Lindenhurst Native Serving His Country in Afghanistan

A Lindenhurst native is serving his country as a Marine who's currently stationed abroad.

First Lieutenant Robert Gervasio is an observer controller with Charlie Company, Georgian 23rd Light Infantry Battalion, which was deployed to Germany before heading to Afghanistan.

The Battalion includes soldiers from the Republic of Georgia, and it conducted a cordon and search operation on a suspected enemy cell at a local village aboard Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany on February 20, according to a Marine Corps report.

This operation was part of the unit’s mission rehearsal exercise in preparation for its deployment to Afghanistan in support of counterinsurgency operations as part of the International Security Assistance Force – Georgia Deployment Program II, the same report indicated.

“We're preparing the Georgians for kinetic and non-kinetic counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan, said Gervasio in the report ahead of the deployment to Afghanistan.

“The Georgians will increase their security presence in the area to ensure they address any problems that may arise in the aftermath of this kinetic operation,” he added.

Gunnery Seargent Brian Whittaker - also with U.S. Marine observer controllers for Charlie Company, 23rd LIB - said in the report that the Georgians started preparing for this operation more than 48 hours before commencement, when local villagers tipped them off on a possible enemy improvised explosive device distribution site.

“After receiving the intelligence from local villagers while on a patrol, the Georgians set-up an OP [observation post] to confirm the validity of this information,” said Whittaker in the report.

“The Georgian soldiers on the OP confirmed the information, and the Charlie Company commander gave the operational order and platoon-level rehearsals for the operation commenced,” he added.

Coalition forces working together with local Afghan police is key for operations like this, Whittaker explained in the report, since it "gives locals a greater sense of comfort, and they tend to cooperate more during the operation."

The assault portion of the operation lasted three minutes, according to the report, but resulted in the apprehension of eight suspected insurgents, two of which were positively confirmed as insurgents utilizing past biometric data collection, and a handful of AK-47 assault rifles.

The operation also produced a total of nine deaths (six suspected insurgents, two ANA - portrayed by Moldavian soldiers - and one Georgian soldier), and one Georgian soldier wounded in action, the report said.

The peration was the culmination of the total traning exercise, which ran from February 1 to 24.

(To read more about the operation in which Lindenhurst native and Marine Gervasio participated, click here.)