General Confident in Afghan Mission Despite Prospect of Fewer Troops

Maj. Gen. Charles Gurganus, who will lead Marines in Helmand Province of Afghanistan beginning in March, expects to have fewer troops because of the U.S. government's planned drawdown in the country. 

He is not sure how many he will lose as commander of the I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), but he is confident the province will maintain the security gains American and Afghan forces have had in recent years.

”I don’t think that fewer Marines will cause it to be reversible,” he told reporters at Camp Pendleton Monday. “Afghan security forces are growing.”

Not only are there more Afghan Army and police officers, he said, but also corrupt government leaders are being removed from power.

He will replace Maj. Gen. John Toolan, commander of the 2d Marine Division and he plans to keep moving ahead initially with Toolan's plans.

“We’ll make some adjustments obviously as we bring it down, but the key change I think is we’ll see more Afghan Army and more Afghan police doing exactly what they have been hired and trained to do,” he said. “You will see us in a much more supportive role.”

Gurganus served two tours in Al Anbar province, Iraq, including one from 2007 to 2008 as commander of the II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward). This year, he transferred to Camp Pendleton from a command in Korea. This was his first duty station in the Marine Corps when he arrived as a second lieutenant in 1976 after graduating from the University of North Carolina.

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