Newtown Marine Reflects On The Fight In Afghanistan

By Nancy K. Crevier

US Marine Corp Lance Corporal Rylan McCollum is ready to return to Afghanistan, or wherever he is needed. The 22-year-old Newtown native has been back in America for nearly nine months following a deployment to Afghanistan in March of 2008, serving as the company clerk at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. It is a job that keeps the infantryman busy, he said, but he is prepared to return to combat if asked.

“I don’t like to sit around here while other guys are over there fighting, and need help,” said Rylan during a recent visit to his hometown. “I don’t mind getting deployed again.”

He thought that his unit, the 1st Battalion Sixth Marines Bravo Company, was on its way to Iraq on August 15, but that mission was turned over to another company, he said. Now it is a waiting game, as Rylan feels it would not be unexpected for his company to be deployed to Afghanistan again.

Rylan reflected on the eight months in 2008 spent in the remote southern Afghanistan region known as the Helmand Province, where the 1st Battalion’s mission was to bring security to the local people of Garmsir District. It was the first time that NATO forces had a presence in that region, clearing out Taliban militia. It was also the first time that Rylan, a Marine since 2007, had entered into a combat zone.

“Desolate isn’t the word,” Rylan said, describing Garmsir. During the first months that he was there, most local residents had left the area on the advice of the American military to avoid the intensive fighting. They left behind the primitive mud huts in which they dwell, and it was to those mud huts that the villagers returned when fighting subsided. They have no medical care, no electricity, no running water, and little education. “They are farmers, or they are farmers,” said Rylan.

Along with adjusting to a life with no amenities, Rylan and his company spent the first weeks sleeping directly on the ground, on alert 24/7 as they worked to clear the region of the Taliban, a fundamentalist religious and political regime that seeks to forcefully impose strict Islamic Sharia laws across Afghanistan. The law imposed by the Taliban prohibits the education of women, dictates personal appearance and clothing for men and women, restricts open and opposing political views, denies jobs to women, and forbids many other forms of entertainment and reading material, all formerly permitted in many less rigid Islamic communities. The use of public execution and beatings are methods of enforcement frequently used in towns newly occupied by the Taliban.

Taliban rule controls outside influence, the economy, and even the flow of supplies into a region. The Taliban militia also provides something that is tempting to people living in abject poverty: a paying position for young men without hope for the future. It is a prospect that is accepted by many, despite the utilization of terrorist means to make communities comply with the anti-government and anti-Western stance promoted by the Taliban.

Securing the province was important, explained Rylan, as it served as a critical point for the Taliban to move weapons and supplies into the country from Pakistan. It was a difficult task.

“It was very tough to identify the Taliban,” said Rylan. “They look just like everyone else, so all you can do is wait for them to attack, or for a friendly local to identify someone. Locals, generally, were eager to assist the Americans in any way that they could. They seemed happy that we were there. They did not want the Taliban rule,” Rylan said.

Training Kicks In

Rylan did not engage in any one-on-one combat, but was involved in give-and-take gunfire. There is no getting around the fact that infantrymen are expected to shoot at people, and that deaths can occur. While professional mental health workers were brought in from time to time, it was more helpful after fights in which gunfire was exchanged to talk it through with his fellow unit members, said Rylan.

Reconciling civilian mores with military training is not difficult when being shot at, said Rylan. “We have very thorough training, and it kicks in. Yeah, I definitely was scared sometimes, but what are you going to do? You either shoot back or curl up in a little ball and give up.”

As the region was cleared out of militants, the company had more time to improve their own living situation. The 1st Battalion set up a post and roadblocks to check travelers going in and out of the secured area. Like the interior walls of the living quarters established in abandoned mud homes, the post was constructed from Hesco system blocks, metal cages filled with a liner and sand. Plywood boards served as a rooftop.

Inside the sleeping quarters, the exhausted men of the 1st Battalion rested on narrow metal folding cots with a thin mattress and a bug net to keep out irritating sand fleas and flies. Because the hours were long, down time was generally relegated to sleeping, and even the thin mattresses were no deterrent to falling into a heavy slumber, said Rylan.

What was most oppressive, though, as the spring turned to summer, was the heat. Temperatures soared as high as 140 degrees at midday. Members of the company on duty — which was most of them, most of the time — worked in full gear: long sleeves, long pants, heavy socks and boots, a ten-pound flak jacket, helmet, glasses, ammunition, several liters of water, and a rifle that without accessories weighed another ten pounds.

“It was hot. We sweated like you wouldn’t believe,” he said. Staying hydrated was critical, and the men did so by downing five to six liters of water every day, and avoiding sports drinks, energy drinks, and caffeinated drinks that could cause dehydration. “Staying hydrated was the difference between making it through the day and passing out while on duty,” said Rylan.

The threat of explosions from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) was a constant and frustrating threat, said Rylan. “You can’t shoot first or shoot back with an IED. There is no way to tell when one will go off or where they will be.” He saw many vehicles destroyed by IEDs, but heavily armored trucks were often able to offer protection to the men inside, even when damaged. And despite the constant sniper attacks and IED attacks, Rylan counts his company lucky that no men died, and only a few suffered injuries.

Keeping In Touch

Keeping busy meant less time to miss family and friends, said Rylan. One satellite phone serving nearly 200 men meant that each one of them was allowed only one 10 to 15-minute phone call every three weeks or so.

For the first several weeks, the company did not even receive mail. Once the position was established and fighting had tapered off, mail was delivered somewhat regularly.

“You can’t even imagine how welcome mail was to us,” Rylan said. “Getting mail would make your day, even your week. Just to hear from the people you knew back home was so uplifting,” he said. His company did receive one or two packages and packs of letters from school groups and other organizations, and they were very much appreciated. “It was nice to know that people were behind us and showing us support. That meant a lot,” said Rylan.

While Rylan does not feel it is his place to discuss the military policy or missions, of which he is just a small part, he said, he does feel that by the time his eight-month stint was over that the US presence there had provided a positive impact. “I think we improved the situation in the village. Whatever we brought them was better than what they had,” he said.

He keeps up with current news on the war in Afghanistan, noting that the newest operation there is patrolling the South Helmand section where he was stationed. News reports, however, cannot do the situation justice, he believes. “To the best of my knowledge, the reporting is accurate, but it is hard to say without being there. That’s an experience in itself,” said Rylan.

It is important to let the public see what’s going on, to an extent, and the several reporters embedded with them during his time in Afghanistan, including former Marine of Iran-Contra Scandal fame and present Fox News Channel correspondent and author Oliver North, did serve a purpose, Rylan said. What bothers him greatly is when reporters sensationalize horrific events, such as a recent series of photos published depicting the unpleasant encounter of three soldiers with an IED. “Families do not need to be subjected to explicit videos and reports,” said Rylan. “That just isn’t right.”

Reentry into a non-combat lifestyle back in America was actually more challenging than going into combat as a new infantryman, said Rylan. “You are trained for combat, so you feel ready. But the transition home is so much more difficult.” There are times when he feels a bit disconnected from old friends who have not experienced military life or combat. “If you haven’t been there, you can’t really understand,” he said. “It is strange to take for granted the safety and security here. You can go to the store by yourself, and you don’t have to think about safety in numbers; you can drive down the street without worrying about a bomb going off; you don’t have to worry about someone shooting at you.” He appreciates the little things, like the good smells everywhere, and the green grass. “It’s just so nice here,” he said.

Like the majority of the young men with whom he serves, Rylan said that serving in the Marines and being in combat overseas has matured him. And living in a war zone has changed his overall view of the world. “I take a lot less for granted, that’s for sure.”