Marines with 3d Battalion, Ninth Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 7, recently returned to southern Afghanistan, two years after their deployment to the Marjah area.
The opportunity to return to the same area allowed some Marines to see firsthand the difference two years of teaching and mentoring with various Marine battalions and training teams can make.
“We were in the Marjah district on the edge of Trek Nawa from December 2010 to June 2011,” said LCpl Limuel Richards, a team leader with the battalion.
Richards and his squad leader, Sgt Ben Edwards, were with the battalion two years ago. Because of their previous deployment, the two Marines have a better perspective of the progress made by Afghan National Security Forces.
