About:
“Every war is different. Every war is the same.”
—Anthony Swafford
Cold Steel Collective is ran by Jared Prewitt, a Marine who served with 1st Battalion, 6th Marines (1/6) based out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He did two combat pumps with 1/6, one in 2006-2007 during the Battle of Ramadi in Iraq and in 2008 when 1/6 went to Afghanistan and made history by breaking a truce once held between NATO and the Taliban in Helmand Province near a town called Garmser.
Reading and writing has been a core component of Jared’s life and he also hates writing in third person about himself… I love to read and write. I’ve been a life-long reader and look to settle in behind a desk as I get older and slower.
The collective aspect is that I don’t do this alone. Many of the pictures and videos are sent in from those who were there with me and ask nothing in return only replying, “thanks for telling our story and keeping the memories of our fallen alive.” Gents, and I mean that not in the snarky way some First Sergeant may utilize it, thank you for your help. This couldn’t have happened without my fellow Leathernecks support.
Cold Steel was the call sign for Charlie Company within 1/6. The name has stuck with that company since the 1980’s and as far as I know still continues to this day. I wanted to come up with a name that would pay homage to those who came before us and for those of us who went through the Global War on Terror (GWOT).
This site is full of information about the GWOT, but a narrow focus is kept on 1/6 and their exploits from 2004-2012ish. To check out videos and more in depth writing, visit the Instagram page @cold_steel_collective. Link below.
Here’s a brief background on 1/6:
During World War I, an intercepted German transmission described the Marines of the 5th and 6th Marine Regiments who fought like “hounds from hell”, which was translated into “Devil Dog”. The Death Walkers hail from the same, famed 6th Marine Regiment. These descendants of the Devil Dogs caused a Taliban commander to describe them as, “Wherever they walk, death follows. They are Death Walkers.”
Specifically, these Death Walker Marines hailed from First Battalion, Sixth Marine Regiment (1/6).
Starting from Uruzgan Province in 2004, where the name originated, to the Battle of Ramadi in 2006-2007; to Operation Azada Wosa in 2008; to the Battle of Marjah in 2010 and beyond.
These Marines defined a generation of 21st century warfighters.
Origin Story: Death Walkers
Part One
Since 1917, 1st Battalion/6th Marine Regiment has gone from the Battle of Belleau Wood where the 5th and 6th Regiments earned all Marines the nickname of “Devil Dog” after a bayonet battle with the Huns to the Japanese in Guadalcanal and through some of the fiercest battles fought in the Global War on Terror, which brings us to where our story picks up with Operation Asbury Park in 2004.
Led by Lieutenant Colonel Khan, Task Force Genghis was sent to clear six villages suspected of al Qaeda and Taliban activity. Comprised of 73 vehicles and 586 personnel from BLT 1/6 of the 22nd MEU, the Task Force also had a small contingent of Afghan National Army soldiers including local militiamen.
Within those 586 personnel, Second, Third and Weapons platoons tagged along from Cold Steel who had nothing to do except hunt down and kill Terrys. Although the origin of the call sign could be older, Cold Steel has been the call sign for Charlie Company since the 1980s to present. When a new chain of command comes in, the call signs typically get changed. For one reason or another (probably because it’s badass), Cold Steel stuck around. Cold Steel is a reference to a bayonet, which the 6th Marine Regiment made famous in the Battle of Belleau Wood. The convoy itself was made up with gun-trucks and other vehicles from Weapons Company and all the goodies that go along with a Marine grunt unit like small arms, rockets, machine guns and mortars. The Task Force punched out from Forward Operating Base Payne on June 2nd.
Moving toward Siah Chub Kalay they made contact with 20-30 enemy fighters. Utilizing air assets along with fire and maneuver tactics, the Marines came out on top taking no casualties and they suspected they had wounded or killed several enemy fighters. However, when they conducted their BDA, little evidence was found leading to the realization that the Taliban were very good at extracting their dead and wounded while covering their tracks.
It was a successful trial by combat for the Marines of Cold Steel. They set a perimeter and hunkered down for the night.
Intel Extract: Bergmeister, Erin and Lowrey, Nathan. “Task Force Genghis and Operation Asbury Park.” Fortitudine, Vol. 35. 2010.
BIO:
Jared Prewitt is a husband, father, Marine, author, carpenter/teacher/coach, and a lover of great stories.
Jared was a Sergeant in the Marine Corps with 1st Battalion 6th Marines based out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He participated in the Battle of Ramadi (Iraq) as a designated marksman from 2006 to 2007 and as a Squad Leader in the Battle of Garmsir (Afghanistan) in 2008.
After being honorably discharged in 2009 having served five years, Jared moved to Colorado and married in 2011. He has a bachelor’s in business and a master’s in writing. You can find him bowling, golfing, camping, hunting, or fishing when he’s not around his family.
