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U.S. Marines Use Donkeys To Go Places Their Humvees and Other Modern
Vehicles Cannot

August 15, 2005 — By Daniel Cooney, Associated Press

KANDAGAL, Afghanistan — Frustrated with the limitations of using its
fleet of modern Humvee four-wheel-drives in rugged mountains with few
roads, a battalion of U.S. Marines has enlisted a mode of transport
used for centuries by Afghan villagers -- donkeys.

About 30 of the animals have been rented from local farmers to haul
food and bottled water to hundreds of Afghan and U.S. troops on a
two-week operation to battle militants deep in remote mountains in
eastern Afghanistan's Kunar province.

"With all the smart bombs and the modern stuff in war nowadays, this
is the best way for us to resupply our troops there," said Lt. Col. Jim
Donnellan, commander of 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, which is
based in Hawaii. "It's also much cheaper for the U.S. taxpayer for us
to rent the donkeys than for everything to be air-dropped."

Using aircraft to resupply the forces is also dangerous.

In late June, militants in the area shot down a special forces
Chinook
helicopter, killing all 16 troops on board, as it tried to land in one
of the many steep-sided, wooded valleys that snake their way through
the mountains.

The operation, which began Friday, is aimed at flushing those
fighters
out of the valley and U.S. commanders are nervous about risking other
choppers in the process.

From a temporary resupply base in a cornfield at one end of Korengal
Valley, where the militants are suspected of hiding, squads of Marines
with heavy packs on their own backs led out lines of donkeys, each
laden with two boxes of water, a box of food rations and a sack of
grain.

While each Marine carried enough food and water for themselves for
two
days, the donkeys gave each squad supplies for an extra 48 hours. Once
finished, the animals would be led back to the resupply base to load up
again and then return to the mountains.

Before coming to Afghanistan, some of the troops received training in
handling donkeys at the Marines' Mountain Warfare Training Center in
Bridgeport, Calif., said Capt. John Moshane.

"Marines have used donkeys since the American revolution," he said,
as
each animal received a spray painted number for identification.

Still, the donkeys period stubborn refusal to cooperate and their
determination to try to mate with each other whenever they were untied
persistently frustrated their handlers. When one Marine slapped one of
the animals on the rump in exasperation, the donkey promptly gave him a
sharp kick with one of its hind legs.

Donkeys have long been used by armies in Afghanistan, including by
mujahedeen independence fighters against Soviet troops in the 1980s.
Smugglers also use them to sneak loads of opium, illegally mined gems
and timber across the country's mountainous borders.

Source: Associated Press