Marine Money in the Helmand Province
BY Herschel Smith
16 years, 4 months ago
In U.S. Marine Style Counterinsurgency we discussed the Marines’ complaint shop after kinetic operations in and around Garmser. The Marines pay for broken windows, dead farm animals, busted doors, and so forth. This is the right thing to do, as well as being productive policy. The surest way to lose the cooperation and respect of the population is to destroy their property and ignore their consequent needs from the battles. Much money was promised, but at the end of the article it came to light that so far, the money was promised but not forthcoming.
There’s one flaw in the Marines’ campaign. While they freely issue compensation vouchers, they don’t have any actual money to give out yet. The cash, the Marines tell the villagers, will be here on July 1. The date has already slipped once, from mid-June, and some people doubt they’ll ever see the money. “If we don’t pay them on the first,” Sgt. Blake said, “it’s going to be bad.”
The Captain’s Journal responded, “the money had better be there because it affects the reputation of the U.S. Marines and the COIN effort underway in Afghanistan. Time for the DoD to “belly up to the bar.”
True to the consistent reputation of the Marines, the money is shown below displayed nicely, just prior to be handed out to locals.
Photo courtesy of DVIDS.
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