US Marines Deployed to Helmand Province

           The U.S. Marines are taking the battle to the Taliban.  They are currently in the southern province of Helmand.  This is the first major incursion between the Taliban and the most feared professional fighting force in the world.

            The Marines are using the standard tools of the trade, armored personnel carriers, attack helicopters and airstrikes via fighter jets and drones.  The Marines are also using their most effective weapon, the infantry soldier on the ground.  The men and women that make up the elite fighting force are among the most highly trained and well-equipped assault forces on the planet.

            It is going to be a tough slog, just ask the British Marines, who were there before the U.S. was fully deployed.  The terrain is very mountainous and the weather reaches extremes on both ends of the thermometer.  Helmand province has been a kind of Taliban stronghold.

            Now the sparks and bullets will fly as the Marines once again charge into battle.  This is one of the largest deployments in recent history and things are going to get ugly.  Terry Taliban is more likely hiding out in one of the thousands of caves in the mountains.  The bad news for them is that U.S. has a distinct technological advantage.

            The Marines are treading on ground previously held by the other greatest military on earth, the Russian Army and their special-forces personnel.  The U.S. backed the mujahedeen against the Russians in the eighties, now the U.S. is battling people who used to be allies.

            The Taliban hates the Marines because they are so effective, relentless and committed to each other.  The Marine Corps is a close-knit brotherhood and a sisterhood of highly motivated individuals functioning flawlessly as a group.  There will be tears, blood and lost brothers.  This will further motivate the Marines to make sure they give the Taliban what they deserve, a swift kick to the berries, and a bullet for good measure.

            Firefights will occur, and battlefield killing is not as close in as it was in previous conflicts.  Now, the Marines will be firing back at someone they might not even see, from one mountaintop to another mountaintop.  Firebases will be established, and maintained as the push moves ahead. 

            The U.S. has learned many lessons from our Russian friends.  The U.S. is aware of limited number of roads the Marines can use to move wheeled and tracked vehicles.  The Taliban knows this, but so does the United States.  The Taliban are mountain warfare tacticians, and they are well versed in the use of IED’s and RPG’s.

            The next few weeks are going to be a very hairy.  The elements, the terrain, and psychological aspects of modern warfare will test the mettle of the Marines and support personnel.  Many of the Marines are already battle tested and very thirsty for Taliban blood.  Finally, the U.S. is in the country it should have been in the first place.