ANGLICO Archives
A Tale of Two Marines
By Lt Col P
By now everyone has heard of Matthew Hoh, a former Marine and Iraq vet who loudly and publicly resigned from his post as the senior Foreign Service official in Zabul Province.
I'd like you to meet Gunnery Sergeant D, who has also recently left Zabul Province. Left, that is, after successfully completing a tour of duty attached to SF and EOD units. He's been put in for the Bronze Star (the real kind, for combat), and for the Soldier's Medal for saving a man's life. Part of his fitrep-- not written by Marines-- reads, "His leadership, decision-making, and recommedations to the supported commanders within the province is [sic] sought out and relied upon. His leadership is of the highest caliber and he is the Marine that everyone wants to work with. In an environment where he is the senior Marine within the province, he has surpassed expectations of those he worked with and set the bar for all that follow."
So, I suppose that if you have the luxury of quitting, you can just fucking quit. But if that's not an option, you figure out a way to win. Gunny D is truly no better friend and no worse enemy. The other guy? I think he's the opposite.
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4th ANGLICO Marines Loose in the UK
By Lt Col P
Great press for my fellow West Palm Beach "ANGLICANs":
The 26-member team taking part in Joint Warrior consisted of Navy and Marine Corps officers, as well as enlisted forward observers and field radio operators. During the exercise, the team trained with Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 24 staff on board the guided missile destroyer USS Cole (DDG 67) and the guided-missile frigate USS John L. Hall (FFG 32). The ANGLICO Leathernecks also conducted ground training at Cape Wrath, Scotland.“For the exercise, we [worked] as a simulated special operations forces unit that goes ashore working with non-amphibious ships such as destroyers and frigates,” said Lt. Col. Max Goralnick, officer-in-charge of the 4th ANGLICO detachment during exercise Joint Warrior.
“The ability to use a platform that is not configured for amphibious operations is a valuable learning experience for the units,” added Goralnick.
The title mentions 2d ANGLICO, but neither of the officers quoted are active duty-- both "Maximus" Goralnick and "Meat" Hanger are both reservists. Bravo Zulus to all!
RIP: Sgt Jeremiah McGraw, USMCR
By Lt Col P
He will be missed, but never forgotten.
Godspeed to you, Marine.
Gold Wings
By Lt Col P
I achieved gold wing status saturday night, after a combat equipment jump out of a USAF C-130 (and two more jumps the day before out of a Florida National Guard CH-47). Nearly ended up in a canal, but all ended well.
Thanks to the pilots and crew of the 1st/111th Aviation, and to that C-130 out of Dyess. (Note to USAF pilots-- next time, please try not to bank hard left after the 30-second warning with jumpers on the ramp...)
Drill Weekend Jump
By Lt Col P
Just got the pics from last weekend's jump action. We did two days of jumps to keep our jumpmasters current, and to take another chunk out of the ongoing SF-10 transition.
The Marines of VMGR-452 provided the plane.
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Spanky's Back
By Slab
So, I'm surfing the MNF-W PAO website on the SIPR tonight, and I run across a video clip of GySgt William "Spanky" Gibson. Seems Spanky has returned to Iraq with the I MEF Fires section.
I've got to hand it to him for displaying remarkable courage in the face of adversity.
I mean, volunteering to deploy on MEF staff? Talk about taking one for the team...
Volunteering to deploy after losing a leg is pretty cool, too.
Prince Harry the JTAC
By Slab
This was forwarded to me by the guy who let me crash at his place on Emerald Isle for two years, now a fellow ANGLICAN and JTAC, and mutual acquaintance of LtCol P.
Looks like I'm in good company in this job.
Prince Harry provided air support for UK troops
I wish it were all as easy as they make it sound in the article. Then again, if you're a Prince, maybe it is. Hey, I'll bet he didn't get "drop-blocked" by an RCT air officer just before he cleared an aircraft hot. I mean, who's going to say no to royalty?
For the record, the air officer made a good call. Although dropping a 500 pounder into the building would have been legit, it wasn't really the best solution to that particular situation. So I'm just funnin'.
Riverine Patrol
By Slab
Hey folks, I know it's been a little while since my last update. In lieu of a long-winded post about nonsense, here are some photos from a recent operation with Riverine Squadron Two (RIVRON 2) on Lake Qadisiyah.
Update: You can't read it, but the Riverine Patrol Boat (RPB) in the second picture has the name "BM1 James E. Williams" stenciled on the side. I had no idea who that was, so I decided to look it up. And that is how I came to find out about the most decorated enlisted Sailor in the history of the United States Navy. One hell of a warrior.
More after the jump.
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Update
By Slab
Well, it's been a while since my last update, so I thought I'd post a quick one. Around Christmas, 5-7 Cavalry got orders to move to a new location in Iraq. Unfortunately, these orders took them outside of Al Anbar province, and II MEF wouldn't let the squadron take their ANGLICO teams with them. It was a disappointing decision, as my team had grown to like working with Apache Troop.
So, we were out of job shortly after New Years. My team spent about a week and a half on Camp Fallujah cooling our heels, before we got orders to head west. We're now living at Hadithah Dam, and once again I find myself supporting the Iraqi Army. We're still getting settled in, but so far things seem pretty good out here. Of course, it's quiet like the rest of Al Anbar. Remember the old saying, popular in the '60s, "What if they threw a war and nobody came?" Well, that's kind of what it feels like. Like I told my wife, if I've got to spend 7 months in Iraq, I expect somebody to have the common decency to crank off a round in my direction from time to time. To keep it interesting, like.
In other news, we now have a Tactical Escalade (MRAP). It's a pretty nice ride if you're road-bound, but the suspension is extremely stiff, so off-road or even just a road with a lot of pot holes (like many in Iraq) gets pretty rough. I'll do a longer post on it later. It was obviously designed by engineers, without sufficient input from the guys who would be operating it on the roads. I'm certainly a fan of the comfort, but these things will be of extremely limited utility down the road. Typical stop-gap solution, in my opinion.
More to come later.
Christmas Update
By Slab
Merry Christmas to our readers. I thought I would take some time for a quick update. Al Anbar remains quiet, and the Marines and Soldiers here continue to take advantage of the security situation to further our relationships with the local leadership. There is evidence of the insurgents nosing around here and there, and every so often they got caught in the open, but they have been unable to mount any effective operations. I haven't been keeping up with the news to know if the details have been released, but the Ramadi IPs recently ran a successful operation to stop an insurgent cell that was attempting to assassinate a local leader. More impressively, U.S. forces in the area knew nothing about the operation until its successful conclusion. It's the kind of story you might expect from a metropolitan police department in the U.S. or Europe, and it's very gratifying to see that sort of independence from the Iraqi security forces.
As for my personal end of this little fracas, it's been distressingly quiet. I'm certainly pleased about our progress in this little slice of the province, but ANGLICO is an organization that specializes in delivering large quantities of firepower, and our services are not in as much need as I would like. We'll continue to make whatever contributions we can, and we'll remain the "break glass in case of TIC (Troops in Contact)" organization. I guess, looking outside of my own personal views, it's a good thing when a group that specializes in spectacular kinetic effects of the sort produced by 500 lb bombs is feeling under-utilized. In this kind of fight, that means progress.
Our Christmas out here at the COP was peaceful. I spent about an hour and a half scooping out mashed potatos for the Soldiers and Marines here before I sat down with the Troop Commander and XO to eat our own dinner. We even got to have real turkey, instead of a processed imitation of turkey dinner. Obviously not as good as my lovely wife makes, but it'll have to do. I really enjoyed my Christmas overseas as a single guy, but this year there's a lot more to miss at home.
Merry Christmas, and Happy New Years to all of our readers.
Air-Borne!!!
By Lt Col P
I just graduated from the US Army Basic Airborne Course at Ft Benning, following not only in the footsteps of our man Slab, but of countless thousands who have gone through that same course, in that same place, since August 1940.
I was not the only VMI man in Bravo Company, 1-507th PIR. Cadets Daniel Brode '09 and Andrew Washbish '09 were there with me, and acquitted themselves honorably. Cadet Brode was in my stick, and on two jumps was the first man out the door!
For those of you who haven't gone, and might thinking of going, this youtube clip (minus the soundtrack) is a good depiction of a C-130 combat equipment jump.
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More ANGLICO training
By Slab
I've been absent yet again, but rather than make excuses I thought I'd just post pictures of what I've been up to. I'm taking next week off as well to take a trip to Colorado, from which I will return a married man. Then it's back to the field for more training.
And lastly, Yours Truly testing the capabilities of a new headset by controlling an aircraft while wearing my gas mask. The aircrew reported no problems understanding me, and the Marines around me said they could hear my voice crystal clear over the radio speaker, even though they couldn't understand me when I tried to talk to them from 5 ft away. Not too shabby.
NSFS Somalia
By Bull Nav
Back in the day, we used to have lots of big warships with big guns on them (the Phibian has plenty of good stories in his Fullbore Friday series). Battleships with 16" guns, cruisers with 8" guns, and destroyers with 5" guns. In WWII, the battleships and cruisers were used to "soften up" enemy defenses prior to an invasion, and then be on-call for fires as requested by Marines ashore. We continued to conduct this type of support in Korea and Viet Nam. We even used battleships for fires supporting Marines in Beirut in the early '80s.
Yesterday, we apparently saw the latest use of NSFS:
U.S. warship bombards Somalia militantsWe have forces in Africa (CJTF HOA) specifically for the Long War. This looks to be an example of local forces requesting US Navy support for an operation:MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- A U.S. warship pounded Somalia's remote coastal northeast, targeting Islamic militants hours after a gunbattle with Somali government forces that left eight insurgents dead, officials said Saturday.
"The insurgency appears to be spreading to other parts of Somalia," said Ted Dagne, specialist in African Affairs at the Congressional Research Service in Washington.Puntland Vice President Hassan Dahir Mohamoud said eight foreign militants were killed in the fighting and Somali forces were pursuing five others. He told The Associated Press there were no civilian casualties because the area is uninhabited.
Mohamoud said the Puntland government had requested the U.S. navy to help fight the militants.
Interestingly, it also appears that while this may have been quickly executed, it was not a spur of the moment decision:
Muse Gelle, a regional governor, said the militants arrived in the area near the port town of Bargal by speedboat on Wednesday. He said a U.S. destroyer attacked late Friday. Musa Ismail Mohamed, a former government economist who lives in Puntland, compared the area where the fighting took place to Afghanistan's Tora Bora, which U.S. forces beseiged in 2001 in a failed effort to flush out Osama bin Laden. "Americans should strike it harder than yesterday and then they will succeed. If they do not do that, then may be Bargal may become a stronghold for terrorists," Mohamed said Saturday, speaking on the phone from Puntland's main port, Bossaso.While the 5" guns we carry on our destroyers and frigates are nothing like the big guns of days gone by, they are accurate and will still put a hurtin' on a target.
I hope we get some more information, because nothing official has been released:
Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, could not confirm U.S. involvement in Friday's fighting, but added: "The very nature of some of our operations, as well as the success of those operations is often predicated on our ability to work quietly with our partners and allies."Actions like this, having exactly the right force in the right place to provide support to a coalition partner is what is going to help us in the long run.
Any comments from Slab? I think this is right up your alley...
"What is happening over here"
By Lt Col P
As in "THIS is what is happening over here... stand by for the truth," not "What on earth is happening over here?? All's lost!!"
Got a great email today from a Marine captain in my reserve unit, now somewheres east o' Suez with a small detachment of stalwart citizen-Marines. By an odd coincidence, one of their star Staff NCOs was my radio operator in 1990 and 1991, in Alpha Battery 1/10. And the captain himself is one of Slab's buddies. This is reprinted here with his kind and enthusiastic permission.
All,
I just wanted to let you know what is happening where I am in Iraq. I don't want to say this is in response to Harry Reid, but his comments the other day are not in line with what we're seeing.
We are winning over here in Al Anbar province. I don't know about Baghdad, but Ramadi was considered THE hotspot in Al Anbar, the worse province, and it has been very quiet. The city is calm, the kids are playing in the streets, the local shops are open, the power is on at night, and daily commerce is the norm rather than the exception. There have been no complex attacks since March. That is HUGE progress. This quiet time is allowing the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police to establish themselves in the eyes of the people. The Iraqi people also want IA's and IP's in their areas. The Sunni Sheiks are behind us and giving us full support. This means that almost all Sunnis in Al Anbar are now committed to supporting the US and Iraqi forces. It also means that almost all insurgents left out here are AQ. FYI, the surge is just beginning. Gen Petraeus' strategy is just getting started and we're seeing huge gains here.
However, you don't see Harry Reid talking about this. When I saw what he said, it really pissed me off. That guy does not know what is going on over here because he hasn't bothered to come and find out. The truth on the
ground in Al Anbar is not politically convenient for him, so he completely ignored it.
This war can be won. We just need the time to get the IA and IP operating on their own. Gen Petraeus is treating the war like a counter-insurgency rather than a stability operation. For non-military personnel, there is a HUGE difference between the two. What we've been doing in Iraq since Petraeus took over is completely different than what we were doing under Gen Casey. However, you don't hear the press or the democrats say that. Most of them
are too committed to saying we've lost to further their own political agendas that they cannot acknowledge we're doing something totally different and it is working.
An inconvenient truth indeed. I truly wish Congress was striving for victory rather than planning our defeat. Anyone listening up on the Hill?
Keep up the good work, Matt, and keep your head down!
Update: Bob Owens has a phenomenal round up of like-minded military men.
Train to fight
By Slab
It's been a busy two weeks of patrolling and shooting. As always, we don't have the time or ammo to get the Marines as proficient as we'd like, but we do the best we can. I thought I'd share some pictures of our combat marksmanship training.
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ANGLICO Spring Break 2007
By Slab
Folks, I apologize for my long hiatus, as it has been quite hectic over the last two months. I spent most of February attending the Basic Airborne Course at Fort Benning, GA. I've been considering posting a rant about the sorry state of BAC and what an embarassment it is to the United States Army, but I'll save that for another time. Suffice it to say, I now have my "lead sleds" and feel absolutely no sense of accomplishment, only a sense of relief that I am done with that travesty.
On to more fun topics...
2d ANGLICO takes firepower to Germany
The above article isn't all that great, but you have to admit that that is one good-looking dude in the picture.
2d ANGLICO's 1st Brigade Platoon just spent close to three weeks training with the German Army, most notably Panzer Artillery Battalion 215 and Fallschirmjaeger Battalion 313. We had the opportunity to fire some of their weapons, such as the G36, P8, and MG3, while a few of their soldiers had the opportunity to shoot some of our M4s and M9s. We participated in several athletic events, culminating in a 30K speed march which had to be completed in less than 5 hours.
The meat of the trip was our participation in their field exercises near Münster. We spent about a week in the field with PzArtBtl 215, training alongside their Forward Air Control (FAC) teams and their forward observers. We had the opportunity to control German Tornados dropping live ordnance, and to direct batteries of German Panzer Howitzer 2000s.
We also drank beer with them.
LOTS of beer.
A great time was had by all, and I am proud to say that 2d ANGLICO now has an excellent relationship with PzArtBtl 215. I just hope that when they come to visit us in the States that we show them even a modicum of the hospitality that they gave us in Germany.
Pictures after the jump...
Prost!
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Non Multa Sed Multum, Pt II
By Slab
ANGLICO has its origins in the Assault Signal Companies of World War II. The Army and Marine Corps both used ASCOs (although the Army called them JASCO) to coordinate naval gunfire and air support for amphibious landings. They consisted of Shore Fire Control Parties (SFCP) to direct gunfire from Navy vessels offshore, and Tactical Air Control Parties (TACP) to direct air support from carrier and land-based aircraft. The ASCOs were somewhat of an ad-hoc organization, especially in Army divisions, and were sometimes regarded as unwanted orphans. In 1947, the Joint Chiefs of Staff abolished the ASCOs and JASCOs. This is a good article by (then) LtCol Robert D Heinl, Jr. on the importance of the (J)ASCO, written shortly before the companies were disbanded.
In 1949 the Marine Corps saw fit to form the Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Companies. There was originally one ANGLICO per Marine Division, plus another ANGLICO under Fleet Marine Forces Atlantic (FMFLant). The former existed to support their partnered Marine Division in an amphibious assault, and the FMFLant ANGLICO was intended to support Army divisions during their own amphibious training. After the Vietnam War commenced, 1st ANGLICO deployed Sub-Unit 1 to support operations in that theater. Marines from Sub-Unit 1 fought in numerous major actions in Vietnam, all the way up until the Easter Offensive of 1972.
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Non Multa Sed Multum
By Slab
The Latin phrase above means, “Not many but much”. It has become the unofficial motto of 2d Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company (ANGLICO), since we are a small unit (around 150 Marines) that disperses across the battlefield in 4-6 man teams, yet each team brings a substantial set of capabilities with it. On this last deployment, teams from 2d ANGLICO supported the Iraqi Army, US Army (both Regular Army and National Guard), Naval Special Warfare, and Marine Corps reconnaissance units, to name a few. Despite this wide network of supported units, or perhaps because of it, the role of ANGLICO is frequently misunderstood.
So what exactly is an ANGLICO? Let’s start at the beginning.
The ANGLICO mission statement:
To provide MAGTF Commanders a liaison capability, with foreign area expertise, to plan, coordinate, employ, and conduct terminal control of fires in support of joint, allied and coalition forces.
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