1 in P8T 10 lbs kia
2d ied hit Gonzales and gunny Carlisle and sgt peto Delany and Wagner fire LAWs at treeline evac under fire
25 THANKSGIVING BATTLE 1100 qrf to help 2d plt at transformer en fire—old breed 2-1—push east thru P8S and P8R; 2-1 pinned in Q5G; 3-2 bounding south in Q5H ambushed by 3 shooters (1mg, 2ak); Espinoza shot; myers called gun run; 3 en kia; joined plt in bld 34 Q5H moved east with cas and kia [Lt. Donnelly] gsw in head; swept Belleau Wood while 2d plt & ANA provided base of fire; ungodly amount of excalibers plus Shootout one Huey stayed in overhead while (120s?); LN evac w/gsw
26 3-2 left to find Sgt Petos rifle M203 barrel, engaged enemy spotters and returned
27 3-1two enemy shadow ptl; one en kia; hvy fire; tic; 60s; 4 gbus hit bldgs
27 3-2 fight
29 shoot at en with ak and binos
30 OB3 eod double amp ied; find 4 ied; PB Ezaway?
DECEMBER
2 Abbate killed; 60mm and 2 gbus; sector P8Q
2 Abdul Ahad captured; fired RPG at platoon
3 (Co. log) Old Breed 3-1 under fire; calls 120s; sees icom spotter and takes shot; finds ppied
6 (Co. log) 3-2 at 787 540 takes mg, rpg, calls hellfire; two hour fight
8 3-3 in Q1D pid TB call 60s; saw MAM on cycle w icom; shot cycle; man alive, no icom, let him go
9 3-2 vs one ak; dicker in trees; sniper killed
9 3-3 in Q1D at 0900; gets LN to show compound where Tb occupy 0500 to 0900 daily; clear ten bldgs.; get hit by mg; sh 1 in contact to north and some stray 40mm; constant bounding and sbf with no joy; rtb 1600
9 3-2 dfl 1030 to P8Q; crosses huge canal running east-west; questions 2 on cycle; Banshee 3 drops spotter; hit by 7 in treeline; mg suppt and try to flank; Williamson uses at 4 at compound; en carrying off wounded; vargas (don’t have this guy) uses 40mm; used hellfire on bldg. 52
10 3-2 finds ied; Delaney and wagner and Harmon blow it up
10 3-2 “sensitive situation in Jackson”??? ordered to rtb
10 3-3 on 3-2 flank detain a guy with money and cell phone
11 3-3 in Q1D find two ieds; kill two running away in ditch; bldg. 42 Q1A find icom parts and atm tube and rounds in the corn
13 3-2 sniper shoots ied emplacer
14 LN leg taken off by ied
14 3-3 ordered to rtb due to issue with local officials
16 Sgt Esquibel 3-1 was the squad leader tasked to cross route carrot into southern green zone. 3-3 Sgt McCulloch and myself had a support by fire established and the maneuver element was clearing structures to west. 3-1 was initiating an Apobs to clear a suspected enemy mine-field on route carrot, when the enemy initiated an ambush from multiple directions catc
hing 3-1 and the remainder of 3-3 in a massive hailstorm of bullets. Sgt mac, yazzie, and myself utilized the buildings to run 500 meters towards to flank the enemy in minutes. I used 60mm mortars to suppress enemy positions while we subsequently silenced and cleared them.
Cpl Xiong leads 60mm thru ied-cleared path to bring fire on enemy, treeline Carrot? 3-1 Palmer and Hess terrific ssgt cartier with us; Palma took Vallens from nervous engr and led us
18t platoon moves overnight to pb America, estab at 1100
22 depart America to Q9L at PhaseLine India drop excel and f18 gun runs on spotters; in treeline found 2 kia, one ak with 30mm ubgl and battery pack for ied; searched corn outside mosque; found rpg, 4 rockets, ied ak rounds; burned corn and set off another ied. Rtb 1700
23 3-1 engr loses his Vallen in canal
23 3-3 ptl from America; Yazzie get bad feeling, digs and finds lamp wire leading to 30 lbs explosives and 1016? jug [pressure cooker wrapped in plastic]
26 3-3 from America crosses rope bridge, meets nice family, enters bldg. 103 104, 109 finds one pp in front of firing hole in window and then another on back wall; blow one and leave other for eod. EOD brought to scene to destroy remaining IEDs
26 3-1 dfl America to Jackson
27 3-1 dfl America to blow ieds found by 3-3; found two more
28 3-2 dfl Jackson; Delaney and Wagner find three ieds and one command wire ied in gravel along Helmand river
28 3-3 dfl America; yaz finds and blows 3 pp ieds
29 at pb fires, en with scoped rifle duels watch standers
29 3-3 in p9L sector with ana; bldg. 41 Mcc and yaz find one ied; ana find a bag of pps; blew the bag in place
29 3-1 dfl America 29 pax, dog and donkey, spotter on west bank of river
30 3-1 blows five ieds found by other sqds
30 3-1 night ptl w Garcia; saw two flashlights; palma falls into icy water to chest; no complaints thru night; covered in ice in morning; still leads ptl back
31 3-2 cpl hur killed ied emplacer bldg. 35 P9L
JANUARY 2011
1 3-1 routine dfl America
2 3-2 hit ied Walker or Harmon? It was a sniper attachment from India, single amp at ankle, can’t remember his name.
2 3-1 last ptl from America
2 3-1 last ptl from America
2 3-2 pp ied found; lcpl meirini mangled foot; danger ranger evacd him;?? not reported as wia on plt list
2 3-1 found 3 ieds daisy chain; Palma clears rooftop to drop in; search long line of motorcyles at foot bridge
3 3-3 calls 60s twice in p8q; finds pkm shells in bldg.
4 3-3 24 hr stakeout p8q with nothing
5 3-3 find shooting room only 800m from pb fires
5 3-2 wagner and harmon find ied; Williamson and delany find another; 2 spotters killed; under fire, use smaws; kill another spotter
6 3-1 banshee kills cyclist with icom; Hess and Palma hit ied; palma limping lft foot; refuse medevac
6 3-3 zero
7 3-2 find toe popper; palma crossing roofs; p54g
8 3-2 finds ppied
8 3-3 get co info re en casevac to west in P8T—hit by PKM crossing river—Laaw used vs bldg. 34 p8q; brass and blood; more en firing; 60mm used; pinned; jfo to rotatrs 5 gun runs in tree line; hellfire vs bldg. 32 q5h; in rubble one en kiqa and 3 civ wia; again pinned; moved fwd; 60s vs bldg. 21 q5h; low on ammo; egress under fire; rtb
8 3-1 no. thru Taliban town near old pb bulldog; Harmon in lead; saw en; laird used at4; 3-3 moved up but dangerous geometries of fire; oriented shootout for gunrun; rpk fires continued; rtb
8 post 5 at pb fires engages en shooter
9 3-3 engaged in p8q; used 60s
9 3-1 banshee takes out spotter at 820m; en single shots; clear two compounds so cag and bbc can talk to lns
10 3-2 saw mam putting ied in canal; delany saw lamp wire, threw flashbang into hooch, capture mam; lantznester stepped on ied and ok
10 3-1 found laptop hidden at previous arms cache; in weeds found two wht vans shot up. Cobras saw mams following us all the time.
11 at 1118 3-1 dfl w/ cariter and 23 pax because 3-3 in contact; find one ied; rtb
11 3-3 crossed bridge sw of bldg. 40 p8q; at bldg. 112 blew ied; pushed w and blew another; in contact; broke contact, reduced two more ieds; rtb p6411 at 1507 3-1 20 pax and bbc qrf to 3-3; Palma on rooftops despite turned ankle from ied on 6th
12 3-1 1206 dfl 19 pax and bbc; soto and cook shoot spotter at 600m; bolo brown Toyota no lic plate tries to stalk us; can’t get shot; pinned en mg between us and 3-3; got to bldg. 40; great en pos; cut down trees. Rubble and fire indicated en just left.
Cpl cook kills another at 440m with mk 12; two mams carry him off
12 3-3 in contact; also take pics of wanted bolo
13 3-2 dfl 1359 trails into p8q, where 3-3 in contact; get both sqds on line; remain with Garcia overnight at hideout
13 3-1 dfl 1400 w/23, 15 min after 3-3 and 3-2; heard 3-3 in contact; en mg 200 m front
15 3-2 ft appch from rear ruined chance of getting into 3-1’s gun fight but Sullivan grabbed a guy with a battery pack attached to his cycle
15 3-1 credits everyone p8q in fight mams in blk using families as shields—palma in fight hvy en in 7 pos; ana saw second en gang moving up; xiong led ft vs en mg; alvarex engaged; 60s shoot; got a coupe; Garcia adjusting fire
16 3-2 banshee shot at spotter at 400m
16 3-1 dfl 1020cook killed spotter at 375m’ families worried we won’t stay; at en kill, footprints of second guy; cash, names of talibs, petition to let prisoners go, bank acct number
17 3-3 nothing
18 3-3 p8q hit by hvy mg; called in rotors; found pkm brass
18 3-2 p8q dfl 0830 to destroy boats; find one ied, set off 2d; Marcum and sgt browning shaken up; delany pulled harmon back with broken leg
8 3-1 1015 23 pax and dog; palma at pt hacks thru vines; gonzalez with 117 calls in f18 Maker 32 as three t maneuver; yaz finds ied; use wolf hound icom triangulationto locate them 700 m to south; t saying bag is full where do you want to go? Meaing have ieds where go to lay them and avoid 3-1; casevac rodrigquez rolled ankle broken??/ cpl had with mk 12 kills one; icom cut saying: put in ied; you are safe
21 3-1 w 35 goes to Taliban Town across river; nothing; affluent family cooperative; destroy two boats and cables across river; CAG with us
22 3-2 dfl 0730 census atmos good when 1-3 hit two ieds
22 3-3 hit ppied; routine casualty kw5865 broken ankle
23 3-3 in Q1B find a man who teaches secretly out of his house; find ied
23 3-1 w 24 in Q1B; guy said t stayed in bldg. 91 for 8 days;
26 3-3 in P8Q finds two ieds with yaz
27 3-1 in Q1C w sgt dwyer cag who speaks Pashto; blow wall near pb fires for exfil
29 3-3 dfl fob Jackson to pb America??
29 3-3 finds two rifles ist plt lost in river??
31 3-2 Q1C VCP many avoid us easily on cycles; find one ied; atmos good; farmers preparing to plant poppy
FEBRUARY
1 3-2 finds two ieds
1 3-3 in P8Q finds p pied two and blows both 4 3-3 with eod blows 70 feet of trees
4 3-2 in riverbed; blimp spots guy w ak; found cache of ied material; blew two ieds
7 3-3 find cache 6pp, 300 lbs explosives 200 feet wire; soldering iron pr 775 544
8 3-2 finds 82mm mortar shell
11 pb fires takes fire from west
17 3-1 finds 3 ppieds
21 3-1 finds eight pounds explosive in pipe charge
24 3-3 in fight with en
27 3-3 in Q1D finds 4 ieds
MARCH
1 3-3 crosses canal between P8T and P8Q; accurate PKM and Ak fire; rtb
2 3-3 P8Q found an 82mm mortar in a false wall 2 ob 3 wounds one en
4 3-1 shoots at one spotter with icom
5 3-2 same location; hit from Q5H; destroyed one ied; Wagner did good work with law; found two ppied
6 3-2 chased a guy in Q5G; under fire, 3-1 moved to support; hvy con
tact at bldg. 73 Q5H; called mortars and smoke; exfil; hit guy on cycle with wpn
7 3-3 under light saf in Q5G on line with Transformer; found one ied
8 3-2 bldg 7 P8Q cache found ak pkm, at4, 14 mortar rds; cpl bradach ied broke his foot 8 secdef at 3/5
13 3-3 #82 p8q pkm 200m north
16 3-3 to #26 p8q but weather turned air red so rtb with no contact
19 Esquibel hits IED and is evacuated
20 Doc Ramos and Yazzie evac’d
Patrol Log ends
Appendix C
NAMES IN APPRECIATION
Thank you for your comments and for your service …
Staff Sgt. Siege Amey
Gen. James Amos
Col. Kevin Anderson
Capt. Peter Ankney
Gunny Lorenzo Arballo
Staff Sgt. James Archbell
Sgt. Joel Bailey
Jim Banion
Mushtaq Baqikhel (“Max”)
Capt. Richard Barclay
Capt. Chuck Beardsley
Lt. Col. David Bradney
Sgt. John D. Browning
Maj. Kirk Bush
Sgt. Josh Byram
Gunny Chris Carlisle
Maj. Mark Carlton
Staff Sgt. Cartier Coleman
LCol. Juan Covarrubias
Capt. Clay Davis
Lt. Col. Sean Day
Capt. Todd Eysenbach
Capt. Scott Foster
Lt. Col. Richard Fuerst
Maj. William Ghilarducci
Lt. Nick Gidden
Sgt. Nickolas J. Glidden
Lt. Col. Steve Grass
Capt. Hamid, ANA