This paragraph from my guest today’s book highlights the nature of the challenge Marines faced in 2010 as they moved in to a Afghanistan’s toughest province to fight in. “West of Kandahar is a hot, dry, and mostly barren land known as Helmand Province. The Helmand River runs through it, and the majority of the hard people who occupy this land live near the river. The further west you go from Kandahar, the more austere life becomes. Helmand has no electrical grid, and over 99% of its people live without electricity. The Afghans in Helmand Province live in scattered tribes, some of them nomadic, others living in hamlets and villages made of mud, and they hold tribal grudges that go back centuries. They hardly identify as “Afghan,” but rather they each identify with their own tribe.” My guest is Marine combat veteran intelligence NCO and author Matthew Brunnemann. His book WAR BUSINESS: The Hired Guns of Helmand Province tells the story of his Marine brothers in Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment in their fight against the Taliban.

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