In Afghanistan, 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion leads the way in a fight against IEDs which seem to be the Marines’ biggest challenge.
However, despite the fact that 2nd CEB is an engineer battalion, not every contributing Marine is a combat engineer. In fact, engineers make up only a percentage of 2nd CEB’s Alpha Company.
Alpha Company convoyed out to a typical combat engineer mission, Jan. 1, 2009, but out of all the Marines on the mission, only a few were combat engineers. Instead, Marines such as motor transport operators, heavy equipment operators and Navy corpsman picked up shovels and tape measurers to help build three observation posts along Route Cowboys in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
Being from an engineer platoon, it’s common to have mechanics, motor transport operators, and corpsman come together to help on big operations, said Staff Sgt. Juan A Perez, a combat engineer for Co. A.
“Building force protection is something every Marine should know. There may be a time when engineers are not around. That’s why it’s important for everyone to know this,” said Perez.
Others would agree with Perez and appreciate the knowledge that Marine engineers share.
“I think it’s a good idea for all Marines to have basic engineer skills. Last year when I was in Afghanistan I learned how to make guard posts with HESCO barriers,” said Lance Cpl. Brandon D. Meeks, a motor transport operator for Co. A. “Engineers train us with some of the knowledge they know.”
As it turned out, a little bit of engineer knowledge was all that was needed to complete the construction of three OPs on Route Cowboy. Using HESCO barriers, lumber and some manual labor, the Marines built the post from the ground up, even adding a HESCO barrier door.
“I love HESCO,” said Meeks, a Fremont, Ind. native. “The best thing about it is you can use it to build anything, a chair, door, couch, walls, and tables.”
Marines and sailors added to the work force by taking turns shoveling, measuring wood, digging, setting up concertina wire and ground-guiding vehicles.
Although hospital corpsman are brought strictly for their medical resources, they too were on the spot working with their brothers-in-arms through the night, the cold, and under the weight of protective gear and ammunition.
“I love being out here with the guys. I like to do everything my Marines do,” said Seaman, Vince E. Chu Lo, a corpsman for Co. A. “Being here in the field, suffering, builds comradery. If their cleaning guns, I’m cleaning guns. If they’re sleeping outside, I’m sleeping outside.”
Corpsmen are on sight to take care of any possible injuries, and mechanics are there to fix vehicles. But on this mission, when these non-engineers and sailors weren’t used in their expertise they were supporting the engineers on sight.
“Technically we have our own military occupational specialty, but were kind of like engineers because we support the engineers by doing the basic engineer things like using HESCO, building forward operating bases, and bridges,” said Meeks.
Over three days, Marines from Co. A constructed three OPs on Route Cowboys; an engineer-type mission had been accomplished by a majority of non-engineers.
“That’s why we cross train. I did this on my last deployment. You never know what job you’re going to be doing. Sometimes you got to be a communications Marine; sometimes you got to be an engineer,” said Cpl. Darrin Hicks, a motor transport operator for Co. A., 2nd CEB. “This helps us be flexible so that any Marine can do any job. That’s why we are successful,”