Marine Helicopter Crashes In Iraq

[thedrifter]

Marine Helicopter Crashes In Iraq
Associated Press
January 26, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A U.S. Marine helicopter transporting troops to western Iraq crashed Wednesday in the western desert, the U.S. military said. There was no immediate word on deaths or injuries.

A military statement said confirmation of casualties "will occur in a separate press release."

The helicopter went down about 1:20 a.m. near the town of Rutbah, about 360 kilometers (220 miles) west of Baghdad, while conducting security operations, the military said in a statement. The aircraft was transporting personnel from the 1st Marine Division.

A search and rescue team has reached the site and an investigation into what caused the crash is underway, the military said.

The U.S. military has lost at least 33 helicopters since the March 2003 start of the Iraq conflict, according to a study by the Brookings Institution. At least 20 of them were brought down by hostile fire, the institution said.




The deadliest single incident involving U.S. troops so far took place on Nov. 15, 2003, when two Black Hawk helicopters crashed in Mosul after colliding while trying to avoid ground fire, killing 17 U.S. soldiers and wounding five.

Earlier that same month, on Nov. 2, 2003, a Chinook transport helicopter was shot down by shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile near Fallujah, killing 16 American soldiers and wounding 26.

Last month, a suicide bomb exploded at a mess tent in a base near Mosul, killing 22 people including 14 U.S. soldiers and three American contractors.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

NG Seeks Ok For $15,000 Bonus
Associated Press
January 26, 2005

WASHINGTON - Looking for new ways to bolster its thinning ranks, the Army National Guard is seeking legal authority to offer $15,000 bonuses to active-duty soldiers willing to join the Guard - up from $50 now.

Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, told reporters Tuesday that the Guard is 15,000 soldiers below its normal strength of 350,000, and he expects further short-term declines despite recent gains from tripling re-enlistment bonuses for Guardsmen deployed abroad.

If the Guard fails to return to its normal troop level of 350,000 by the end of the budget year on Sept. 30, it will be the first time that has happened since 1989, the three-star general said. He added that he believes he has a formula for restoring the Guard's strength.

Heavily stressed by longer-than-anticpated combat and support duties in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, the Guard recently increased first-time enlistment bonuses and added 1,400 recruiters.

In explaining his interest in getting congressional approval for $15,000 bonuses to entice active-duty military members to join the Guard, Blum said he believes he could get 8,000 new Guardsmen this way. He said the existing $50 bonus carries little weight in today's economy.





"That incentive may have been a big deal 50 years ago, but it doesn't buy much today," he said.

Blum offered two main reasons the Guard has found it harder to get active-duty soldiers to switch to the Guard. Many are prevented from leaving the active Army even after their contracts are up or their retirement dates have arrived because the Army invoked a special authority known as "stop loss" that freezes soldiers in place for months at a time. Also, those who can leave active duty are sometimes less interested in joining the Guard if they believe that their prospective Guard unit is in line for a deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Blum also said that while he believes the National Guard will be asked to contribute a relatively smaller proportion of the combat force in Iraq starting in mid-2005, it will remain strapped.

Currently, 44 percent of the Army combat forces in Iraq are Guard troops, he said, and he believes that will drop to the low 20s later this year. Offsetting that, however, is an expectation that the Guard will be required to contribute a larger proportion of the support troops.

According to a chart provided by Blum, 71 of the Guard's 75 infantry battalions have been committed for duty in Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere since President Bush authorized Guard and Reserve mobilizations for the war on terror on Sept. 14, 2001. A battalion is considered "committed" if at least 35 percent of its troops are mobilized for active-duty service.

Similarly, 33 of the Guard's 36 armor battalions have been committed in that same time period.

Blum said the Guard has not run out of combat power but it needs a break.

"I've pretty well given at the office," he said, "and it's time for the (active-duty Army) to pick it up."

Among the Guard combat forces that have been put on active duty since September 2001 are 11 infantry battalions and six armor battalions that provided security at airports and other locations in the United States in the weeks following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Blum's chart showed.

In hindsight, he said he wishes he had used non-combat troops for that work.

"I did not envision being in Iraq in 2005 with 44 percent of the (total Army) combat forces," he said. "That was not in my wildest scenario on the crystal ball that I was looking at."

Blum also said that he has kept his promise to state governors - who control National Guard units during peacetime - that he will not have more than 50 percent of their Guard troops mobilized at any given time. In most states the percent that are mobilized is well below 50. The only states currently at 50 percent are Washington and Hawaii, he said.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

No Timetable Set For U.S. Troops
Associated Press
January 26, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's interim prime minister said Tuesday it would be "futile" to set a timetable now for withdrawing American troops from his country - echoing earlier comments by the head of the leading slate of candidates in Sunday's election.

The assessment leaves unclear one of the key questions ahead of this weekend's election: Whether the promised first step toward democracy will speed up the day when U.S. troops can leave.

For now, it appears the issue hinges on how quickly the U.S. military can help train Iraqi security forces to protect their own country.

Amid signs the Bush administration fears that training lags, Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said Tuesday that Iraqis would be capable of taking control of Baghdad and major cities only "when we reach a decisive point of a well-trained (Iraqi) force."

"By reaching this point, we will be able to start an essential decrease of multinational forces presence," Allawi said.





He gave no indication when that point could be reached, saying only: "I will not set final dates" for the withdrawal of international forces "because setting final dates will be futile and dangerous."

There has been speculation that whoever takes power after the election might ask the Bush administration to begin negotiating a timetable for a U.S. departure. That has been a demand of Sunni Arab insurgents, as well as members of the Sunni clergy.

Allawi may not remain prime minister after the election, of course. Yet none of the other major political figures contesting the election has publicly called for setting such a timetable.

The issue is sensitive because even though most Iraqis would like to see the end of their country's occupation, mainstream political figures realize their own futures would be jeopardized if the fledgling Iraqi forces could not protect a new government.

"All Iraqis don't want foreign troops in the country," the head of the leading Shiite cleric-endorsed slate, Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, said recently.

But only the elected government can decide that issue, Hakim said.

"This case should be discussed by the new government in an objective way," he said. "It should determine whether there will be a need for a timetable."

Another top candidate on the same list, Ahmad Chalabi, a former exile and one-time Pentagon confidante, said that while no Iraqi wants U.S.-led coalition forces to remain in Iraq, "the alliance would not seek the troops' immediate withdrawal after the vote."

President Bush also has refused to set a deadline, saying a U.S. pullback will depend on how long it takes to train Iraq's security force.

There are signs the Bush administration is prepared to keep troops in Iraq for a significant time. The president plans to soon ask Congress for another $80 billion for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the U.S. Army's top operations officer, Lt. Gen. James J. Lovelace Jr., said this week that the service assumes it will keep the current level of 120,000 soldiers in Iraq for at least two more years.

The Pentagon has said it hopes to train about 135,000 Iraqi police, 60,000 members of the national guard and 25,000 army members.

Bush's secretary of state nominee, Condoleezza Rice, last week estimated the number already trained at more than 120,000. But Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., scoffed at her numbers, saying that based on numerous trips to Iraq: "If you speak to the folks on the ground, they don't think there's more than 4,000 actually trained Iraqi forces."

Rice acknowledged that desertions and poor leadership among Iraqis were hampering efforts.

After the Pentagon sent a retired general to the region to assess the training, defense officials say U.S. commanders are devising a plan for as many as 10,000 soldiers and Marines to accompany Iraqi units as advisers and trainers. The hope is that after the elections, some U.S. troops will focus less on fighting insurgents and more on training Iraqi forces.

The decision about when Americans leave "should be decided after the elections when there is stability," said Rawa Hamed Abbas, 22, a private attorney serving as an election observer in Hillah, in the Shiite south.

"Obviously, our new Iraqi security forces are not able to maintain safety."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Navy Helicopter Crashes; 8 Survive
Associated Press
January 26, 2005

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - A Navy helicopter based on an aircraft carrier crashed into the Atlantic Tuesday afternoon. All eight people aboard were rescued from a life raft.

The helicopter from the USS Eisenhower crashed about 30 miles off Naval Air Station Oceana, according to Lt. Mark Jones, assistant public affairs officer for Commander Naval Air Force U.S. Atlantic Fleet.

The MH-53E Sea Dragon, primarily used for minesweeping, was part of a helicopter squadron from the Norfolk Naval Station and was doing exercises with the Bataan, an amphibious assault ship.

The eight crew members took refuge on a life raft and were transported by two Navy helicopters to Portsmouth Naval Medical Center. Their conditions are not immediately known.

The Navy plans to investigate the crash, the cause of which was unknown.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

U.S. Military Scaling Back Relief Ops
Associated Press
January 26, 2005

ABOARD THE USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN - The U.S. military is beginning to scale back its tsunami relief efforts in Indonesia after nearly a month of airlifting food and medicine, as other nations take over the operations, officials said Wednesday.

The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which was diverted to Sumatra within four days of the Dec. 26 disaster with 17 SH-60 Seahawk helicopters aboard, is preparing to sail home to Everett, Washington, the military officials said.

The United Nations, Australia and other countries already have begun flying their own helicopters with supplies from Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, to devastated and isolated villages along Sumatra's western coast.

"Our role was important at first. Now that the other forces are coming in, the need for the helicopters is less important, and we will probably start to make our exit from this operation," said Rear Adm. William Crowder, who commands the Lincoln's battle group.

A flotilla of ships with many different flags gathered along Indonesia's coast is augmenting the relief effort. Singapore, Japan, Germany, Britain and other nations have also provided troops, medical and reconstruction teams.




"Some of the (aid) agencies as well as the Indonesian navy are bringing small craft and bringing in supplies," Crowder said.

Crowder noted that roads and bridges are being repaired, allowing trucks to deliver relief supplies, and that the United Nations will have 10-15 helicopters in the area by the end of the week.

U.S. military forces, led by Lt. Gen. Robert R. Blackman Jr., who is coordinating the regional relief effort from a Thai air base at Utapao, are developing a plan to reduce the U.S. Navy presence, the officials said.

Blackman visited Banda Aceh earlier this week for talks with U.N. officials there, the U.S. officials said.

Apart from the Lincoln's battle group, which includes three destroyers and a supply ship, there are three additional Navy ships with more than 20 Marine helicopters, bringing the total number of U.S. helicopters at sea off Indonesia's coast to about 40, Crowder said.

Cmdr. Jim McHugh, the head of flight operations at Banda Aceh air base, said the U.S. exit will be gradual, with helicopter flights being scaled down as others take up their slots.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

MWSS-472 restores hangar space at Al Asad for incoming squadrons <br />
Submitted by: 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing <br />
Story Identification #: 200512271144 <br />
Story by Cpl. Paul Leicht <br />
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<br />
AL ASAD, Iraq (Jan...

[thedrifter]

Local Marine Mom Comforted For Son's Loss By Fellow Marines

Suicide bombing is becoming common in Iraq as American soldiers continue the fight for freedom. Dozens of Marines have died as a result, including one young man from southern Nevada. News 3 Investigator Darcy Spears tells us how a Marine mom lost her son in the war in Iraq, but gained a family.

All this week, NBC is asking, what do we owe our troops as they return home? For those who will never come home, we're asking, what do we owe their families? One mother found the Marines have poured out their hearts and support to acknowledge the unfathomable price her family paid with the loss of their son.

"He said, 'Mom, I am ready to die for our freedom, for my country.' At that time, I thought these were only words." Words that became a headline in October. "The feeling, what I felt at that time, it was just awful, just like somebody shot through my body, lost my brain, lost my heart, I lost everything. I just felt like inside there was a huge hole. Life just stopped."

Helena Lukac never believed the military was an option for her oldest son, John. She saw college in his future. "How nice. He can be here with me and enjoy the university, and he can call me every single day. But he said, 'No mom. I know what I want to be.'"

Military life was John's dream, further motivated by the attacks of September 11th. He joined the Marines shortly after graduating from Durango High School, and had been in Iraq for just three weeks before he and seven others were killed by a suicide car bomb in Fallujah.

"That's one of our ... unpleasant parts. That's probably the most unpleasant part of our duty. They've got it worse over there, however back over here it can be emotionally draining." Captain William Ghilarducci and First Sergeant Joseph Kapala told the Lukac family the news of their son's death. "I will never forget that moment. I forgot my name. I absolutely didn't know who I am, what I am doing, and why I am still here."

But so are the Marines. They have stood by to comfort Helena and her family for the past four months, and came here today to support her as she talked with us. Otherwise, the Lukacs and their younger son, Peter, have only each other here in the United States. Their relatives remain in their home country of Czechoslovakia.

And although they've lost their son, John, they have gained an extended family ... the US Marines. "They take this duty with the utmost of salinity and it's a difficult detail, but it's very important, we believe, to be as supportive to the family as best we can."

"They're here with me now, with us from the first moment, and you can see, they are still here."

Today on Capitol Hill, US Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist introduced a provision to expand health care coverage for military families who have lost a member on active duty.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Okinawa Marines honored for volunteer work


By Fred Zimmerman, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Monday, January 24, 2005



YAGAJI, Okinawa — Lance Cpl. William Linn made his first trip to the Ai Rakuen community here in 1975 to volunteer his time. He was apprehensive and a little scared of volunteering at what was once referred to as the national leprosy sanitarium, but he quickly learned there was nothing to be afraid of.

Fast forward 30 years and you can find now-Master Gunnery Sgt. Linn still making trips here. Since he first came to Okinawa, Marines working at the Camp Hansen brig regularly have traveled nearly an hour north to the compound to volunteer their time.

Linn has spent three tours working at the brig, most recently as the supervisor, and each time personnel from the facility have traveled to Ai Rakuen several times a year. He said groups of 10 to 15 Marines take trips to clean up the beaches there several times a year.

“They readily volunteer to come,” Linn said. While some of the new Marines may be as apprehensive as he once was, he said the troops are told that the disease is not contagious so they have nothing to worry about.

While in prior years the Marines cleaned the grounds and played games with residents, they now primarily clean the beach surrounding the property, said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Michael R. Swinton, brig commanding officer. Swinton, who also volunteered at Ai Rakuen when he was a corporal in 1987, said the Marines spend an entire day at the compound when they travel there.

For the years of continued support, the community recently presented the Marines from the brig with a certificate of appreciation. Takeshi Mukaizato, deputy counselor of the Ai Rakuen Association, said community residents and workers are grateful for the years of service the Marines have provided.

“[The] Marine Corps Brig staff has dedicated for many years to clean our beach as one of your volunteer activities,” the certificate read. “You improved our environment with great human love as an Ai Rakuen’s neighbor. It gives us a more comfortable life.”

Taking Marines to the community is important, Swinton said, as it not only clears up misconceptions about the disease, but also teaches the Marines to be active in the community.

“It’s nothing more than reaching out to fellow humans,” Swinton said. “The Marines enjoy it and the community enjoys having us. We need to share and take care of each other, whether we’re American or Japanese.”


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines cautioned on danger of STDs while deployed in Thailand <br />
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<br />
By Juliana Gittler, Stars and Stripes <br />
Pacific edition, Tuesday, January 25, 2005 <br />
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PATTAYA, Thailand — As part of the...

[thedrifter]

At Least 35 Marines Killed in Deadliest Day

Desert Helicopter Crash Kills 31; Four More Die in Western Iraq Firefight

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 26, 2005 — At least 31 Marines have been killed in an apparently weather-related helicopter crash, and four more died in a firefight, ABC News has learned.

The 35 deaths, if officially confirmed by the military, would make this the deadliest day so far in the Iraq war. Previously, the deadliest day was March 23, 2003, during the first week of the war, when 28 servicemembers were killed.

Low visibility appears to have contributed to the transport helicopter accident near Ar Rutbah, Iraq, about 220 miles west of Baghdad, officials said. The helicopter did not appear to have been downed as a result of enemy fire.

The four other Marines were killed in a firefight in Haditha, in northwestern Iraq about 100 miles from the Syrian border.


Crash Probe

An investigation into the helicopter crash is under way.

According to a military statement, personnel from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing were transporting personnel from the 1st Marine Division to western Iraq when the crash occurred at approximately 1:20 a.m. local time.

The troops were conducting security and stabilization operations, the statement said, and officials added that the Marines were going out to help election workers.

The 1st Marine Division is based out of Camp Pendleton in San Diego.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

U.S. hostage pleads for life in Iraq video

By BASSEM MROUE

Associated Press


BAGHDAD, Iraq - An American kidnapped in November pleaded for his life in a video aired Tuesday, and at least a dozen Iraqis died in Baghdad as political violence continued to plague the country five days before Sunday's crucial elections for a new National Assembly.

On a day the U.S. military announced that six American soldiers died, Iraqi police engaged in fierce shootouts with insurgents, including gunmen who were handing out leaflets warning Iraqis not to vote or risk seeing their families' blood "wash the streets of Baghdad."

In the hostage video, a bearded Roy Hallums, 56, speaking with a rifle pointed at his head, said he had been taken by a "resistance group" because "I have worked with American forces." He appealed to Arab leaders, including Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, to save his life.

Hallums was seized by gunmen Nov. 1 along with Robert Tarongoy of the Philippines at their compound in Baghdad's Mansour district. The two worked for a Saudi company that does catering for the Iraqi army. The Filipino was not shown in the video and it was not known when the video was made.

"I am please asking for help because my life is in danger because it's been proved I worked for American forces," Hallums said.

In Westminster, Calif., his daughter, Carrie Cooper, 29, said she last saw him at a family reunion last June.

"My heart's broken to see my dad with a gun to his head. ... He's fearless and he wanted to help the people there and rebuild Iraq," she told KNBC-TV.

Hallums' former wife, Susan Hallums, urged President Bush to help the captive and urged the kidnappers to let him go.

"Please release him. He's never hurt anybody in his life. He's only done good things. He's a wonderful father and grandfather, and he's kind and I know that you can see that he's kind," she said at her home in Corona, Calif.

The U.S. military announced that a Bradley armored vehicle rolled into a canal northeast of Baghdad during a combat patrol Monday night, killing five American soldiers and injuring two from the Army's 1st Infantry Division. The accident, which was under investigation, occurred near the town of Khan Bani Saad during a sandstorm, it said.

A sixth U.S. soldier died Monday of wounds from a roadside bomb that blasted an American patrol in Baghdad, the military said.

At least 1,378 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

There has been speculation that the new Iraqi government might ask the Americans to set a timetable for foreign troops to leave. But Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said Tuesday it was too soon to do that, saying Iraq must first build up its security forces to confront the insurgents.

U.S. commanders are devising a plan for as many as 10,000 soldiers and Marines to accompany Iraqi units as advisers and trainers, defense officials in Washington said. That would be a substantial increase from the few thousand now doing such work.

Tuesday was the last day for Iraqis living outside the country to register for the weekend vote, and international organizers said less than 25 percent of those eligible had done so. The biggest turnout was among Iraqis living in Iran - more than 53,000.

Iraqi authorities blamed the low turnout on several factors, including the long distances that many had to travel in countries like the United States and Australia.

But Majeed al-Gaood, a member of National Front of the Iraqi Intellectuals, a Sunni Arab opposition group, said many chose not to register because of the country's continuing instability and the presence of U.S. troops.

"How can we expect Iraqis to take part in the elections while their country is under the control of foreign forces?" he said.

Meanwhile, an Internet posting in the name of one insurgent group, the Islamic Army of Iraq, ordered followers to "escalate their operations to the maximum" to stop "the infidel elections."

Its origin could not be authenticated, but Islamic militants have used the site to claim responsibility for attacks and to condemn Iraq's interim government and U.S.-led forces in Iraq.

Late Tuesday, people in Fallujah reported hearing bursts of heavy automatic weapons fire. The city was an insurgent stronghold until a U.S. offensive in November, but the assault did not clear out all the gunmen and others are believed to have slipped back with residents in recent weeks.

Several firefights erupted earlier in Baghdad's eastern Rashad neighborhood. In one, police fired at insurgents handing out leaflets warning people not to vote.

The leaflets, which did not bear the name of any insurgent group, said rebels would attack voters and polling stations with bombs, mortar fire and rockets.

"We promise to wash the streets of Baghdad with the blood of voters," the papers warned.

About the same time, in another part of the district, insurgents shot at police checking a report of a possible car bomb. A bomb also blew off the gate of a neighborhood school and gunmen shot at responding Iraqi and U.S. forces.

Altogether, three policemen were killed and nine wounded in those clashes, an official at Kindi Hospital said. Two insurgents died and a shopkeeper was killed in the crossfire.

Elsewhere, gunmen killed two Iraqi soldiers patrolling the western outskirts of the capital, witnesses said. Gunmen killed a man who worked for a district council in west Baghdad, while other attackers killed the son of an Iraqi translator working with U.S. troops, police said.

In another incident, a senior judge, Qais Hashim Shameri, and his driver died when assailants sprayed their car with gunfire. The Ansar al-Sunnah Army, one of Iraq's most active insurgent groups, claimed responsibility in a Web posting, calling the judge "one of the heads of infidelity and apostasy of the new Iraqi government."


Ellie

[lucien2]

Originally posted by thedrifter
Marine Helicopter Crashes In Iraq
Associated Press
January 26, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A U.S. Marine helicopter transporting troops to western Iraq crashed Wednesday in the western desert, the U.S. military said. There was no immediate word on deaths or injuries.

A military statement said confirmation of casualties "will occur in a separate press release."

The helicopter went down about 1:20 a.m. near the town of Rutbah, about 360 kilometers (220 miles) west of Baghdad, while conducting security operations, the military said in a statement. The aircraft was transporting personnel from the 1st Marine Division.

A search and rescue team has reached the site and an investigation into what caused the crash is underway, the military said.

The U.S. military has lost at least 33 helicopters since the March 2003 start of the Iraq conflict, according to a study by the Brookings Institution. At least 20 of them were brought down by hostile fire, the institution said.




The deadliest single incident involving U.S. troops so far took place on Nov. 15, 2003, when two Black Hawk helicopters crashed in Mosul after colliding while trying to avoid ground fire, killing 17 U.S. soldiers and wounding five.

Earlier that same month, on Nov. 2, 2003, a Chinook transport helicopter was shot down by shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile near Fallujah, killing 16 American soldiers and wounding 26.

Last month, a suicide bomb exploded at a mess tent in a base near Mosul, killing 22 people including 14 U.S. soldiers and three American contractors.

Ellie

Go easy brothers, Semper Fi.

[thedrifter]

Special Memorial


http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18511

Ellie

[thedrifter]

A file photo shows a U.S. Marine CH-53E Super Stallion carrying a decommissioned amphibian assault vehicle near Al Asad base, some 209 km (130 miles) west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, January 9, 2005. A U.S. Marine CH-53E Super Stallion transport helicopter ferrying troops crashed while on a mission in western Iraq (news - web sites) in the early hours January 26, 2005, killing 31 U.S. Marines, according to U.S. officials. The helicopter crash took place near the town of Rutbah while the aircraft was transporting 1st Marine Division forces, the U.S. military said in a statement. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY REUTERS/USMC/Staff Sgt. Chad McMeen

http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20050126/i/r610999925.jpg

[thedrifter]

Soldiers aid Fallujans prior to elections
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 2005124123236
Story by Cpl. Randy L. Bernard



FALLUJAH, Iraq (Jan. 23, 2005) -- With Iraqi elections growing closer every day, US service members are going out of their way to put smiles back on the faces of the citizens of Fallujah.

Of the teams working to build Iraqi relations with the U.S. military, the soldiers of Company B, 445th Civil Affairs Battalion, 4th Civil Affairs Group, Regimental Combat Team 7, work at showing the people of Fallujah a friendly face.

“We are out here to let the Iraqi’s know that we are here to help them,” said Spc. Annie G. Gabriel, 22, a civil affairs operator with civil affairs, and a native of San Jose, Calif. “We are showing them that there is a good side to the military.”

Gabriel, along with the other members of her team, is an Army reservist who was activated in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II. Though she currently helps to distribute medical supplies, clothing, hygiene items like toothbrushes, soap, candy, and soccer balls to the people of Iraq, she is a radio operator by trade.

“We are all reservists, and being reservists we have to be able to do anything and be flexible,” said Gabriel, who also serves as her vehicles gunner, a role almost always filled by males while in Iraq. “We not only have to do civil affairs work but we have to do Army work also.”

The members of the CA team are proud of the work they do, and they understand just how important it is not only to themselves, but the people they are working to help.

“Being able to provide the supplies that the Iraqis need to help them become independent is great,” said Army Sgt. Laurie Perez, 29, a native of Tracy, Calif. Perez, who enlisted into the Army ,coincidentally, on the same day the attacks on 9/11 occurred, knows that helping the Iraqi people will go down in history books along with the twin towers falling. “Being able to do this is going to be history. I feel honored that I will be able to have something like this to tell my grandchildren.”

Perez and Gabriel feel their roles in civil affairs, and the upcoming elections are boosted by the fact that they are the only two female service members with RCT-7.

“We are tasked to help the women of Iraq to learn how to vote, and being a part of that is incredible,” said Gabriel. “It took us 200 years in America to give women the opportunity to vote, and with these people, we are going to give them that chance right off the bat.”

Another member of the team is Army Sgt. Alfredo F. Despy, who has been around civil affairs for the majority of his six years of service. “I love being able to get face-to-face time with the Iraqis,” said Despy, 30,a native of San Antonio, Texas. “We are here to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, and to help them stand on their own two feet.”

During the elections, the CA team will continue to make a positive impression on the people as they help them out.

“We are the hand shakers, back patters, and chocolate givers,” said Despy, grinning ear-to-ear.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Pennock Brothers reunite in Iraq
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 2005125121425
Story by Lance Cpl. Miguel A. Carrasco Jr.



CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (Jan. 20, 2005) -- Of all the places to have a reunion. Two Marine brothers from Kansas were recently reunited with each other here in Iraq Jan. 15, for the first time in more than a year.

Sgt. Samal S. Pennock, a police sergeant with Headquarters Platoon, Company G, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, and Cpl. Jason M. Pennock, a squad leader with 3rd Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, have both been busy with deployments but were able to see each other before rotating back to the United States.

“It has been a long time since I have seen my brother,” said Jason. “We are stationed on opposite coasts back in the U.S. so it makes it difficult to see each other.”

“We have been away from each other for a while now, but it makes me proud to hear that he is doing well with his unit,” said Samal, the older of the two brothers.

Jason, 22, and Samal, 25, were both born in a small town in the middle of nowhere called Osawatomie, Kan.

“You probably couldn’t even find it on a map,” said Jason.

The family reunion between the two lasted for a short while, but the two brothers were glad they were able to relax and catch up with each other.

Samal convoyed from Ramadi, Iraq, where his battalion is located, to see his brother, since 1/8 will be returning back to the United States soon.

“I am glad I was able to get to Camp Fallujah before my brother left, or else it would probably be another year before we see each other again,” Samal said.

During high school, they both knew they wanted to join the Marine Corps. Although their influence in the military might have stemmed from their grandfathers who were Army World War II veterans, they had their own specific reasons for enlisting in the Marine Corps.

“I joined the Marines because they are the best,” said Salam. “I won’t have to worry about being left behind.”

“I couldn’t see myself as anything other than a Marine,” said Jason. “I would be bored if I did anything else.”

Samal joined the Marine Corps right after finishing high school Sept. 7, 1997, and went to boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, where he graduated Dec. 5, that same year with Platoon 2011, Company E, 2nd Battalion.

Just like his brother, Jason joined the Marine Corps right after high school. He joined June 19, 2001, at MCRD San Diego, where he graduated Sept. 14, that same year with Platoon 3092, Company L, 3rd Battalion.

“I was lucky enough to be on leave and see my brother graduate from boot camp. It was great to see him become a Marine,” said Samal. “I can still remember him doing physical training with an (All-Purpose Light-Weight Individual Carrying Equipment) pack I gave him with 50 pounds in it during high school, getting ready to join the Marine Corps.”

After graduating from the School of Infantry (SOI) at Camp Pendleton, Jason was assigned to 1/8 at Camp Lejeune, N.C. This is his second deployment to Iraq and as a squad leader passed on his knowledge from deploying to his younger Marines.

“He is a professional at his job and as a squad leader he has led his Marines for the past eight months with proficiency,” said Gunnery Sgt. Scott P. Perry, 32, a native of Hubert, N.C., and a platoon sergeant with 3 rd Platoon, Company B, 1/8.

“This has been a good unit to start out with,” said Jason. “I have learned a lot and hope to carry it on throughout my future in the Marine Corps.”

Samal spent his first enlistment with 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, and then transferred to Weapons and Field Training Battalion, at Edson Range, Camp Pendleton, Calif. From there he asked to be reassigned to a battalion that was deploying. He got orders in the beginning of September to go to 2/5, which deployed later that month.

“He is an awesome Marine with so much potential,” said Gunnery Sgt. Michael A. Miller, a company gunnery sergeant with Company G, 2/5. “He never complains and will give the shirt off of his back to a Marine in need.”

When asked if they both were planning to stay in the Marine Corps, they both looked at each other and replied simultaneously, “Yes.”

“I am currently on my second term and getting ready to reenlist for my third, and I plan on staying in the Marine Corps,” said Samal.

The sibling rivalry of these brothers has become evident in their Marines Corps lives as Samal proudly proclaims he has the higher rifle qualification score while Jason is satisfied knowing he has the higher physical fitness test score.

“I think there is a little hometown rivalry between (Samal) and his brother,” said Miller, 32, a native of Stockton, Calif. “Although unspoken, he cares tremendously about the where about of his brother and how he is doing.”

Their parents, Stephen, 52, and Debra, 52, still live in Kansas. As parents do, they worry but still support their sons.

“At first our dad hated the idea of my brother joining and then he was really upset when I decided to join the Marine Corps, said Jason. “But he along with our mom have supported us every step of the way.”

As both brothers continue to do their part in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, they hope to be back to Iraq as soon as possible to do what they love.

“We are Marines and out here on the battlefield we get to show why we are the best,” said Samal.

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/2005125122157/$file/PENNOCKlow.jpg

Sgt. Samal S. Pennock, (left) 25, a police sergeant with Headquarters Platoon, Company G, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, and Cpl. Jason M. Pennock, (right) 22, a squad leader with 3rd Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, are brothers from Osawatomie, Kan. They have both been busy with deployments but were able to see each other at Camp Fallujah, Iraq, Jan. 15, for the first time in more than a year. Photo by: Lance Cpl. Miguel A. Carrasco Jr.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

31st MEU Marines clear grove in Hadithah
Submitted by: 31st MEU
Story Identification #: 200512155613
Story by Lance Cpl. Will Lathrop



AL ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq (Jan. 12, 2005) -- Marines with 1st Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, assigned to 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, made their presence known during a patrol in the city of Hadithah Jan. 12.

Leaders dispatched a mounted patrol to a local palm grove after receiving information about possible insurgent activity there. The patrol arrived quickly and dismounted from their vehicles using tanks and helicopters for cover. A large section of the grove was quickly cordoned off and Marines began a detailed search.

Walking through a palm grove along the edge of the Euphrates River, Marines searched for weapons and insurgent hideouts, while greeting locals and asking them for additional information that would support the initial report.

“We went to sweep for enemy activity and presence, and we also wanted to make our presence felt,” said Cpl. Ben McGuire, a 25-year-old Red Oak, Texas, native and assaultman, Mobile Assault Platoon 3.

While the Iraqis were surprised with the sudden arrival of the Marines, they were hospitable and obliged the Marines with fresh fruit and curious looks.

“I think we made good relations with the civilians, and everything went smoothly,” McGuire noted.

The search was prompted by information about a cave in the area being used to hide insurgents and weapons, but the cave was never found.

“We didn’t find the supposed cave, but we found supplies to make bombs and an explosives manual in a field,” said Sgt. Bill Henderson, a 27-year-old Austin native and patrol leader, MAP 3.

The patrol was a significant demonstration of a new capability for the unit. It was the first time the Marines, mostly reservists from Texas, had patrolled with tanks and a helicopter section.

“I think people were impressed... tactically, it was a good use of combined arms and assets,” Henderson said.

The Marines made the sweep hasty but thorough, backtracking over their steps and rummaging through trash piles and compost heaps. The engineer detachment with the patrol scanned suspected areas with their metal detector but found nothing.

When it was determined that the area was clear, the Marines withdrew from the grove and returned to their base.

“We didn’t find a whole lot, but nobody got hurt so it was a good day,” Henderson said.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

3/5 gives more training to the Iraqi Soldiers <br />
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division <br />
Story Identification #: 2005125132651 <br />
Story by Lance Cpl. Graham Paulsgrove <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
FALLUJAH, Iraq (Jan. 21, 2005)...

[thedrifter]

Marine receives Navy Cross
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Gidget Fuentes
Navy Times staff writer
Jan. 25, 2005

ENCINO, Calif. - As family and colleagues looked on, a Marine received the coveted Navy Cross on Jan. 23 for his heroics in saving four wounded Marines and an Iraqi civilian caught amid crossfire in Baghdad nearly two years ago.

Sgt. Scott C. Montoya, a reservist and scout-sniper with 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, received the medal during a short ceremony in the courtyard at the Marine Corps Reserve Center here.

Five times during an intense firefight, Montoya, 35, a member of the battalion's scout-sniper platoon, stepped into what his award citation noted was a "hailstorm of bullets" to pull the wounded to safety April 8, 2003, during the battle for the Iraqi capital.

"Noticing a disabled civilian vehicle on the road in the line of fire and with complete disregard for his own life, he rushed forward amidst a hail of gunfire and dragged a wounded Iraqi civilian to safety. Observing a wounded Marine struggling to get off the same street, he risked his life to lead the Marine to safety," the citation reads. "Returning to the front, he spotted a wounded Marine lying in the street. Ignoring a hailstorm of bullets, Sergeant Montoya rushed into the street for a third time to carry the injured Marine to safety.

"Sergeant Montoya returned a fourth time to evacuate an unconscious Marine. Returning to the front again, he dashed into the contested street and assisted a Marine to safety who had been dazed by an explosion."

Montoya, a full-time sheriff's deputy with the Orange County, Calif., Sheriff's Department, is credited with "extraordinary heroism" that day. He said he was humbled by the attention and the inspiration his award now represents to other Marines. "I feel good. I feel happy," he said after the ceremony. "It's kind of a little overwhelming, but I feel proud."

The Navy Cross isn't just for him, he said, but also "to inspire the Marines who come after me … so they can lead by example."

His thoughts, however, stretched far away from the 200-plus crowd of people that watched Lt. Gen. Dennis McCarthy, who commands Marine Forces Reserve, pin the Navy Cross on his cammies' left blouse pocket flap. "I'm just praying for the Marines overseas to come back safely," he said.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

ROAD WARRIORS:
Precautions taken to minimize vulnerability
By TONY PERRY
Los Angeles Times



RAMADI, Iraq -- As he always does before traveling the roadways of Iraq, Marine Staff Sgt. Johnathan Radel on Tuesday said a short prayer.

"Lord, please keep us safe today from IEDs and VBIEDS," he said as he sat in his Humvee, using the acronyms for improvised explosive device and vehicle-borne improvised explosive device.

Less than five minutes later, as the eight-vehicle convoy rolled through the streets of Ramadi in the predawn darkness, an IED exploded beneath one of the Humvees, sending an orange fireball into the sky and shredding the vehicle's back tires. There were no injuries, and the tires were replaced.

When the mission was over, with six suspects arrested and a small cache seized, Radel said that reciting the prayer was a habit he picked up recently. "Anything to keep my Marines safe," he said.

After two years of war and hundreds of U.S. deaths on Iraqi highways and streets caused by roadside bombs and suicide car bombing, the business of driving vehicles from point A to point B has taken on a grimness borne of reality.

Along the long desert stretches of Al Anbar province or the traffic-clogged streets of Ramadi, a convoy is a highly choreographed event conducted at high speed. As Sunday's Iraqi elections approach and rumors spread of planned mass attacks by insurgents, attention to detail is at its height.

In their Humvee, the driver and the "a-driver," who is assigned to take over if the driver is killed, keep phones pressed to their ears. They talk to other Marines in the convoy about road conditions, suspicious civilians, out-of-place vehicles, or anything that could be a threat. Medics travel with each convoy.

Relentless attacks from IEDs have taken a physical and emotional toll on the Marines. As many units near the end of their tours of duty, commanders are at pains to keep them sharp.

Lt. George Velazquez keeps a grisly picture collection of Humvees and other vehicles destroyed and damaged by such blasts. He's a motor transport officer and frequently is assigned to lead convoys through the sniper- and bomb-laden streets of Ramadi.

He knows it is a balancing act between protecting his Marines and possibly overreacting and hurting or killing Iraqis civilians.

Like many Marines, Velazquez re-enlisted after Sept. 11, 2001, to be part of "the fight." He had served four years in the enlisted ranks and was ready to become a firefighter with a civilian department. Instead he re-upped as an officer.

He never figured that Operation Iraqi Freedom would evolve into a guerrilla war in which IEDs would reach a kind of deadly perfection.

"It's nerve-wracking," Velazquez said of convoys. "You're on edge the whole time. You know they (the insurgents) are out there, but on the other hand not everybody is out to hurt you."

The Marines have distributed hundreds of pamphlets in Ramadi and elsewhere pleading with residents to stay back from convoys, to pull to the side of the road until the heavily armed military vehicles pass by. There are signs on vehicles in Arabic.

Some people don't get the message and there have been an untold number of incidents here of Marines firing on Iraqis who drove too close to convoys.

Nearly every Marine has a story to tell about being in a convoy hit by an IED, a suicide car bomb or a sniper. Bullet holes and spider-patterned cracks in windshields provide proof. Last week, three Army soldiers in Ramadi were killed by a suicide car.

If the Marines have changed since the war began, so too have their vehicles. Nearly all Humvees have gun turrets, as well as armor on the sides and undercarriage; some have bulletproof glass. Compared to the light vehicles - some with plastic doors - that crossed the Line of Departure in 2003, these Humvees are more akin to mini-tanks than to the Jeeps of previous wars.

On long desert stretches, Marines in a line of Humvees last week scanned the road for anything that might be hiding a bomb: a box, a dead animal, a sack, a pothole.

Fences along freeways have long since been removed lest they be used to hide a remote-controlled explosive. Burned spots and twisted metal along the pavement is evidence of previous attacks.

An hours-long trip from Ramadi to a base near the Saudi Arabian border passed without a word not related to the business at hand being spoken among the three Marines inside the Humvee and the Marine with a machine gun standing in the gun turret.

"There's no time for talk," said Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Higgins, a Humvee driver.

The same was true the next day during a shorter trip through the crowded streets of Ramadi. On a long two-lane bridge over the Euphrates River, an aged blue sedan in front of the convoy slowed to a crawl, a perfect way to stall the military vehicles in a vulnerable position.

"Watch the blue car, watch the blue car," Velazquez barked into his telephone.

In the gun turret, Cpl. Kwasi Djan had his .50-caliber machinegun trained on the blue car and its occupants. A few tense minutes later the blue car and convoy crept off the bridge; the threat had passed.

"I had him all the way," Djan said. "Then I noticed that he had kids in the car. I figured he was not dangerous."

Asked if he had ever had to fire on Iraqi vehicles that appeared to pose a threat, Djan said: "Oh, yes." Then he retreated into silence.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines Defend C-130 Tanker Amid Criticism, Planned Cuts



Monday January 24, 1:48 PM EST


WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The Marines' new tanker plane has overcome technical hurdles and deserves full funding, a U.S. Marine Corps program official told Dow Jones Newswires, responding to planned budget cuts and recent criticism from the Pentagon's top tester.

The KC-130J, a propeller-driven aircraft made by Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT), is targeted in Pentagon budget documents that suggest ending the line in 2006, years ahead of schedule. The Marines would get some planes quicker, but future planned purchases could fall by the wayside.

If the budget proposal passes as currently drafted, it puts the KC-130J production line in danger of shutting down, said Maj. Brian Wright, KC-130 requirements officer, in an e-mail to Dow Jones. The Marines would end up with only 33 planes, 18 short of their stated requirement.



"That has a substantial impact to our warfighting capabilities," Wright said.

The Marines' tanker isn't the only Lockheed aircraft threatened by proposed cuts. The budget plans also target the F/A-22 stealth fighter and the Air Force's C-130J, a basic version of the tanker plane that is targeted for an immediate shutdown.

If the Bush administration continues to push for the cuts when it releases its official budget next month, it will face an uphill battle on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers already have started rallying around the Air Force aircraft, and the Marines are known for their connections in Congress and legislative savvy.

In addition to the budget worries, the KC-130 family also faces new criticism from Thomas Christie, the Defense Department's director of Operational Test and Evaluation. In a report released last week, he cited "low mission capable rates" and other technical problems for J-models of the C-130 tanker.

Wright said Pentagon evaluators may have used outdated information for the report, a summary of 2004 activity. He said a new operational test and evaluation report is due by the end of this month and should show considerable progress.

"Our follow-on testing that was completed in September '04 is expected to provide good news and our expectation is that the aircraft will be found operationally effective," he said.

False alarms from built-in test equipment figured prominently in the evaluators'year-end report. "Excessive" false alarms decrease confidence in the aircraft and also create unacceptable maintenance demands, the report said.

Wright said the issue has been traced to a software problem and is being addressed. But he downplayed its significance in daily operations.

"The bottom line is that this issue does not preclude the aircraft from being an effective asset for our warfighters. It is simply not a showstopper," Wright said.

Lockheed Martin spokesman Peter Simmons said the KC-130Js are ready for combat and will make a valuable contribution to operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"You can't fight the kind of conflict we're involved in now without those tankers. When they put all their armor ashore, do you think they'll just drive up to a 7-Eleven to get gas?" he said.

-By Rebecca Christie, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9243; rebecca.christie@ dowjones.com

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Guard wants to offer $15,000 bonuses to entice active-duty soldiers to its thinning ranks




By Robert Burns
ASSOCIATED PRESS
3:20 p.m. January 25, 2005

WASHINGTON – Looking for new ways to bolster its thinning ranks, the Army National Guard is seeking legal authority to offer $15,000 bonuses to active-duty soldiers willing to join the Guard – up from $50 now.

Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, told reporters Tuesday that the Guard is 15,000 soldiers below its normal strength of 350,000, and he expects further short-term declines despite recent gains from tripling re-enlistment bonuses for Guardsmen deployed abroad.

If the Guard fails to return to its normal troop level of 350,000 by the end of the budget year on Sept. 30, it will be the first time that has happened since 1989, the three-star general said. He added that he believes he has a formula for restoring the Guard's strength.

Heavily stressed by longer-than-anticpated combat and support duties in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, the Guard recently increased first-time enlistment bonuses and added 1,400 recruiters.

In explaining his interest in getting congressional approval for $15,000 bonuses to entice active-duty military members to join the Guard, Blum said he believes he could get 8,000 new Guardsmen this way. He said the existing $50 bonus carries little weight in today's economy.

"That incentive may have been a big deal 50 years ago, but it doesn't buy much today," he said.

Blum offered two main reasons the Guard has found it harder to get active-duty soldiers to switch to the Guard. Many are prevented from leaving the active Army even after their contracts are up or their retirement dates have arrived because the Army invoked a special authority known as "stop loss" that freezes soldiers in place for months at a time. Also, those who can leave active duty are sometimes less interested in joining the Guard if they believe that their prospective Guard unit is in line for a deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Blum also said that while he believes the National Guard will be asked to contribute a relatively smaller proportion of the combat force in Iraq starting in mid-2005, it will remain strapped.

Currently, 44 percent of the Army combat forces in Iraq are Guard troops, he said, and he believes that will drop to the low 20s later this year. Offsetting that, however, is an expectation that the Guard will be required to contribute a larger proportion of the support troops.

According to a chart provided by Blum, 71 of the Guard's 75 infantry battalions have been committed for duty in Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere since President Bush authorized Guard and Reserve mobilizations for the war on terror on Sept. 14, 2001. A battalion is considered "committed" if at least 35 percent of its troops are mobilized for active-duty service.

Similarly, 33 of the Guard's 36 armor battalions have been committed in that same time period.

Blum said the Guard has not run out of combat power but it needs a break.

"I've pretty well given at the office," he said, "and it's time for the (active-duty Army) to pick it up."

Among the Guard combat forces that have been put on active duty since September 2001 are 11 infantry battalions and six armor battalions that provided security at airports and other locations in the United States in the weeks following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Blum's chart showed.

In hindsight, he said he wishes he had used non-combat troops for that work.

"I did not envision being in Iraq in 2005 with 44 percent of the (total Army) combat forces," he said. "That was not in my wildest scenario on the crystal ball that I was looking at."

Blum also said that he has kept his promise to state governors – who control National Guard units during peacetime – that he will not have more than 50 percent of their Guard troops mobilized at any given time. In most states the percent that are mobilized is well below 50. The only states currently at 50 percent are Washington and Hawaii, he said.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Posted on Wed, Jan. 26, 2005





Bond of brothers spans from mat to Marines

By David Kiefer

Mercury News


Not long ago before Josue Orozco left for boot camp, he and his brother Caleb made a deal.

Josue vowed to someday graduate from college with honors, and Caleb promised to win a state wrestling championship.

``He's not going to quit, and I'm not going to quit,'' said the Overfelt High senior.

Though the state tournament still is five weeks away, Orozco is making progress. He rallied to a 9-7 overtime win over Monterey's Travis Edwards, the Central Coast Section's top-ranked wrestler at 173 pounds, in the Overfelt Classic final to capture the outstanding wrestler honors for upper-weight classes.

In the afterglow, Orozco asked Mark Delgado if the coach could take pictures as the wrestler stood with the championship trophy. Afterward, Orozco mailed the photos to Josue, 20. Orozco writes three times a week to his brother -- ``always,'' he said -- who is undergoing basic training in San Diego.

And, following his brother's example, Orozco will join Josue in the Marines later this year. Orozco said he has always wanted to be a soldier, and even in turbulent times, has never wavered.

``Ever since I was a little kid, I've wanted to be a Marine,'' Orozco said. ``It's not like wanting to be a football player. You're putting your life at risk to help others. You have a chance to really do something.''

On a far smaller scale, Orozco has a chance to do something on the mat as well. After attending a charter school for two years, Orozco finally persuaded his mother to allow him to go to a school where he could wrestle.

In two seasons, Orozco (20-3) has improved from raw talent to CCS contender.

``His stamina is really good right now, and now he's choosing moves that are really working,'' Delgado said.

But does a pact between brothers carry too much pressure, especially with nothing less than a state title determining success or failure?

``I'm not worried about it, because he knows I'm trying my hardest to get there,'' Orozco said. ``He tells me all the time, `Don't force yourself. Just do what you have to do.' ''

• Soccer standout Miguel Tanton, 15, will not return to Cupertino High after being expelled for the fall semester after being found with a pocket knife on school grounds.

He was invited to return, but because of the family's frustration with the school's administration and the Fremont Union High School District, Tanton will work toward his high school equivalency at De Anza College and through an independent study program.

• San Benito's girls soccer team (3-9-2, 2-2-1 in the Tri-County Athletic League) is struggling, but senior Jennifer Rose Vandenberg is not. The fourth-year varsity player has 23 of her team's 31 goals and has six hat tricks despite missing three matches because of club commitments.

The last time another Haybaler scored was Dec. 17, and no other player has scored during league play.

Vandenberg, whom Coach Mike Schurig calls an outstanding leader and team player, scored four times in a 4-4 draw with North Salinas, tallying twice late in the match to erase her team's two-goal deficit.

• Last season, its first with boys basketball, Latino College Prep lost to a middle school team and earned its only victory in a 1-8 season by beating a bunch of teens from a youth center. The game was so informal that many played without shirts.

Much has changed for the Golden Eagles, who have won two Christian-Private School League games under first-year coach John Marcoida, getting 29 points and 18 rebounds from Eduardo Torres in a 76-67 win over East Palo Alto.

``It doesn't matter how good or bad they are,'' Marcoida said. ``It's how much better they are than when they started.''

• Former Serra standout Tom Brady isn't the only former CCS athlete headed for the Super Bowl. Tully Banta-Cain, a 1998 graduate of Fremont High, is a reserve linebacker for the Patriots.

Fremont basketball coach Miguel Castillo recalls Banta-Cain's junior season on the team:

``He dunked twice in one game at the wrong basket. But he did some great things, too. He once caught a length-of-the-court pass in the key, and spun 180 degrees to win the game.''

• Those wishing to attend Serra's basketball showdown against visiting St. Ignatius tonight and don't have tickets are out of luck. The game is sold out.

• Kelly Edwards is leaving his football head-coaching position at Leland to become wide receivers coach at Foothill College.

• Menlo School girls water polo coach Kyle Utsumi was named USA Water Polo's national coach of the year. Utsumi, currently coaching the U.S. team at the junior world championships in Perth, Australia, coached teams to gold medals at the Pan American Games and the Speedo Top 40 Festival.

He also led the Knights to a CCS championship.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Helping rebuild Iraq
January 26,2005
ERIC STEINKOPFF
DAILY NEWS STAFF

For the Marines' part, rebuilding Iraq is being billed as the largest civil affairs project since the Vietnam War. And for one group of reservists, the effort is shaping up to be historic.

About 200 Marine and Navy reservists training at Camp Lejeune formed a new unit this week. When the 5th Civil Affairs Group deploys to Iraq in the coming weeks, it will take over projects already started by the 3rd and 4th CAGs and begin new work sustaining and upgrading the country's infrastructure.

"You're writing Marine Corps history - standing up a new unit," retired Col. Harvey C. Barnum Jr., a Medal of Honor recipient and the current under secretary of the Navy for reserve affairs, said Tuesday. "A couple of years ago, we took down Saddam Hussein, and now we have a country that has never experienced democracy.

"These (Iraqi) elections - that's step one," Barnum said. "About this time next year, there will be more elections (for people) to run the country."

Barnum, who traveled to Onslow County this week from the Pentagon, met with troops as they practiced room-clearing techniques at Lejeune's Verona Loop training area. While he came to see firsthand how the reservists are progressing, Barnum used the opportunity to provide them with his brand of support.

In time, he said, the U.S. military's civil affairs presence in Iraq should diminish. The goal, he noted, is for the Iraqi people to assume a larger role in rebuilding their country - politically and physically.

"I foresee a smaller unit replacing you - and a year from now, a much, much smaller unit replacing them," Barnum said.

"We've captured insurgents, opened schools and hospitals and (restored) power and water. Our role is to help rebuild Iraq, (and) our goal is for the Iraqis to do the work."

The 5th CAG is split into two detachments, one training in the field this week and the other one scheduled for next week. In Iraq, these troops will typically work in teams of five or six. Depending on the mission, it could be more.

And it's a diverse crowd composed of people from all over the country.

"We have lawyers, doctors, educators, accountants with all kinds of expertise to help rebuild hospitals, schools and the economy," said Lt. Col. Beverly Baker, 44, an operations officer from New York City.

Calling on the techniques they practiced Tuesday, they'll ultimately take their urban combat training to the next level at the military operations in urban terrain facility - Lejeune's mock city off Lyman Road. Before that, however, these troops will spend the next two weeks practicing convoy security, patrols and search and seizure operations.

"The biggest challenge will be to meet the expectations of the Iraqi people," said unit commander Col. Steven McKinley, 53, of Richmond, Va. "We know what we can provide and, we know what they want, (but) the answer is somewhere in the middle."


Ellie

[thedrifter]

26th MEU trains combat lifesavers <br />
Submitted by: 26th MEU <br />
Story Identification #: 200512518428 <br />
Story by Sgt. Roman Yurek <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
ABOARD USS KEARSARGE (Jan. 14, 2005) -- With a likely combat...

[thedrifter]

Civil Affairs Team builds rapport in small Iraqi community through Operation Mutton <br />
Submitted by: 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing <br />
Story Identification #: 200512625225 <br />
Story by Cpl. Joel A. Chaverri <br />
<br />
...

[thedrifter]

37 Troops Die on Deadliest Day in Iraq

22 minutes ago

By JASON KEYSER, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A U.S. helicopter crashed in a desert sandstorm in the early morning darkness Wednesday, killing the 30 Marines and one Navy sailor aboard. Six other troops died in insurgent ambushes in the deadliest day for Americans since the Iraq (news - web sites) war began nearly two years ago.


Only days before Iraq's crucial elections Sunday, militants set off at least eight car bombings that killed 13 people and injured 40 others, including 11 Americans. The guerrillas also carried out a string of attacks nationwide against schools that will serve as polling centers.


In Washington, President Bush (news - web sites) called on Iraqis to defy terrorism and go to the polls despite relentless insurgent attacks. He said it was a "very discouraging" day when the U.S. death toll for the war rose above 1,400.


The CH-53E Super Stallion was carrying personnel from the 1st Marine Division on a security mission in support of the election when it went down about 1:20 a.m. near the town of Rutbah, about 220 miles west of Baghdad, the military said.


The crash occurred during severe weather, but its cause was still under investigation, said Army Gen. John Abizaid, chief of U.S. Central Command. An Accuweather map showed sandstorms Wednesday in the western region of Iraq near the Jordanian border where the crash took place.


A search and rescue team was at the site. The victims were 30 Marines and one sailor, said Lt. Gen. John Sattler, the top Marine commander in Iraq — the most American service members to die in a single incident since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.


The deadliest previous incident for U.S. troops was also a helicopter crash: a November 2004 collision of two Black Hawk helicopters that killed 17. Before Wednesday's bloodshed, the most Americans killed in one day came on the invasion's third day — March 23, 2003 — when 28 troops were killed during the U.S. military's drive to take Baghdad and topple Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).


The U.S. military has not seen such a high loss of life in one day in 15 years — since an explosion ripped through a gun turret on the USS Iowa during a training exercise in the Caribbean in April 1989, killing 47 sailors.


Iraqi security forces and civilians have borne the brunt of violence in Iraq, with bombings often killing scores of people at a time. More than 180 people were killed on March 2, 2004, during a string of suicide attacks at Shiite shrines in Karbala and Baghdad.


Violence has only increased ahead of Sunday's election, which will create a 275-member National Assembly and regional legislatures. Sunni Muslim extremists have threatened to sabotage the election, and many Sunni clerics have called for a boycott because of the presence of U.S. and other foreign troops.


The group calling itself al-Qaida in Iraq warned people to stay away from the polls, threatening attacks. "Oh people, be careful. Be careful not to be near the centers of infidelity and vice, the polling centers ... Don't blame us but blame yourselves" if harmed," a Web statement issued in the group's name said.


In addition to Wednesday's crash deaths, four Marines were killed in fighting in Iraq's Anbar province, the military said.


A reporter embedded with those troops, Jim Dolan of WABC in New York City, said the deaths came when insurgents ambushed a Marine convoy leaving the town of Haditha, northwest of Baghdad, hitting a vehicle with a rocket-propelled grenade.


Also Wednesday, insurgents attacked a U.S. Army patrol near the northern town of Duluiyah, killing one soldier and wounding two others, and in the Baghdad area a roadside bomb killed another soldier and wounded two others, the U.S. command said.


The day's deaths brought to at least 1,409 the number of members of the U.S. military who have died in Iraq, according to an Associated Press count.


A string of political violence continued. Several schools slated to be used as polling stations were bombed overnight.


A suicide bomber detonated a fuel tanker at the offices of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in the town of Sinjar, southwest of Mosul, killing five and injuring at least 20 people, KDP officials said.





Earlier in the day, gunmen opened fire with machine guns on the local headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Communist Party in the city of Baqouba, north of Baghdad, killing a traffic policeman. The KDP and PUK are the two largest Kurdish groups in Iraq and have formed a coalition along with other Kurdish groups to run in the election.

Insurgents also set off three car bombs in rapid succession in the town of Riyadh, north of Baghdad, killing at least five people — including three policemen.

Four American soldiers were injured in a car bombing Wednesday in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, the U.S. command said. Another car bomb targeted a multinational forces convoy on the road to Baghdad's international airport, injuring four soldiers, the command said.

The attack temporarily closed the airport road, one of the country's most dangerous.

Another car bombing later hit the same airport road, and an eighth car bomb detonated prematurely in the town of Mashahda, 30 miles north of Baghdad, killing the two men in the car.


Ellie

[THATFEMALE]

Yes, today is a sad day for the Marine Corps. I want to pray for all my MARINES over there in harms way. You know what makes me mad though. Why should the military have to lore people into serving their country by offering more money? I don't know about ya'll but I didn't join the Marine Corp for the money. I could be making big bucks out in the civilian world but that's not what it's about. Some people!

[yellowwing]

You know, in 1983 our Platoon Guide said something like that. After he was reemed out by the Drill Instructors he got up in front of and asked, "What the hell are all of you doing here? Making a few extra dollars for college? That is a f*cking joke if you think you pay for college with our Basic Pay!"

[airframesguru]

Rest in peace brothers, Semper Fi.

Mike

[snipowsky]

I'm really sad right now. Hearing that 30+ of my brothers have passed on to the other side. Rest in peace brothers.

Semper Fi!:mad:

[thedrifter]

CLEAN: Marines, Sailors give Thai orphanage a new look
Submitted by: MCB Camp Butler
Story Identification #: 200512642054
Story by Gunnery Sgt. Lawrence Torres III



PATTAYA, Thailand (Jan. 26, 2005) -- Seventeen Marines, sailors and a civilian visited the children at Mercy Ministries Foundation shelter for orphans here Jan. 25, to clean the grounds, lay gravel and plant trees as part of several community relations’ projects throughout Thailand during Operation Unified Assistance.

The volunteers are attached to Combined Support Force 536 in support of the operation where more than 11,000 Marines, Sailors, Airmen, Soldiers and Coast Guardsmen are working with international militaries and non-governmental organizations to aid the affected people of Southeast Asia after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake Dec. 26 triggered devastating tsunamis.

The Mercy Ministries Foundation shelter is entering its second year. The shelter started when Fred and Dianne Doell, international directors of Christian-based Mercy Ministry here, started taking in children from the slums, or areas where homeless families set up tarps in trees and live without running water or electricity near hotel trash dumps.

“The children we take in are all considered high risk,” said Dianne, who has been visiting the slums for seven years and is currently supporting 10 orphans, ages one to 13. “The children lack basic living needs like clean water and food or are suffering from outright abuse, morally, educationally and socially.”

Dianne pointed to a four-year-old boy who has been in the shelter for nearly one year and said that his mother disappeared and he had been sold to about five different people before arriving here.

“The (children) usually come in without wanting to belong or sometimes (the children are) rebellious,” Dianne said. “Within a very short space of time, they sing and dance and get their characters back … that boy Praeme fought everything when he got here and now he plays.”

The U.S. military started visiting and assisting the Mercy Ministries staff in 2002 during Cobra Gold, an annual military exercise in Thailand, according to Religious Programs Assistant Petty Officer 1st Class David E. Siegrist with III Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group based in Okinawa, Japan. Navy Lt. Judy Malana, who was then chaplain, III MEF, started the visits after finding Mercy Ministries here using the internet.

Corporal Angel A. Huerta, a heavy equipment operator with 12th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, currently serving with CSF-536’s Offload Preparation Party, said the shelter reminds him of the Guadalajara, Mexico, homeless community he lived in when he was 4- to 5-years old.

“The living conditions here are similar to what I had … a small community of people sticking together as one family,” said Huerta, who helped clean the shelter and wished he could more for the children. “This is one of the things I enjoy doing the most … helping those who are less fortunate.”

Siegrest said he was here three years ago and met a boy named Cop, who is in the shelter now as a 5 year old. According to Siegrest, Cop was sold to a pimp at the age of two for about 1,500 baht, which is the equivalent of $25. An elderly woman collected the same amount of money from the people in the slums, bought Cop back and brought him to the shelter.

“I think back to my rough childhood and it was nothing compared to seeing this,” said Sgt. Walter F. Washington, a maintenance floor chief with Combat Assault Battalion, 3rd MarDiv. After hearing all of the stories about the children, Washington said, “I couldn’t do that to a dog man.”

The Marines were able to accomplish needed tasks here that would have taken the Mercy Ministry staff and volunteers about a month, according to Fred.

“This is a big help,” said Fred, who is also the pastor and founder of Victory Family Church here. “We never get help like this (from anyone else) … these guys came to work and they are really working hard.”

For more information about Operation Unified Assistance visit the Web site at www.marines.mil/csf536 or e-mail Gunnery Sgt. Lawrence Torres III at torresl@mcbbutler.usmc.mil.

If you would like a hometown interview over the phone here, please call 66-038-244-620 or the duty phone at 66-99-289-346.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

January 31, 2005

Insurgent attacks drop in I MEF area
Marines report activity slowed after Fallujah

By Gordon Lubold
Times staff writer


The number of attacks against Marine forces in Iraq has dropped by two-thirds, a signal the top Marine general in country said indicates that U.S. forces have largely “broken the back” of the insurgency in Anbar province.
Lt. Gen. John Sattler, commander of I Marine Expeditionary Force, said much work remains to be done in the province, which includes the two resistance strongholds of Fallujah and Ramadi.

However, a 66 percent drop in the number of attacks against Marines is a sign the insurgency was losing momentum just two weeks before Iraqi elections, Sattler said in a Jan. 18 video teleconference with Pentagon reporters.

Sattler said there were 270 reported attacks on U.S. forces during the first week of November versus 92 reported attacks during one of the first weeks of January. Many of the 92 attacks did not result in casualties and therefore are considered ineffective.

Sattler also pointed out that Jan. 18 was the 56th consecutive day at Camp Fallujah in which his Marines have not been hit with indirect fire, mortar rounds or rockets.

“You could say that might be coincidental, but I don't think so,” Sattler said. “I think that’s an act of breaking the back of those who would attempt to export their terror and their murder out of the town of Fallujah.”

Since he took the I MEF reins from Lt. Gen. James Conway on Sept. 12, Sattler has commanded the force during a critical period. In prepping the battlefield for the Jan. 30 elections, Sattler led Marines into Fallujah in November in a dramatic siege that many say effectively quelled resistance there.

Iraqis in that region are feeling safer and showing more confidence, he said. Since Iraqi and U.S. forces reopened Fallujah to its citizens Dec. 23, the forces have seen increases in the number of citizens moving through checkpoints around the city — from 921 on the first day the city reopened to more than 9,400 citizens Jan. 17, he said.

Cash to Iraqis

In addition, more government workers and independent contractors arrived to help U.S. and Iraqi forces, a signal that despite fears of retribution, more Iraqis have confidence in the way things are going.

Marines are also distributing cash to Iraqis who might have been affected by the assault on Fallujah. The head of each household is being given a one-time, humanitarian assistance payment of $200 to buy goods and services that might be needed upon returning to the city. With as many as 34,000 households in need, the military is paying about $6.8 million. Officials plan to provide additional funds to help rebuild houses and other structures, Sattler said.

Sattler’s optimism comes amid prevalent fears that violence in Iraq would surge as the elections approach.

Attacks continue around the country; near Baghdad, 25 Iraqis were killed in four separate attacks Jan. 19. A car bomb that detonated near the Australian embassy killed two Australian soldiers.

As President Bush took the oath of office for his second term Jan. 20, polls showed an increasing number of Americans believe the conflict is not worth the cost in lives and money.

A Los Angeles Times poll reported that the percentage of Americans who believed the situation in Iraq was worth going to war over had dropped from 44 percent in October to 39 percent by Jan. 17.

But there is reason to be hopeful, Sattler said, especially in the way Iraqi security forces are growing and becoming more experienced. He noted that they would be instrumental in providing security for polling places during the election.

There are eight battalions of Iraqi security forces in Fallujah working alongside three Marine battalions and a regimental combat team headquarters, he said.

But, he said, the Iraqis are “taking the lead.”

“There’s growth — there’s lots of room for growth everywhere, but that’s why we work side by side. That’s why we trade ideas and thoughts,” he said.

Ellie