 The Marines of Charlie Cove, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, recently finished a month-long operation clearing the Ghoston Valley of Insurgents. The main goal of the last 30 days was to put a company as deep into the enemy territory as possible and allow it to conduct operations to disrupt the enemy's activities, primarily at safe havens and some of its command and control areas. The Marines cleared different villages which lie in a remote area of Kalman Province. For most of the Marines, the hardest part of the operation was the first few days. Early on in the mission, the Marines found out just how much of a hold the insurgents used to have in the area. The village of Paywalk was pretty strongly defended on tree lines and they had prepared defensive positions that allowed them to tuck away and prevent our weapon systems from having an effect, so we had to get pretty close to them. The Marines of Charlie 1A had support from 1st Tank Battalion at the start of the operation. The tanks were basically our big brothers. I mean, the infantry can do a lot, but without the supporting units, it's pretty hard to work. The tanks were in a lot of overwatch positions. They held some pretty serious terrain. Once the Marines finished clearing the villages of insurgents, they got to know the local population. They wanted to address any concerns villagers had and to gather information on insurgents who may still be in the area. The Marines have done an outstanding job day in and day out. My heart is warm thinking about all the effort that they put in talking every day with people that they've never met. Through the work of Marines of Charlie 1A, there is now a stronger foothold for the Afghan government in an area once filled with insurgent activity. Corporal Ed Gallo, Guston Valley, Afghanistan.