Sangin Research Paper

Sangin, Afghanistan is a graveyard for U.S troops and Allied forces. From 2009 to 2012 no other district in Afghanistan has claimed more lives of coalition forces than the Sangin district. The United States and British troops combined have lost over 162 service members while being deployed to the area. While I was deployed to Sangin in 2010, my battalion lost nine Marines in four days during the first few weeks of the deployment. By the end of our deployment, we sustained more casualties than any other unit that was deployed to Sangin. Losing nine Marines in four days opened the eyes of the Pentagon, and had them contemplating removing us from the district. The Pentagon eventually decided against removing us the from the battleground, because it would have destroyed our morale and we would have resented them for it. They knew that throughout history, no Marine unit has ever been removed from the battlefield and doing so would have shamed us and the men we have already lost and were soon to lose. The Sangin district is well known for being a Taliban stronghold, which is why the area is responsible for producing …show more content…
Not only did they conduct clearing operations that made the major road of the area safer for traveling, but they also cleared so many IED's that the locals felt safe to walk around the land freely. During our deployments to Sangin, we sought out the Taliban taking the fight to them on our terms and substantially reduced their numbers and their will to fight. By the end of 2012 kinetic firefights dropped drastically and so did the number of U.S. casualties in the area. Even though our casualties number fell, we were still sustaining them but at a much lower rate than ever before. The locals now felt safer in the area, and the children were able to return to school without the fear of punishment of the