Marines sewing together new future for Iraq

[thedrifter]

Marines sewing together new future for Iraq
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 20046253152
Story by Cpl. Paula M. Fitzgerald



CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, Iraq(June 23, 2004) -- Marines with 1st Marine Division are helping to rebuild Iraq one stitch at a time.

With assistance from the Los Angeles-based charity Spirit of America, the division recently donated nearly $27,000 worth of equipment to the Ar Ramadi Sewing Center.

According to Lt. Col. John Lutkenhouse, 1st Marine Division plans officer for economic development, this is the first wave of sewing machine donations throughout the Al Anbar Province.

"The commander of the division understood that sewing machines would be a great way to improve Iraq's economy," Lutkenhouse explained. "The country's women will especially benefit because this will give them the opportunity to earn money and gain social empowerment."

According to Abdul Hameed Ibraheem, women were treated poorly during Saddam Hussein's regime. They were discouraged from attending school and finding employment.

Ibraheem, the Al Anbar Province director of economic programs, said all that has begun to change.

After the fall of the dictator, Ibraheem and other members of Iraq's newly formed government began working on plans for centers that would benefit the country's female population.

"The women will be able to make clothes for their families or to sell their products to make money for themselves and their families," Ibraheem said.

He said women who were fortunate to have jobs during Hussein's rule were paid less than $5 per month.

"Now the wages will be very good compared to before," he added. "The women will be able to afford food and transportation with the money they earn working at the centers."

Currently, there are two sewing centers in the province. One is located in Habbaniyah, and the other is Ar Ramadi. Both were renovated with funds donated by 1st Marine Division.

"We hope to work with the Marines in the future to get more of the centers open," Ibraheem said. "We're looking to eventually have eight in the province."

Besides sewing, the women working at the centers will also be taught several other valuable skills.

Computer, English, art and teaching classes will be available. The follow on classes will be funded by profits generated from sewing.

"We want to give the women of Iraq a place to work away from home," he explained. "And we want the women to have a chance to express themselves and have a place in society."

He expressed his gratitude to the Marines and Spirit of America for their help getting the centers up and running.

"I want to thank all of the men and women of America for making all this possible," he said. "It really is like a dream of ours is becoming a reality."

Lutkenhouse said the United States is willing to do whatever it takes to secure the country's future.

"We are here to help rebuild Iraq as a nation," Lutkenhouse said. "We'll use any method that will help us help the Iraqi people."

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/20046253450/$file/sewing1lr.jpg

Iraqis from the Ar Ramadi Sewing Center load up a truck with donated sewing machines. Marines from 1st Marine Division received the machines from Spirit of America, a Los Angeles-based charity. The division distributed the machines in order to help improve Iraq's economy.
(USMC photo by Cpl. Paula M. Fitzgerald) Photo by: Cpl. Paula M. Fitzgerald

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/86009D24AC50175E85256EBE00269FE0?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

HMH-465 returns to Miramar after 8-month deployment
Submitted by: 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing
Story Identification #: 20046257844
Story by Sgt. Nathan K. Laforte



AL ASAD, Iraq(June 25, 2004) -- Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 465, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, has started the retrograde that will see all the squadron's Marines safely back at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif.

The advanced party for the squadron, led by Maj. Jeff S. Chestney, executive officer, HMH-465, left Iraq, June 22, for the long trip home.

The CH-53E Super Stallion squadron's journey throughout their recent 8-month deployment wasn't easy since it began only a short time after their return from the last phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Chestney claimed.

"The advance party from the last OIF was only at home for three months before going to (Okinawa, Japan)," the 37-year-old officer said. "We've gone all the way around the world, and we've done it the hard way."

Their Magellan-esque trip across the globe brought them initially to Marine Corps Air Station Futemna, on Okinawa, Japan, in late November 2003. The "Warhorses" got the warning that they were again returning to Iraq shortly after they arrived, claimed Lance Cpl. Calvin L. Brown, aviation operations specialist, HMH-465.

"It was a surprise, but we knew it might happen again," the 22-year-old said. "We weren't caught off guard, but we didn't think it would happen so soon."

The "Warhorses" arrived in Iraq late February of this year and immediately noticed that not just the mission of the Marines changed. A few other things had changed as well, according to Cpl. Jennifer L. Barker, maintenance administration clerk, HMH-465.

"Last year we were in a more secure place," the 21 year old said. "This year, there is a lot more stuff going on around us. There are areas immediately surrounding us where people are dying."

This time around, the heavy-lift squadron was positioned in country instead of flying missions from aboard the USS Boxer, Brown stated. This put the squadron in a different mindset than before, he added.

"This time was harder," the Columbia, S.C., native said. "We knew we were in harm's way and more directly involved with the fighting this time. We didn't have the safe haven of being on the boat."

Since their arrival in country, the "Warhorses" have weathered some pretty tough times, said Sgt. Kou Her, ground support equipment mechanic, HMH-465. The worst of these are the indirect-fire attacks their base has sustained, the 27-year-old sergeant noted, but these have just bonded these devil dogs closer together.

"You're a victim," the St. Paul, Minn., native said. "You start to really care for the person next to you and look out for that other person. You develop a sense of caring for your comrade."

"It's the hard, stressful times the squadron has faced that have developed a bond between the Marines," Barker claimed.

"It helps people open up and trust in each other," the Trenton, Tenn., native revealed. "We're all we have out here and it becomes like a big family."

She added that this family has overcome a lot in their time since leaving home last November. Times were especially turbulent for Sgt. Michael J. Sela, CH-53E Super Stallion mechanic and quality assurance representative, HMH-465, even before he arrived with his squadron in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"My father passed away while we were in (Okinawa) before we came here," the 23-year-old, Everett, Wash., native said. "Things aren't going to be the same when I get home, but I still have a lot to look forward to."

While some Marines had to overcome personal tragedy, others overcame professional obstacles to better themselves and their squadron, Barker explained. Goals and accomplishments, like attaining aircrew designators and combat aircrew designators, are goals to be proud of, she added.

"I am most proud of getting my aerial observer qualifications and (combat aircrew) wings," Barker stated.

For the squadron's leadership, they accomplished more than they had originally planned, Chestney explained.

"We're just proud that we're bringing back everyone we took," the Alton, Ill., native described. "We've far exceeded all expectations. We've flown three times what we normally fly."

Expectations aren't over yet for the weary squadron of Marines even after their return to their home base, Chestney reiterated. The squadron is conducting a relief in place with two Marine Expeditionary Units.

The West coast squadron will transfer all of its Super Stallions to the MEU detachments and leave for Miramar with nothing. When they arrive, the advance party for the "Warhorses" will begin the rebuilding process all over again, Chestney explained.

"We'll take four (planes) from Miramar, two from the East coast and three from Okinawa," he estimated. "With any luck, we'll have this done before the main body gets back, it's going to be tough."

The Marines will definitely take some time off while taking care of business, Barker exclaimed. The Marines all have lists of things they want to do when they get back, she added.

"I'm ready to go home and eat some real food," she wistfully stated. "Being here makes you appreciate the small things you take for granted everyday, like sleeping in your own bed and taking a shower and not being afraid to touch the walls."

Others will spend time with family, but good food is too good to pass up nowadays, Brown asserted.

"I'm going to spend lots of time with my daughter," he said. "I'll get a real home-cooked meal while I'm at it."

The squadron will not only have to rebuild itself as far as helicopters are concerned, they will also have to worry about their Marines who are on their way out of the Marine Corps, Her realized.

"The country called and they got to do their job," he said. "A lot of people are getting out and new people will come in, it's a normal routine."

Whether they stay or go, the Marines are proud of the job they've done while in country, claimed Barker, who says she will move on to bigger and better things.

"I'm getting out of the Marine Corps, but I don't regret joining at all," she stated matter-of-factly. "I do think we came here for a good cause. We got to fight for all the things we have back home. We fought for freedom."

The "Warhorses" are leaving and their deployment cycle is drawing to a close. The Marines have earned it, but they are still keeping in mind that they will be needed again, noted Sgt. Maj. Debra J. Slaughter, HMH-465 squadron sergeant major.

"We cannot stop looking towards the future," Slaughter, who resides in Oceanside, Calif., claimed. "But for now, we're totally motivated because we see the light at the end of the tunnel."

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/32E722C8A681BFF385256EBE003D39B7?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

July 2004

War Experience Provides Rationale For Marine Corps Logistics Reform

by Sandra I. Erwin

U.S. Marines in Iraq generally are having an easier time managing and distributing battlefield supplies than they did during the early phases of the conflict more than a year ago. But that does not mean the Marine Corps should slow down ongoing efforts to reform logistics procedures and upgrade information systems that track shipments and equipment requests, said Marine Lt. Gen. Richard L. Kelly.

As deputy commandant for installation and logistics, Kelly is responsible for the overhaul of antiquated business processes and computer systems that Marines have employed for decades but no longer are practical. Under a program called “logistics modernization,” Kelly plans to unveil new technologies such as web-based software that could make requesting spare parts, for example, as easy as ordering books from Amazon.com.

The logistics support of 25,000 Marines in Iraq has become easier, because they are stationed in semi-permanent bases. In the early stages of the invasion, the situation was grim, with the forces moving at rapid speeds, and the logistics units trailing way behind.

Those logistics nightmares did not surprise Kelly. “I could have written the lessons before the war began. It was very predictable what was going to happen, because we failed to modernize.”

The current environment in Iraq is “semi-fixed,” allowing for a more conventional logistics operation, Kelly noted. Iraq is a “maturing theater, so you don’t get many complaints today, as if during the war. … We have plenty of repair parts, plenty of rations, plenty of everything.”

But Kelly worries that complacency will set in and that the Marine Corps may decide to push logistics modernization down on the priority list. “Now that things are working well in the theater, the danger is that we take our eyes off the future of logistics modernization,” Kelly told National Defense.

“The institutional mindset is that if the hinge isn’t squeaking, why invest in it?” said Kelly. “Things are working pretty well in Iraq. We are not moving the distances we used to. I’m confident what we have in place today will sustain us as long as we are there.” Nonetheless, he added, “we should not lose sight of the fact that we have got to modernize institutionally for the future.”

The cornerstone program in Kelly’s plan to overhaul logistics is the global command and support system for the Marine Corps, or GCSS-M, a sophisticated web-based software application that tracks the availability of supplies, requisitions and repair orders. Military logisticians call this capability “total asset visibility.”

The Corps plans to select a contractor for GCSS-M later this month. The Marine Corps will spend at least $250 million on GCSS-M, during the next five years, but it will take many more millions to field the technology across the force, Kelly said. He wants to see the system in operation by 2006. It will be a “joint” technology, able to communicate with the GCSS-equivalent programs in the Army, Navy and Air Force.

Kelly does not want to see GCSS-M fall into the same traps that other programs do, when they are not managed properly. Although he did not specifically cite the Navy Marine Corps Intranet, it was apparent that Kelly considered NMCI a cautionary tale in how to approach information system upgrades to prevent costs and schedules from spinning out of control. Regarding GCSS-M, the Marine Corps intends to be wary of unrealistic contractor promises, said Kelly. “Some are notorious about sweetening the deal upfront only to come in and kill you with prices later on. … I won’t name names, [but] it’s important that we select the right vendor.”

Another important piece of the logistics reform plan is the education of the force, said Kelly. The information technology alone is not enough. Marine junior officers, non-commissioned officers and civilians in logistics jobs increasingly are being sent to school, to learn about modern logistics practices from the commercial industry.

In the future, the Marine Corps will have more tactical logisticians and fewer supply officers who manage inventory, said Kelly. “Our skill sets are going to change,” he added. “Staff NCOs will have to manage supply and demand, recognize areas where there are readiness problems and manage the capacity across the enterprise.”

Another issue in logistics reform is the need to operate vehicles that require less maintenance. Kelly pointed to a group of vehicles parked in front of this office, located near the Pentagon, at the Navy Annex. He noted that one military Humvee truck had a small tub under the chassis collecting dripping oil. “You won’t see that in the [Ford Crown Victoria] police cars,” said Kelly. “We need to build in high levels of reliability, maintainability upfront, so we are not given equipment that breaks down all the time.”

http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/article.cfm?Id=1481


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Yuma's Desert Talon prepares MACG-38 for Iraqi firefights
Submitted by: MCAS Miramar
Story Identification #: 2004624172128
Story by Cpl. Paul Leicht



MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif.(June 24, 2004) -- MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA, Ariz. - All Marines at one time or another can change the balance of most firefights, particularly with controlled and well placed rounds.

Mobile and generally lighter, the "every Marine is a rifleman" training ethos is literally paying off for Miramar Marines from Marine Air Control Group 38 during Exercise Desert Talon 2-04 here.

Under an intense Arizona desert sun, more than 70 Marines from MACG-38, Marine Tactical Air Command Squadron 38 and activated reservists from MTACS-48 engaged targets June 16 while field firing weapons June 16, including the M2 .50 Caliber Machine Gun, M240G Medium Machine Gun, M9 9mm Service Pistol, M16A2 Service Rifle and the semi-automatic M1014 Joint Service Combat Shotgun.

"The importance of this type of firing range training can not be overstated," said Staff Sgt. David M. McKinley, squadron gunnery sergeant, MTACS-38. "This teaches the Marines the skills that will make them better at effectively engaging targets and keeping themselves and their fellow Marines alive in a hostile environment. Since our unit is deploying to Iraq, (Desert Talon) is a perfect opportunity for our Marines to improve their ability to fire these weapons while also acclimatizing themselves to the desert heat."

McKinley, who holds a black belt in Marine Corps Martial Arts and went to jump school at Fort Benning, Ga., is facilitating the range training for MACG-38 over the span of several days during Desert Talon.

"In addition to our (Military Occupational Specialty) specific training that we will do here, firing these weapons on the range will further instill the warrior mindset, build upon the marksmanship fundamentals and help them to better employ these weapons when they get to Iraq," added McKinley. "Knowing how to fire these weapons safely, proficiently and effectively is important, serious stuff."

Before the MACG-38 Marines stepped up to the firing line, one of the refresher courses they received under the cooling shade of camouflage netting was on the M240G Medium Machine Gun and the M2 .50 Caliber Machine Gun.

"With its distinctive sound and with a maximum effective range of approximately 2,000 meters, the .50 Caliber is definitely an impressive weapon system," said Sgt. Kenneth Campbell, platoon sergeant, MTACS-38, and a native of Federal Way, Wash., who helped provide instruction for the Marines at the range.

"The Marines are firing both of these machine guns using a tripod which makes for a very

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/2004624172844/$file/talon-300.jpg

Marines from MACG-38 practice fireing the M2.50 Caliber Machine Gun at the Yuma Proving Ground during Desert Talon 2-04 Photo by: Cpl. Paul Leicht

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/6B5E5B34704EB14285256EBD0075528E?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Issue Date: June 28, 2004 <br />
<br />
Hagee holds the line on rotations <br />
Commandant convinces Rumsfeld to not extend seven-month tours <br />
<br />
By Gordon Lubold <br />
Times staff writer <br />
<br />
As you were. <br />
Marines serving...

[thedrifter]

Joe Galloway: What It's Really Like Over There

WASHINGTON - The Internet, which fills our inboxes with spam and scams every day and keeps our delete keys shiny, occasionally delivers a real keeper, such as the words below, which were written by a graduate of West Point, Class of 2003, who's now at war in Iraq.

We tracked down the author, who gave us permission to quote from his letter so long as we didn't reveal his name.

Old soldiers in the Civil War coined a phrase for green troops who survived their first taste of battle: "He has seen the elephant." This Army lieutenant sums up the combat experience better than many a grizzled veteran:

"Well, I'm here in Iraq, and I've seen it, and done it. I've seen everything you've ever seen in a war movie. I've seen cowardice; I've seen heroism; I've seen fear; and I've seen relief. I've seen blood and brains all over the back of a vehicle, and I've seen men bleed to death surrounded by their comrades. I've seen people throw up when it's all over, and I've seen the same shell-shocked look in 35-year-old experienced sergeants as in 19-year-old privates.

"I've heard the screams - 'Medic! Medic!' I've hauled dead civilians out of cars, and I've looked down at my hands and seen them covered in blood after putting some poor Iraqi civilian in the wrong place at the wrong time into a helicopter. I've seen kids with gunshot wounds, and I've seen kids who've tried to kill me.

"I've seen men tell lies to save lives: 'What happened to Sergeant A.?' The reply: 'C'mon man, he's all right - he's wondering if you'll be OK - he said y'all will have a beer together when you get to Germany.' SFC A. was lying 15 feet away on the other side of the bunker with two medics over him desperately trying to get either a pulse or a breath. The man who asked after SFC A. was himself bleeding from two gut wounds and rasping as he tried to talk with a collapsed lung. One of them made it; one did not.

"I've run for cover as fast as I've ever run - I'll hear the bass percussion thump of mortar rounds and rockets exploding as long as I live. I've heard the shrapnel as it shredded through the trailers my men live in and over my head. I've stood, gasping for breath, as I helped drag into a bunker a man so pale and badly bloodied I didn't even recognize him as a soldier I've known for months. I've run across open ground to find my soldiers and make sure I had everyone.

"I've raided houses, and shot off locks, and broken in windows. I've grabbed prisoners, and guarded them. I've looked into the faces of men who would have killed me if I'd driven past their IED (improvised explosive device) an hour later. I've looked at men who've killed two people I knew, and saw fear.

"I've seen that, sadly, that men who try to kill other men aren't monsters, and most of them aren't even brave - they aren't defiant to the last - they're ordinary people. Men are men, and that's it. I've prayed for a man to make a move toward the wire, so I could flip my weapon off safe and put two rounds in his chest - if I could beat my platoon sergeant's shotgun to the punch. I've been wanted dead, and I've wanted to kill.




"I've sworn at the radio when I heard one of my classmate's platoon sergeants call over the radio: 'Contact! Contact! IED, small arms, mortars! One KIA, three WIA!' Then a burst of staccato gunfire and a frantic cry: 'Red 1, where are you? Where are you?' as we raced to the scene...knowing full well we were too late for at least one of our comrades.

"I've seen a man without the back of his head and still done what I've been trained to do - 'medic!' I've cleaned up blood and brains so my soldiers wouldn't see it - taken pictures to document the scene, like I'm in some sort of bizarre cop show on TV.

"I've heard gunfire and hit the ground, heard it and closed my Humvee door, and heard it and just looked and figured it was too far off to worry about. I've seen men stacked up outside a house, ready to enter - some as scared as they could be, and some as calm as if they were picking up lunch from McDonald's. I've laughed at dead men, and watched a sergeant on the ground, laughing so hard he was crying, because my boots were stuck in a muddy field, all the while an Iraqi corpse was not five feet from him.

"I've heard men worry about civilians, and I've heard men shrug and sum up their viewpoint in two words - 'F--- 'em.' I've seen people shoot when they shouldn't have, and I've seen my soldiers take an extra second or two, think about it, and spare somebody's life.

"I've bought drinks from Iraqis while new units watched in wonder from their trucks, pointing weapons in every direction, including the Iraqis my men were buying a Pepsi from. I've patrolled roads for eight hours at a time that combat support units spend days preparing to travel 10 miles on. I've laughed as other units sit terrified in traffic, fingers nervously on triggers, while my soldiers and I deftly whip around, drive on the wrong side of the road, and wave to Iraqis as we pass. I can recognize a Sadiqqi (Arabic for friend) from a Haji (Arabic word for someone who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca, but our word for a bad guy); I know who to point my weapons at, and who to let pass.

"I've come in from my third 18-hour patrol in as many days with a full beard and stared at a major in a pressed uniform who hasn't left the wire since we've been here, daring him to tell me to shave. He looked at me, looked at the dust and sweat and dirt on my uniform, and went back to typing at his computer.

"I've stood with my men in the mess hall, surrounded by people whose idea of a bad day in Iraq is a six-hour shift manning a radio, and watched them give us a wide berth as we swagger in, dirty, smelly, tired, but sure in our knowledge that we pull the triggers, and we do what the Army does, and they, with their clean uniforms and weapons that have never fired, support us.

"I've given a kid water and Gatorade and made a friend for life. I've let them look through my sunglasses - no one wears them in this country but us - and watched them pretend to be an American soldier - a swaggering invincible machine, secure behind his sunglasses, only because the Iraqis can't see the fear in his eyes.

"I've said it a thousand times - 'God, I hate this country.' I've heard it a million times more - 'This place sucks.' In quieter moments, I've heard more profound things: 'Sir, this is a thousand times worse than I ever thought it would be.' Or, 'My wife and Sgt. B's wife were good friends - I hope she's taking it well.'

"They say they're scared, and say they won't do this or that, but when it comes time to do it they can't let their buddies down, can't let their friends go outside the wire without them, because they know it isn't right for the team to go into the ballgame at any less than 100 percent.

"That's combat, I guess, and there's no way you can be ready for it. It just is what it is, and everybody's experience is different. Just thought you might want to know what it's really like."



Ellie

[thedrifter]

U.S. Launches Airstrike in Fallujah <br />
<br />
By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer <br />
<br />
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military launched its third airstrike in a week Friday in Fallujah, using precision...

[thedrifter]

Leatherneck: In the Crosshairs - USMC Snipers in Iraq

By Ross W. Simpson

"Fallujah" has become a four-letter word in leatherneck lexicon since 1st Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment and 1/5's sister battalion, 2/1, took over the Sunni stronghold west of Baghdad in mid-March.

Fallujah is a town of about a quarter million people - the most populous town in Anbar province. Since major combat in Iraq ended in May 2003, Fallujah has become infested with insurgents, some left over from Saddam Hussein's regime and Muslim fanatics who have slipped into Iraq from neighboring Syria and Iran.

Marines who took over control of Fallujah and other rebellious cities in the Sunni triangle from the Army's 82d Airborne Division on the first anniversary of their invasion of Iraq feel like they are living in a shooting gallery and they are the ducks.

In the first 13 days of April, three dozen Marines were killed, many by sniper fire.

In April, I spoke via satellite phone with Corporal Jason K. Lee in 1/5's antiarmor platoon, usually referred to simply as "Counter Mech" in Iraq. I was an embedded journalist with Lee's unit during Operation Iraqi Freedom. While I was talking to Lee, an Iraqi sniper shot at him. The 26-year-old combat veteran from Syracuse, N.Y., who is credited with the first Javelin kill of the war last year, didn't flinch.

Another intended victim recovered a sniper's bullet that buried itself in a mound of dirt next to his head.

Although the Marines underwent extensive military operations on urbanized terrain training before returning to Iraq for Operation Iraqi Freedom II, the stress of urban combat is taking its toll. At least one Marine from Weapons Company had to be medevaced for stress. Other Marines like Lance Corporal Richie Gunter, a member of Headquarters and Service Co's security platoon, and his best friend, LCpl Wayne M. Smith of Patterson, Calif., are coping as best they can. Gunter wrote a letter to his mother in March.

"Dear Mom,
"How are you? I'm hanging in there. We get shot at every day, and mortared every night. I hate this country. But my team is doing some outstanding work. Sorry I haven't been writing much, but I don't have much good to say.
"Love, Richie."




LCpl Smith had a reason to be stressed. A mortar round fell at his feet in early April. Fortunately for him, it failed to explode. It would be a great conversation piece if the explosive ordnance disposal team could disarm it and he could get it through Customs, but given security today, there's fat chance of that happening.

Even though Gunter is under extreme stress, he hasn't lost his sense of gallows humor. After almost two weeks of being in the crosshairs in Fallujah, he sent four postcards to his home in northern California. One was addressed to himself. It read, "If you are reading this, you made it through again."

Best Friend, or Worst Enemy

The fighting in Fallujah is classic urban combat - house to house, building to building. Iraqi snipers hiding in the rubble present the greatest danger during daylight hours. However, when the sun goes down, Marine snipers come out like the stars. With their night-vision capability, they own the night. While going through the first Department of Defense media boot camp at Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Va., in the fall of 2002, I was shown and allowed to handle an M16A4 equipped with the latest generation of night scope. I could see facial features at 300 meters and targets at 1,000 meters.

The military doesn't like to talk openly about the snipers. There's just something "uncivilized" about snuffing out lives like cigarette butts, but snipers are a fact of life in warfare. The late, great Marine Corps sniper, Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Hathcock, once said, "There was nothing personal about my 93 confirmed kills in Vietnam. It was just business." And nobody is any better at the business of firing from concealed positions than scout-snipers in the United States Marine Corps.

Sergeant Dagan R. Vanoosten, chief sniper and scout for 1st Bn, 5th Marines, was attached to "Charlie" Co on the opening night of OIF I. Cpl Damon A. Wolfe in the Scout-Sniper Platoon was attached to Alpha Co in the battalion.

Vanoosten, a 23-year-old Marine, didn't take a shot on that first night of the war. Charlie, 1/5 was tasked to set a ring of security around GOSP-4, a gas and oil separation plant, in the Rumeila oilfields just inside the border in southern Iraq.

"My spotter and I didn't see anything to shoot at as British Army engineers checked the plant to make sure the Iraqis hadn't wired it for remote demolition," said Vanoosten, who learned the tricks of his trade at the "Schoolhouse for Snipers" at Quantico.

Wolfe, a 25-year-old Marine, who was not trained at the schoolhouse, but went through a sniper indoctrination course in Okinawa three years ago, also failed to fire his sniper rifle the first night of the war. However, he did fire a few rounds on the morning after the invasion.

The 2d Plt had right flank security for Alpha Co at PST-2, an Iraqi pumping station along the southern terminus of a long oil pipeline that stretched more than 400 miles from Baghdad to the Persian Gulf. Wolfe and his spotter were with the platoon atop a small knoll on the otherwise flat desert floor facing the rising sun to the east of the pumping station.

Bloody Encounter

Just after daylight on March 21, the first of two truckloads of Iraqi soldiers in pickups came barreling down a dirt road in front of Alpha Co's position.

"I had just gotten to my feet and was headed back to our trac [amphibious assault vehicle] when my spotter who was covering my back opened fire with his squad automatic weapon [M249 SAW] as the first truck approached our [position]," said Wolfe. By the time he got turned around and into a firing position, the first truck had made it safely by his position. But Wolfe and his spotter stopped a second truck 100 yards before it got to their position.

"It was coming down the road about 50 miles per hour," said Wolfe, who got three shots off with his bolt-action sniper rifle at about 300 meters out, before the truck closed in. Needing more firepower, he picked up his M16 and fired a magazine and a half, about 45 rounds, into the truck, slowing it down, but failing to stop it.

Second Lieutenant Therrel "Shane" Childers, 2d Plt's commander, was mortally wounded by the Iraqis who were "spraying and praying" as they came flying down the road.

"I heard on the radio that we had a man down, but I didn't know what had happened until we stopped the truck," said Wolfe, who was trying to alert Childers as to what was happening to their front. But Wolfe got no response on the intersquad radio.

Childers, a former enlisted Marine, was hit in the abdomen just below his body armor. Some Marines in his platoon think Kevlar plates in his vest were hiked up an inch or two when he raised his M16 to engage the enemy, but he never fired a shot. Before he could pull the trigger, an AK47 round entered his body just below the armor vest he wore.

After Childers was hit, his platoon attacked the Iraqis who shot him and killed or wounded all seven of them. In all, 1/5 was responsible for 24 enemy killed in action by direct fire, 10 wounded and countless KIAs by artillery and close air support missions during the first few hours of the 2003 war in southern Iraq.

Wolfe also entered a brief comment in the notebook he carried. "Four dead, two wounded, and seven EPWs [enemy prisoners of war]." Wolfe killed one of the Iraqis as he crawled out of a roll of carpet in the bed of the second pickup.

Getting Some Trigger Time

Sgt Vanoosten finally had the opportunity to fire his sniper rifle, April 1, 2003. He was riding with First Lieutenant Jeremy M. Stalnecker, Counter Mech's platoon commander, when the antiarmor team rolled up to the Saddam Hussein Canal behind Bravo Co amtracs. From atop the humvee, Vanoosten apparently fired the first shot of the 45-minute battle.

Vanoosten fired his heavy-barrel M40A1 sniper rifle, which is a product-improved Remington model 700, at a ZSU-23-4, a 23 mm, four-barreled antiaircraft gun on the other side of the canal.

Although outgunned, Vanoosten kept the Iraqi gunners off balance by bouncing match-grade 7.62 mm rounds off the steel plates in front of them, making it difficult for them to bring their gun to bear on his buddies. "I think I shot at it out of fear," confessed Vanoosten, laughing, as he reconstructed what he witnessed on April Fool's Day 2003.

Once across the canal, Vanoosten fired at two Iraqis in another bunker before Cpl Jeremy Mahon destroyed it with an AT-4 rocket. But it would be another nine days before Vanoosten and Wolfe would take another shot with their sniper rifles.

continued............

[thedrifter]

Battle of Baghdad

Sgt Vanoosten rode into the north side of Baghdad in the early morning hours of April 10 on top of 1stLt Pat Henry's LVTP-7 amphibious assault vehicle (AAV). Henry was in command of the 81 mm mortar platoon in Weapons Co, 1/5. Once small-arms fire began ricocheting off the AAV, Vanoosten climbed inside the lightly armored hull of the amtrac.

Cpl Wolfe drove a high-back humvee into the Iraqi capital with five other members of his platoon in the back. Wolfe fired his weapon at muzzle flashes as he drove down darkened streets and boulevards crawling with Republican Guard troops and Fedayeen guerrillas loyal to Saddam Hussein. "It was pretty hectic," said Wolfe, who just kept driving and firing. Because of heavy enemy fire in Baghdad, Vanoosten rotated his four-man team, one at a time, to the firing platform in Henry's AAV, but he advised them to conserve ammunition. Sgt Vanoosten told team members the real fight would come later at the objective, the Al Azimiyah Palace on the Tigris River, one of Saddam's favorite hangouts.

The Scout-Sniper Plt rolled into the palace grounds of the 17-acre compound at about six o'clock in the morning and provided security for Army Special Forces who swept the palace to make sure there were no Iraqis hiding in the shadows of the bombed-out building.

Once SF said "All clear," Wolfe and his spotter ran up stairways to the roof. The situation was not as tactically sound as they preferred.

"Every time we stuck our heads above the façade that ringed the south wing of the palace, someone would take a shot at us," said Wolfe, who retreated downstairs to a room facing a busy neighborhood. There he set up an "urban hide site" up against the wall of a room, about 20 feet from windows that had been blown out by satellite-guided bombs the night before.

"We piled up some pieces of concrete and other rubble," said Wolfe as he described making a place where he spent the next 10 to 12 hours.

From the shadows, Wolfe could see his targets, but they couldn't see him. Lying in among chunks of concrete wasn't very comfortable. Wolfe had just gotten to his feet and was about ready to seek a better hide site when his spotter saw an Iraqi soldier in an alley about 350 yards away. By the time Wolfe was back in position, the enemy soldier disappeared. But a few minutes later, he reappeared, running into some civilian houses, trying to get up high where he could shoot at Marines in the palace.

"I got him when he stepped to a window," said Wolfe. One shot? "Yeah, one shot," replied Wolfe. With a 10-power Unertl sniper scope, Wolfe said everything in Baghdad was "up close and personal."

"The guy I shot had an AK47," said Wolfe, "but I don't know what he thought he was going to do with an assault rifle at that range."

There was another guy in the room with an RPG. But he bailed out of there when his buddy was blown away. Wolfe got him about an hour later as he tried to hide behind a concrete wall outside the house. Wolfe ended the war with seven confirmed kills?most of them in the 300-yard range. However, he did nail an Iraqi at 650 yards.


From his hide site in the palace, Wolfe dropped that enemy soldier as he ran up a set of steps in a building several blocks away while clutching a couple of AK47s in his hands. It was a difficult shot, because the intended target was on the move.

"If they had a weapon, we could shoot them," said Wolfe. "Those were the rules of engagement."

Although Wolfe recorded some long-distance shots, his team leader owns the bragging rights. That kill occurred 30 to 40 miles south of Baghdad. It involved an Iraqi spotter who had been directing mortars at Marine artillery from a tall concrete silo complex along Highway One. The cannoncockers couldn't see him, but Cpl James Bowman could through his scope.

"Bowman hit him in the head at 840 yards," said Wolfe, who was impressed. When Sgt Vanoosten arrived at the palace in Baghdad, he and his spotter rushed to the roof of the north wing. But it was his radio operator, LCpl Oscar Reyes, who spotted the first enemy soldier.

"We saw two individuals; one had an AK47 with a chest rig full of magazines, the other with a loaded RPG launcher and a rucksack full of rocket-propelled grenades. Both men were running down a street about 200 yards away from us," said Vanoosten, who shot the Iraqi who had the RPG, as his assistant team leader, Cpl Christopher Livermore, shot the one carrying the assault rifle.

"Everybody wanted to get their hands on those weapons," said Vanoosten, who along with Livermore took turns littering the street with dead bodies. Vanoosten ended the war with four confirmed kills and three probables. Livermore had three confirmed kills and two probables.

By the time the Scout-Sniper Plt posed for its unit picture at Al Azimiyah Palace, the platoon had been credited with 38 confirmed kills in Iraq - almost all of them in Baghdad.

After the war, Sgt Vanoosten returned to the Scout-Sniper School at Quantico, to pass along what he learned to Marines following in his footsteps. He currently is trying to get a temporary assignment in Iraq with his former team members.

Cpl Wolfe left the Marine Corps and is attending San Diego State University on the GI Bill.

LCpl Reyes has returned to Iraq with 1st Bn, 5th Marines. He and Cpl Michael A. Gary are believed to be the only returning members of the Scout-Sniper Plt that is fighting in Fallujah, where snipers are playing an ever-increasing role in security operations.

Gary left a brief message on Vanoosten's home answering machine at the height of the battle.

"We're taking care of business," said the young marksman.

Editor's note: Ross W. Simpson is a nationally known radio broadcaster for the Associated Press Radio Network in Washington, D.C., and is a longtime contributor to Leatherneck magazine. He was an embedded reporter during 1/5's operations in Iraq and maintained contact with Marines of the battalion and their families as the Marines prepared for deployment and a return to Iraq for OIF II.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

June 25, 2004

Insurgents ousted from cities after launching fierce offensive (Video)

By Gina Cavallaro
Times staff writer


BAQUBAH, Iraq — An uneasy peace ended here at dawn six days before the June 30 handover of power to the Iraqi government, when an estimated 150 heavily armed insurgents took command of five buildings and launched coordinated surprise attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces.
Pulling from a variety of lethal resources aimed at repelling a full-blown offensive, coalition forces quickly regained control of the city, which turned from a bustling commercial hub into a desolate and forbidding war zone. See exclusive Military Times video of a search for insurgents.

Town citizens were not seen on the streets until evening, picking over the remains of three buildings destroyed in U.S. air strikes.

There was no insurgent activity overnight and calm prevailed for most of the next day, but the soldiers stationed in the troubled province expected more violence.

“There could be activity today after prayer. There may be nothing,” Maj. Fred Nutter, executive officer of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, said Friday, the day after the most intense fighting in the Diyala province since April 9. That’s when enemy fighters engaged U.S. and coalition forces with simultaneous attacks and ambushes over a 20-hour period.

In the most recent fighting, which lasted about eight hours , two soldiers were mortally wounded, at least 20 Iraqi policemen were killed and the home of the provincial chief of police was assaulted with grenades and small arms fire.

There were 59 confirmed enemy deaths. Nine Bradley fighting vehicles were rendered temporarily inoperable after getting hit with rocket-propelled grenades.

Also attacked but unscathed were the civil military operations center, the provincial police station and the government center building, known as the Blue Dome — all heavily reinforced with concrete barriers, sand bags and lookout posts.

About 30 insurgents fired from hiding places in a large date palm grove along one main supply route and dozens of others fought from traffic circles and other areas on approaches to the city where coalition forces have been engaged multiple times.

Others, most of them dressed in black from head to toe, stormed and commandeered two police sub-stations, a civic center, a vocational college and an abandoned building located about a mile apart at two main entrances to the city.

While the two police sub-stations were regained by local police, three of the buildings occupied by insurgents were demolished with four 500-pound bombs dropped by two Air Force F-16s.

“They want us to come in and storm those buildings and we’re just not going to do that,” brigade commander Col. Dana Pittard said moments before watching the punishing air strikes on a crystal-clear live feed from an unmanned aerial vehicle.

The brigade pushed out elements from each of its armor, field artillery, infantry, scout reconnaissance and engineer task forces. And it closed down the four main roads leading into the city, posting soldiers alongside outgunned, undermanned Iraqi police, some of whom ran away when the fighting started.

“The enemy was a lot more accurate than it’s ever been,” said Capt. Travis VanHecke, commander of Bravo company, 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment, whose troops manned a strong point at a vocational school in the center of town where enemy fighting positions had been abandoned and dozens of RPGs, rockets, small arms ammunition and mortars were found.

At one fighting position on the rooftop of the two-story building, a grenade lay near a wooden box filled with a variety of machine gun ammunition, and a half-eaten piece of cake sat on the ground next to the box giving the impression of a fighting position abandoned in a hurry.

Soldiers occupying the battle-scarred vocational school attributed the enemy’s hasty retreat to the fearsome concussion of the 500-pound bombs that hit the building across the street.

Throughout the day, four Apache Longbow helicopters provided close air support and an AC-130 gunship on an armed nighttime reconnaissance fired upon and destroyed a vehicle that had violated the 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew imposed June 24. Fifteen people spotted on a UAV feed at a makeshift ammunition assembly area in a field were killed by indirect fire, their vehicles destroyed by two Kiowa helicopters in the area.

At the Mufrik police sub-station, insurgents shot and killed seven police officers and six prisoners who were being held in a cell at the building. Witnesses recounted seeing weapon-wielding insurgents wound two policemen then stand over them and shoot them dead. In another case, a civilian was seen being dragged from his car and sprayed with gunfire.

The Buhritz police sub-station and the Mufrik station were regained by Iraqi police without the help of U.S. soldiers.

The fighters were said by Army officials to have come from Fallujah and other places outside Baqubah. They had stealthily established dug-in positions along a main supply route where coalition vehicles do routine combat patrols and logistics convoys.

Fending off the fight against his home and his family, Diyala chief of police Gen. Walid Abd Salam killed two insurgents and said his brother heard the attackers speaking in Egyptian and Lebanese dialects.

“Somebody is supporting them, because after an operation like this they can’t leave right away because of coalition forces closing the roads,” said Abd Salam, who said the first floor of his house was burned in the attack and his dog was killed.

Soldiers at observation posts set up the night before the attacks said they saw no suspicious activity, except for one incident at 3:20 a.m. when snipers killed two men seen planting a roadside bomb. A few days earlier, snipers felled two other bomb-planters, one of whom was a local policeman.


See exclusive Military Times video of a search for insurgents.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?s=1-292925-0625fighting.php

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-3042632.php


Ellie

[thedrifter]

American warriors


The Boston Herald
June 25, 2004

Just as the U.S. prepares to hand Iraq back to the Iraqis in 10 days' time comes the gritty tale of the young American warriors who made Iraqi Freedom possible.

In his stunning new book due in bookstores tomorrow, journalist Evan Wright - embedded with the Marines' elite ``First Suicide Battalion'' at the very tip of the Iraq invasion - pulls no punches in detailing the heroic but often brutal tale of the young men who fought their way to Baghdad and beyond.

In today's excerpt - the first of two - Wright takes us on a white-knuckle ride through an Iraqi ambush with his character-filled platoon of highly trained First Recon killers.

It's another Iraqi town, nameless to the Marines racing down the main drag in Humvees, blowing it to pieces.

We're flanked on both sides by a jumble of walled, two-story mud-brick buildings with Iraqi gunmen concealed behind windows, on rooftops and in alleyways, shooting at us with machine guns, AK rifles and the odd rocket-propelled grenade (RPG).

Though it's nearly five in the afternoon, a sandstorm has plunged the town into a hellish twilight of murky red dust. Winds howl at 15 mph. The town stinks. Sewers, shattered from a Marine artillery bombardment that ceased moments before we entered, have overflowed, filling the streets with lagoons of human excrement.

Flames and smoke pour out of holes blasted through walls of homes and apartment blocks by the Marines' heavy weapons. Bullets, bricks, chunks of building, pieces of blown-up light poles and shattered donkey carts splash into the flooded road ahead.

The ambush started when the lead vehicle of Second Platoon - the one I ride in - rounded the first corner into the town. There was a mosque on the left, with a brilliant, cobalt-blue dome. Across from this, in the upper window of three-story building, a machine gun had opened up. Nearly two dozen rounds ripped into our Humvee almost immediately. Nobody was hit; none of the Marines panicked. They responded by speeding into the gunfire and attacking with their weapons.

The four Marines crammed into this Humvee - among the first American troops to cross the border into Iraq - had spent the past week wired on a combination of caffeine, sleep deprivation, tedium and anticipation. For some of them, rolling into an ambush was almost an answered prayer.

Their war began several days ago, as a series of explosions that rumbled across the Kuwaiti desert beginning at about five in the morning of March 20. Spirits couldn't have been higher. Later, when a pair of Cobra helicopter gunships thumped overhead, flying north, presumably on their way to battle, Marines pumped their fists in the air and screamed, ``Yeah! Get some!''

Marines call exaggerated displays of enthusiasm - from shouting Get some! to waving American flags to covering their bodies with Marine Corps tattoos - ``moto.'' You won't ever catch Sergeant Brad Colbert, the 28-year-old commander of the vehicle I ride in, engaging in any moto displays.

They call Colbert ``The Iceman.'' Wiry and fair-haired, he makes sarcastic pronouncements in a nasal whine that sounds like comedian David Spade. Though he considers himself a ``Marine Corps killer,''' he's also a nerd who listens to Barry Manilow, Air Supply and practically all the music of the 1980s except rap.

He is the last guy you would picture at the tip of the spear of the invasion forces in Iraq.

Now, in the midst of this ambush in a nameless town, Colbert appears utterly calm. He leans out his window in front of me, methodically pumping grenades into nearby buildings with his rifle launcher. The Humvee rocks rhythmically as the main gun on the roof turret, operated by a 23-year-old corporal, thumps out explosive rounds into buildings along the street. The vehicle's machine gunner, a 19-year-old Marine who sits to my left, blazes up the town, firing through is window like a drive-by shooter. Nobody speaks.

The fact that the enemy in this town has succeeded in shutting up the driver of this vehicle, Corporal Josh Ray Person, is no mean feat. A 22-year-old from Missouri with a faintly hick accent and a shock of white-blond hair covering his wide, squarish head - his blue eyes are so far apart Marines call him ``Hammerhead'' or ``Goldfish'' - Person plans to be a rock star when he gets out of the Corps.

The first night of the invasion, he had crossed the Iraqi border, simultaneously entertaining and annoying his fellow Marines by screeching out mocking versions of Avril Lavigne songs. Tweaking on a mix of chewing tobacco, instant coffee crystals, which he consumes dry by the mouthful, and over-the-counter stimulants like ephedra-based Ripped Fuel, Person never stops jabbering.

Already he's reached a profound conclusion about this campaign: that the battlefield that is Iraq is filled with ``f-----g retards. There's the retard commander in the battalion, who took a wrong turn near the border, delaying the invasion by at least an hour. There's another officer, a classic retard, who has spent much of the campaign chasing through the desert to pick up souvenirs - helmets, Republican Guard caps and rifles - thrown down by fleeing Iraqi soldiers. There are the hopeless retards in the battalion-support sections who screwed up the radios and didn't bring enough batteries to operate the Marines' thermal-imaging devices.

But in Person's eyes, one retard reigns supreme: Saddam Hussein.

``We already kicked his *** once,'' he says. ``Then we let him go, and he spends the next 12 years ****ing us off even more. We don't want to be in this s---h--e country. We don't want to invade it. What a f-----g retard.''

Now, as the enemy gunfire tears into the Humvee, Person hunches purposefully over the wheel and drives. The lives of everyone depend on him. If he's injured or killed and the Humvee stops, even for a moment in this hostile town, odds are good that everyone will be wiped out, not just the Marines in this vehicle, but the 19 others in the rest of the platoon following behind in their Humvees.

There's no air support from attack jets or helicopters because of the raging sandstorm. The street is filled with rubble, much of it from buildings knocked down by the Marines' heavy weapons. We nearly slam into a blown-up car partially blocking the street. Ambushers drop cables from rooftops, trying to decapitate or knock down the Humvee's turret gunner. Person zigzags and brakes as the cables scrape across the Humvee, one of them striking the turret gunner who pounds on the roof, shouting, ``I'm OK!''

At least one Marine in Colbert's Humvee seems ecstatic about being in a life-or-death gunfight. Nineteen-year-old Corporal Harold James Trombley, who sits next to me in the left rear passenger seat, has been waiting all day for permission to fire his machine gun. Now Trombley is curled over his weapon, firing away. Every time he gets a possible kill, he yells, ``I got one, Sergeant!'' Sometimes he adds details: ``Hajji in the alley. Zipped him low. I seen his knee explode!''

Midway through the town, there's a lull in enemy gunfire. For an instant, the only sound is wind whistling through the Humvee. Colbert shouts to everyone in the vehicle: ``You good? You good?'' Everyone's all right. He bursts into laughter. ``Holy s--t!'' he says, shaking his head. ``We were f-----g lit up!''

continued...........

[thedrifter]

Forty-five minutes later the Marines swing pickaxes into the hard desert pan outside of the town, setting up defensive positions. Several gather around their bullet-riddled Humvees, laughing about the day's exploits.

``Who's the f-----g retard who sent us into that town?'' Person asks, spitting a thick stream of tobacco juice, which catches in the wind and mists across the faces of several of his buddies standing nearby. ``That sure tops my list of stupid s--t we've done.''

Trombley is beside himself. ``I was just thinking one thing when we drove into that ambush,'' he enthuses. ``Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. It felt like I was living it when I seen the flames coming out of windows, the blown-up car in the street, guys crawling around shooting at us. It was f-----g cool.''

Culturally, these Marines would be virtually unrecognizable to their forebears in the ``Greatest Generation.'' They are kids raised on hip-hop, Marilyn Manson and Jerry Springer.

For some, slain rapper Tupac is an American patriot whose writings are better known that the speeches of Abraham Lincoln. There are tough guys among them who pray to Buddha and quote Eastern philosophies and New Age precepts gleaned from watching Oprah and old kung fu movies.

There are former gangbangers, a sprinkling of born-again Christians and quite a few guys who before entering the Corps were daily dope smokers; many of them dream of the day when they get out and are once again united with their beloved bud.

These young men represent what is more or less American's first generation of disposable children. More than half of the guys in the platoon come from broken homes and were raised by absentee, single, working parents. Many are on more intimate terms with video games, reality TV shows and Internet porn than they are with their own parents.

Before the ``War on Terrorism'' began, not a whole lot was expected of this generation other than the hope that those in it would squeak through high school without pulling too many more mass shooting in the manner of Columbine.

But since the 9/ll attacks, the weight of American's ``War on Terrorism'' has fallen on their shoulders.

Major General James Mattis, commander of the First Marine Division - the bulk of the Corps ground forces in Iraq - would later praise the young men of First Recon for being ``critical to the success of the entire campaign.'' While spearheading the American blitzkrieg in Iraq, they will often operate deep behind enemy lines and far beyond anything they have trained for.

They will face death every day. They will struggle with fear, confusion, questions over war crimes and leaders whose competence they don't trust. Above all, they will kill a lot of people. A few of those deaths the men will no doubt think about and perhaps regret for the rest of their lives.


Ellie