Early in 2009, the government purchased land near the British Camp Bastion, the largest coalition outpost in southern Afghanistan. This would be a staging ground for construction further south of Camp Dwyer, which would, in turn, establish and command three forward operating bases. Frank Wallman was among the first 400 Marines deployed by C-130 to the new camp outside Bastion.
America’s warfighters are trained to endure hardship. War isn’t comfortable. But calling the location a camp was an embellishment. Outside Camp Bastion, the British had created a big circular dirt wall and provided a single small water trailer. That’s it. There was no wire perimeter, no fighting positions, no tents, no latrines. They lacked communication gear and wouldn’t have been able to call for help. They had no vehicles. These Marines were living outside the wire, and incredibly, they were not even supplied with ammunition.
I’m proud to have served in the Army National Guard, but it was no secret the Guard often endured with little advanced equipment and with older weapons. Nevertheless, each of us deployed in Afghanistan with over 200 rounds. I’m astounded these Marines had none.
“It felt like we were on the moon,” Wallman described life outside Camp Bastion. “No trees. No plants. Just gravel.”
They were completely exposed and essentially unarmed, even without cleaning kits, unable to maintain their unloaded rifles properly. After a week, each Marine was finally issued a paltry 10 rounds. They were allowed one MRE per day.
After two weeks, 300 more Marines and a few trucks arrived. After a month, a chow hall was established, cooking “T-rats,” field rations supposedly a step-up from MREs, 24 hours a day, struggling to feed the overcrowded camp.
The camp had only three plastic port-a-johns that had to be vacuumed out by Afghan contractors four times a day. Some Marines, unwilling or unable to wait in the long latrine lines, simply relieved themselves in holes they dug by the berm. This may seem unimportant, but inadequate human waste disposal is an invitation to debilitating disease.
The Marines working to launch this invasion were not allowed to contact home. Meanwhile, some officer told their families that packages couldn’t be sent to their charges because they “don’t know where they are.” This statement, in addition to being untrue, was sure to terrify families.
At one point, the commandant and the sergeant major of the Marine Corps visited. “This is going to be the greatest invasion of your life,” they said. I don’t know how many invasions these men thought their Marines had been part of in their lives, but from everything Frank had witnessed, he could tell it wasn’t going to be great in absolute or relative terms. “We knew that the rest of this would be an absolute sh** show.”
Wallman’s unit, the first with trucks, set out to build Camp Dwyer south of Bastion. Engineers built berms and a wire perimeter. For weeks, his unit ran supply convoys, two days out and two days back, to establish the base. Direct travel to Dwyer would have taken an hour, but leadership wanted a wandering route. Varying the route is a sensible precaution to avoid ambush and IEDs, but wandering the rough desert for four days is taking the concept to a dangerous extreme, and no amount of wandering could conceal their destination from the enemy.
At last, Frank and his fellow Marines who had moved to Camp Dwyer were given the GO call. Three Marine units pushed south to establish three forward operating bases. Supported by helicopters and A-10 ground attack planes, Wallman’s unit drove three hours and reached an open grassy field. “This is it,” said an officer. “This is home.” Frank Wallman and his fellow Marines had endured months of incredible hardship, but their troubles had only just begun.
Trent Reedy, author of several books including Enduring Freedom, served as a combat engineer in the Iowa National Guard from 1999 to 2005, including a tour of duty in Afghanistan.
*Some names and call signs in this story may have been changed due to operational security or privacy concerns.
