Bottom Line Up Front: Marines are kicking up the efforts in Ramadi, bringing “some good counterinsurgency” to Iraq.

GEN Petraeus would say, “That’s some good counterinsurgency going on there!” And the Marines in Ramadi are rising to the occasion.

Marine CPT Marcus Mainz is taking his men in Ramadi, Iraq, out from the FOB (Forward Operating Base) and into the community. The focus shift from making contact with the enemy to making contact with the people is the highly successful counterinsurgency doctrine that works. And it is working.

Meanwhile, in one Marine battalion, 200 soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Regiment opted to extend their enlistments in Ramadi, for no bonus money. The L.A. Times tells the story, which goes like this:

Lt. Col. Craig Kozeniesky, the battalion commander, and Sgt. Maj. William Jordan, the senior enlisted man, assembled Marines whose enlistments were running short. Marines who were there don’t remember that Kozeniesky or Jordan spent much time speaking of the complexities of U.S. foreign policy in the 21st century. Instead, the two asked the Marines to help the battalion’s younger members.

“I just told them: ‘We’ve been together this long. We need you — the young Marines need you,’ ” Jordan said.

In an infantry battalion, a sergeant major serves as the embodiment of institutional values to younger “grunts.” At 44, Jordan has been in the Marine Corps for 27 years.
“Finally I just told them, ‘Everybody who is with us, move to the right side of the room,’ ” Jordan said. Only a handful stayed put. About 175 moved immediately to the right side.

“I was blown away,” Jordan said. “In all my years in the Marine Corps, I never saw anything like it.”

Officials say extensions are not uncommon among the Marine Corps’ 24 battalions, even as some return to Iraq for their third combat tour. In fact, they say, few records are kept because they are so common.

Unlike a reenlistment, the move earns the Marines no bonus money, no promotion and no promise of a job shift or posting to a favored duty station.

Marines say that residents (of Ramadi), encouraged by tribal sheiks and imams, have turned against the extremists and, among other things, are pointing out the location of hidden roadside bombs.

“The last time, it was like the people didn’t want to do anything to help their neighborhoods,” Mellado said. “Now it’s a big change. I want to be here to help with that, to help my Marines.”

OORAH! Two things that make for a successful counterinsurgency effort are 1) living with the people/security/police forces of that nation; not remaining in the FOB and 2) longevity; the same soldiers, same faces remaining in the area, creating familiarity and trust to win over the hearts and minds of the locals. These Marines are good men doing it right.

Cross-posted @: Bottom Line Up Front

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