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thedrifter
02-28-09, 06:11 AM
New US Marine officers have Afghan war on their minds
by Daphne Benoit
Sat Feb 28, 12:23 am ET

QUANTICO, Virginia (AFP) – The young officers in the US Marines sent here to prepare to lead troops into combat say they are eager for duty in Afghanistan, the war that President Barack Obama has made his priority.

"I am sure everyone will go there sooner or later," said Lieutenant Steven Morris, 34, clad in desert camouflage as he watched his fellow marines warm up in the morning cold before combat training.

Obama, calling Afghanistan the central front in the fight against terrorism rather than Iraq, has approved the deployment of 17,000 additional troops to take on Taliban insurgents, including 8,000 marines.

"The amount of combat decreased in Iraq and that's a good news story," said Colonel George Smith, commander of "The Basic School" for marine officers in Quantico, Virginia.

"I think the marines want to go where the fight occurs. There is going to be more fighting in Afghanistan than there currently is in Iraq," Smith said.

Every new marine officer passes through the elite Quantico school, and after six months of intensive training they take command of a 50-member platoon.

Behind the colonel, on a dry stretch of ground dotted with old tanks and plastic targets riddled with bullet holes, dozens of marines rehearse an attack on an "enemy" force amid the clatter of simulated gun and mortar fire.

"Our training remains the same whether they are going to Iraq or Afghanistan, or any part of the world," said the colonel, citing the traditional focus on weapons, tactics and leadership.

"The fundamentals remain the same," he said.

Once they finish at Quantico, the marines undertake training more tailored for their next destination: counter-insurgency warfare in the mountains of Afghanistan or the deserts of Iraq.

Lieutenant Paul Rivera Perez, after 10 years in the corps, has already seen action in Iraq, but "Afghanistan is where I want to go."

And he added with a smile, "I like the medal" awarded to Afghan veterans.

Whether motivated by the September 11 attacks or the need for a secure job amid a dire economic crisis, a wave of volunteers are applying to join up with the marines and the other armed services.

In January alone, 3,720 young Americans enlisted in the US Marines, 300 more than the corps hoped to recruit.

"I fully anticipate to be deployed," said Peter Metzger, a former lawyer and now a marine lieutenant, wearing a bullet-proof vest over his uniform.

After Metzger got his law degree, he expected to be in the courtroom working on trials.

"It turned out that I was in an office, writing briefs for federal court or for partners," he said.

"Every night, I was watching the news, seeing people who would make a real sacrifice for their country. It was important for me to be part of my generation's effort. So I called a marine recruiter."

After they finish their simulated combat, the officers move on to martial arts. The marine version is a menacing mix of several disciplines, using knives, guns, clubs and bare hands.

Four black-belt instructors offer an intimidating demonstration -- thrusting knives just millimeters from the face. In the flash of a second, an opponent is disarmed and thrown to the ground.

The marines at the Basic School are ready for Afghanistan, said spokesman Commander Jeffrey Landis.

"Marines are not necessarily designed for sustaining a transitional operation," Landis said, a reference to Iraq where about 20,000 marines are stationed in the relatively peaceful province of Al-Anbar.

"We are more designed for routing an insurgency. So by design the Marine Corps is a better fit for what's going on Afghanistan.

"Stabilization efforts are more of an Army thing."

Ellie