West Coast Tank Unit to Deploy to Afghanistan
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    Exclamation West Coast Tank Unit to Deploy to Afghanistan

    The Marine Corps has identified the unit that will operate the first U.S. tanks used in the 9-year-old war in Afghanistan.

    Delta Company, 1st Tank Battalion, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif., will deploy early next year, said 1st Lt. Joseph Reney, a spokesman with Twentynine Palms’ 1st Marine Division. It will provide heavy firepower and armor and the ability to observe the enemy through advanced optics from more than a mile away.

    The tanks already have begun to arrive in Afghanistan. The Corps released photographs showing five M1A1 Abrams tanks last month at Camp Leatherneck, the Corps’ major hub of operations in Helmand province. About 14 tanks will be used by the unit, officials said.

    Delta Company’s commanding officer declined to be interviewed through a Marine spokesman, but Maj. Gen. Richard Mills, the top Marine commander in Afghanistan, said Dec. 7 that he asked for tanks after assessing the tactical situation in Helmand.

    “The tank, with its optics, with its stand-off distance, with its battle armor, gives me a very, very good tool that I can use once again to bring very, very precise fires on the insurgents and ensure that civilian casualties don’t rise, an issue that we are very concerned about here,” Mills, commander of Regional Command-Southwest, told reporters at the Pentagon during a press conference from Afghanistan.

    Marine leaders in Afghanistan were “advocates” for the tanks because of the firepower and maneuverability they provide, said Col. Randy Newman, commander of Regimental Combat Team 7, in a separate interview.

    Newman, who oversaw some of the Corps’ largest military operations this year, told defense bloggers that Marines operated alongside Danish tanks last December, when U.S. forces assaulted Now Zad district during Operation Cobra’s Anger.

    The assault on the then-deserted district center began when hundreds of troops with Twentynine Palms’ 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, and the Marine reconnaissance unit Task Force Raider were dropped behind Taliban lines Dec. 4, 2009, by helicopter and MV-22 Osprey in the northern end of the Now Zad Valley. Two weeks later, the operation came to a close.

    “We used Danish tanks to help us reduce some hard bunkers ... that the enemy had established up there,” said Newman, who recently returned to Twentynine Palms, Calif., after a yearlong deployment. “I think you’ll see that as being less applicable the longer we’re in southern Helmand province, but that potential could still present itself.”

    One potential area where tanks could help is in the deserts of southern Helmand. The tanks could limit the freedom of movement that insurgents have over “ratline” trails in the area, Newman said.


  2. #2
    Quote Originally Posted by Rhode Island View Post
    The Marine Corps has identified the unit that will operate the first U.S. tanks used in the 9-year-old war in Afghanistan.

    Delta Company, 1st Tank Battalion, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif., will deploy early next year, said 1st Lt. Joseph Reney, a spokesman with Twentynine Palms’ 1st Marine Division. It will provide heavy firepower and armor and the ability to observe the enemy through advanced optics from more than a mile away.

    The tanks already have begun to arrive in Afghanistan. The Corps released photographs showing five M1A1 Abrams tanks last month at Camp Leatherneck, the Corps’ major hub of operations in Helmand province. About 14 tanks will be used by the unit, officials said.

    Delta Company’s commanding officer declined to be interviewed through a Marine spokesman, but Maj. Gen. Richard Mills, the top Marine commander in Afghanistan, said Dec. 7 that he asked for tanks after assessing the tactical situation in Helmand.

    “The tank, with its optics, with its stand-off distance, with its battle armor, gives me a very, very good tool that I can use once again to bring very, very precise fires on the insurgents and ensure that civilian casualties don’t rise, an issue that we are very concerned about here,” Mills, commander of Regional Command-Southwest, told reporters at the Pentagon during a press conference from Afghanistan.

    Marine leaders in Afghanistan were “advocates” for the tanks because of the firepower and maneuverability they provide, said Col. Randy Newman, commander of Regimental Combat Team 7, in a separate interview.

    Newman, who oversaw some of the Corps’ largest military operations this year, told defense bloggers that Marines operated alongside Danish tanks last December, when U.S. forces assaulted Now Zad district during Operation Cobra’s Anger.

    The assault on the then-deserted district center began when hundreds of troops with Twentynine Palms’ 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, and the Marine reconnaissance unit Task Force Raider were dropped behind Taliban lines Dec. 4, 2009, by helicopter and MV-22 Osprey in the northern end of the Now Zad Valley. Two weeks later, the operation came to a close.

    “We used Danish tanks to help us reduce some hard bunkers ... that the enemy had established up there,” said Newman, who recently returned to Twentynine Palms, Calif., after a yearlong deployment. “I think you’ll see that as being less applicable the longer we’re in southern Helmand province, but that potential could still present itself.”

    One potential area where tanks could help is in the deserts of southern Helmand. The tanks could limit the freedom of movement that insurgents have over “ratline” trails in the area, Newman said.
    In the other post you started on the M1A1 (11/20/2010) I liked the part where the M1A1 will be used to "interdict" the drug routes. I'll bet that'll make Karzai a little unhappy if it proves effective.


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