Birth of a Motto: in Helmand Province, 3/3 H&S Marines Prove Their Versatility, Mettle

Story and photos by Sgt. Mark Fayloga

All photos are high resolution - click twice.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE GERONIMO, Helmand province, Afghanistan — The phrase, “every Marine a rifleman” is so overused it’s gone from motto to cliché, but if Cpl. Eric Ramirez has his way, a new battle cry will emerge — every Marine an infantryman.

Pfc. Aramis C. Sandoval, administrative clerk, Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, holds security at a vehicle checkpoint near Forward Operating Base Geronimo, Afghanistan, May 30. Sandoval from Bronx, N.Y., will have served in the Marine Corps for a year on June 7. He wants to become a lawyer and hoped serving as a clerk in a legal office would give him some experience. Instead he is part of the H&S guard force, a group of mostly non-infantrymen who perform infantry duties in the H&S battle space. “I give all the respect to the grunts,” Sandoval said with a tired sigh. “This work is not easy at all. It’s physically and mentally demanding. The pressure is the biggest challenge. I don’t ever want to look back and think I got a Marine hurt because I wasn’t doing something right.”

Ramirez is no stranger to the life of a grunt. His boots have seen more than 600 dismounted patrols in Iraq, but for his current deployment, his third in just as many years, the 21-year-old infantryman wanted something different.

Instead, Ramirez ended up in the same scene, but with new characters.

He still patrols. He still stands post and sets up vehicle checkpoints. He still denies the enemy movement, only now it’s with the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Headquarters Company Guard Force, a group of mostly non-infantrymen who perform infantry duties in the H&S battle space.

Afghan girls watch as Lance Cpl. Karl Schmidt, squad automatic weapon gunner, guard force, Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, makes his way to set up a vehicle checkpoint near Forward Operating Base Geronimo, Afghanistan, May 30. Schmidt from Morton Grove, Ill., is one of the few grunts in the H&S guard force, a group of mostly non-infantrymen who perform infantry duties in the H&S battle space.

“The deployments I’ve been on before, H&S has never had its own battle space,” Ramirez said. “When they decided to give H&S its own space they needed infantrymen to step up to the challenge and help lead the guard force.”

An H&S battle space isn’t new. The current area of operations 3/3 occupies was inherited from their sister battalion, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, who also had a guard force. The 1/3 guard force didn’t take over its own battle space until near the very end of the deployment.

Cpl. Eric Ramirez, squad leader, Headquarters Company, talks with farmers and a local elder at a vehicle checkpoint near Forward Operating Base Geronimo, Afghanistan, May 30. Ramirez from Covina, Calif., is on his third deployment and has been on more than 600 dismounted patrols. The infantryman is currently a leader and mentor in the H&S guard force, a group of mostly non-infantrymen who perform infantry duties in the H&S battle space. “Just because you’re not a grunt doesn’t mean you’re not a Marine,” Ramirez said. “We’re all expected to be combative.”

Of the 12 men in Ramirez’s squad, only three, counting him, are infantrymen by trade. The rest hold billets like truck driver, administrative clerk, radio operator … all grunt support. But for Ramirez their military specialty doesn’t matter as much as another title — Marine.

“A lot of grunts would put these guys down,” Ramirez said. “They’d say, ‘they’ve never patrolled, they’ve never done this or that, blah, blah, blah …’ Yeah, they’ve never patrolled, but we’re still all Marines. You can train a Marine to be an infantryman. If they haven’t had the same training as you of course they won’t be on the same level, but I guarantee by the end of the deployment they will be. It’s just how much time and how much effort do you want to put into these Marines, and I’m teaching them everything I know.”

Marines assigned to Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, depart a vehicle checkpoint and patrol back to Forward Operating Base Geronimo, Afghanistan, May 30. The Marines are a part of the H&S guard force, a group of mostly non-infantrymen who perform infantry duties in the H&S battle space. The patrol was the first the Marines had completed on their own without being accompanied by a platoon sergeant or commander. "They’re doing really well, a lot better than I expected," Cpl. Eric Ramirez, squad leader, said. "Out on patrol they’ve been building their confidence. They’re learning a lot and are motivated.

At first Ramirez worried the Marines under his charge wouldn’t be enthusiastic about their new positions. They already had jobs they’d been trained to do. Who would want to be dropped into an unfamiliar role? But the men surprised him with their motivation and eagerness to head outside of the wire, a term used to describe the uncertainty outside of a forward operating base. His squad completed their first patrol without being accompanied by a platoon sergeant or commander May 30 near Forward Operating Base Geronimo, and Ramirez was pleased by how quickly they had absorbed his training.

A local farmer explains why he has 12 bags of fertilizer in his van to Cpl. Eric Ramirez, squad leader, Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, at a vehicle checkpoint near Forward Operating Base Geronimo, Afghanistan, May 30. Enemy forces use fertilizer in the production of improvised explosive devices. After running tests on the fertilizer and speaking with a local elder, Ramirez from Covina, Calif., let the farmer move through the checkpoint. “On patrol sometimes you have to move through fields,” Ramirez said. “But I’m always sure to ask the farmer first and make sure not to destroy their crops. They’re very appreciative and are glad to see Marines actually caring about their lives.”

For some in Ramirez’s squad, like with many Marines, there’s always been grunt envy.

Pfc. Aramis C. Sandoval went to his local recruiting office in Bronx, N.Y., just a little more than a year ago hoping to enlist as an infantryman. When his recruiter told him he’d have to pick a new military occupational specialty, Sandoval settled on administrative clerk. He hopes to be a lawyer one day and figured a chance to work as a clerk in a base legal office would help him build experience.

With less than a year in the Marine Corps, Sandoval, the trained office worker, is a rifleman in Afghanistan — a white-collar warrior.

Using an interpreter, Cpl. Eric Ramirez, squad leader, Headquarters Company, speaks with a local elder about the 12 bags of fertilizer found in a farmer’s van at a vehicle checkpoint near Forward Operating Base Geronimo, Afghanistan, May 30. Enemy forces use fertilizer in the production of improvised explosive devices. After Ramirez ran tests on the fertilizer and the elder vouched for the farmer, the van moved through the checkpoint. “Out on patrol you spend a lot of time talking to people, asking them about their lives,” Ramirez from Covina, Calif., said. “A lot of the people we talk to, we ask them, ‘Do you mind? How does it make you feel when we search you?’ And, a lot of them say it makes them feel safer. They’re willing to work with us because they know we’re here to help them out.”

“I give all the respect to the grunts,” Sandoval said with a tired sigh. “This work is not easy at all. It’s physically and mentally demanding. The pressure is the biggest challenge. I don’t ever want to look back and think I got a Marine hurt because I wasn’t doing something right.”

The work is as fulfilling as it is demanding. Sandoval’s face may usually be covered in sweat, dirt and awkward tan lines from constant, post, patrol and training, but it’s got a smile on it as well.

As for Ramirez, when he’s out on patrol he doesn’t see the difference between leading a squad of infantrymen and a squad of clerks.

Lance Cpl. Karl Schmidt and Pfc. Aramis C. Sandoval, a squad automatic weapon gunner and administrative clerk, guard force, Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, patrol through farmland on their way to set up a vehicle checkpoint near Forward Operating Base Geronimo, Afghanistan, May 30. Schmidt from Morton Grove, Ill., and Aramis from Bronx, N.Y., are members of the H&S guard force, a group of mostly non-infantrymen who perform infantry duties in the H&S battle space.

“Just because you’re not a grunt doesn’t mean you’re not a Marine,” Ramirez said. “Everyone knows a Marine is a rifleman. If they wanted to do just one job they would have probably joined [another service] or something. The Marine Corps is a combat-arms service. We’re all expected to be combative.”