Sam Spade's San Francisco

This just in from Regimental Combat Team 3 in Afghanistan - Written by Sgt. Scott Whittington

SHOR SHORAT, Afghanistan – Some of the scariest ghost stories involve the dark, but the dark doesn't always have to deal with lack of light. Sometimes it is simply the unknown.

An interpreter and 1st Sgt. Mike E. Sparkman with 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, talks with local villagers here Aug. 1. Regimental Combat Team 3 Photo by Sgt. Scott Whittington

Marines from Company D, 2nd Assault Amphibious Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 3, ventured into the unknown Aug. 1 and 2, to visit local villages near Camp Dwyer that no international forces have ever been.

"It's always a good idea to come out here," said 1st Sgt. Mike E. Sparkman, 38, company first sergeant. "If we're not out among the people, the enemy will be."

During their mission in Afghanistan, the Marines who would normally be operating with amphibious assault vehicles are serving as the RCT's only mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicle company.

The primary purpose of the neighborly visits was to engage with the local villagers who hadn't seen any foreign military here, and get a sense of what issues were important to them. A secondary – but equally important – reason was to recon the village in search of Taliban insurgents or weapon storage.

"We asked what they needed. The people seemed to like that we were there," said Sparkman. "I would say our visit was a success, but it could have gone a different way."

Insurgents have been known to set ambushes against international forces in and around communities like these. All the villagers that Sparkman spoke with expressed their fear of the Taliban and said insurgents hadn't been around this village near a Helmand River tributary in nearly a year. One villager said that he wouldn't be standing outside speaking to the Marines if the Taliban were around.

"If the Taliban had shown up, the Marines could have used their skills," said Sparkman. We would have loved to beat them back across the river, he said.

This wasn't the first time these Marines rolled up on a village that had never seen a foreign military. Last month, Sparkman's crew visited other villages in the area.

"I was looking forward to seeing how they lived out there and their culture," said Lance Cpl. Michael H. Stubbings, tracker. "They've done pretty well for themselves for having near nothing."

Local Afghans live in huts made from hay and mud and stay mostly indoors during the day when the temperature breaks the 120 mark. At night, using flashlights, they come outside to tend to their crops and livestock.

The villagers, mostly farmers, were spread throughout the village. The village itself encompassed groups of homes spread over a few miles. Some wells were nearly dried up, which hindered their crops' growth, and the water they did have wasn't completely sanitary. Their crops range from wheat and watermelons to cannabis and poppy.

"We're out here, not only chasing the enemy. We're trying to help the average Afghan," added Sparkman. "If we can help the locals see that the Afghan government is better than the Taliban, the Taliban will leave."
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