U.S. Marine Pfc. Bao Tuong, a 20-year-old armorer with Guard Force Platoon, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, and native of Garden Grove, Calif., smiles at a fellow Marine’s comment while waiting for his handheld system to process the biometric data of a local farmer stopped at Checkpoint Drahbiash during Operation Gridlock here, March 21. During the three-day Afghan New Year celebration, held from March 19-21 to highlight the transition from winter into spring, the partnered forces manned vehicle checkpoints throughout Helmand province’s Garmsir district to disrupt insurgent logistical movement along routes leading into its bazaars. The Afghan forces halted and searched vehicles while Marines provided overwatch from the periphery and biometrically enrolled passersby.
<dl><dd>Unit: Regimental Combat Team-5, 1st Marine Division</dd>
<dd>DVIDS Tags: NATO; 3rd Battalion; Garmsir District; counterinsurgency operations; Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan; COIN; OEF; writer; combat correspondent; 3/3; Marine Corps Base Hawaii; photographer; Public Affairs; Afghanistan; GIROA; Marine Corps; Combat Camera; ANP; Helmand province; Marines; ANSF; 3rd Marine Regiment; International Security Assistance Force; Afghan National Security Forces; search; ISAF; Afghan National Police; deployment; Afghan new year; Operation Enduring Freedom; VCP; vehicle checkpoint; America's Battalion; RCT 5; Garmser District; Cpl. Reece Lodder; Reece Lodder; Operation Gridlock; coalition partnership</dd></dl>
Cpl. Reece Lodder
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