Reporting From Afghanistan - Day 1

This week Leatherneck's Stewart Nusbaumer reports from Afghanistan.

Missed Day 2? Missed Day 3? Missed Day 4?

Editor's note: Marine veteran Stewart Nusbaumer served in an amphibious tractor unit during the Vietnam War. Known as “AmGrunts” because of the unit's unique infantry mission, these Marines fought in the northern part of South Vietnam, near the demilitarized zone. Combat wounded and medically retired, Stewart became a journalist. In Iraq, he was embedded with various Marine and Army units and now he is embedded and reporting from Regional Advisory Corps Command-Central, Afghanistan.

Stewart is sending back photographs and we will be tracking his progress with periodic reporting through this Web site. Stewart recently wrote:
"These blogs of my four-day convoy excursion are not meant to give details of the Marine embedded training team (ETT) program, the mission, the Marines’ duties or their thoughts. This will be covered in an upcoming article published in Leatherneck. Instead, my reports will focus on my thoughts and what I saw on the convoy. They’re a preface to my more in-depth article on the ETT Marines.

"The heart of the mission of the Regional Corps Advisory Command is to coordinate the embedded training teams (ETTs), small teams of Marines that train, mentor and advise Afghan Army troops. This requires the Marines to get close to Afghan soldiers, live nearby, even empathize with them. This is not a job where one can simply go by the book. As one ETT Marine said, “We do a lot of playing it by the ear.”

We hope you enjoy Stewart's reporting and, at the same time, appreciate more of the Marine mission in Afghanistan.

Walt Ford
Colonel USMC (Ret)
Editor, Leatherneck Magazine

Leatherneck Magazine has posted dozens of slideshows from both Iraq and Afghanistan in our Photos From The Field section.

Want more? Check out our Daily Corps News, more photos, some cartoons, or the best of 1969.