2003 eventful year for nation, Miramar

[thedrifter]

2003 eventful year for nation, Miramar
Submitted by: MCAS Miramar
Story Identification Number: 20031230183810
Story by MIRAMAR CPAO



MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. -- From Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom, the deployments, critical missions and war effort sacrifices to Operation Enduring Families, memorials, community relations, firestorms and Sodexo, 2003 was certainly a significant year for MCAS Miramar, San Diego and the entire nation.

Along with the rest of I Marine Expeditionary Force, Miramar's Marines and family members played a pivotal role and were greatly affected by the ongoing war against terror. More than 25,000 Marines and Sailors from Miramar and Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton deployed to the Middle East in support of OEF and OIF, according to the 2004 Miramar Shareholders Report. In 2003 alone, the Air Station deployed close to three-quarters of its nearly 10,000 active duty personnel. At the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Aerial Point of Embark, Miramar Marines maintained 24-hour operations to ensure the monumental task of deploying 7,000 Marines from I MEF's air combat element was completed efficiently and safely. The Air Station also served as the Integrated Continental United States Medical Operation Point for West Coast servicemembers from all branches of service injured during OIF. American operations and raids seemed to come to a climax Dec. 13 when U.S. forces captured Saddam Hussein alive near his hometown of Tikrit.

After returning to Miramar June 5 along with Marine Wing Headquarters Squadron 3, Maj. Gen. James F. Amos, commanding general, 3rd MAW, summed up the Marines' accomplishments - "We flew more than 10,000 sorties and dropped more than 6.5 million pounds of ordnance. In the 28.5 days of missions we destroyed eight Iraqi divisions, two of which were the elite Republican Guard."

While deployed Marines performed and completed their missions abroad, service and family members remaining played a crucial part as well. Despite reduced staff in all departments and sections, Miramar Marines were up to the challenge, performing their increased, high-intensity duties with extraordinary skill throughout the deployment.

Commands on the home front worked tirelessly to continue to improve quality of life, ensure a safe working and living environment aboard the Air Station, take care of families and bolster an already strong relationship with the San Diego community. The family-led focus helped ensure that all OIF homecomings were joyous ones for family members and returning Marines.

In the last year, Miramar has opened a new, state-of-art fitness facility, significantly upgraded the Exchange and flight line food courts, bringing KFC, Quizno's, Taco Bell Express and other quality eateries aboard the Air Station and awarded a contract to upgrade the enlisted clubs.

To support the families of deployed servicemembers, Maj. Gen. Jon A. Gallinetti, commander, MCABWA, and commanding general, Miramar, launched Operation Enduring Families, under which family support activities were augmented. A Crisis Family Assistance Center was opened and donations for deployed troops were collected as part of the "Patriot Program."

The Miramar Youth Activities Program became the first officially accredited program of its kind Marine Corps-wide.

Miramar hosted several special events including a Super Bowl pre-game show, attended by more than 1,000 and aired on FOX Super Bowl Sunday and many celebrity "greet the troops" events that brought television, movie and sports stars here.

The January 2003 issue of the Marine Corps Times recognized Miramar as the top base for singles and recreation. Local community relations remained strong as the Air Station opened its gates for events such as the MCAS Miramar Air show, Open Cockpit Days at the Flying Leatherneck Museum, twice-monthly tours, Educators
Workshops and youth events. Participation in Community Leaders Forums, attendance at city council meetings, dozens of color guards at local events, and volunteerism are only a few of the ways Miramar Marines have remained active and valuable members of the community.

Further fostering our part in surrounding communities, the Miramar Fire Department responded to more than 190 emergencies outside the gates of the Air Station as part of a mutual-aid agreement with San Diego County law enforcement and fire departments.

When the 2003 Wildfires burned up much of San Diego County, approximately 200 emergency personnel worked to contain and control the fire. Members of the Miramar Fire Department, Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting/Recovery Marines and Military Police helped save structures and aircraft from the blaze that scorched more than 19,000 acres of station property and more than 200,000 acres of land in and around the San Diego area.

More evidence of Miramar's success at home came in the form of various awards given for safety excellence. Awards included the Secretary of the Navy Achievement in Safety Ashore and the Department of the Navy Safety Excellence Award. The focus on safety was not confined to the workplace. Miramar participated in the federal "Click-it or Ticket" program once again and the Provost Marshal's Office supported several programs including drug awareness reduction education and gang recognition classes.

For Miramar and the nation, 2003 saw sacrifice, destruction and loss, but also victory, success and most of all patriotism.

"Napoleon once said that 'troops will fight long and hard for a little piece of colored ribbon,' but I think Napoleon only had it half right," said Lt. Gen. James Conway, commanding general, I MEF, when I MEF was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation Nov. 20 for their work in Iraq. "Marines fight for other reasons. They fight for each other, they fight because they are American patriots and they fight because they believe in what they are fighting for. But I will tell you that when they finish fighting they find it appropriate that, that bright piece of ribbon makes its way to their chests."

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/20031230184117/$file/YIR-001lo.jpg

Fifteen pairs of boots, M16A2 service rifles, and helmets were displayed in remembrance of the 15 fallen Marines of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. Photo by: Cpl. Jeff Zaccaro


Sempers,

Roger
:marine:

[thedrifter]

War in Iraq, mission in Afghanistan dominated military news in 2003


By Lisa Burgess, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Wednesday, December 31, 2003 and Thursday, January 1, 2004



ARLINGTON, Va. — For civilians and servicemembers alike, 2003 will likely be remembered for the war in Iraq.

The Iraq campaign — the second such operation in two years — brought with it a stunning victory, followed by a rocky occupation, both supported by the largest defense budget in modern history.

Saddam Hussein was captured, dragged from his hiding spot in a rat hole, after eight months on the run. But despite intense, out-of-the-spotlight efforts by U.S. troops and special forces, Osama bin Laden remains on the lam, reportedly somewhere in Pakistan.

Over the summer, 130,000 U.S. troops learned how to cope in Iraq’s 130 degree heat. As the year progressed, soldiers learned — often from hard experience — to suspect that “improvised explosive devices” could be hidden in almost anything, from an empty sack to a dead horse.

They sweated, toiled and grew into the most battle-hardened, savvy, experienced military force this nation has known since the Vietnam era, but with one important difference: for this fight, everyone volunteered.

Meanwhile, more than 8,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan were into the second year of the U.S. military mission there. They endured dust, heat, buried mines and a resurgent Taliban, but their work has borne fruit: At year’s end, Afghans were gathering to adopt a new constitution, rooted in democratic principals.

Also largely beyond the headlines were the servicemembers in Korea, in Germany, in Djibouti, in South America and Australia, and hundreds of other far-flung posts around the world.

What precise effect their presence had this year in preventing grim headlines is difficult to tell.

“It’s a difficult thing to prove a negative,” as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said at a Dec. 23 press conference at the Pentagon.

But just as Rumsfeld added he is “convinced steps were taken” that prevented attacks in the United States, the odds might suggest that U.S. servicemembers who are far from home helped keep “home” safe again this year.

There are no victories without loss, however, and even holding the line has its price. Thousands of men and women lost blood, limbs, sight, hearing and more. The wounded also include those who silently bear the scars that come from experiencing the fears and horrors of war. The effects of these unseen scars are yet to be known.

And then there are the servicemembers, and families, who have paid the ultimate price. As of Sunday, 99 servicemembers have died this year in Afghanistan — 30 from hostile fire, 69 from other causes. In Iraq, 473 servicemembers have died in Iraq, including 328 after May 1, when President Bush declared and end to major combat operations.

“Some families now live with the burden of great sorrow,” the president said in London on Nov. 19. “[We] cannot take the pain away, but these families can know they are not alone. We pray for their strength. We pray for their comfort. And we will never forget the courage of the ones they loved.”


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Major events of 2003

Major events of the year affecting American servicemembers and their families:

Jan. 10: North Korea triggers a new round of international tensions when Kim Jong Il announces it will withdraw from the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. Repeated attempts over the year to resolve the matter using international negotiations fail.

Jan. 28: President Bush gives his State of the Union address, stating that Saddam Hussein "is not disarming. To the contrary, he is deceiving," and announcing the United States is ready to attack Iraq, even without a United Nations mandate.

Feb. 21: Pentagon officials announce plans to send 350 U.S. special operations troops, backed by 1,000 Marines, to fight alongside Philippine troops against Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim guerrilla group allegedly tied to al-Qaida. Less than a week later, the plan is scuttled.

Feb. 24: The United States, Great Britain and Spain submit a proposed resolution to the U.N. Security Council concluding that it is time to authorize use of military force in Iraq. France, Germany and Russia submit an informal counterresolution that says weapons inspections should continue, and that "the military option should only be a last resort."

March 3: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, suspected mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks is arrested in Pakistan and handed over to U.S. authorities.

March 4: At least 19 people are killed and 114 others injured in a bomb attack on an airport in the southern Philippines.

March 19: Operation Iraqi Freedom begins with a "decapitation attack" in Baghdad specifically aimed at Saddam.

March 21: The major ground and air combat phase in Iraq begins, which Pentagon officials dub "shock and awe."

March 24: U.S. forces encounter strong resistance from Iraqi soldiers and paramilitary fighters in towns such as Nasiriyah and Basra, as well as intense sandstorms.

March 25: After reports of sexual assault at the U.S. Air Force Academy, Air Force Secretary James Roche taps Maj. Gen. John W. Rosa Jr. to replace Lt. Gen. John D. Dallager as the top leader at the Colorado Springs, Colo., institution.

April 1: Pfc. Jessica Lynch, a member of the 507th Maintenance Company, based in Fort Bliss, Texas, that was ambushed March 23 in Iraq, is rescued by special forces near Nasiriyah.

April 9: Baghdad falls to coalition troops. The northern Iraq cities of Kirkuk and Mosul follow within days. Widespread looting begins, particularly in Baghdad.

April 13: Seven American POWs — five other members of Lynch’s unit and two Apache pilots — are rescued in Iraq.

April 25: Secretary of the Army Thomas White abruptly resigns after meeting with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz.

May 1: Bush declares major combat in Iraq over, but stops short of claiming victory.

July 17: U.S. combat deaths in Iraq reach 147, the same number of soldiers who died from hostile fire in the Persian Gulf War.

July 22: U.S. troops kill Saddam’s sons Odai and Qusai during a six-hour gun battle in Mosul.

Aug. 1: The Army’s new chief of staff, Gen. Peter Schoomaker, takes his post. Rumsfeld breaks precedent by bringing Schoomaker out of retirement, rather than choosing an acting Army four-star.

Nov. 6: Bush signs the $87.5 billion supplemental defense package he requested for Iraq and Afghanistan.

Nov. 9: More than 20 people die in a suicide bombing attack on a housing compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Al-Qaida is again the suspect.

Dec. 13: Following an informer’s tip, U.S. troops pull Saddam from an underground hiding place near Tikrit.

Dec. 22: U.S. officials declare a "Code Orange" terrorist threat for the third time in 2003, the second-highest threat on the Homeland Security Department’s five-tier color-coded system. Officials say they are especially worried that terrorists may have infiltrated foreign flight crews.

— Compiled by Lisa Burgess

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=19607


Sempers,

Roger
:marine:

[thedrifter]

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