Marines make cellblock home

[thedrifter]

Marines make cellblock home <br />
Submitted by: I Marine Expeditionary Force <br />
Story Identification #: 2004631279 <br />
Story by Sgt. Colin Wyers <br />
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ABU GHRAIB PRISON, Iraq(May 25, 2004) -- Down the dirt...

[thedrifter]

Reserves head back to Iraq


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Unit leaving in late June for second tour

By Howard Wilkinson
The Cincinnati Enquirer


WALNUT HILLS - About 100 members of a Cincinnati-based Marine Reserve unit will report for active duty this month for its second Iraq tour in the past 16 months.

Communications Company, Headquarters Battalion, 4th Marine Division - based at the Naval and Marine Reserve Center on Gilbert Avenue - has been notified that at an undetermined date in late June, 50 Cincinnati-based Marine reservists and another 50 from its detachment in Indianapolis will be put on a yearlong activation that will include an estimated seven months in Iraq.

About 120 Marines from the Reserve company returned last June 15 from a three-month tour of duty in Iraq.

Some of the same Marines who served a year ago will be returning, said Chief Warrant Officer Peter Dewing, a spokesman for the company.

"But, for the preponderance of the unit, this will be the first deployment," Dewing said. "We have had a lot of new people come into the company in the past year."

The unit, which specializes in setting up combat communications systems, was attached last spring to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, one of the first U.S. military units to enter Iraq after the shooting war began.

The company suffered no casualties in its first deployment and returned to Cincinnati to a tumultuous welcome-home celebration at Sawyer Point.

Dewing said a small group of Marines from the company - about a dozen - are slated to leave today for an Iraq deployment.

But the main body of Marines will not leave Cincinnati and Indianapolis until late June, he said.

While the Marine reservists prepare for their deployment, two units from Southwest Ohio are part of a 950-member Ohio National Guard force that will embark this weekend for a deployment as part of the NATO peace-keeping operation in Kosovo.

Send-off ceremonies will be held Saturday for Troop A of the 2-107th Cavalry, based in Cincinnati, and Troop B of the 2-107th, based in Lebanon.

After the ceremonies, the guardsmen will travel to Camp Atterbury, Ind., for training and will head to Kosovo in mid-July.

E-mail hwilkinson@enquirer.com


http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/06/03/loc_marines03.html


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Small-town Oregonian soldiers serving together in Iraq
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 2004643444
Story by Cpl. Paula M. Fitzgerald



CAMP AR RAMADI, Iraq(June 2, 2004) -- Army Capt. Kyle B. Teamey, Staff Sgt. Mick E. Rose and Spc. Christina D. Scotton never met each other before coming to Iraq.

That may not seem unusual, but here's the kicker. All three hail from the same small Oregon city and are soldiers with 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. They're serving in Al Anbar Province with the 1st Marine Division for Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Located five hours south of Portland, Klamath Falls boasts a population of almost 40,000.

"Oregon is a relatively unpopulated state," said Teamey, a plans and targeting officer. "And Klamath Falls is a relatively small place."

He said when fellow Oregonians come across one another, a bond forms almost immediately.

"Chances are you both know some of the same people," 28-year-old Teamey added.

Teamey has run into people from Oregon before but never anyone from his hometown and neither have Rose or Scotton, who were equally as shocked to learn of the coincidence.

"Someone in my office asked me where I was from and I said Klamath Falls," explained Scotton, an intelligence analyst. "They went and told Captain Teamey because they knew he was from there, too."

While talking to the captain about home, he told her about another Oregonian.

"I thought it was like a slim to none chance that I would ever run into someone from my hometown, let alone two other people," said 20-year-old Scotton, 20. "It's weird because we all also work in the same area here."

Both Scotton and Teamey work inside the same building. Rose works in the motor pool behind it.

"I see the captain almost everyday and we sometimes talk about Klamath Falls," said 34-year-old Rose. "We both used to go fishing at the same fishing hole at the Klamath River Canyon."

Through talking, the soldiers also discovered each one had graduated from one of the three high schools within Klamath Falls.

"I went to Mazama High School," Scotton explained. "The captain went to Henley, and Sergeant Rose went to Klamath Union."

She said she remembered a bit of a rivalry between Klamath Union and Mazama.

"When I was a sophomore, some people from my school wrapped the bells of Klamath Union in Saran Wrap," she said.

Rose also recalled the rivalry.

"I went to high school quite a few years before Scotton," he explained. "The schools shared a football field. Every year we had the Canal Bowl and whoever won that got to keep the football from the very first Canal Bowl."

Scotton joked that the three probably shopped at the same Wal-Mart and maybe the same grocery store.

"It's weird," she said. "You never know."

Each of the soldiers visits Klamath Falls every few years, but none of them has definite plans to return to settle down any time soon.

"It's a really nice place to live," Rose said. "I really never expected to meet anyone else from there - especially out here."

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/20046434840/$file/kalamath1lr.jpg

Army Capt. Kyle B. Teamey, Staff Sgt. Mick E. Rose and Spc. Christina D. Scotton are all from Klamath Falls, Ore., which lies five hours south of Portland. The three soldiers never met each other before coming to Iraq with 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. They are serving at Camp Ramadi, in support of the 1st Marine Division.
(USMC photo by Cpl. Paula M. Fitzgerald) Photo by: Cpl. Paula M. Fitzgerald

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/497B6D2CCE71768F85256EA9002A7CBD?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Army-led project brings clean water to villages in Marine-run zone <br />
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division <br />
Story Identification #: 20046435021 <br />
Story by Cpl. Paula M. Fitzgerald <br />
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CAMP AR RAMADI,...

[thedrifter]

Artillerymen gun for martial arts qualification
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 2004644638
Story by Cpl. Macario P. Mora Jr.



CAMP AL ASAD, Iraq(June 2, 2004) -- Nearly 30 Marines with 2nd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment's Battery E started smacking, kicking and bruising their way to earning a gray belt.

For the cannon-cockers here in Iraq, the two-week course is a chance to catch up on training and help the time pass. More importantly, it's a chance to refresh themselves on a low-intensity skill they may need while deployed.

"It's important for them to know how to properly defend themselves," said Capt. Robert B. Thomas, a black-belt instructor from Denver. "It's just as important though, that they know when to use the techniques they're learning."

The Marines are learning the techniques for strikes, kicks and grappling moves just as they would back in the United States. But here, there are no pads. There's no grassy field for soft landings either.

"This training is motivating," said Lance Cpl. Gerrado D. Montes, from Laredo, Texas. "It helps us discipline ourselves with our physique. It also teaches us how to be responsible when using force. It gets you dirty but we live in the dirt anyways."

"This keeps us more up to date with the martial art belts," added Lance Cpl. Javier Rivera Jr., from Los Angeles. "Being the tallest in my unit has its advantages and disadvantages. Martial arts training makes us stronger mentally and physically."

Marines, covered in sand and steadily adding bruises to their body, are using the time to advance their own qualifications, even as they perform their daily duties. Even those with prior competition fighting experience are gleaning new lessons toward their next qualification.

"I fought in 'Rage in the Cage' tournaments and other organized fights in Arizona," said Lance Cpl. Jordan P. Lamoreaux, a radio operator with the battery from Mesa, Ariz. "The MCMAP program is one of the best martial arts out there. It's very balanced, teaching grappling and striking moves."

The former kick boxer said he hoped to leave Iraq as a green-belt instructor and train for his black belt as soon as he becomes a noncommissioned officer.

"Right now my rank is holding me back," Lamoreaux said. "But I will get it. This is really good stuff."

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/2004645196/$file/martialarts1lr.jpg

Marines from Battery E, 2nd Battalion, 11th Marines, perform forward falls during a two-week Marine Corps Martial Arts Program course. The course offered Marines an opportunity to advance from tan to gray belt.
(USMC photo by Cpl. Macario P. Mora Jr.) Photo by: Cpl. Macario P. Mora Jr.

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/033631D35037812385256EA9002C8D85?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Issue Date: June 07, 2004

A long way to Taqaddum
Convoys boast better protection, but attacks, IEDs remain threat

By Gidget Fuentes
Times staff writer

CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq — The daily mail run to the Marine camps west of Baghdad is a dicey proposition, even when the delivery trucks are bristling with weapons and clad in thick steel armor.
A small convoy making the Taqaddum-to-Fallujah run in early April learned that firsthand when insurgents hit a mail truck with a rocket-propelled grenade, starting a firefight that kept the Marines pinned down all night.

Whether it’s mail, ammo, spare parts or hot chow, the Marines at the other end of the convoy are always anxiously awaiting delivery. But buried mines and improvised explosives are a constant threat to the vehicle trains, as are potential ambushes from an enemy hard to pick out in the crowds.

It’s a stark difference from the major combat phase a year ago.

“Last year, we all knew who the enemy was,” said Lance Cpl. Blaec Morgan, a 21-year-old from Shelbyville, Ind., who drives heavy logistics vehicles.

Insurgents armed with RPGs and rifles have ambushed and attacked military convoys in broad daylight and the dark of night. Buried mines or improvised explosives detonate almost daily, maiming or killing troops and damaging military vehicles.

So, in recent months, Marine and Army commanders have beefed up the protection of vehicle convoys.

They’ve added reinforced steel plates and doors, thick windows and blankets of bullet-stopping armor to vehicles already lined with sandbags. Heavy weapons, including M240G machine guns and MK19 automatic grenade launchers, sit atop Humvees and many logistics and utility trucks.

Every convoy is meticulously planned and exactingly tracked by radio and, more often, by satellite-linked transponders. Drivers stay in touch using hand-held radios. Military police in armored Humvees join in the lead and provide security throughout. In some cases, a convoy may get its own airborne guardian.

That was the case on May 3 for a convoy of about 18 vehicles carrying Marines, Army National Guardsmen and several journalists between Fallujah and Taqaddum. In the dark sky above flew an AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopter, its pilots in constant radio contact with the convoy commander, a staff sergeant.

A near-full moon shone across the swaths of desert, casting shadows and spotlighting vehicles driving on dirt roads, wide highways and beneath overpasses often guarded by M1A2 Abrams tanks or armored vehicles. Drivers rode almost nonstop, save three short halts at military checkpoints.

Nearly four hours later, traveling a long, roundabout route from Camp Fallujah to Camp Taqaddum, which lie just 25 miles apart, the convoy arrived safely. Later that morning, a larger 40-vehicle convoy pulled into “TQ,” safely ending a ride from Fallujah.

The convoys arrived much to the relief of Maj. Raphael Hernandez who, as operations officer for Combat Service Support Group 15, keeps close eyes on every convoy coming or going from the main supply hub.

Convoys average 25 to 30 vehicles each, making them long and vulnerable to enemy attack. So commanders aren’t taking any chances. Regardless of route or mission, every convoy is “built for combat,” said Hernandez, 35, of El Paso, Texas.

“The routes here are tricky. There really is no safe area,” said Capt. Amy Ebitz, 33, commander of Bravo Company, 2nd Military Police Battalion from Camp Lejeune, N.C. “You’re taking a chance wherever you go.”

During the day, drivers often have to deal with civilian vehicles weaving into their convoys on local roads. Drivers such as Lance Cpl. Peter Bottorff, 21, must decide quickly what the civilian’s intention is, and what to do next.

Pointing a rifle or machine gun their way usually is enough to send the message to move away, Marines said.

“If we have to, we will shoot,” said Bottorff, who typically mans the MK19 on convoy runs.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-MARINEPAPER-2932321.php


Ellie

[thedrifter]

May 28, 2004 <br />
<br />
Militias threaten to split Iraq, entrench U.S. troops <br />
<br />
By John Yaukey <br />
Gannett News Service <br />
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<br />
Letting Iraq break apart along sectarian lines never has been an option in the Bush...

[thedrifter]

SecNav awards 'Wolfpack' safety award
Submitted by: 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing
Story Identification #: 20045302306
Story by Sgt. Nathan K. LaForte



AL ASAD, Iraq (May 30, 2004) -- The Secretary of the Navy, the honorable Mr. Gordon R. England, awarded the Aviation Unit Safety Award to Lt. Col. Mark S. Jebens, commanding officer, Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 466, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, here May 18.

The squadron reached the 50,000 Class "A" mishap-free hour milestone on Jan 29 while aboard the USS Boxer on the way to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The Secretary said he was honored to present the award to the squadron while they continued to perform their mission of support here in Iraq.

"I think all of these achievements are important," he said. "They represent the extraordinary accomplishments above and beyond the ordinary by our men and women, so I'm always privileged to recognize them for their great service. I thank them and congratulate them."

Since the squadron's commission into the Marine Corps nearly 20 years ago, Nov. 30, 1984, HMH-466 has never had a class "A" mishap, in training or during operations. HMH-466, nicknamed the "Wolfpack," is the only CH-53E Super Stallion squadron in the Marine Corps to have achieved this feat.

Reaching this type of milestone involves many people, claimed Jebens.

"I attribute this to the professional aviators and maintainers," the Midlothian, Ill., native claimed. "It's truly been a team effort not just for me, but for all of my predecessors over the years."

One indispensable part of the squadron is the maintainers, noted Gunnery Sgt. William A. Gearhart, maintenance control chief, HMH-466. The maintenance Marines help eliminate mechanical variables that might cause a crash, he added.

"Everyone says you get lucky, but you just do maintenance properly," the Lock Haven, Pa., native claimed. "We have exceptional Marines doing maintenance and exceptional Marines who were here before us."

The maintenance side of the squadron constantly ensures the planes are safe for flight, the 32-year old said. They use set schedules and maintenance procedures, and strive to rise above those standards, Gearhart added.

"(The maintainers) complete everything within standards," he revealed. "Sometimes they go above and beyond to give the planes a touch of (tender loving care)."

Maintenance of the helicopters isn't the only thing the squadron does to ensure safety, interjected Maj. George R. Maus, director of safety and standardization, HMH-466.

The squadron has many programs that ensure the Marines themselves are taken care of before stepping into the plane for a flight, the Pine Plains, N.Y., native said. Most of these programs are Marine Corps directed and mandated for all flying squadrons, he added.

One of these is programs is the Human Factors Board, which is run by the commanding officer of the squadron.

"We'll look at each and every crewmember's personal problems that might affect their flying ability," he said. "You can either put them on easier missions or take them out of the plane to let them take care of those personal problems."

The program is specifically designed to take care of the Marines and ensure the safety of everyone in the helicopter, Maus stated. This program is just Marines helping each other the way they are supposed to, he added.

"We've always taken safety very seriously," he said. "It's not just a department, it's all the Marines in the squadron. It's a team effort, bottom line."

Jebens claimed that to help the squadron remember to take care of each other, they have adopted a motto penned by the author, Rudyard Kipling, known for his novel, "The Jungle Book."

"The strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack," Kipling wrote in his poem, "The Law of the Jungle."

Jebens said his Marines come together as a team, which has allowed the squadron to prevent any major mishaps. He added that he is honored just to be part of this pack.

"I'm blessed, privileged and fortunate to command this squadron," he concluded. "I'm humbled to be part of this legacy and the great professionals that make up the 'Wolfpack.'"

With quality work and continued performance, the "Wolfpack" will maintain its legacy, and its Marines will stay safe throughout the rest of their tour in Iraq and the years to come, said Gearhart.

"Knock on wood," he joked. "Hopefully we'll make it through this and get home. Maybe 20 years from now our sons will make it to one hundred thousand hours."

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/2004530231438/$file/001safeaward-lr.jpg

The Secretary of the Navy, the Honorable Mr. Gordon R. England, thanks Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 466, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, at Al Asad, Iraq on May 18, for the service of its Marines. England presented the squadron with an Aviation Unit Safety Award for reaching the 50,000-flight hour mark without a Class 'A' mishap. Since the commissioning of the CH-53E Super Stallion squadron in 1984, they have led the Marine Corps record for safe flying. Photo by: Sgt. Nathan K. LaForte

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/F6E520E6A09267AC85256EA500107D3E?opendocument

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Issue Date: June 07, 2004

Iraq exchanges see shortages during surge in violence

By Gidget Fuentes
Times staff writer

CAMP AL ASAD, Iraq — For several weeks in April, some items at exchanges on Marine-run camps ran thin because insurgent attacks kept many resupply trucks off the roads.
One day in early May, only a few magazines — outdated and well thumbed over — sat on the shelves at this camp’s exchange. New papers hadn’t been delivered in weeks. Coolers sat empty, bereft of soda and sports drinks.

At one point, eighteen 40-foot trailers chock-full of merchandise sat idle at two bases in central Iraq, waiting to be picked up.

Weeks of heavy fighting in the Sunni strongholds of Fallujah and Ramadi forced closures of busy highways from Baghdad, which delayed resupply runs, held up civilian contractors, scared away foreign truck drivers and forced convoys to move only if they had extra firepower and security.

But things might finally be looking up.

Military and contractor trucks are again making regular runs, shuttling merchandise from supply centers to main camps supporting I Marine Expeditionary Force units operating in Anbar province.

“It was pretty dicey,” Ed Decasper, an Army and Air Force Exchange Service general manager in Baghdad, said by telephone May 26.

As manager for the Marines, Decasper serves as de facto liaison between the two exchange services. “It’s loosened up now that our Marines are making weekly runs.”

“A lot of it depended on whether the [main supply routes] were open or closed,” he said.

Late on May 25, Marine trucks arrived to take six loads of merchandise from a staging yard at Baghdad International Airport to Camp Fallujah, he said. Four trailers were packed with various items and two were loaded with beverages.

Exchange items are trucked into Iraq from Kuwait or flown in by a commercial cargo airline. Contracted trucking companies help move goods to the main exchanges for distribution to seven smaller field exchanges.

But heavy fighting made road travel in the Sunni Triangle dangerous.

Threats against foreign contractors hired to move cargo, deliver food and supplies and work at contracted mess halls slowed those services and made resupply difficult. Some drivers and workers were killed in ambushes and by roadside bombs.

“The Marines were in the hottest spots,” Decasper said, noting that “the drivers would not go for fear of their lives.”

For the Marine Corps Exchange, the delays came at a bad time.

The service had just taken over running four semi-permanent post exchanges and nine mobile exchanges from AAFES, in a “partnership” arrangement similar to one last year that generated $29 million in sales from February to August.

MCX officials are waiting for the situation to improve, although delays aren’t wholly unexpected.

“The situation in Iraq needs to calm down more so there’s a sense of security and safety,” Michael Tharrington, director of business operations with the personnel and family readiness division of Manpower and Reserve Affairs at Quantico, Va., said May 25.

Now, even Marine Corps-specific items that were in high demand such as rank insignia and PT gear are arriving.

Fast-food restaurants are also planned.

“That’s just waiting for the situation to calm down,” Tharrington said.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=0-MARINEPAPER-2954204.php


Ellie