The U.S. Navy is increasingly deploying its personnel far from the ocean, in Afghanistan. Cmdr. Jim Hamblet, who previously commanded the Portsmouth, Va.-based Mobile Security Squadron 6, a unit that patrols Iraqi oil platforms in the Persian Gulf, is now in charge of an 82-member reconstruction team in Ghazni province.
Cmdr. Ryan Scholl, a former Blue Angels pilot and commander of an Oceana-based F/A-18 squadron, now leads a similar reconstruction team in Asadabad, near Afghanistan's eastern border with Pakistan.
The Virginian-Pilot reported on May 21 that the U.S. military heads 12 of the provincial reconstruction teams, while other International Security Assistance Force nations direct nine other teams.
Navy spokesman Lt. Trey Brown said 140 sailors are now serving on six of the 12 U.S.-run reconstruction teams in Afghanistan. According to Brown a little more than 500 sailors total are now serving in Afghanistan, not including Navy special operations forces there, the highest number since Operation Enduring Freedom began in November 2001.
Scholl said, "I think we are breaking ground in terms of what the Navy is doing, but we're utilizing a lot of the same things we did in command tours. It's not like we're left alone to do these things for ourselves. We have an idea of what's required to run a command."
Source: United Press International
