In Afghanistan, I was thrown into a world beyond ... A few months earlier a recon Marine unit had narrowly avoided being shot down in the very same area we were heading to, and the Taliban in ...

In Feb. 2011, he moved into the Marine reconnaissance community with 4th Recon Battalion. The removal of Zavala comes amid other high-profile firings of top Corps leaders in recent weeks.

In 2011, Michael Haft, who grew up summers on Nantucket, was in Afghanistan, a weapons platoon commander with the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, nicknamed “The Walking Dead.” Haft emailed his ...