Better because the men of 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, are in the process of redeploying to California following six months in one of Afghanistan's more volatile regions; worse because special holiday thoughts of family add to the burden of having to push normal-day thoughts of family aside to survive the transition period.

"Now that it's down to the wire you need to be thinking about here," 1st Sgt. David Wilson told Charlie Company troops while making a series of visits to company positions around farming villages in the Helmand River Valley.

"You've proved you can do the job, keeping these people (Afghan civilians) safe. Slacking off is just not acceptable. Don't give it up in the final 2 minutes of the last quarter. It's too late in the game to be complacent, it's too close to going home to get blown up.

"Stay focused," he said. The time to think about home is when the Marine is on the plane carrying him out of Afghanistan.

The 5th Marines, from Camp Pendleton, Calif., have been in Afghanistan since late spring and the Nawa District since midsummer. Their area of responsibility is 400 square miles of desert and farmland with about 90,000 people. Taking over from them is the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, from Hawaii.

When the 5th arrived in Nawa there were about 500 Taliban gunmen in the district. Most have been pushed out into the neighboring district of Marjah, where there are no U.S. forces, but they continue to infiltrate in small numbers to intimidate the local population and plant improvised explosive devices, U.S. troops say.

Last month a Marine with a neighboring company -- 81 Platoon, Weapons Company -- was killed by an improvised explosive device just outside a village in the district. Another was killed this month when the vehicle in which he was riding struck a mine as it pulled away from a spot checkpoint it had established.

"We aren't seeing the 20-30 man elements anymore," said Charlie Company's commander, Capt. Brian Huysman. "It's more 3-5 man cells planting IEDs."

Huysman's unit is in charge of a 54-square-mile area. The headquarters is a dusty compound near the district center. Five sub-outposts, with fewer than 20 men on each, act as a picket line around farming villages. It's from these outposts that Marines patrol daily to give villagers a sense of security, build the personal relationships that lead to intelligence on Taliban activities and -- with Afghan troops accompanying them -- weave a connection between civilians and the Afghan government through building and humanitarian aid projects.

Huysman and other Marine officers said key to helping maintain security in his area is people having the knowledge that International Security Assistance Forces aren't leaving.

"The people need to know the Marines are staying," Huysman said. As part of the effort to reassure villagers that security will be maintained, flyers are being handed out explaining the transition and meetings are being held with village leaders.

Outgoing Marines are also mentoring their replacements.

"They've had the same training you had before coming here but you know the area," 1st Sgt. David Wilson told a squad of Charlie Company Marines at Green Nine, an outpost near the Nawa District capital. "You're going to have to watch these guys.

"You have to set them up for success. Their success is going to have everything to do with the groundwork laid here."

Incoming Marines will partner with outgoing Marines on daily patrols through villages and fields. Those leaving will brief them on specific security points, tell them who the key leaders are and introduce them to villagers.

The first main-body units from 1-5 are scheduled to be home Thanksgiving night. Those left behind will all be back in the United States by the middle of next month.

On Thursday patrols will be conducted as usual and checkpoints along main roads manned.

Holiday fare, if it can be delivered on time from the rear, will be eaten amid the dust. If it doesn't arrive on time Marines will chow down on regular rations or on food bought from local markets and cooked on open fires.

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