Marines come home from Afghanistan
(BDCi) — Marines from Twenty Nine palms will be among the first soldiers to depart from Afghanistan as ordered by President Obama.
Lieutenant General David Rodriguez informed reporters that the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment will exit Afghanistan by the end of this summer without being replaced.
The unit had been assigned to the Southern region of Helmand Province which is considered a better territory to be turned over to the control of Afghan security officials than the northern part of the province.
Although fewer Marines plan to stay and gear up in case of a Taliban threat, they still plan to relinquish security responsibility of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand, to the Afghans.
President Obama has made a public statement that ten thousand troops will be coming home by the end of this year.
Twenty-three thousand soldiers will return by summer of 2012, leaving nearly 67,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
By: Shayla Selva Source: Los Angeles Times July 6, 2011
12:50 pm PDT