Huge U.S. Camp Arises in Afghan Desert ~ Camp Leatherneck

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates conducts a town hall meeting with U.S. troops in front of MRAP armoured vehicles at the Forward Operating Base Bastion in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, May 7, 2009.
On Monday, March 9, 2009, Brigadier General Larry Nicholson officially took the reins of the 2d Marine Expeditionary Brigade – Task Force Leatherneck. He and his soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines.

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan
A huge U.S. military camp is taking shape in the baking heat of southern Afghanistan for thousands of extra U.S. troops charged with defeating a resurgent Taliban.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Camp Leatherneck, with concrete blast walls and semi-cylinder sand-colored tents, on Thursday as he surveyed preparations for what will be the biggest wave yet in a year that is seeing U.S. troop numbers doubled.
The camp is being constructed in Helmand province next to a British base, Camp Bastion, as Marines and other forces dramatically expand their presence in the most violent area of Afghanistan and heartland of the Taliban movement.
Construction workers clambered on the wooden frame of a new headquarters building as Gates spoke at the camp, where the majority of more than 8,000 marines now flowing into southern Afghanistan are expected be based.

“This place was desert at the end of January. I mean: nothing, said Navy Captain Jeff Borowy,” the top U.S. military engineer in southern Afghanistan.

“Now you’ve got a 443-acre secure facility,” he told reporters traveling with Gates.

Miles of sand walls topped with coils of barbed wire line the roads at the camp, linked to its British neighbor by a street nicknamed Atlantic Way.
If placed end to end in the United States, the sand walls at Leatherneck and eight other sites being built for the troop influx in southern Afghanistan would stretch for a distance of 175 km (110 miles).
The Marines at Camp Leatherneck are also building a giant parking area for helicopters and airplanes by laying down a mat of metal alloy on the desert floor. With a length of 4,860 feet a width of 318 feet, the mat will be the second largest of its kind in the world and the biggest in a combat zone, said Marine Lieutenant Colonel David Jones, commander of the Marine Wing Support Squadron 371, based in Yuma, Arizona.
Getting supplies to the remote desert — named the Desert of Death by local tribesmen because of its extreme summer heat and desolation — and building the camps in time for the influx of troops has posed challenges, Borowy said. In one innovative attempt to deal with the conditions, marines bagged up recycled water from camp showers and kitchens and used it to prepare sand for the aircraft parking area.

“We’re in the middle of the desert so getting water’s pretty interesting,” Borowy said.

Seaman Viviana Mesa (left) and Petty Officer 3rd Class Dan J. Kinion measure the distance between support pedestals at Camp Leatherneck, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, April 18. Camp Leatherneck is currently under construction and will be used by the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade as a hub for the reception, staging, onward-movement and integration of Marine forces into southern Afghanistan and is the largest Marine Corps Camp in Afghanistan.Mesa is a constructionman and Kinion is builder. Both are assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 5.

Marines in Southern Afghanistan Build for Future, Construct Camp Leatherneck
The camp will eventually be able to house about 10,000, including members of U.S. Navy, Army, Air Force and civilian contractors.
According to Capt. Bart Lecher, the Headquarters Company commander assigned to Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force – Afghanistan, Leatherneck is designed to be a hub for the reception, staging, onward movement and integration of Marine forces into southern Afghanistan.
Camp Leatherneck is currently under the operational control of Col. Duffy W. White, the commander of SPMAGTF-A until the arrival of the camp’s main tenant – the headquarters of the 2d Marine Expeditionary Brigade.
“The project started in January with nothing but dirt and currently, four months later, the camp is fully capable, housing nearly 5,000 personnel,” Lecher said.
Currently residing in the camp, Navy Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 5 are supporting much of the construction.
“They’re the best at their jobs, and the amount of work they do can’t be matched,” said Marine Capt. Joshua Guide, the company commander of Co. B, NMCB-5, and the Marine liaison with the SPMAGTF-A mayor cell for the camp. “They’re a valuable asset to the Marine expeditionary brigade who will be taking over Camp Leatherneck.”
“The contractors have been absolutely huge,” said 1st Lt. Kieran R. O’Neil, the camp commandant for Brigade Headquarters Group. “They are a vital component to this base. Their mission is getting all the buildings set up.”
O’Neil said that up to 10,000 personnel will be rolling through the camp to receive equipment and push out to the forward operating bases located throughout southern Afghanistan.

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Wild Thing’s comment…….
OK this is great, now the next thing on my agenda anyway is to let the military run things, and Obama stay the heck out of it and let our troops win! Because they can and they will if Obama keeps his Muslim brained camel breath to himself.