The Department of Defense announced today its recruiting and retention statistics for the active and reserve components for January 2010:

• Active Component.
  • Recruiting.  All four active services met or exceeded their accession goals for January 2010.
    • Army:  8,513 accessions with a goal of 8,393; 101 percent
    • Navy:  3,012 accessions with a goal of 3,012; 100 percent
    • Marine Corps:  3,035 accessions with a goal of 3,024; 100 percent
    • Air Force:  2,593 accessions with a goal of 2,593; 100 percent
    • Retention.  The Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force retained near or above mission goals through the first four months of fiscal 2010.
• Reserve Component.
  • Recruiting.  All six reserve components met or exceeded their accession goals for January 2010.
  • Army National Guard:  4,402 accessions with a goal of 4,100; 107 percent
  • Army Reserve – 2,272 accessions with a goal of 2,229; 102 percent
  • Navy Reserve – 511 accessions with a goal of 511; 100 percent
  • Marine Corps Reserve – 1,130 accessions with a goal of 819; 138 percent
  • Air National Guard – 563 accessions with a goal of 470; 120 percent
  • Air Force Reserve – 772 accessions with a goal of 772; 100 percent
  • Attrition.  Losses in all reserve components are within acceptable limits.

When Operation Moshtarak kicked off here Feb. 13, Army helicopter crews from the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade inserted nearly 300 Marines and Afghan security forces into Marja, Afghanistan, under cover of darkness.

UH-60 Black Hawks, CH-47F Chinooks and AH-64 Apaches from Task Force Pegasus facilitated the air assault of Kilo Company, 3/6 Marines, in seizing their objective area, according to AFPS’ Army Staff Sgt. Aubree Clute.

“Protected by Apache air weapons teams, the Marines and their partnered Afghan security forces quickly began moving to their initial objective, seizing key terrain and preparing to link up with their parent headquarters scheduled to begin a ground assault into Marja,” said Army Col. Paul Bricker, 82nd CAB commander.

Shortly after the Marine insertion, additional Task Force Pegasus aviation assets assisted a coalition air assault into nearby objective areas in Nad Ali. Task Force Pegasus’s 1st Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 82nd Aviation Regiment — Task Force Wolfpack — was one of three helicopter units involved in the operation in support of the British Task Force Jaguar.

“Their air assault was equally effective in seizing key terrain in the city of Nad Ali, located adjacent and northeast of Marja,” Bricker said. “Their operation was even more complex, as it included over 20 rotary-wing aircraft from the U.S., Britain and Canada.”

Task Force Pegasus continues to provide support to operation Moshtarak, but the focus has turned from aerial security to medical evacuation. Casualty evacuation teams are standing by to transport wounded coalition and Afghan forces to appropriate field hospitals as necessary.

“[The CH-47F Chinook] has been specially configured with helicopter cabin litter support systems and manned with TF Pegasus surgeons and medics to conduct critical patient transfers from less-capable combat surgical wards within Helmand province to southern Afghanistan’s largest and most advanced hospital on Kandahar Air Base,” Bricker said.

The 82nd CAB has completed more than 120 air-assault operations throughout southern Afghanistan over the last 10 months in support of operations by the International Security Assistance Force and Afghan forces.

This week the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard announced an increase in activated reservists, while the Army announced a decrease.  The net collective result is 317 fewer reservists activated than last week.

At any given time, services may activate some units and individuals while deactivating others, making it possible for these figures to either increase or decrease.  The total number currently on active duty from the Army National Guard and Army Reserve is 111,478; Navy Reserve, 6,978; Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, 16,846; Marine Corps Reserve, 6,435; and the Coast Guard Reserve, 780.  This brings the total National Guard and Reserve personnel who have been activated to 142,517, including both units and individual augmentees.

A cumulative roster of all National Guard and Reserve personnel who are currently activated may be found at: http://www.defense.gov/news/d20100209ngr.pdf.

With large packs and complete sets of personal protective equipment, Marines from Headquarters and Service Company of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, arrived at the makeshift rifle range here Jan. 23 under rain-threatening clouds.

“There’s going to be a lot of pivoting and shooting, facing away from the target and turning around very quickly; usually engaging the target with two shots at a time,” said Marine Corps Cpl. Sandro Ola, a field radio operator. “It’s very quick and to the point.”

The drills also consisted of firing while moving toward the target, reloading rifles quickly and correcting weapon malfunctions while under pressure, reports AFPS’ Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Tommy Bellegarde.

Ola, from Anchorage, Alaska, said he thinks the firing drills will benefit the Marines who will be working with Afghan soldiers to conduct counterinsurgency operations in southern Helmand province.

“It’s very crucial that we have this training,” he said, “[so that] when we have the opportunity to take that shot, we know when to take it and when not to take it.”

The drills consisted of two separate shooting sessions, one during the day and the other at night. During the night-fire portion, Marines used night-vision goggles and laser-aiming devices to help them see their targets.

“The more training they have with their gear and [optics] and everything, the more comfortable they are when it comes to the real thing,” said Marine Corps Staff Sgt. William Hart, who’s in charge of the range.

The Marines agreed that repetitive training is a key element for combat readiness.

“The whole point … [is] to get you used to moving around and shooting with your rifle,” said Marine Corps Pfc. Joseph Attaway, an administrative clerk from Statesboro, Ga. “Whenever the time comes when you have to shoot, you just do it out of habit.”

The 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force transferred authority of Iraq’s largest province to the Army’s 1st Armored Division in a Jan. 23 ceremony here that marked the end of the Marine Corps’ mission in Iraq, reports AFPS’ Army Spc. Kayleigh Cannon.

Before the ceremony, 1st Armored Division’s area of operations, as U.S. Division Center, encompassed Baghdad and its surrounded communities. Now, it extends the throughout Iraq’s Anbar province, a vast landscape spanning more than 53,000 square miles in western Iraq.
“This is a pivotal moment in the history of Iraq,” said Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Richard T. Tryon, commander of 2nd MEF (Forward), the 2nd Marine Division, and U.S. Force West.

Marines have been at the heart of almost every major Iraq campaign period since February 2004, from the early battles in Najaf and Fallujah, along the western Euphrates River Valley from Qaim to Rawah, and continuing with the pivotal Sunni “Awakening” that many historians and diplomatic experts credit as the turning of the tide against al-Qaida in Iraq.

“Since early 2004, the U.S. Marines serving in Al Anbar have consistently exemplified their motto, ‘Semper Fi – Always Faithful,’” said Army Lt. Gen. Charles H. Jacoby Jr., U.S. Forces Iraq deputy commanding general for operations and commander of the Army’s 1st Corps. “They have been especially faithful to the people of Al Anbar, the focal point of their mission in Iraq. Anbaris are resilient people who have sacrificed dearly but now emerge as stronger people.”

As the Marines say their goodbyes to the Anbar’s residents and tribal leaders, Iraqi soldiers and police officers will begin working closely with 1st Armored Division soldiers under the continued leadership of the 82nd Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade, who have been operating there in an “advise and assist” capacity for about six months. Division leaders said they are eager to build on 2nd MEF’s reputation, and Tryon expressed confidence in their ability to do so.

“Today’s ceremony is certainly an example of continued positive change as we transition and consolidate U.S. forces under the flag of USD-C,” he said. “Over the last several years, we have seen a logical and a desired progression in Anbar, moving from combat operations to counterinsurgency operations, and now to stability operations.”

Tryon praised the efforts of the Iraqis and tribal sheiks in Anbar for their courage in standing against tyranny and violence in their streets.

“These things have not been accomplished over the course of the past several years because of what U.S. forces have done alone,” the general said. “Rather, these achievements are a result of what we have done together in partnership with one another and with the leadership of the Iraqi civil sector.

“We see over and again that we are at our best when we partner together to achieve our mutual objectives and goals working side by side, hand in hand,” he continued, “learning from one another in accomplishing our mutual mission.”

The casing of the 2nd MEF colors signified completion of the Marine Corps mission in Iraq. As the Marine color guard marched the colors off the stage, the Army color guard replaced them. Army Maj. Gen. Terry A. Wolff, 1st Armored Division and U.S. Division Center commanding general, said the Marines’ accomplishments in the region will not be in vain.

“For many of us who have served with you on multiple tours across Iraq,” he said, “we’ll never forget your sacrifices and all that you have given on our behalf.”

Woolf emphasized that his division will match Anbar’s changing environment by assisting tribal sheiks and Iraqi security forces in ensuring all Iraqis in the region enjoy the security and peace they deserve.

“Today is one of those transition points in the evolution of military operations, as the 1st AD and USD-C takes over responsibility for partnering with Iraqi security forces and the provincial government of Al Anbar,” he said. “As we move forward, we understand the importance of this year in Iraq, and the USD-C team has dedicated ourselves to that mission and the tasks ahead.”

Stepping gingerly over rocks and uneven ground, Marines from Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, and the Afghan National Army soldiers attached to them, patrolled to the north of Observation Post Huskars here Jan. 18.

The patrol stalked through a small, barren crop, just large enough to sustain the inhabitants of a nearby compound, which now lay abandoned. As the column made its way past homes and farms, there was a rising sense that something was amiss; there wasn’t a villager in sight.

Passing through a small archway in a mud wall and out across an open plateau, the Marines’ suspicions were realized as several flat and hollow cracks rang out. Dust kicked up around ankles, and clumps of dirt flew from the walls as bullets struck all around the patrol. Sprinting to get behind cover to return fire, the Marines had achieved their objective. They had located the Taliban.

For the next five hours, Marines and Afghan soldiers traded fire with insurgents. The sun had set by the time the patrol withdrew, and they had uncovered a cache of about 1,300 pounds of ammonium nitrate, which is a prime ingredient in homemade explosives and against Afghan law to own. One suspect was detained, several insurgents were wounded or killed, and there were no Afghan army or Marine casualties, reports AFPS’ Marine Corps Lance Cpl. James W. Clark.

“The original goal of the patrol was to do [census operations] and see who was living in the buildings,” explained Marine Corps 1st Lt. Shaun Miller, the company’s executive officer. “We wanted to get the lay of the land and interact with local leaders and elders.”

Although the initial plan was to interact with villagers in the north, each time the Marines pushed beyond the walls of Observation Post Huskars, they took fire from insurgents.

“Every time we’ve gone out on patrol we’ve gotten into firefights,” said Miller, who paused for a moment to speak over a radio to a Marine on patrol who had reported seeing a rocket-propelled grenade gunner. “We’ve been here for five days and have launched over 20 patrols, and as soon as we go more than one mile outside of the wire, we encounter heavy enemy resistance. It’s like [the Taliban] are drawn to us.”

The increase in patrols and subsequent engagements with insurgents serves to buffer friendly villages to the south of Observation Post Huskars from the Taliban north of the Marines’ position.

“To the north, the majority of the compounds are abandoned and are being used by insurgents,” explained Miller. “However, in the south, villagers have asked for our help, [and have] even led us to where improvised explosive devices were planted so that we could destroy them.”

As the light began to fade and the Marines switched to night vision, infrequent tracer rounds and pop shots would clip and skim over the compound where the patrol had taken refuge. Meanwhile, they waited for explosive ordinance disposal Marines to arrive and destroy the homemade explosive ingredients found earlier in the day.

With the events of the day behind them and the bomb ingredients destroyed, the patrol set off toward its camp to catch a few hours of rest before going out again the following morning.

Marines and their spouses talk about a recent deployment. Plus, a new housing project is helping give homeless vets a second chance.