Combat· Afghanistan War (Op ENDURING FREEDOM)
Afghanistan War / OEF
The war in Afghanistan was the Marine Corps' longest conflict, a struggle that began as a swift campaign to destroy al-Qaeda and topple the Taliban after the attacks of September 2001 and stretched into more than a decade of counterinsurgency.
The Marines came first from the sea, projecting power deep inland to seize a desert airfield and the city of Kandahar in the opening months. After years in which Iraq drew the main effort, the Marines returned in force for the surge, taking responsibility for Helmand Province, the Taliban heartland and opium center in the south. There they waged their defining battles of the war, clearing insurgent strongholds at Marjah, Sangin, Garmsir, and the Helmand valley in grueling, IED-laced counterinsurgency fighting. The campaign tested the Corps over a long and costly span, demanding both hard combat and the patient work of holding ground and building local governance among a wary population.
Engagements in this conflict (25)
Record no. 778