Combat· Afghanistan War (Op ENDURING FREEDOM)
Operation Steel Dawn II
Operation Steel Dawn II was a Marine offensive in Helmand Province, part of the sustained surge-era campaign to clear insurgents from the contested districts and extend Marine and Afghan control across the province.
The Marines pushed into Taliban-held ground to disrupt the insurgents, clear the improvised explosive devices that laced the area, and establish a presence among the population in keeping with the counterinsurgency approach. The operation was one of the named pushes in the period of intense Marine activity in Helmand, when forces worked methodically to take and hold the river valley and its farmland from a resilient enemy. Steel Dawn II contributed to the broader effort to roll back the insurgency in the province, the grinding work of clearing and holding that defined the Marine war in Helmand. It was part of the cumulative pressure the Marines applied across the district during the height of their commitment to the Afghan campaign.
Record no. 785