Fire fighters who can take the heat head to Iraq

[thedrifter]

Fire fighters who can take the heat head to Iraq
Submitted by: 2nd Force Service Support Group
Story Identification #: 200543134146
Story by Sgt. Kristin S. Jochums



CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (April 3, 2005) -- Chris Linto grew up knowing that he wanted to be a firefighter, but if asked a year ago, he wouldn’t have pictured himself here.

“I grew up across the street from the district fire chief,” said the 32-year-old Montgomery, Ala., native. “We always went to the fire station to see him and I would get on the trucks, it grew on me and I knew it was what I wanted to do.”

When the opportunity was presented to him, he jumped at the chance to fight fires in Iraq.

“They were looking for experienced fire fighters to come over here,” said Linto, an 11-year fire fighter and a 10-year Montgomery Fire Department fire fighter.

Linto, along with 27 other fire fighters employed by Wackenhut Services, Incorporated, make up the Camp Taqaddum Fire Department.

Prior to coming here, the fire fighters go through a week of training in Houston where they go through administrative classes and brief them on what to expect.

“Basically they told us it’s gonna be hot,” Linto chuckled.

The fire fighters are on call 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. They are split between two stations: one at the Kellogg, Brown and Root compound and the other on main side here.

“Service members do a lot for us and this is a service we can provide to them here,” he continued.

A week after the current group arrived, the fire fighters were on their way to a training drill at Entry Control Point 2 when incoming enemy fire postponed their training.

Not more than two minutes after they pulled out of the fire station parking lot a rocket hit, throwing shrapnel into the side of one of the trucks and on the side of the fire station, said Linto. “That let us know that we were really here.”

Despite getting a lot of the same calls they would at home such as false calls, strange odors, smoke in the air caused by burn barrels and drifting smoke from neighboring villages, the fire department receives Iraq-unique calls such as rocket attacks, generator fires and tent fires.

Some of their training from home has to be set aside due to the different environment here. The major differences are the types of tactics they use.

“Where I am from we do a lot of interior-attack fire fighting and here we really can’t do that as much because we have ordnance we have to worry about,” said Linto.

When not fighting fires, they are busy training and constantly striving for personal and professional improvement.

Part of the training they have to overcome is that they are a hodge-podge fire department and they have to learn to work as a team. Along with learning to overcome different styles of fire fighting, another challenge they face is learning how to fight fires along side the Marine Corps’ Aircraft Rescue Firefighters.

“Back home everyone is on the same page as far as the way you lay lines and the way you do things,” said Linto. “Here everyone is a bit different, but the training we do together helps.”

“We had an incident where a rocket hit a tanker and the ARFF was using their vehicle to spray from one side and we were getting it from the other,” said Linto. “It was a perfect two-pronged attack. It couldn’t have worked out better.”

Their training includes inspections on their equipment, work on laying lines and going over what can be done in certain places around the base. The water supply here is different than in the states because there are no fire hydrants.

The water supply is convoyed in and placed into water bladders by Lake Habbaniyah. The fire fighters fill their tanker trucks there and then store the water in a 9,000 gallon tank next to one of the departments.

Recently the fire fighters found a 20,000 gallon tank at the scrap yard here which they are trying to put somewhere on base to give them added water resources.

“We are trying to strategically place water tanks around the base to help cut down our water supply problem,” said John P. Garber, the fire captain here.

With their continuous training, strategic placing of water tanks and the addition of another station, their response time has been reduced.

“Now that there are two locations on base and because of all our training, our response time has gone from 15 minutes to between seven and nine minutes,” said Garber.

“The response time is good for the location because some of the vehicles are not made for the type of terrain here,” said Garber, a 45–year-old Beaufort, S.C., native. “We have to take care of the vehicles because if they go down that is it. The trucks are built for municipal type streets.

“Right now we are doing really good with our vehicles,” he added as he knocked on wood.

The weather also plays a major factor in fighting fires.

“If you fight fires in a 140 degree heat it’s going to take a lot out of you pretty quick,” Garber, the fire fighter of 26 years added.

Spending so much time training with the ARFF has brought them together, even in friendly competition.

“We play volleyball with the ARFF guys, we have a bit of a rivalry with them right now. The last time we played we beat them,” said Linto. “The next time we play they said they are going to bring their ‘A’ game.”

The one thing the ARFF did beat the fire fighters at was a video game challenge.

“They challenged us to Halo 2,” Linto said. “They beat us down pretty bad, so as a joke they put 4 crosses in a pile of dirt outside with our video game call names. It’s pretty funny.”

Even when having fun they are always prepared.

“We take a truck to the flight line when we play volleyball, so if anything happens we just respond directly from there,” Linto said.

The fire fighters pointed out that there seems to be a lot of mutual respect between them and the service members.

“I didn’t know what it would be like to be on a Marine base but after being here I have gained so much respect for them,” said Linto. “Service members walk by our tables at chow and thank us for being here and for what we do, but we have the same respect for them because of what they do.”


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Recruiters Shift Focus To Parents
USA TODAY
April 5, 2005

WASHINGTON - Faced with wilting recruitment and ongoing violence in Iraq, Army and Marine Corps recruiters are turning their attention to those most likely to oppose them: parents.

The two branches are shifting from a strategy that focused first on wooing potential recruits to one aimed at gaining the trust and attention of their parents by using grass-roots initiatives and multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns.

The public relations push comes as the Army and Marines, which absorb the brunt of the casualties in Iraq, encounter one of their worst periods in recruitment.

Among their initiatives:






* Four new "influencer" TV ads by the Army, aimed at moms, dads, coaches and ministers. The ads air this month.

* A decision to pair Army recruiters with Iraq and Afghanistan veterans on visits to the homes of potential recruits. The idea: Tell parents "the Army story," says Army spokeswoman Lt. Col. Pamela Hart. * A nine-minute video, "Parents Speak," in which parents of Marines say the Corps has been good for their children.

* A direct-mail campaign by the Marines to parents of high school juniors and seniors. The Marines highlight the benefits of joining and ask for an opportunity to talk to the students' parents about a military career.

Studies for the Army show parents are the top obstacles to recruiting. "Opposition to . . . military service is increasing significantly among both moms and dads," says a study of 1,200 potential recruits by the firm Millward Brown.

Another look at potential recruits, by GfK Custom Research, found that the biggest influences in candidates' decisions to join were mothers, named by 81% of respondents, followed by fathers, at 70%.

"Reach the parents with the Army's new message, particularly moms," the study urges.

Both branches are trying to convince parents their children will be instilled with integrity and job skills and that service in Iraq is not a death sentence.

Still, recruitment numbers sag. In February, the Army missed its recruiting goal for the first time in nearly five years. The Army missed its March goal by 32%.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Missing Soldier's Case To Be Reviewed
USA TODAY
April 5, 2005

BATAVIA, Ohio - Each morning before she leaves for work, Carolyn Maupin says a prayer that someone will find or rescue her son Matt, the only U.S. soldier classified as a captive in Iraq and unaccounted for.

Now she has another wish -- that the Army will continue to believe he is alive.

On Wednesday, almost exactly a year after Spc. Matt Maupin disappeared, the Army is scheduled to convene a panel to decide whether he should remain classified as a captive or be considered dead.

"We don't want him to be forgotten," Carolyn Maupin said. "I am just afraid that if they move on, then what will we say when he shows up alive and we aren't there waiting for him?"

Top Army officials said Maupin has not been forgotten.

"We continue to look for Spc. Maupin, but we cannot provide any further details about those efforts," said Lt. Col. Pamela Hart, an Army spokeswoman.

Still, the law requires the Army to re-examine his case after a year, and a panel of officers will meet in Washington to review evidence linked to Maupin's disappearance.

They will decide whether to reclassify him as "deceased, body not recovered."

If reclassified, he would join 1,531 other servicemembers who have died in the war in Iraq.

Maupin, who joined the Reserve in 2003, was captured April 9, 2004, after a firefight with Iraqi insurgents that killed two other soldiers from his platoon.

He was later shown as a hostage in a video broadcast on an Arabic-language news channel.

Thousands of well-wishers have written or called his family.

In February, when the 724th Transportation Company out of Bartonville, Ill., his Reserve unit, came home, it did so without Maupin. That doesn't mean the Army will give up on him in Wednesday's meeting, said Sgt. Mike Bailey, 49, a member of the unit who said he got to know Maupin fairly well.

"I am an old Ranger, and we don't leave a soldier behind," Bailey said. "I don't think the Army will, either."

If the Army decides that Maupin is dead, it may be in part because of a second video that was shown on Arab television in June. That video purports to be footage of Maupin's execution, and it shows a uniformed figure with his back to the camera fall into a shallow grave.

"It just doesn't look like Matt," Carolyn Maupin said. "In my heart, I just knew it wasn't him. I still believe he is alive and out there somewhere."

Rob Lindley, a friend of Maupin's since sixth grade, said he is not surprised Maupin's disappearance has drawn so much attention.

"Matt gave a face to the war," Lindley said. "You can see him there in that video, you can empathize with him. He could be anybody's son, anybody's best friend."



Ellie

[thedrifter]

Convicted GI Haunted By Decision <br />
Chicago Tribune <br />
April 5, 2005 <br />
<br />
Former U.S. Army Capt. Roger Maynulet knows it is the image that will haunt him for the rest of his life. <br />
<br />
The highly...

[thedrifter]

Pentagon Too Slow On Anthrax Alarm <br />
Associated Press <br />
April 5, 2005 <br />
<br />
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon was too slow to inform local officials about the anthrax scare in Defense Department mail...

[thedrifter]

Inmates, Guards Clash At Prison
Associated Press
April 5, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Prisoners at Iraq's largest detention facility protested the transfer of several detainees deemed "unruly" by authorities, throwing rocks and setting tents on fire in a disturbance that injured four guards and 12 detainees, the military said Monday.

Friday's protest was the first of at least three violent incidents at Iraqi prisons during the past four days, with the latest occurring Monday at the notorious Abu Ghraib facility. A suicide bomber driving a tractor blew himself up outside the prison, wounding four civilians.

On Saturday, insurgents attacked Abu Ghraib with rocket-propelled grenades and two car bombs, wounding dozens of U.S. service members and prisoners, the U.S. military said.

Friday's protest at Camp Bucca - which holds about 6,000 prisoners, nearly two-thirds of all those in Iraq - caused only minor injuries before being brought under control, authorities said.

Murtadha al-Hajaj, an official at radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's office in the southern city of Umm Qasr, near Camp Bucca, said several al-Sadr supporters were wounded during the confrontation. He said they were protesting a lack of access to medical treatment and claimed U.S. guards opened fire, although he did not know if they wounded prisoners.





U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Guy Rudisill said he did not know if the guards opened fire, but he denied that any detainee was deprived of medical treatment.

Last month, the U.S. military said guards discovered a 600-foot tunnel - dug with makeshift tools - leading out of Camp Bucca. The tunnel reached beyond the compound fence, with an opening hidden beneath a floorboard, but no one had escaped, authorities said.

The other facility targeted by insurgents, Abu Ghraib, was at the center of the prison abuse scandal last year after photographs were publicized showing U.S. soldiers humiliating Iraqi inmates, including having them pile naked in a human pyramid. The United States holds nearly 3,500 prisoners at Abu Ghraib and about 7,000 elsewhere in Iraq.

Rudisill said prison officials heard Monday's explosion, but he said it wasn't close enough to cause any damage to the prison. The blast killed the tractor's driver and injured four Iraqis, police 1st Lt. Akram al-Zubaeyee said.

Al-Qaida in Iraq said 10 of its fighters died in Saturday's assault on Abu Ghraib, while the U.S. military put the urgents' casualties at one dead and about 50 wounded. Forty-four American soldiers and 13 prisoners were injured in the fighting - the latest in a series of large-scale attacks by insurgents in Iraq.

In an Internet posting, Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed about 20 militants scaled the prison's walls and one of them reached a prison tower and yelled: "God is great!" It said two of its fighters were wounded and 10 were killed, including seven suicide bombers.

The statement, which appeared late Sunday, was impossible to independently verify, and it conflicted with the U.S. account.

The U.S. military denied anyone got inside the prison and said no inmates escaped. It said only one suicide bomber participated, while others fired assault rifles, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.

Rudisill said he did not believe any attackers were captured. He said the wounded insurgents either escaped on their own or were dragged away by other militants.

The military said the insurgents staged simultaneous assaults on multiple locations at the prison, focusing on two guard towers and then using a car bomb to try to penetrate a gate.

Combat helicopters helped push back the attack, which was the largest at Abu Ghraib since insurgents fired mortar rounds into the compound nearly a year ago, killing more than 20 detainees and injuring nearly 100.

Also, the military said a detainee evacuated from an unnamed facility to the 115th Field Hospital died Monday after suffering gunshot wounds two weeks ago during an attack on U.S.-led coalition forces. The incident is under investigation, the military said in a statement.

Some Iraqi lawmakers have called for the release of the prisoners at Abu Ghraib, and the National Assembly's newly elected speaker, Hajim al-Hassani, told Al-Jazeera television the topic will be among the first discussed by lawmakers.

"There are some problems regarding the security issue and troubles concerning Abu Ghraib detainees," he said. "These issues will be the main subject we are concerned about in the National Assembly."

President Bush called al-Hassani on Monday to congratulate him on becoming parliament speaker.

"The two leaders expressed confidence that democracy will succeed in Iraq," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. "The president reiterated our commitment of continued support for Iraq as they move forward."

Iraq's interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, also congratulated al-Hassani, saying his election was "a hopeful sign as you begin the assembly's tasks, including laying down the constitution."

The selection of al-Hassani, a Sunni Arab, ended weeks of bickering and cleared the way for the formation of a government more than two months after Iraq's first free election in 50 years. Legislators next meet Wednesday, when they plan to name Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani as Iraq's president.

Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan said Monday that most of Iraq's neighbors - including Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia - are helping Iraq's government fight terrorism.

"The terrorist attacks have been limited now because of the cooperation of the neighboring countries," said Shaalan, who previously accused Iran and Syria of supporting insurgents in Iraq.

He also welcomed an edict issued Friday by Sunni clerics that called for Iraqis to join the police and army. "The Iraqi army will accept the new waves of volunteers," Shaalan said.

The edict, read by a cleric in the Association of Muslim Scholars, instructed enlistees to refrain from helping foreign troops against their own countrymen. It said Sunnis should join to prevent the police and army from falling into "the hands of those who have caused chaos, destruction and violated the sanctities."

On Monday, a bomb exploded at a cafe in the northern city of Talafar, killing two civilians and injuring 13, local official Salem al-Haj Eissa said. He speculated the bomb was intended for Iraqi army soldiers who frequent the cafe but said no soldiers were thought to be there.

In the same city, on Saturday, an American soldier was killed and another was wounded by insurgent gunfire, the U.S. military said Monday.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

New Cotton Fabric May Absorb Toxins
Associated Press
April 5, 2005

LUBBOCK, Texas - Cotton, the fabric of your life, could soon have the potential to save it. Scientists at Texas Tech University's Institute of Environmental and Human Health on Monday unveiled a new composite cotton fabric they say will protect against biological and chemical agents.

The fabric, developed with the U.S. Department of Defense in mind, also brings a fresh market to cotton farmers in West Texas, the nation's largest producing region.

"We are the first to bring cotton into the national defense arena," said Seshadri Ramkumar, the researcher at the institute who developed the fabric. "This is a big thing."

The nonwoven fabric is "exactly" the type the defense department placed in its decontamination and science technology strategy, he said. A thin piece of carbon is encased on either side by the nonwoven cotton.

The fabric can be used as a wipe to remove dangerous contaminants from a variety of surfaces, including human skin and intricate equipment on fighter planes. The fabric is lightweight, soft, flexible and able to be draped over unusually shaped objects.





The material neutralizes and absorbs toxic chemicals used in chemical warfare and pesticides.

Another use could be the inner lining of a protective suit.

"This is a win-win day for Texas Tech," said U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Lubbock, who attended a news conference announcing the technology and its licensing to a Texas company. "It's a win-win day for the American people."

Now, the military uses a cloth made from carbon, which leaves skin and other surfaces dirty.

The fabric passed tests for bacteria, yeast, fungus and mold but has not been tested for anthrax and other potentially deadly biological agents. But enzymes specifically targeting a particular agent can be applied.

"Once it has been tested for nerve agents, sure it can" save lives, Ramkumar said.

Cotton watchers in West Texas said the fabric presents an exciting avenue for area producers.

"It's an opportunity to add value to our locally grown fiber and add a new income source to our area economy," said Roger Haldenby, a spokesman for the Plains Cotton Growers, which serves a 41-county region.

In recent days, the university licensed a Waco-based company, Hobbs Bonded Fibers, to market the fabric.

Carey Hobbs, the company's chief executive officer, said negotiations with government officials could begin within a couple of months.

"This is something that could be very meaningful and contribute to the country's mission right now," Hobbs said. "This is an opportunity you look for your whole business life."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Legend of Golden Greek lives on 50 years later <br />
Submitted by: MCB Camp Lejeune <br />
Story Identification #: 200544133814 <br />
Story by Mr. Brian Berger, Lejeune Sports Editor <br />
<br />
<br />
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MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP...

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Marine returns home after tour in Iraq
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By Ron Maloney
The Herald-Zeitung
Published April 05, 2005

Canyon Intermediate School fifth-grade teacher Debbi Haecker wears a gold pin with the U.S. Marine Corps cheer, "oohrah" on it.

A balloon and a big old, festive "welcome home" sign are taped to the front door of her garage.

That's because her son, Travis, was sitting on the couch in her living room Monday, playing with Wilma, her daschund - and no longer fighting insurgents in Iraq.

His unit, B Co., First Regiment, 23rd Marines, an Austin-based reserve unit, returned from Iraq Thursday.

A proud mom watched her boy, now 25 and an infantry corporal, roll the dog on its back, scratch its belly and rub its face and ears.

"It's funny seeing him sitting there, playing like a boy, realizing he was a big, bad Marine," Mom said.

It might be funny now - now that he's home. It wasn't so funny a few years ago when he signed up for the Marines or, especially, last year when she found out he'd be going to Iraq.

"I didn't want him to go into the Marines," Haecker recalled. "I said, 'As soon as you go into the service, we'll get in a war.'"

The 9/11 attacks happened while Travis was in infantry school.

He returned to New Braunfels and to EMT school in San Antonio - and within months was deployed to Cuba to guard the fence at Guantanamo Bay, where he stayed for nearly a year.

At the end of that, Travis signed up for a paramedic course and began the application process for becoming a San Antonio firefighter.

Then, last May, his unit was activated again. This time, Travis would have to withdraw from the paramedic program and the firefighter application process.

"I was surprised," Travis acknowledged. "There's always talk it could happen, but they always tell you to keep on with your life. Then they call, and say, 'You have 72 hours to deploy...'."

Still, even though he has so far spent more than two years on active duty during a "reserve" hitch, Travis said he has no complaints.

First, he said, he knew the deal when he signed the paperwork.

"I signed up for it and I agreed to it," he said.

Secondly, he said he'd feel a little funny being home while his fellow Marines went to Iraq. Reserve units, Travis said, are different from active duty units because they are tied to a geographical area - in his case Texas and Louisiana - and the people in the units work together for years and know one another well.

"We've been together four years now," Travis said. "I know all their families."

Debbi said she was pretty unhappy to know her son would be going to Iraq because she'd been following the situation on the news and knew it would be different than in Cuba.

"I was more stressed out because I knew he was in the infantry and I knew what had been happening over there," she said. "It scared me because I knew he'd be shooting at people and being shot at."

Still wrestling with the dog, Travis boxed its ears and tried an ironic joke solders everywhere tell each other to lighten the conversation.

"Getting shot at is OK," he said. "It's getting shot that sucks."

Travis said the thing that surprised him most about Iraq was that his reserve unit wasn't relegated to a support role like in Cuba. In Iraq, his unit was a combat unit - one that was part of the first wave into the fight to remove an insurgent enemy in Al Falusia.

While Travis was in Iraq, he'd communicate with his mom or his dad, Ronnie Haecker, by e-mail - and occasionally, for short conversations by satellite phone, from a rooftop in Iraq.

Mom came to understand the drill: Her boy wouldn't tell her exactly where he was, only where he had been or where he might be going. The worst times, she said, were those when he let her know he'd be "out of reach." That was code for combat.

"I'd check on the news every morning, and I'd look for him," Debbi said. She would concentrate on the images, often shot in the eerie greens and blacks of night vision equipment, trying to pick out his face.

"It was the worst when he was in Al Falusia," Debbi said.

Travis said his superiors told him Operation Phantom Fury, the encirclement and pacification of Al Falusia, would take three days. It lasted three weeks.

The way to survive in combat, he said, was to keep focused - and pay attention to details.

"You're always tired and hungry," he said. But in combat, you have to set that aside. Your superiors - non-commissioned officers - would watch your work to be sure you didn't get sloppy or lackadaisical, he said.

"I think the thing I'm most proud of is we're the only unit in our regiment that brought everyone home," Travis said. "We all got combat ribbons, we gave out more than 20 Purple Hearts (the American ribbon given to people injured in action) and sent nine people, I think, home with serious injuries. But we never lost one."

Debbi said she was just glad he was back, unhurt.

"I was really nervous," she said. "But he's proud to be a Marine, and I see now why he did it. I'm proud of him."


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Puppy Reunites With Marine Who Rescued Him In Iraq
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April 4, 2005

SAN DIEGO -- A San Diego Marine has been reunited with a puppy he helped rescue from the war zone in Iraq.

IMAGES: Marine Reunites With Puppy

The reunion was called Operation: Get It Done, and at its center of it was the 6-month-old puppy called Lava. It took four months and a lot of assistance from the Helen Woodward animal shelter in Rancho Santa Fe to get the puppy to the United States.

Marines discovered the puppy in an abandoned house in Fallujah during combat. They said he was in bad shape. Lt. Col. Jay Kopelman took the puppy in and nursed it back to health.

"He was just great to play with, and he ran around a lot in the yard of the house we were occupying," said Kopelman. "He was just someone to come home to and kind of play with, and put everyone at ease at the end of a tough day."

Kopelman told NBC 7/39 that lava gave the Marines much more than he took.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Instant recognition at Marine's return
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By Karen Kucher and Cheryl Clark
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS
April 4, 2005

CAMP PENDLETON - As she waited yesterday for the buses to arrive with 129 Marines back from Iraq, Anne Everett worried her husband, Ben, might not recognize her.

After all, in seven months she'd lost 55 pounds of pregnancy weight and dyed her red hair blonde. And she was holding their much larger daughter, Audrey, only six weeks old when 1st Lt. Ben Everett left for Fallujah in September.

So Anne devised a plan. She'd hang back as Marines tumbled out of the buses to find their loved ones and let the crowd thin away.

Then there she and Audrey would be, smiling "in the background," Anne in a new linen dress, the same sunshine yellow "as the roses he always gave me.

"I just hope I don't cry too much," she said.

But when the buses finally arrived, about two hours late, she couldn't contain her excitement.

Her eyes darted across the crowd of young men - many with the same short haircut and tan cammies - until they found the right one.

Anne forgot about the plan. Instead, she hurried forward, shouting Ben's name until his eyes lit up.

And they held each other close and kissed, as they had imagined for so long.

For Ben, this second tour of duty in Iraq with the 3rd battalion, 5th Marine Regiment was intense. Nineteen of the battalion's 1,100 members were killed and 244 were wounded, including 59 with injuries that required medical evacuation back to the United States, a Marine spokesman said.

And it had been a long trip home - from Fallujah by plane, starting five days ago, to Kuwait, and on to Germany and then Maine. The troops finally landed at March Air Force Base in Riverside County early yesterday.

The last leg, by bus to Camp Pendleton, seemed to take forever. And Ben was tired.

He leaned over and gazed at his daughter with awe. But Audrey wasn't sure and looked to her mother for reassurance. "I'll soon be her favorite," Ben laughed.

"My life has changed a lot since I left," he said. "I don't really think it had sunk in. But it will now. I have a 9-month-old baby I don't know how to hold."

Audrey has learned to crawl and play peek-a-boo and eats solid food. She babbles incessantly - a noise so unfamiliar to Ben that during a recent phone call, he repeatedly asked Anne what the noise was.

The baby said "da da" for the first time a few weeks ago - not to her father, but to another Marine on base.

While Ben was away, Anne met regularly with a Marine spouses support group. She painted most of the rooms in their town house at Camp Pendleton. She bought a clothes dryer when the old one broke and picked out a new sport utility vehicle to replace the family's old car after it developed too many mechanical problems.

The couple tried to stay close during the deployment through letters, e-mails and phone calls. But there were 52 days - from Thanksgiving through mid-January as their fourth wedding anniversary and Anne's 27th birthday came and went - without a single phone call.

Anne spent Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's with family back in Illinois. She was there when Ben's grandfather unexpectedly died.

It turned out that Ben's battalion was part of the operation that battled and won control of Fallujah from insurgents. As the executive officer of the weapons company, Ben helped plan and coordinate artillery and mortar fire and air support for the battalion.

His unit held memorials in Iraq for the men who died. "They were all heroes, every last one of them," Ben said in a recent e-mail to The San Diego Union-Tribune.

In recent weeks, Anne has worked with other Marine spouses to make sure the single Marines who live in barracks would come home to neatly made beds. They baked dozens of cookies and put together gift packages, staying up until 3 a.m. yesterday to get everything done.

Now that Ben is back, there's so much to do, and to plan. On Saturday, they'll celebrate his 27th birthday.

"He wants to go to In-N-Out Burger, and to Chili's restaurant for margaritas and eat chocolate chip cookies," she laughed. "Is there a theme here?"

They are planning trips to Monterey or San Francisco and to New Jersey for her brother's wedding. They will crowd in a lot of family activities before August, when Ben is scheduled to return to Iraq.

Would she ever try to talk him out of it? "No. I would never do that," she said. "I knew, when I met him and married him, because he told me, 'The Marines come first. Then you.' "


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines at Ali Al Salem meet Corps' senior leaders
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Submitted by: MCLB Blount Island
Story by Staff Sgt. Michael Reed

ALI AL SALEM, Kuwait (April 4, 2005) -- Gen. Michael W. Hagee, Commandant of the Marine Corps, and Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps John L. Estrada stopped here to change aircraft before continuing on into Iraq.

Marines from Marine Corps Central Command Coordination Element Kuwait greeted the Corps' top leaders and took advantage of the aircraft transition to talk and snap a few photos with the commandant and sergeant major.

For Cpl. Ceasar Hidalgo, administrative clerk, and many of the other MARCENT Marines, it was their first time meeting the Corps' top Marines.

According to the Kissimmee, Fla., native, the meeting was a highlight in his career.

Gen. Hagee and the sergeant major will spend the week meeting with Marines, touring bases, receiving briefs, and observing training throughout Iraq.

"There was one other time I has even seen the Commandant, but it was through a glass window," said Hidalgo.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Student deserted reserves <br />
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <br />
The Daily Northwestern <br />
April 05, 2005 <br />
<br />
A McCormick senior is being held at military...

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The story of Sgt. Smith's last hours
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By Mark Sappenfield
Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
April 5, 2005

WASHINGTON - The last time Sgt. 1st Class Paul Smith had slept for any length of time was two days before, and for the men of his platoon, the hours in between had passed only with teeth-grinding tension.

Just the previous night, there had been the long, slow haul to Baghdad through hours so dark that even night-vision goggles were useless. Nose-to-tail, their convoy had crept across the Iraqi marshes amid fizzing bullets and the pop of indiscriminate gunfire, hemmed in their one-lane road by the landscape, the enemy, and the unyielding blackness.

Yet when morning broke and B Company of the 11th Engineers arrived unscathed at Saddam Airport - some even snapping photos along the way - Sergeant Smith was still uneasy. Things were too quiet, and the airport's high walls obscured the battlefield around him.

Like almost every choice he made, Smith's next decision was straight from the military textbook - punching through a wall with a bulldozer to look around. Yet it set in motion events that would eventually claim his life as he stood in the turret of a crippled vehicle, holding at bay almost single-handedly an advancing force of as many as 100 Iraqis.

When President Bush presented Smith's family with the Medal of Honor at the White House Monday, exactly two years after Smith's death, he honored the 33-year-old sergeant for what he and others in the military have deemed one of the most valorous acts ever performed by an American soldier.

Less than 3,500 of the 42 million soldiers who have served the United States have won the Medal of Honor - the highest medal the military bestows for bravery and sacrifice. Before now, none have received it for action in Afghanistan or Iraq, and only two have received it for action since Vietnam.
A sergeant and his men

For those who knew Smith, it is the perfect testament to a man who devoted his life to his colleagues and country. And in a time when the military is increasingly reliant on smart bombs and satellites, it is a reminder that the substance of America's military might - sacrifice - has remained essentially unchanged since the days of boots and bayonets on the beaches of Normandy.

"That's just Sergeant Smith," says Col. Will Grimsley, who knew Smith and reviewed witness accounts of the battle for the medal nomination. "Clearly, he was one of those guys who led by example."

In truth, he was one of those guys who generally drove his troops to their wit's end. During rifle inspections - of which there were many - Smith took to inspecting the cleanliness of his soldiers' weapons with a Q-tip. If one soldier failed, everyone in the platoon paid the penalty.

"If one guy in the platoon wasn't up to standards, we'd be out in formation at 9 p.m.," says Sgt. Daniel Medrano, who was a specialist in 2003.

The lesson of teamwork and attention to detail, though, was obvious - and learned from experience. Smith hadn't always been the overbearing sergeant. As a child, he had a great love of blowing things up with cherry bombs and was prone to taking things apart just so he could put them back together again. Even during his first years in the Army, his love of motorcycles and fast living seemed to trump any inclinations toward more sedate soldering.

Then came the first Gulf War, which left Smith a changed man. Twelve years later, as he sat in his tent on cool Kuwait nights with Lt. Brian Borkowski, waiting to reprise the same invasion with a new Army, he spoke of the friends he lost in the first war - and how no training could prepare the lieutenant for what would come next.

"A lot of people do things just for face," says Lieutenant Borkowski. "He was more genuinely motivated. He was in the first war, and what motivated him was to make sure things were done right."
April 4, 2003: Saddam Airport

When Smith and his troops arrived at Saddam Airport on April 4, 2003 - their final objective - he turned to Borkowski with his concern. Their patch of the airport was a four-lane highway divided by a median and bordered on both sides by high walls. With the walls, they were blind, and the ease with which the company had arrived at its destination was almost unsettling.

"It was very, very quiet. Every two minutes or so, there was gunfire, but it was so sporadic that it made it kind of eerie," says Borkowski. "We started to realize that we had surprised the heck out of [the Iraqis], and they were just waking up to find Americans all around them."

As Borkowski hurried off to a nearby reconnaissance mission, Smith called for a bulldozer to plow through one wall. On the other side, he found a courtyard, and, not long after, he received a call: build a makeshift prisoner-of-war camp for a group of newly captured Iraqis. The courtyard would do nicely.

There was simply the matter of inspecting it and figuring out what was behind a gate on the far side. When one of the company's personnel carriers crashed through, it found what Smith had feared: a nest of several dozen Republican Guards.

At first, the firefight seemed nothing out of the ordinary. Borkowski listened to reports coming over the radio with no great alarm. After all, the forces at Saddam Airport that day were the vanguard of the American Army, and as the morning progressed, skirmishes were breaking out everywhere.

Gradually, though, the reports turned worse. The personnel carrier that had barged through the gate had been hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, and the three soldiers inside had been wounded. What's more, a Bradley fighting vehicle brought in at the beginning of the firefight was now out of ammunition.

What had begun as a minor flashpoint was becoming the site of a significant Iraqi strike. Not only were the Guards occupying Smith and his men outside the broken gate, but they had also taken a tower that overlooked the courtyard and the road, pinning down the remainder of the troops from the high ground.

"It was a mounted counterattack against what was perceived to be a weak flank," says Colonel Grimsley.
Composure in the line of fire

The consequences were dire. If Smith's troops broke, the Iraqi troops would be able to move potentially unimpeded from the courtyard gate all the way to a nearby command center, flanking a mortar unit, and overrunning a station that held both the wounded and several embedded journalists.

Specialist Medrano was among the soldiers trying to get the wounded soldiers out of the damaged personnel carrier and down the road to the aid station. During his three years in the Army, he had spent all but a few months under Smith, subject to his meticulous weapons checks but also a witness to another side of the hardened soldier - a side that sometimes cracked jokes, a side that stayed up nights in Kosovo talking with Medrano about family, a side of a sergeant that embraced a lowly specialist.

"All the training I did, and all the things I learned were from him," he says. "He was always trying to take care of you."

At that moment, as Medrano was lifting one of the wounded to safety, he glanced up at Smith, who was now manning the gun atop the personnel carrier. "We made eye contact, and he just waved me off," says Medrano. "He was telling me to take care of these people."

With the help of several other soldiers, Smith backed the vehicle into the courtyard so that he could cover both the tower and the gate. For perhaps 10 minutes, he fired more than 300 rounds to prevent the Iraqi forces from spilling through the bulldozer-made hole in the wall and on to the command center.

"Not all soldiers would jump on top of a vehicle that has already gotten hit while bloody people are being taken out of it," says Medrano. "He did it because he knew if he didn't, we would get slaughtered."

Led by another sergeant, Medrano and two other soldiers used Smith's covering fire to move cautiously to the base of the tower, where they took out the Iraqi soldiers. But by that time, Smith's gun, too, had fallen silent. He had been shot in the head, the only US fatality in the firefight.

President Bush presented the Medal of Honor to Smith's son, David. To Colonel Grimsley, it is a medal that speaks not only of the heroics of one man, but of a whole army: "I would tell you that there are thousands of Sergeant Smiths out there."

Even so, he acknowledges, Smith - and his act of valor - were indeed uncommon. "You see 100 people, and certain people stand out," says Grimsley. "Certainly, he was a guy deeply devoted to his soldiers and his profession.... It was an incredibly selfless act of service."
Facts about the Medal of Honor

More than 3,400 Medals of Honor have been awarded since the decoration was created in 1861, of which more than 600 have been given posthumously.

Military officials rigorously review any nomination for the medal in a process that can last 18 months or more. Only about 840 have been given since World War II, when the requirements were made more stringent.

The other two post-Vietnam Medals of Honor went to Army Master Sgt. Gary I. Gordon and Army Sgt. 1st Class Randall D. Shughart, two Delta Force troopers who died defending the crew of a helicopter that was shot down in Mogadishu, Somalia, in events depicted in the book and movie "Black Hawk Down."


Ellie

[thedrifter]

2d FSSG Marines seize 15 weapons caches
Submitted by: 2nd Force Service Support Group
Story Identification #: 20054585424
Story by 1st Lt. Katherine L. O’Neill



CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (April 5, 2005) -- Marines from Combat Logistics Battalion 8 and 8th Engineer Support Battalion, 2d Force Service Support Group (Forward), responded to 15 separate weapons cache sites approximately 12 km southeast of Camp Fallujah March 29.

This is one of the largest cache sites uncovered since II Marine Expeditionary Force assumed command of Iraq’s Al Anbar Province from I MEF. Items seized included 24 - 82 mm mortars, 10 -130 mm High Explosive warheads, six - 120 mm mortars and more than 30 rocket propelled grenades, as well as components to create a bomb.

The items containing explosives were destroyed on-scene and the Marines confiscated pictures of ordnance, a map of the area, books on weapons systems, photographs of missiles, and personal journals, to use for intelligence gathering purposes.

“This has been one of the larger cache sites uncovered since our unit arrived in theater,” said Staff Sgt. Matthew D. Small, explosive ordnance team leader with 8th ESB and attached to CLB - 8, “We found optical equipment, Improvised Explosive Device making material, documentation and maps which will aid the intelligence community in better understanding our enemy and their capabilities, develop procedures that counter insurgency and perhaps, uncover more caches. It may be a slow process, but daily we are finding ordnance that is no longer in the hands of insurgents.”

Explosive ordnance disposal teams and military police squads work together and conduct counter-IED operations, demolition and unexploded ordnance recovery operations. The MPs provide security for all EOD response calls in the area of operations, which allows the EOD team to concentrate on the mission.

According to Lance Cpl. Selvyn O. Wyatt III, a military policeman with CLB - 8, EOD teams and MPs have close working relationships, and he appreciates what EOD does. “It is dangerous for us and EOD, but it is good to go out there because we see the impact and difference it makes. We are stopping the insurgents from completing their missions and giving someone a chance to go home, ” said the Germantown, Md. native, who joined the Marine Corps in July 2003.


Navy and Marine Corps EOD teams have been integrated during this deployment, allowing Navy detachments the opportunity to gain knowledge in more land based ordnance while helping to fill the necessity for EOD technicians operating in the area of operations, said Small.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan A. Reese, an explosive ordnance technician with 8th ESB and Bowie, Md. native, said, “It makes me feel like we are getting something accomplished over here and that our job helps keep the guys who are out there everyday on patrol safer.”

This was not the joint service team’s first response to a weapons cache, but it was the first large cache they have worked on as a team, said Small, a Richlands, N.C. native. The unexploded ordnance and cache calls, we respond to are difficult to prepare for because we do not know what or how much we are going to discover, Small said.

“We were told there were six to seven unexploded ordnance found by the engineers attached to 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, little did we know, we were going to spend six hours digging up ordnance items, IED materials and intelligence information,” said Small, a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom II, “As a three-man team we adapt to the situation, plan accordingly, and that’s what makes the job fun.”

The Marines found more than a hundred IED components, including batteries, switches and detonators. “Every IED component found means one less IED that can be made,” said Small, “I’d like to say I think we mitigated the threat of at least a couple of IEDs being constructed.”

Ellie

[thedrifter]

445th CAG: Never out empty handed
Submitted by: II Marine Expeditionary Force
Story Identification #: 20054395930
Story by Cpl. Christi Prickett



CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (April 3,2005) -- Most service members fight battles with a weapon in hand or with a radio on their back, but some do it with small bags of peanut butter crackers in their cargo pockets.

Staff Sgt. Mario E. Bertuccelli, of the Army’s 445th Civil Affairs Battalion, a reserve unit out of Mountain View, Calif., attached to 5th Civil Affairs Group, enjoys doing his job, especially when the mission is to pass out food or supplies to the families of southern Fallujah.

“My job as a civil affairs staff sergeant is to win the hearts and minds of all the Iraqi civilians living in Fallujah,” said Bertuccelli. “I want to help everyone, but mostly children because I see that they have the hardest lives.”

“Quick! Quick! Throw some to your right!” Bertuccelli tells the soldier in the turret. A package can be seen flying through the air as the HMMWV takes off from a stop sign.

A former Marine and native of San Jose, Calif., Bertuccelli has been in the area since August 2004. He said he has seen some rough times.

“This is a dangerous job,” explains Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin Sturges, team leader and San Francisco native. “We are on the streets of the city, day in and day out.”
Bertuccelli nods in agreement.

“But it’s all worth it,” Bertucelli agrees. “I have so much sympathy for the people of this town.”

The five soldiers, also known as Team Wild West, delivered small boxes of a variety of breakfast cereals to the Iraqi children and their families.

“The kids are just trying to survive,” Bertuccelli said. “Being that they do not have or receive much of anything, the children beg, cry and fight for these humanitarian supplies. They’re must have items to survive in this already very difficult place to live.”

The kids weren’t just looking for cereal or treats. Many of them asked for footballs. One young girl even wanted Bertuccelli’s pen.

“Do you have paper?” he laughed, speaking in Arabic. She pointed to her house, which was actually a tent. He handed it to the girl.

“They know our trucks by the big tires on the front,” Bertuccelli said. “Once they see us, the kids come running. Well, it used to be only the kids but now the adults are coming up to us, too.”

He sees families are beginning to trust the Americans.

“We’re respected out here,” Bertuccelli said. “They know we are there to help.”

The team’s main focus is sewage, water, electricity, academics, trash and food. They do at least one supply run weekly to drop off medical supplies at certain homes in the area where they are needed.

“As we were going house to house to deliver food, we found a man who had been shot in the hip. We don’t know the full story behind the shooting, but we don’t really care. He needed medical attention and we’re here to help,” said Sturges.

The team delivers pain medications and clean dressings. Sgt. Alfredo Desby, combat lifesaver for 445th CAG, does some unplanned check-ups on certain patients. When he’s not on active duty, he is a United States Marshall in Corpus Christi, Texas.

“Many times, if they see us coming, the adults will bring their sick children up to me,” said Desby. “I gladly help out when I can. A home we went into today had a child with an ear infection, so I gave the family some ear drops.”

The team’s mission has become more like a way of life.

“We never leave empty handed. That’s our motto. We will never leave this place without something for the families here, if we can help it,” said Bertuccelli.

Bertuccelli said there is a reason the children are out in abundance when they deliver food and supplies.

“The schools are overcrowded so many of the kids don’t go. There are thousands of kids in the southern part of the city and only a few schools in the area,” he said. “We are in the process of getting school materials. We already have tried to fix the walls, windows, and roofs so they’d have a decent building.”

The five-man team assesses the situation in town and reports back to the contracting officer at the Civilian Military Operations Center. Then, local contractors bid on the jobs throughout the city. The future concerns are the building of three football fields and about nine clinics in the city of Fallujah.

When all is said and done, Team Wild West is completing their mission.

“Everyday when we finish our missions in the city we always come back feeling great, knowing we helped so many people in real need,” said Bertuccelli.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

LEON COUNTY <br />
<br />
<br />
Marine files report against deputy <br />
<br />
Deputies responding to a domestic disturbance went to the wrong residence and used a Taser gun to subdue a Marine. The Marine now has filed a...

[thedrifter]

Any Des Moines and Chicago and area Marines members here?
Two homecomings occur this week:

More than 100 Iowa Marines to return Thursday
By WILLIAM PETROSKI
DES MOINES REGISTER STAFF WRITER
April 5, 2005

About 140 Marines from a reserve infantry unit based in Des Moines will return home on Thursday after serving a seven-month tour of combat duty in Iraq, a Marine spokesman said today.

The Marines are members of Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment. The unit was activated last June and arrived in Iraq last September. The Marines returned to Camp Pendlton, Calif., late last week and they are undergoing processing for release from active duty, said Maj. Jim Leach, a Marine spokesman in Des Moines.

In Iraq, the Marines conducted security and stabilization operations, primarily in the vicinity of Mahmudiyah, a city south of Baghdad. Three Marines were wounded in action and have already returned to the United States, Leach said.

Thursday's afternoon's homecoming , which will be held at the Iowa Fairgrounds, will only be open to family and friends, a spokesman said.

A "Welcome Home" party is planned from 2 to 7 p.m. on April 14 at Seven Flags Event Center in Clive, and it will be open to the public.

####

Troops' Families Want Big Turnout For Welcome Home Party

UPDATED: 10:56 am CDT April 5, 2005

CHICAGO -- Families of homecoming Marines and sailors are asking Chicago residents to join them in a celebration to welcome the service men and women back from overseas.

More than 400 troops are scheduled to return to Chicago Saturday. The welcome-home ceremony will take place at 4 p.m. at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill.

Family members said they want the Marines and sailors to know how much Chicago appreciates their sacrifice. "Operation Hero's Welcome" is free and will include live entertainment, food and celebrity guests.

Anyone with questions about the event can contact Staff Sgt. Rita O'Reilly at (773) 539-6464, ext. 315, or Sgt. Kimberly S. Leone at (847) 803-0128.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Doug Herbert enjoys visits with U.S. Marines
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Racing series NHRA
Date 2005-04-05

HOUSTON - A group of war-hardened, Houston-area Marines who returned from combat in Operation Iraqi Freedom just a few days ago on April 2 will receive a very special welcome home from Top Fuel racer Doug Herbert.

Just as he's done at the first three races on the POWERade Drag Racing Series, Herbert will host this group of 10 Marines in his Snap-on Tools race pit as honorary crewman and special VIP guests. Each Marine will join Herbert Saturday during pro qualifying for the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals for a tour of the Pro pits, a front-row view of the action on the racetrack, special T-shirts and gifts from Snap-on Tools, and an in-depth visit behind the ropes of Herbert's 7,000-horsepower Top Fuel dragster. Herbert will also feed his guests in the Snap-on Tools VIP hospitality area.

"This whole deal has turned into such a positive, uplifting program for our entire team," Herbert said. "Last summer, through my buddy Rob Geiger with the NHRA, we welcomed home Major Phil Toretti from back-to-back war deployments in the Middle East. His return was so well received that we decided to extend the courtesy to as many Marines as possible.

"We've already had groups out to the first three races this year and they've had a blast. These men and women have been to hell and back so it's awesome to see them with big smiles on their faces."

Joining Herbert at Houston Raceway Park will be Sergeant E.M. Wilson of Houston, Lance Corporal T.W. Smith of Orange, Texas, Lance Corporal B.T. Aldape III of Houston, Lance Corporal Tom Chenault of Beaumont, Texas, Lance Corporal James Whitehead of Orange, Lance Corporal R. Torres of Houston, Lance Corporal S.W. Street of Cleveland, Texas, Lance Corporal L.J. Rawls of Pasadena, Texas, Lance Corporal L.D. Lindsey of Sour Lake, Texas, and Staff Sergeant John McInerney of Sunnyvale, Calif.

"All of these Marines have been serving in combat units in the Al Anbar Province in Iraq," said Major Toretti, who is now coordinating these visits for Herbert. "They were all deployed in early August and are literally still washing combat dirt out from behind their ears. I know they are thrilled for this chance. It will be a great welcome home for all of them."

Herbert hopes Houston fans will join him in welcoming home this group of America heroes. "I would like to invite everyone to come by our pit and thank these Marines personally," said Herbert, who covers all the expenses for this program out of his own pocket. "They're putting their lives on the line every day for us. Let's give them a big Texas welcome home."


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Division Marine hits the ground running - really fast
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Division
Story Identification #: 20054244620
Story by Sgt. Stephen D'Alessio



CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, AR RAMADI, Iraq (April 1, 2005) -- When Sgt. Proctor was told to 'hit the ground running' with his new job in the 2nd Marine Division Headquarters, he laughed. That's because there isn't anybody faster - on record anyway.

Curtis Proctor, a 29-year-old Riverside, Calif. native holds the Marine Corps record for the 200-meter sprint. Even though he's been out of the running business for a few years, he still holds the record for the All-Marine track team with 20.68 seconds.

The Marines photographed him for an All-Marine sports calendar and poster that he keeps hung on the wall at home.

If he were only five hundredths of a second faster, he could have been a world-class qualifier.

But that never stopped him from picking up the pace.

Currently, the 1994 Polytechnic High School graduate is postponing sports as he participates in Operation Iraqi Freedom as the common operational picture manager for the division's commanding general. He tracks the movements of units and equipment to create a map of the entire battlefield, physically and statistically.

"Think of the maps on the news you see when they're reporting on Iraq," said Proctor. "I have to make something similar to that for the general and keep all of the up-to-date information. This is done so he can see the layout of operations," he added, as he scribbled a note about an improvised explosive device that just detonated near a unit.

Proctor entered the job with a wealth of experience. He originally enlisted as a CH-46 'Sea Knight' helicopter mechanic in 1994. Working with the 'Phrogs' created a pride that sticks with him even today.

It's the same pride that has been in his family for decades. Proctor's father was also a Phrog mechanic.

"Working with the forty-sixes was my favorite job so far," said the father of four. "There's a camaraderie between the crew that seems unparalleled to any other type of unit from artillery to radio and even the infantry."

Proctor has had a chance to work with them all. After he completed his first enlistment, he ended his service for a while. It wasn't long before he realized what he had left behind with the Corps.

With the Marines, he felt he could tackle anything that came his way. After all, when he tried out for the All-Marine track team he pulled a hamstring and still was the second fastest. His spirit is in everything he does. Sometimes his peers will even chide him about it.

"People joke with me because at night when a helicopter goes by I can tell if it's a forty-six or not," Proctor said. "My attitude was that I was a forty-six mechanic when I started and I'll be a forty-six mechanic until I die."

When he returned to active service, Proctor was crushed. There weren't any openings in the Sea Knight mechanic occupational specialty, so he was trained as an avionics technician for the UH-1N Huey and AH-1W Cobra helicopters.

After his time as an 'avi-tech' he decided to move to a different field. But it had to be something involving electronics because that's where his love is.

So, he ended up with infantry and artillery units, in his current field in ground radio operations. As a radio technician, Proctor got a feel for what it was like to be with an artillery battery and a ground division.

The comradeship is closer to what he sought after reentering the Corps. And he has new aspirations in life after Iraq - football. Instead of being an All-Marine poster boy, he's trying out for the Wheaties box.

"I plan on trying out for the Jacksonville Raiders when I get back to the states," said an enthusiastic Proctor. "There's no telling what you can do until you put your mind to it."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

1/5's Bravo, Combat Engineers find weapons, ammo
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Division
Story Identification #: 2005446159
Story by Cpl. Tom Sloan



AR RAMADI, Iraq (April 3, 2005) -- Marines with 4th Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment and Company A, 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, both under 2d Marine Division, discovered illegal weapons and ammunition during a weapons caches search on the outskirts of the city here.

The two units' combined effort uncovered four 120 mm shells, a 155 mm shell; several live and empty 7.62 rounds, explosive detonation cord, a live fragmentation grenade and one rocket launcher during the five-hour search of several acres of farmland along the banks of the Euphrates River.

Corporal Jeff B. Starr and his fellow Marines with 4th Platoon were first on the scene and conducted a hasty search for insurgents.

Starr's squad encountered a group of Iraqis having lunch.

"I asked how they were doing," said the 21-year-old from Seattle who's on his third deployment supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. "Then I asked what they were doing here and if they were armed."

One of the men spoke English and explained they were working on a nearby bridge and were on their lunch break.

"They weren't armed, and they weren't doing anything suspicious," the section leader with 2nd Squad, 4th Platoon said.

After 4th Platoon secured the area, the engineers moved in and conducted a thorough sweep of the region.

Armed with shovels, metal detectors and superb training, the engineers like Cpl. Timothy D. Hendricks and Lance Cpl. Cole E. Young worked in together and combed the search area.

"We've trained for this enough that we know or have a good idea of what to look for," said Hendricks, a team leader with 2nd Squad, 1st Platoon, Company A.

When training alone isn't enough, the engineers rely on their equipment.

"By listening to the metal detector, the shape patterns told us that something was buried here," said Young, a 20-year-old Green Bay, Wis., native. "We dug down and found a fragmentation grenade," the combat engineer with 2nd Squad continued while searching a room in an abandoned warehouse.

Many of the items were found stashed in and around the abandoned warehouse.

"It looks like (the insurgents) have been shooting at us from this building," explained Gunnery Sgt. Walter G Siquieros, the platoon sergeant for 4th Platoon, Company B.

According to the 31-year-old Calexico, Calif., native insurgents have a clear shot from the building at an area where Marines often conduct patrols.

Marines with 4th Platoon loaded the day's finds into their HMMWV (Humvees) so it could be destroyed.

Making the trip back to their firm base at Camp Junction City though meant they had to travel a road notorious for improvised explosive devices.

The Humvee that Cpl. Donald W. Ball, a team leader with 3rd Squad, 4th Platoon, was riding in was on the road less than a minute when it hit an IED.

"I knew we were going to hit one," said the 22-year-old from Salt Lake City while sitting in the up-armored vehicles turret. "We almost always do when we drive on it. I was more aggravated and frustrated than scared. I was a little concerned, though, because I just found out I'm going to be a dad."

The IED didn't do any significant damage and the Marines all returned safety having completed the mission.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Father, son did their duty in Iraq



By Peggy Hager
Staff Writer


LANCASTER -- When Marine Galen Paterson deployed to Iraq last year, his father, Mike, knew what he was going through.
The elder Paterson had just spent seven months there himself, serving as a Navy senior chief hospital corpsman with a Marine expeditionary force.

"I prayed for him constantly while he was there," said Paterson. "I knew what he was going to have to deal with just besides the heat. There's nowhere to wash. The insects, the biting blackflies in the daytime, there's billions of them and then at night you have mosquitoes that carry malaria. You just think about it one moment at a time right where you're at. You don't think into the future at all; it's too depressing not knowing how long you're going to be there."

The younger Paterson returned home safely in February and is back stationed at Camp Pendleton.

The elder Paterson, who was in Iraq from March to October 2003, retired in January 2004 after more than two decades in the reserves. He is back in his civilian job as a California Highway Patrol officer, stationed in Mojave.

The elder Paterson served in Iraq with a Marine unit whose duties included helping set up courts and training Iraqis to become police officers. The Iraqis he encountered welcomed the American military, he said.

"There was nowhere I went in Iraq that people didn't stop and greet us with flowers and thanks," Paterson told members of the Lancaster-West Rotary Club at a luncheon Monday.

After Galen came home two months ago, he told his father: "The only real difference between when I was there and you were there, the Iraqi people are doing a lot more for themselves."

The Marines with whom the elder Paterson served were mostly in their 20s. When they found out he had grandchildren, they began calling him Grandpa. He held Bible studies for them.

"Watching these young guys grow up at such a fast pace was frightening," said Paterson.

Son Galen decided to join the Marines after accompanying his father to his two weeks of annual reserve duty at Pendleton.

"He fits real well with the Marine Corps," said Paterson. "He loves being a Marine. I tried to guide him into the Air Force because the enlisted in the Air Force fare better than the enlisted in any other branch."

-----
Peggy Hager, (661) 267-5741 peggy.grimm-hager@dailynews.com


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Going Against President on Women in Land Combat <br />
U.S. Army Defies Bush <br />
by Elaine Donnelly <br />
Posted Apr 1, 2005 <br />
<br />
Army Plays Games With Women-in-Combat Rule <br />
<br />
It's very late. Does the President know...

[thedrifter]

Dedication, not anger, draws students to serve



April 04, 2005



The day before he receives his diploma at Ryan Field, Weinberg senior John Scheler will be commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marines.

A member of Northwestern's Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps, Scheler stands at about 6 feet 3 inches tall and a muscular 200 pounds. With his close-cropped blond hair and the broad shoulders of a football player, he easily could be a model for a military recruitment poster. But as Scheler's face breaks into an easy smile, the fraternity brother appears in place of the Marine poster boy.

In September, while his fellow alumni are starting law school or exchanging business cards, Scheler will begin six months of basic training in Quantico, Va., followed by 10 weeks of advanced training in a field such as artillery. Then comes deployment to a unit, possibly to somewhere in the United States -- possibly to Iraq.

Since Sept. 11, ROTC students know when they sign up: Combat is a very real possibility.

"It (is) something that could end in me being a casualty," Scheler said. "But it's not something I wrestle with every day. It's something you accept and then put at the back of your mind."

From classes to combat

Unlike Scheler, when Navy Lt. Katherine Licup, Medill '97, joined NROTC in 1993, the United States was entering peacetime and the military was undergoing "serious downsizing" after the Persian Gulf War victory.

Licup signed up to help pay her tuition.

"Most of us probably didn't think we'd do it as a career," said Licup, now on reserve duty. "We thought it'd be a great experience and we'd learn a lot. We were ready for it, but we didn't expect to be called into combat."

Several of Licup's former classmates are in Afghanistan and Iraq serving as Marines. She notes a difference between her class and current ROTC students.

"I think midshipmen today are very much more aware of the military environment they are entering," she said.

Capt. Daniel Moore served in the Balkans 10 years ago, but he doesn't like to talk about it. The NROTC commander feels modest compared to current ROTC students' enrollment in spite of the near-certainty of combat.

"Post-9/11 you have families and individuals who are still willing to come and say, 'We want to serve' even though there's the possibility we could lose somebody," said Moore, commander of NU's unit.

"We're now fully into students whose eyes are wide open about the risks they are taking by serving in the military, and they don that willingly. That's very humbling," he said.

'The country is at war'

Scheler said he was always patriotic, growing up in his hometown of Pittsburgh. His decision to serve in the military was made before Sept. 11, 2001.

"The United States is the greatest country," Scheler said. "You shouldn't feel entitled to everything it has to offer without giving back in some way."

But the terrorist attacks made the world's situation -- and military strategy -- more complex and high-paced.

"We're not fighting a Cold War anymore," he said. "Sept. 11 made you realize the country is at war, and in a few years you'll be a part of it."

Now the work on the battlefield is more decentralized and junior leaders will have a much bigger impact, Scheler said. Significant decisions will be made quickly and on the spot. Lives are at risk and the responsibility is enormous. Scheler can't wait.

"I don't think there's any greater honor, experience or challenge than to lead 30 Marines," he said. "I don't think you can compare that with working in an office or working at a bank."

Major military matters

While the military was Scheler's destination long before Sept. 11, 2001, the terrorist attacks and subsequent operations in Afghanistan and Iraq made Scheler re-evaluate his studies.

Originally planning an economics major, Scheler instead chose Middle Eastern studies and political science to "understand where the adversaries of our country are coming from."

"You can't just jump into the Middle East without a concept of the culture and empathy for the people you want to help," Scheler said.

Robert Vitas, a visiting scholar with NU's sociology department, said choosing to study in less traditional areas suggests these future military officers see classes as another way to prepare themselves to serve their country.

"By choosing Middle Eastern studies over econ, you can see an instance where a person is looking beyond himself to choose a major," Vitas said.

Sept. 11 yanked Peter Newstrom out of his complacent American bubble.

"I had the same kind of rude awakening that Americans had, that our image abroad was in some areas of the world not a positive one," recalled Newstrom, now a Weinberg junior and Air Force ROTC cadet.

"I started thinking about how I could improve the image of the United States most, domestically and abroad," Newstrom said. "I guess I'm trying to do that while I'm in the military right now, by keeping an open mind, trying to learn more about foreign cultures."

He chose an Asian studies major and wants to serve in Korea or Japan after graduation.

Scheler and Newstrom's decisions to study foreign cultures are a part of a wider military trend.

A 2004 U.S. Department of Defense memo outlines a policy that modifies the way service academies and ROTC programs educate officers. The plan emphasizes cultural studies, such as foreign languages and history, in addition to military and technical expertise.

A choice that stands out

Newstrom's Air Force roots extend back two generations. His grandfather served in the Korean War and his father is stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington. The choice to serve was an expected one for Newstrom.

"The effect Sept. 11 had on me was to strengthen my conviction," he said. "But I had already made up my mind."

Paul Kotakis, an Army public affairs officer, said the four-year ROTC program is not for individuals who were angered by 9/11 and immediately want to put on a uniform and serve.

"ROTC may have been in an individual's thoughts before 9/11," Kotakis said. "The events may have solidified the choice."

Newstrom and other ROTC students might stand out as military representatives on a civilian campus dotted with NOWAR flyers.

"I can tell walking around in uniform that certain people may not appreciate that some people decide they want to serve in the armed forces," Newstrom said. "It doesn't really bother me because that's the reason we decide to serve: to protect the rights to people. The right to free speech, to protest, to disagree."

But more students are curious than critical, NROTC midshipman Ashley Lorenz said. She doesn't think many people are aware of what NROTC does on campus.

"That's the only time many people see the military -- on Tuesdays when we are in our uniforms," said Lorenz, a Communication junior.

The other six days of the week, ROTC students work part-time jobs, sit through lectures and participate in student groups.

"I'm the quintessential sorority girl," said Lorenz, a Gamma Phi Beta member who says she identifies with Charlotte from "Sex and the City" and has an admitted obsession with Prof. Lee Huebner.

Lorenz tries to educate other students about ROTC and chalks up students' lack of knowledge to their lack of military contact.

"Everyone here wants to know (what we do), they just don't have an outlet," she said.

Like Scheler and Newstrom, a military career was "always in the back of my head," Lorenz said. In 2001 she spent the summer in Washington, D.C. When she saw footage of the Pentagon in flames on Sept. 11, the enormity of the attacks hit home.

"I knew I wanted to serve, and ROTC was the best outlet," she said.

Reach Beth Murtagh at e-murtagh@northwestern.edu.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Easter Sunday Service brightens Marine's, sailor's day
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Division
Story Identification #: 200544112512
Story by Lance Cpl. Athanosios L. Genos



CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (March 27, 2005) -- As Marines of 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 8, filled up the chapel on Easter Sunday, Navy Chaplain Lt. Robert E. Bradshaw opened his Bible.

Chaplain Bradshaw makes sure he is always around and able to help the Marines and sailors of the battalion at any time of the day. He keeps morale up by maintaining open doors at the chapel and his office, especially on days like Easter Sunday.

"I love my men and I know them as much as I can," explained the Jensen Beach, Fla., native. "I want them to know I am always available to talk to about anything and everything."

Beginning the service with some songs, 2nd Lt. Perry Akin played the guitar and sang along with Bradshaw and the rest of the men. With two to three times the normal attendance, the room filled with Marine voices as everyone sang out in the peaceful and serene chapel.

Those in attendance had an opportunity to relax and to get away from the everyday routine. Although this Sunday service was full, operational tempo greatly impacts attendance.

"We had 68 people in today and it was a full house," Bradshaw said. "It's always good to see the chapel full of Marines."

Chaplain Bradshaw continued giving his Easter Sunday message. Interacting with his Marines and sailors there, he taught them visually, hoping to help them remember more about his message than just speaking to them.

"Interacting with them is a way to show them what I am trying to teach them," he said.

The unit chaplain does what he can to help keep the morale level up through his openness and willingness to meet the Marines. According to Bradshaw, no matter what time of day it is, he is always available to talk if someone needs him. At times, he is a middleman, but he handles what he can on his own. He bends over backwards to get what is needed.

"One really important part of keeping up the morale is following through on all questions that are asked of me by the Marines and sailors," explained Bradshaw.

As he finished the service, Bradshaw invited everyone to take from the chapel's supply of hygiene items, food and other miscellaneous items. Bradshaw receives many packages sent from the U.S., which are then distributed to everyone throughout the battalion.

Chaplain Bradshaw always looks forward to the everyday adventures with the Marines. Marines of this unit know that he will push ahead with a smile on his face, inviting everyone to stop him as he walks around the camp, or from room to room checking in from time to time.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Controllers provide air support to Iraqi west <br />
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing <br />
Story Identification #: 2005451406 <br />
Story by Gunnery Sgt. Shannon Arledge <br />
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AL QAIM, Iraq (March 29, 2005)...

[thedrifter]

Brooklyn Battalion recognizes UPS for employee, troop welfare
Submitted by: New York City Public Affairs
Story Identification #: 200541144940
Story by Cpl. Lameen Witter



NEW YORK (April 1, 2005) -- Marines of 6th Communication Battalion presented the United Parcel Service with a certificate of appreciation in honor of the company’s continuous support of its Marine reserve employees that served on active duty in the Global War on Terrorism at the Metro New York District headquarters of UPS today.

6th Communication Battalion Support Company Commanding Officer Capt. Michael E. Anda, joined by Chief Warrant Officer John Sgro and Staff Sgt. Johnny Pena, also of 6th Communication Battalion, presented the certificate to the company and read the accompanying citation.

“…Without your continued support, and that of many other patriotic employers across the country, your Marine Corps could not protect America’s freedom as effectively,” read Anda to the smiling faces of UPS employees that surrounded him.

UPS Chief Executive Officer Mike Eskew received the certificate on behalf of the company surrounded by droves of cheering UPS employees, many of whom serve in the military or have had relatives that serve in the armed forces.

“None of this would be possible without each and every one of you. You make it happen…stand tall today, we have something to be proud of,” said Eskew, holding up the framed certificate for everyone to see.

Staff Sgt. Vincent V. Chungata, UPS preload supervisor and 6th Communication Battalion Support Company gunnery sergeant, nominated UPS for the recognition, because of how well UPS treated him and his family during his deployment to Iraq in 2003.

“UPS really looked out for me while I was away. They gave me no problem when I told them I was activated. They contacted my family a few times and kept up my benefits while I was away, and upon returning, it was a real easy transition coming back to work,” said Chungata.

UPS has had 1, 950 employees serve on active duty in the armed forces since Sept. 11, 2001, and has made special arrangements to protect military reserve employees and their families with financial stability and extended health coverage.

Sgro and Pena, who are employees of Verizon, had previously nominated their company for similar recognition.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Engineers go from building tree houses to rebuilding Iraq <br />
Submitted by: 2nd Force Service Support Group <br />
Story Identification #: 20054275819 <br />
Story by Cpl. C.J. Yard <br />
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CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq...

[thedrifter]

Green light to the skies, air controllers keep traffic lanes open
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing
Story Identification #: 20054435653
Story by Cpl. Rocco DeFilippis



AL TAQADDUM, Iraq (April 4, 2005) -- Topping the list of most stressful jobs in the United States is an occupation that is usually forgotten. It's not a SWAT team policeman or a brain surgeon who face the highest stress levels day to day, it's an air traffic controller who is responsible for tracking and controlling the movement of aircraft and hundreds of lives each day.

The Marine air traffic controllers of Marine Air Control Squadron 2 are no different. The entire squadron works hard each day to ensure the smooth and timely flow of aircraft and ground vehicles moving on the flightline as the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) continues the fight to secure the peace and stability for the Iraqi people.

"We have the ability to see a lot further and a lot higher than the pilots, so we provide them with the information they need to take off, land and fly in our airspace," said Cpl. Marques J. Johnson, air traffic controller and native of Bowie, Md. "We can see where and when they can't."

The Marines of MACS-2 work to coordinate the control of air traffic throughout the various forward operating bases in the Al Anbar province.

Although it may seem that these Marines are confined to dark rooms, staring at radar all day, the entire squadron works as a team 24-hours a day to ensure air operations are running at full throttle.

"Out here, the air traffic controllers are like the infantry of the squadron," said Sgt. Jason S. Seaton, radar technician and native of McDongough, Ga. "Every section is here to support them."

A lot goes into making sure the controllers can do their job. The squadron has three sections designated to support the ATC mission - radar, communications and auxiliary.

The radar section maintains and runs the radar equipment so the controllers can manage their airspace. The communications Marines ensure the radios and related broadcasting systems are open for the controllers to speak to aircraft, ground vehicles and numerous components of airfield operations. The auxiliary Marines operate vehicles and maintain the facilities in which the squadron works.

"All the components work as a team to get the job done," said Sgt. Robert N. Randall, communications technician and native of Blackfoot, Idaho. "We are all here to support one mission, so we work hand in hand to make sure it happens."

With all the hands of the control squadron pulling the rope in the same direction, the controllers remain on top of their game as they continue to support Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"When things get really busy, you realize how important it is to stay proficient in your job," said Lance Cpl. Michael S. Hubman, air traffic controller and native of Woburn, Mass. "These aircraft aren't just training or meeting numbers, they are accomplishing the mission."

"Every single Marine here puts forth maximum effort to achieve the goal," said Master Sgt. Dwayne T. Mills, maintenance chief and native of Opelousas, La. "Mission accomplishment is in the forefront of their minds each and every day."

With such a monumental task in front of them, the Marines of MACS-2 continue to remain a vital element of airfield operations as they support air operations throughout the Al Anbar province of Iraq every day. A comforting voice from the ground, pilots and aircrew know they can count on the controllers to keep a watchful eye for them.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marine units chase insurgents through forgotten Iraqi towns
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By James Janega
April 6, 2005

HAQLANIYAH, Iraq - When the sun rose, the Marines of Lima Company found themselves surrounded by improvised bombs.

A week of rigorous patrols and sporadic fighting had brought the troops from the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment through the Euphrates River towns of Hit and Haditha to the outskirts of the small village of Haqlaniyah.

There they waited until dawn on a recent Wednesday to push into the river settlement, the end of an operation designed to harass insurgents fleeing north from Ramadi and Fallujah.

But outside Haqlaniyah the insurgents found the Marines first. They had dug explosives into the shoulder of the road and attached more to light posts nearby. Shortly after dawn, one of the improvised bombs exploded behind a troop truck that had parked in the dark - and missed everyone gathered nearby.

"I swear it was a miracle. The cloud enveloped them," said battalion intelligence officer Maj. Plauche St. Romain.

Then a van began speeding toward Lima Company's roadblock.

Stunned Marines waved for the van to stop. They fired two flares. But the van sped up, and at a hundred yards, every Marine who could point a rifle began firing. The rounds chewed first into the earth, then the grill of the van and then into its windshield.

It rolled off the road and stopped in the desert a few yards from the troop truck. Fuel drums and explosives were found inside.

In Anbar province, where even Saddam Hussein took pains to avoid conflict with the Sunni majority there, the war in Iraq has turned to small units like Lima Company, 180 men working in forgotten towns like Haqlaniyah.

Home to organized crime, settled desert tribes and smugglers, Anbar's Euphrates River towns have become a focal point for Iraq's insurgency.

Major roads run along and across the Euphrates, connecting the area to Baghdad and Mosul as well as Syria and Jordan. U.S. intelligence officers believe money and guns are exchanged here, and loose alliances among insurgents are formed.

U.S. troops in Anbar province spent more than a year fighting insurgents in Fallujah and neighboring cities. Now they are now exploring for - and finding - resistance in towns farther north.

When Marines at last entered Haqlaniyah - tired, on edge and delayed for hours after defusing the bombs around them - they found it all but abandoned.

"It's a ghost town," said Maj. Steve Lawson, Lima commander. "Breakfast was half-eaten on the tables. They ran."

Marines said their push into Haditha was particularly fruitful, resulting in important arrests, the finding of large arms caches and a warming public describing insurgents as unwelcome outsiders.

The residents pointed down the river at Haqlaniyah, saying they believed the newcomers were organizing there.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marine famous for statue demolition now studies to build things up
Submitted by: New York City Public Affairs
Story Identification #: 20054117346
Story by Cpl. Lameen Witter



NEW YORK (April 1, 2005) -- "They wanted a flag on his head, the American flag. They brought it up to me and I put it on there for a brief moment. The Iraqi crowd, they were egging us on. They were happy to see us do it. We took it down after a brief moment and put their flag up. We pretty much saw the Iraqi people trying to pull down the statue. They couldn't do it with just a rope, and our commanding officer gave us the go-ahead to give them a hand,” said Brooklyn native Cpl. Edward Chin, of the moment that emanated triumph for the Marines involved in Operation Iraqi Freedom when the statue of Saddam was brought down in Baghdad in April 2003.

The Marines joined the effort to pull down the Firdos Square statue, which was built three years ago in April for the former Iraqi president's 65th birthday, when it became clear that a small group of Iraqis would not be able to bring it down on their own.

Today, as the anniversary of the statue falling nears, former Cpl. Edward Chin said he is glad to be home, but he misses the camaraderie of the Marine Corps. He has returned to his life as a civilian and is currently studying architecture at the New York City College of Technology. He also joined the American Legion Post 1291.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines ‘jump the gun’ in race for quality work <br />
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing <br />
Story Identification #: 20054274640 <br />
Story by Sgt. Juan Vara <br />
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<br />
AL ASAD, Iraq (April 2, 2005) -- A few...

[thedrifter]

Why I will stand the border ... again
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Posted: April 6, 2005
By Tod Phillips
WorldNetDaily.com

I already stood the border once before. Been there, done that. For 16 months. Different border, though. I and many of my brother Marines. Against the 324th and 366th NVA Divisions. Tough little monkeys. They kicked out the French and the Japanese. We had a lot of respect for them. They could fight.

That was war. Then, on that border, the orders were short and sweet. Just three words from the top: "Nobody crosses alive." Many of my brother Marines died doing this job. You can find their names on The Wall. We got sold out.

Now, it's 2005.

I've survived to tell you. Will I stand the border ... again? The Mexican border? The borders of my own country?

You bet.

Why?

All that is necessary for evil to triumph in the world is for good men to do nothing.

Whether you liked him or not, the little guy with the big ears from Texas, Ross Perot, warned us six or seven years ago that this day would come.

We didn't listen. Now it's here.

He said that if we signed these globalist trade agreements, we would lose America. Borders and jobs would evaporate.

They have. Millions of jobs.

They are disappearing.

So are the borders.

You are losing your country!

Research the FTAA - the Free Trade Area of the Americas, which is on the table now! Look it up.

It makes Canada, Mexico and the United States one economic region with no borders. So what happens to American sovereignty?

Fight it!

Some of my fellow Americans don't like this idea of turning people back.

They want to sell us out to a "world community."

No way.

Why does 50 percent of the Mexican population want to come here?

You have papers, a green card? I welcome you to my country, gladly. You can come in, like my ancestors did.

Because you did it legally.

You want to sneak in, bring in drugs, guns to the gangs, get on the dole, drop your three or four ninos on my doorstep and on our dollars, break the health-care system, the welfare rolls? You want to smuggle in biologicals or a suitcase nuke to kill us all one morning?

You gotta get past us on the border first.

You gotta get past me first.

I will tell you "Alto! No permiso! No entrada!" and turn you back.

President Bush called us "vigilantes." That just means "vigilant ones." It doesn't mean hate, KKK or white supremacy.

It just means "vigilance."

Unlike last time, I won't shoot at anybody who doesn't fire on me first.

Whether on the streets of South Central Los Angeles, or Cleveland, Ohio, or on the border, no one who doesn't seek to do me bodily harm or invade my country has anything at all to fear from me.

I am a free man.

As the Founding Fathers intended I always remain.

Not a subject.

I will not be disarmed and made helpless like the "world citizens" of Europe, England, Canada and Australia.

I am not a "citizen of the world."

I am an American.

Cheri and I visited Europe last year for a few weeks.

The sovereign nations of France, Switzerland, Italy. My wife and I crossed five international borders.

We never had our passports stamped once.

That's because there is no longer an Italy, a Switzerland, a France, a Germany, a Belgium, a Holland.

Those borders have been erased. There is only the European Union.

People have no rights - only "privileges" granted by the E.U. government. And privileges can be revoked. Rights cannot.

You are endowed with these rights by your Creator. That's what the Declaration of Independence says.

Read it lately? Why not?

You're an American, aren't you?

Read it.

Know it.

Live it.

Defend it.

That's why the Founders gave us the Bill of Rights.

Because we are free men.

Freedom isn't free.

I will not be shot, mugged, stabbed, stolen from, have my home violated or have my front door kicked in.

The first Law of Nature is self defense. Every species is equipped.

So are we.

Ever been to San Antonio, Texas? Ever stood at the Alamo?

Ever touched that wall?

In 1823, 238 Texans stood that wall. Jim Bowie, David Crockett, Sam Houston, others.

Against Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana.

When some wanted to run before Santa Ana's troops arrived, Col. Bowie took out his saber and made a line in the sand.

"Who stands for Texas may step cross this line and stand with me," he said.

Some 238 men crossed and stood with Col. Bowie. They all died there.

Where's your line in the sand?

What do you stand for?

One thing more.

When a Marine earns the rank of corporal, he becomes an NCO - a non-commissioned officer.

As a Fire Team leader, he leads other Marines in combat. This has not changed in over 200 years.

This rank permits him to wear the red "blood stripe" on the outside seam of his dress blue uniform.

The "blood stripe" commemorates the high number of Marine NCO's killed in the storming of Chapultepec Castle in Mexico City during the Mexican War of 1849.

Yes, Marines took that fortress.

This is tradition. If he lives long enough and earns it, the corporal becomes a sergeant and leads a squad of riflemen.

I wore the "blood stripe" on my trousers for three years. Can I now ignore that?

If so, what do I stand for, then?

A nasty Mexican gang in Los Angeles called MS22 (you can see their tags on any freeway underpass in Los Angeles) has vowed to resist, with arms, the Minuteman Militia now on the Arizona border. It is interrupting their drug and arms trafficking. They have contracted with al-Qaida to smuggle in some bad people because, they have assured our Middle Eastern brothers, "we can get them over the border."

Read the Free Trade Area of the Americas.

Fight it.

It will destroy America.

Remember, this all started on Bill Clinton's watch. So don't give me the old "anti-neocon" anti-Bush, Republican vs. Democrat point of view.

Janet Reno ordered the killing of those women and children in Waco, Texas.

Janet Reno ordered little Elian Gonzalez body-snatched and returned to Fidel Castro.

Will I stand the border…again?

YES!

What will you do? What do you stand for?

Where is your line in the sand?

Tod Phillips is formerly, and always, Sgt. Phillips, 1st Bn., 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force Pacific.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Medal awarded to slain Marine
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By Linda Franz, April 6, 2005

Lance Cpl. Nicholas B. Morrison, who was killed last Aug. 13 while on patrol in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, has been awarded the Navy Marine Corps Commendation Medal for valorous actions in combat.

The son of Joey and Peggy Morrison of West Pennsboro Township, he was a 2000 graduate of Big Spring High School.

"Nick's captain, platoon leader and gunnery sergeant came up and presented it to us," Peggy Morrison says.

Morrison was an anti-tank assault guided missileman who served as a Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire guided missile (TOW) gunner during Operation Iraqi Freedom II.

The medal may be awarded to service members who distinguish themselves by heroism, outstanding achievement or meritorious service.

1st to volunteer

During combat in April 2004, Morrison was the first to volunteer for a search team to clear the enemy from a building after a checkpoint had been attacked and helped protect fellow Marines while routing the remaining enemy.

On the following two days, Morrison participated in more combat "in which his endurance and responsiveness under fire was exemplary," the recommendation for the award states.

"Because of his performance during three days of sustained enemy contact, Lance Cpl. Morrison earned a reputation as a thoroughly reliable Marine while under enemy fire and became a Marine who was sought after for combat patrols by his platoon's leadership."

Several other instances of "superlative actions against the enemy" were documented.

"His uncompromising service as a TOW gunner on a patrol and his contagious enthusiasm always reassured his fellow Marines," the citation states. "Lance Cpl. Morrison's initiative, perseverance, and total dedication to duty reflected credit upon him and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval service."


Ellie

[thedrifter]

CMC backs casualty call uniform
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By Gordon Lubold
Times staff writer

Marine Commandant Gen. Mike Hagee is backing the recent decision that Marines making death notification visits now will wear the service "A" uniform instead of dress blues, despite the fact that many Marines and their families expressed outrage over the change.

"The commandant is aware of the concerns being expressed with respect to this issue," said Maj. Jason Johnston, a spokesman for the commandant. "The policy directing [casualty assistance calls officers] to wear the service "A" uniform when notifying a Marine's next-of-kin will continue."

Officials announced changes to the casualty notification process Feb. 9 as part of a larger Corpswide message; news of the change angered many Marines in the culture-sensitive Corps.

"A negative connotation has been attached to Marines in the dress blue uniform because of death notifications," according to the Feb. 9 message announcing the change, MarAdmin 057/05. "This is contrary to the pride and tradition of the dress blue uniform."

The message caused a stir among Marines, their families and spouses, many of whom said the Corps was making a big mistake. Many said outfitting casualty call officers in anything but the Corps' finest uniform is an insult to a fallen Marine's service.

Marine Corps Times received dozens of letters on the topic, and it was the subject of heated debate in online discussion groups. Typical of the sentiments expressed by most letter writers was one written by a retired gunnery sergeant in Twentynine Palms, Calif.

"It's a disgrace that a casualty call be made in a work uniform, and that is what the service 'A' is," wrote retired Gunnery Sgt. Randall Meier. "When people see a dress blue uniform, they know that's a Marine, not a soldier or a sailor."

According to one source familiar with the issue, manpower officials made the decision on their own and Hagee was not briefed on the change. Senior officials were surprised the change was made but decided it was in the best interest of the Corps, said the source, who asked not to be identified.

To avoid creating a situation in which the dress blues become synonymous with a joyless duty, the Corps changed the policy, reserving their wear for special events and funerals. The change likely comes as a relief to some recruiters, who commonly wear some form of the dress blue uniform when canvassing malls and high schools for prospective recruits.

Sgt. Maj. John Estrada, sergeant major of the Marine Corps, said in an April 1 interview that he received numerous calls and e-mails about the policy change, noting that a majority of Marines he heard from supported the change.

And many of the 456 Marine death notifications made since March 2003 were done in the service uniform, Estrada said, explaining that "not every Marine has that dress blue uniform."

While many Marines, spouses and parents voiced concern about the change, many others said the only thing that matters is that the notification officer says and does the right thing.

One senior enlisted Marine said he didn't know why the Corps changed the policy. But he said he didn't care either way.

"People get excited about things that don't matter," said the senior enlisted Marine, who asked not to be identified. "They get in a big tizzy about things that don't really have a big effect."

He said what's more important is that the Marine paying the death notification call knows what to say to the family of the Marine - and how to handle their reaction.

In the end, the Marine said he'll know what's going on whether the Marines outside his door are wearing dress blues or not.

"I know when I open the door and there is a government van sitting outside my door and there are four guys with solemn faces, I'm in trouble," he said.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Editorial: Change uniform policy
The Marine Corps Times

Spouses, parents, and Marines active and retired alike are making their voices heard following the recent decision to dump dress blues as the uniform for casualty notifications.

Unfortunately, the commandant isn't listening.

In online discussion groups and on the pages of Marine Corps Times, the response from the fleet is overwhelmingly against the move to the service "A" uniform.

Top leaders are worried about a "growing negative perception" surrounding the dress blue uniform because it is worn for such grim duty.

But many of those with sons and daughters, husbands and wives, friends and acquaintances in the fight say that a casualty call is no time to dress down. So, too, do many Marines.

Commandant Gen. Mike Hagee is aware of the public outcry against the move. Yet he's sticking by the change.

His decision is sure to disappoint those who feel that image should take a back seat to honor.

The Corps' argument is that the dress blue uniform is intended for ceremonial events such as parades, balls and funerals.

But is a casualty notification anything less than a ceremonial event? Absolutely not.

In a letter to Marine Corps Times, Lance Cpl. B.P. Cutler of Manassas, Va., said it best:

"What higher ceremony is there," he wrote, "than to go to a Marine family and tell them, 'We are here for you, just as we were here for your Marine'?"

And if the lance corporal's argument isn't enough, consider that of Kim McComb. She should know - she's married to a Marine at Camp Lejeune, N.C., who was preparing for an Iraq deployment when she wrote:

"I say don't come knocking on my door with a death notification dressed in anything less than your best. The Marine Corps has always prided itself in being a cut above, and if a death notification doesn't deserve the highest respect and honor, what does?"

It's what Marines want. It's what their spouses want. It's what their parents want.

It's time for the commandant to reverse this policy.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Motomail not just for the Corps
Submitted by: 2nd Force Service Support Group
Story Identification #: 20054474511
Story by Cpl. C.J. Yard



CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (April 4, 2005) -- The Marine Corps’ newest way of staying in touch with loved ones, Motomail, has been extended to the Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 112th Armor, 36th Infantry Division.

“We’re doing them a favor because they are doing us an even larger favor by putting their lives at risk guarding this base,” said Master Sgt. Robert Simpson, the postal chief for Headquarters and Service Bn., 2d Force Service Support Group (Forward).

Motomail is a service to send letters to Marines via the internet and have the Marine receive the letter within 24 hours. A family member or friend is able to logon to www.Motomail.us and type letters to their Marine serving overseas. The letter is then downloaded and printed in a secure envelope and delivered to the Marine during mail call.

“No one ever sees what is in the letters,” said Simpson. “The really cool thing is the person who sent the letter can go back to the site and see when it was downloaded and printed. It’s communication for free; and it’s nice to have that letter in your hand instead of always reading e-mail.”

According to Simpson, the only glitch in the system is the Marines who are not always inside the wire do not always get their mail within 24 hours.

The concept of Motomail came from the British Royal Marines, said Simpson, a Tonawanda, N.Y., native. “Since the base is 70 percent Army, we thought we could give the family members of the 2/112th another way to keep in touch with their loved ones. We proposed the idea to the [the battalion commanding officer] and he said that it was good to go.”

“When a family member logs on, they choose from a list of addresses, and there is only one address for the Army, that’s here,” continued Simpson.

Camp Taqaddum averages about 400 pieces of Motomail in a day and the Army gets anywhere from 30 to 50 letters, according Simpson.

“The 2/112th has been set up to use Motomail for the past two weeks,” said Army Maj. Lloyd Waugh, executive officer the 2/112th and native of Cypress, Texas. “Motomail will have an impact on the morale of our troops moving forward; however, we have not been able to measure its success yet. This media should help our soldiers and their families that do not have email readily available in order to improve communications while deployed.”


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Dozens could face arrest in connection with thefts at Lejeune <br />
<br />
By Gordon Lubold <br />
Times staff writer <br />
<br />
<br />
Navy and Marine investigators are arresting dozens of Marine suspects in the Camp Lejeune,...

[thedrifter]

April 06, 2005

Little evidence of medical personnel abetting abuse

By Gordon Trowbridge
Times staff writer


The Army’s top doctor said Wednesday the service is wrapping up a five-month assessment of medical practices in handling prisoners, a review prompted by allegations that military doctors violated medical ethics by assisting or failed to report abuse.
A team of medical and legal experts so far has found “only a couple of cases” in which Army medical personnel may have discovered evidence of abuse that should have been reported and was not, Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, the Army surgeon general, told a House subcommittee.

And the Defense Department’s top medical official told lawmakers that he hopes within days to release a set of guidelines for military medical professionals serving in detainee operations.

“This will address the role of medical professionals in the care of detainees, and separate from that of forensic assistance to interrogations,” William Winkenwerder, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, told the lawmakers.

Winkenwerder had revealed in January that the policy clarifications were under review.

Kiley said the Army already is adjusting the curriculum in its medical training programs to give more guidance on handling detainees, and will soon issue a field manual on medical ethics in detainee operations.

A series of investigations into allegations of detainee abuse have suggested some military medical staffers may have violated the medical profession’s centuries-old commitment to “do no harm” to those under medical care by assisting other troops in abusive interrogation tactics or by failing to report evidence of abuse.

Earlier this month, a report by Vice Adm. Albert Church said medical personnel may have attempted to hide evidence of abuse in the deaths of two prisoners in Afghanistan.

Articles in two scientific publications, The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine, have alleged that doctors aided in designing abusive interrogation tactics in Iraq and at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detainment facility.

Winkenwerder told lawmakers the policy document now nearing release is not a change of rules, but a clarification of established policies. And it will not, for example, prohibit medical professionals from sharing information on a patient’s medical condition with those responsible for interrogations.

While U.S. law and medical ethics recognize doctor-patient confidentiality and a right to privacy, those rules do not apply in U.S. prisons, Winkenwerder said, and will not in military detention facilities.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

April 06, 2005

Corps cracks down on bogus name tapes

By Laura Bailey
Times staff writer


The Corps needs its Marines to get their names straight. Name tapes sewn onto uniforms by unauthorized manufacturers aren’t measuring up to Marine Corps expectations, according to a Corpswide message advising Marines and military clothing stores to use authorized outlets only.
Uncertified vendors continue to sell and stitch the tapes, often using the wrong font, according to the April 1 message. Vendors have also used the wrong thread color on names, and other times the thread has faded.

“In order to clarify and remedy this problem, Marines and others are reminded to use only authorized vendors,” the message states.

While the message applies mainly to military clothing stores that sell name and service tapes, individual Marines may also sew the tapes on. For them, Marine Corps Systems Command recommends using the thread of the eagle, globe and anchor on the camouflage uniform as a gauge for matching thread colors on both their name and service tapes.

The command also requires Marines to follow specifications for the two types of camouflage uniforms.

For woodland camouflage uniforms:

• Lettering for name and service tapes must be Madeira Black Color No. 1800.

• Thread attaching service tape: Olive Drab.

For desert camouflage uniforms:

• Lettering must be Madeira Brown Color No. 1957.

• Thread for attaching: Coyote.

A list of approved contractors is in MarAdmin message 154/05.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Baytown: Doug Herbert enjoys visits with US Marines
Racing series NHRA
Date 2005-04-05

Herbert embraces Houston-based Marines fresh off the battlefield


HOUSTON - A group of war-hardened, Houston-area Marines who returned from combat in Operation Iraqi Freedom just a few days ago on April 2 will receive a very special welcome home from Top Fuel racer Doug Herbert.

Just as he's done at the first three races on the POWERade Drag Racing Series, Herbert will host this group of 10 Marines in his Snap-on Tools race pit as honorary crewman and special VIP guests. Each Marine will join Herbert Saturday during pro qualifying for the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals for a tour of the Pro pits, a front-row view of the action on the racetrack, special T-shirts and gifts from Snap-on Tools, and an in-depth visit behind the ropes of Herbert's 7,000-horsepower Top Fuel dragster. Herbert will also feed his guests in the Snap-on Tools VIP hospitality area.

"This whole deal has turned into such a positive, uplifting program for our entire team," Herbert said. "Last summer, through my buddy Rob Geiger with the NHRA, we welcomed home Major Phil Toretti from back-to-back war deployments in the Middle East. His return was so well received that we decided to extend the courtesy to as many Marines as possible.

"We've already had groups out to the first three races this year and they've had a blast. These men and women have been to hell and back so it's awesome to see them with big smiles on their faces."

Joining Herbert at Houston Raceway Park will be Sergeant E.M. Wilson of Houston, Lance Corporal T.W. Smith of Orange, Texas, Lance Corporal B.T. Aldape III of Houston, Lance Corporal Tom Chenault of Beaumont, Texas, Lance Corporal James Whitehead of Orange, Lance Corporal R. Torres of Houston, Lance Corporal S.W. Street of Cleveland, Texas, Lance Corporal L.J. Rawls of Pasadena, Texas, Lance Corporal L.D. Lindsey of Sour Lake, Texas, and Staff Sergeant John McInerney of Sunnyvale, Calif.

"All of these Marines have been serving in combat units in the Al Anbar Province in Iraq," said Major Toretti, who is now coordinating these visits for Herbert. "They were all deployed in early August and are literally still washing combat dirt out from behind their ears. I know they are thrilled for this chance. It will be a great welcome home for all of them."

Herbert hopes Houston fans will join him in welcoming home this group of America heroes. "I would like to invite everyone to come by our pit and thank these Marines personally," said Herbert, who covers all the expenses for this program out of his own pocket. "They're putting their lives on the line every day for us. Let's give them a big Texas welcome home."

-gs-

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Christian civilians, GIs grieve in quiet
IRAQ

Colin McMahon reported from Baghdad and James Janega from Al Qaim
Published April 4, 2005


BAGHDAD -- In a home for people who know something about suffering, in a nation that has seen more than its share, the death of Pope John Paul II was greeted Sunday with peace. For the pope, the suffering was over.

"He was struggling so much," said Sister Alhan Smith Nihab, 33, a Syrian Catholic nun who runs Annia's House, a home for the sick and disabled in Baghdad. "We greeted his death with acceptance."

Baghdad Christians praised the pope's teachings against war and for forgiveness.

Youssif Khalid Mikha, 36, a hotel desk clerk, supported the pope's strong stand against the war in Iraq.

"Even if we consider that Saddam [Hussein] is evil, how can we consider fighting evil with evil?" Mikha said. "War is evil."

Christians have lived in what is now Iraq almost since Christianity was born. But tens of thousands of Christians have fled Iraq in the last several years.

Asked how her community responded to the pope's death, Dalal Salim responded, "What community?"

"There are only two Christian families in my neighborhood now," said Salim, 56.

Salim said she watched news of the pope's death on television Saturday night--switching to a Lebanese satellite channel when she could find nothing about it on Iraqi TV--and gathered with her children to cry and mourn.

She then waited for Baghdad's churches to ring their bells in honor of the pontiff.

"None of the churches did it," Salim said. "They are all too scared."

For Marines in Iraq, news of John Paul II's death also was marked by the quiet with which it was received.

"It seemed surreal, because you're not with everyone else to mourn, with other Catholics," said Staff Sgt. Joseph Davila, 26, of Brooklyn, N.Y.

The Marines' stronghold in Al Qaim is a converted railyard. Davila and two other Catholics said the rosary in the base chapel, a converted railcar.

Second Lt. Christopher Warner, 28, said the pope's death has particular resonance here.

"Death is something we deal with daily," he said. "The Marines watching the news, maybe they weren't Catholic, but they recognize that he was someone who deserved respect--a leader."




Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Alpha Co. patrols disrupt insurgency, foster locals' trust
Submitted by: 15th MEU
Story Identification #: 20054575155
Story by Lance Cpl. Scott L. Eberle



BAGHDAD, Iraq (April 3, 2005) -- After a week of serving as the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable)’s Quick Reaction Force or QRF, Alpha Co., Battalion Landing Team 1/1, recently got their chance to get their hands dirty by taking over an area of operations in southern Baghdad for a ten-day mission.


The 15th MEU is currently conducting security and stabilization operations in the Greater Baghdad area where it has sent multiple companies into urban and rural areas to conduct patrols to disrupt enemy activity in an area that has been left relatively unmonitored for the past two years.


In mid-March, Bravo and Charlie Co.’s were flown into southern Baghdad’s farming provinces to patrol the area and seek out any insurgents conducting operations. For the first six days of these patrols, Alpha Co. stood poised at the Forward Operating Base, ready to support the other companies if needed.


Now getting ready to take on a mission of their own, Alpha Co. faced a number of challenges like deciding what everyone would take to the field. “It was extremely challenging deciding what to carry,” said Capt. Robert B. Farrell, 30, of Frederick Co., Md., and commanding officer of Alpha Co. “We had to pack light since we would be on foot for ten days but some weather reports showed temperatures down in the 40’s at night, so we had to decide whether or not to sacrifice the extra weight for staying warm at night.”


Since the area they inserted into had not had any military presence in a while, they weren’t sure of the enemy situation or how the locals would react to their presence. “When we got there we really didn’t know where to even begin, so we basically sent a patrol out in each direction to see what they turn up,” Farrell said.


“What we were trying to do was gather intelligence from the locals and ‘paint a picture’ of the area for the Army when they take over,” said 2nd Lt. Jeb Stuart Duke II, 23, of Louisville, Ky., and 2nd platoon commander for Alpha Co. “We did a lot of door-to-door knocking, just conversing with the locals trying to get a feel for the area and what the area was like.”


The Army’s 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment is scheduled to take over the 15th MEU’s (SOC) area of operations in mid-April and the Marines were trying to gather as much intelligence as possible for them when they assume the battle space.


For 10 days, Alpha Co. sent out patrols nearly non-stop searching for anything that looked suspicious or could be beneficial to the Army soldiers taking over the area. The company mainly gathered their intelligence by conducting “cordon and knocks” which is where the Marines cordon off the area around a house making sure that no one enters or leaves the area as other Marines knock on the door of the house and talk with the residents.


There were a few obstacles that the Marines had to deal with that made each day a little more challenging. “The all-day patrols left some of the Marines with blistered feet at the end of the day, and then they had to deal with the bitter cold at night,” according to Gunnery Sgt. Ricardo Rivero, 33, of Hobart Okla., the Alpha Co. gunnery sergeant.


During the all-day patrols, the Marines carefully rationed their water supplies to ensure it lasted through the patrol. Everyone was also issued two Meal’s Ready to Eat per day, which they would snack on throughout the patrol. Because the company often moved their patrol base, they only carried one day of food and water which required a daily replenishment of supplies.


“Resupply [missions] were challenging for the company since every time a ground convoy set out to resupply us they were putting their lives in danger due to [Improvised Explosive Devices] planted along the roads,” said Farrell. “The preferred method of resupply is by helicopter but even that is uncertain each time due to weather and the possibility of enemy fire.”


Although the long patrols left the Marines weary, they stayed focused on the task at hand. “Everyone was beat at the end of the day but we knew we had a job to do and that kept us moving,” said Cpl. Dwayne D. Maclin, 21, of Puxico, Mo., a machine gunner for Alpha Co.


In addition to the physical challenges, the company also dealt with language barrier. The communications gap was bridged by host-nation translators, Army interpreters, and an intelligence Marine from the 15th MEU (SOC), who were all attached to Alpha Co. for the mission.


While gathering information, Alpha Co. also helped conduct two Humanitarian Aid missions at schools in their area of operations. The 15th MEU’s MEU Service Support Group 15 provided locals with medical and dental care while Alpha Co. manned a vehicle check point and security positions in and around the school. The company searched all vehicles passing by the school and all personnel seeking health care.


The Marines were unaware how the locals would react when first inserted into the area. Surprisingly, the local reaction was more positive than many had expected. “Most of the locals seemed happy to see us there and enjoyed our help,” said Cpl Gabriel James, 24, an infantry man and native of Logansport Ind.


“Almost all of the farmers and locals were very hospitable and cooperative when we tried to talk to them,” said 2nd Lt. Andrew Broughton, 24, of Portland, Ore., the 1st platoon commander. “Some of the people told us that a most of the bad guys left when they heard that the Marines were coming.”


During the daily patrols, the Marines also covered numerous roads, sweeping for IEDs and any suspicious activities along the routes. “During the ten days we searched more than 400 vehicles and 200 farms and dwellings,” said Farrell. “We didn’t know if we would be stepping into a good, bad, or medium situation but we covered a lot of ground once we got there.”


“Despite some challenges and long days and nights, everything went smoothly,” Farrell added. “We had a few sprained ankles and minor injuries but in the end, (reaches down and knocks on the wooden floor) everybody made it back safely.”

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Gear used in combat saves lives
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Division
Story Identification #: 200544104050
Story by Lance Cpl. Athanosios L. Genos



CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (March 26, 2005) -- As the Marine Corps pushes through another year in a combat environment, its protective gear, such as Kevlar helmets, body armor and up-armored vehicles, continues to prove effective in saving Marines lives.

The Marines of 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 8, have pushed through situations here, which testify to the effectiveness and durability of their gear.

"If the gear we have is used the way it is supposed to, it will definitely work and save lives," explained 1st Lt. Erik A. Cooper, a Niceville, Fla., native.

Since arriving here in mid January, the Marines of the battalion have patrolled streets searching for insurgent activity in the region.

The Marines also patrol the main service roads in the battalion's area of operations to keep them clean of Improvised Explosive Devices. The insurgents don't care whether Iraqi citizens are killed and injured by these bombs. By finding IEDs, and then disposing of them, they keep the streets safer for the Iraqi adults and children.

Unfortunately the Marines are not always able to find and neutralize them before they explode. Because of the new up-armored vehicles, the explosions mostly cause cosmetic damage when the vehicles are hit. In other cases the vehicle sustains crippling damage while still allowing the Marines to safely exit. Thus far in the deployment, the armored vehicles have provided outstanding service to the Marines.

"If we didn't have the up-armored vehicles and all the protective assets that go along with them, I would have lost some of my Marines and possibly myself," explained the 2001 Florida State University graduate.

While they conducted patrols through the streets of Karmah, Marines like Lance Cpl. Mark Garlock and Patrick Bagley of Company I were hit by enemy fire. Garlock, who was shot in the helmet twice walked away only needing a new helmet as he continued his regular patrols with his squad. Bagley, who was shot in the body armor as he turned a corner, also walked away from the firefight only needing a new armor plate.

"While out on the streets, one of my Marines took a blast to the back and his body armor plate saved him from getting shrapnel wounds to his entire back," Cooper said.

In an age where the victor of an engagement is often decided by protective gear, tactics and leadership, the Corps provides Marines with the best of all three to bring them home safe.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense

No. 337-05
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Apr 07, 2005
Media Contact: (703)697-5131
Public/Industry Contact: (703)428-0711

DoD Announces Criteria for Two New Campaign Medals


The Department of Defense announced today the creation of two campaign
medals for Afghanistan and Iraq.



Presidential Executive Order 13363 established the Afghanistan and Iraq
campaign medals to recognize members, who made specific sacrifices and significant
contributions in these areas of operation.



Service members authorized the Afghanistan Campaign Medal must have
served in direct support of Operation Enduring Freedom on or after Oct. 24, 2001,
to a future date to be determined by the Secretary of Defense or the cessation of
the operation. The area of eligibility encompasses all land areas of the country
of Afghanistan and all air spaces above the land.



Those authorized the Iraq Campaign Medal must have served in direct
support of Operation Iraqi Freedom on or after March 19, 2003, to a future date to
be determined by the Secretary of Defense or the cessation of the operation. The
area of eligibility encompasses all land area of the country of Iraq, and the
contiguous water area out to 12 nautical miles, and all air spaces above the land
area of Iraq and above the contiguous water area out to 12 nautical miles.



Service members must have been assigned, attached or mobilized to units
operating in these areas of eligibility for 30 consecutive days or for 60
non-consecutive days or meet one of the following criteria:



+ Be engaged in combat during an armed engagement, regardless of the time in the
area of eligibility; or


+ While participating in an operation or on official duties, is wounded or
injured and requires medical evacuation from the area of eligibility; or


+ While participating as a regularly assigned air crewmember flying sorties into,
out of, within or over the area of eligibility in direct support of the military
operations; each day of operations counts as one day of eligibility.
_ _ Service members qualified for the Global War on Terrorism
Expeditionary Medal by reasons of service between Oct. 24, 2001, and April 30,
2005, in an area for which the Afghanistan Campaign Medal was subsequently
authorized and between March 19, 2003, and Feb. 28, 2005, in an area for which the
Iraq Campaign Medal was subsequently authorized, shall remain qualified for that
medal.



Upon application, any such service member may be awarded the
Afghanistan or Iraq Campaign Medal in lieu of the Global War on Terrorism
Expeditionary Medal for such service. No service member shall be entitled to all
three medals for the same act, achievement or period of service.



The awarding authority for the Afghanistan and Iraq campaign medals
shall be the prescribed by the member’s respective military service regulations.
Both medals may be awarded posthumously.



Only one award of the Afghanistan Campaign Medal and Iraq Campaign
Medal may be authorized for any individual. Service stars are not prescribed.



Individuals may receive both the medals if they meet the requirement of
both awards; however, the qualifying period of service used to establish
eligibility for one award cannot be used to justify eligibility for the other.



The Afghanistan Campaign Medal shall be positioned below the Kosovo
Campaign Medal and above the Iraq Campaign Medal. The Iraq Campaign Medal shall be
positioned below the Afghanistan Campaign Medal and above the Global War on
Terrorism Expeditionary Medal.



Each military department will prescribe appropriate regulations for
processing, awarding and wearing the medals and ribbons for their service members,
to include application procedures for veterans, retirees and next-of-kin.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

"Wounded Warrior," Marine gives back to New York City community
Submitted by: New York City Public Affairs
Story Identification #: 200541191624
Story by Sgt. Beth Zimmerman



NEW YORK (April 1, 2005) -- When Alex Presman enlisted in the Marines in 1996, he wasn't necessarily planning on making a career out of the Corps. "I joined for the experience," said Presman. His eight-year experience changed his life.

"I appreciate life more," said Presman. "I think differently about veterans and disabled veterans," he said. "Because now I'm one of them."

Presman spent eight years as a reservist with 6th Communication Battalion, Brooklyn, N.Y. He deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Since then, he has lost a foot, been medically retired from the Corps, started an organization to support service members, and started on his college degree.

"He hasn't skipped a beat," said Al Giordano, deputy director of the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP). "Sergeant Presman is a very squared away Marine," said Giordano, who is a former Marine also. "He's extremely professional, and he's always available to help other wounded service members whenever possible."

According to their website, WWP is "dedicated to serving the needs of a new generation of veterans and ensuring that the United States government and the American public live by our motto, 'Putting Veterans First in America'." The project has delivered 3,000 "Wounded Warrior Packs" to service members at military hospitals around the world. Members of the organization first met Presman while he was undergoing treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

While he was deployed to Iraq, Presman took part in a convoy to transport medical supplies. The convoy stopped on the way to Baghdad, and Presman stepped on an improvised explosive device hidden on the side of the road. According to Pressman, four other Marines walked over the same path before he did. He was the only one hurt.

"Half of my foot was blown off," said 27-year-old Presman. "So, they had to amputate my foot," he said matter-of-factly. Doctors at Bethesda amputated his left foot at the ankle, which Presman said is called a Syme's amputation.

"It's a pain in the [butt], cause you gotta wear a prosthetic," said Pressman. "If I'm at home just watching TV or something...I have to hop around the house (if I don't put on the prosthetic)." But, Presman said he could put pressure on his left leg without the use of the prosthetic. "I just have an exaggerated limp."

After he nonchalantly explained living with a prosthetic foot, Presman shrugged, and paused for a moment.

"I've never been a good dancer," he said randomly. "So that's not really cut out," he chuckled. When it comes to sports, Presman said, "it's mostly ping pong."

"I'm pretty good," he added. His blue eyes crinkled with his smile. "We have weekly ping pong tournaments at my house," said Presman. "Mostly, it's me and my friends."

According to Giordano, Presman's confidence two years after his injury is nothing new.

"He's always been a confident individual," said Giordano. "As any Marine sergeant typically would be," he added. "He epitomizes to me what America is all about," said the Warwick, N.Y., native. "Here's a guy who comes to America from Russia as a kid, joins the Marine Corps Reserves, volunteers to go to Iraq, loses a foot, comes back and is still motivated."

"I have a lot of respect for him," said Giordano. "You've got people who were born in this country who've never done anything for it."

Presman, who is originally from Minsk, Belarus, advises injured Marines to look to their counterparts for motivation.

"You're not alone," said Presman. "Every Marine is still part of the Marine Corps family," he said. "If you're hurt, life doesn't stop there...life goes on, and you have to go on, too."

Last year, Presman started an organization in Brooklyn to let other deployed service members and their families know they are not alone. Russian American Servicemembers of U.S. Armed Forces (RAS) works with another Russian organization, the Be Proud Foundation, to help families of deployed service members and to promote good news about service members from the community.

Raisa Chernina, the founder of Be Proud, met Presman after she read an article in the newspaper about him more than a year ago. Both from Russia, they decided to focus on the Russian community that lived in Brooklyn. Presman's Brooklyn neighborhood, Sheepshead Bay, predominately consists of Russian-speaking immigrants. Chernina said it's important people understand what the deployed service members are doing.

"When Alex (Presman) was wounded, there was [another Marine] who threw him over his shoulder and took him out of there," said Chernina. "He didn't ask [Presman's] nationality or when he came to the states," she said. "He did what people should do -he gave him a shoulder when he needed it," she said. "We all could learn a lesson from that."

If a stranger watched Presman walk across the street, he wouldn't notice anything unusual about him or the way he walks. On the outside, he's a friendly guy with a ready smile, wearing a sweater and a pair of jeans. On the inside, he's still a Marine.

"He has an awesome Marine Corps t-shirt [pattern] silk-screened onto his prosthetic leg," said Giordano.

"He's one of those silent heroes," said Giordano. "He doesn't think he did anything extraordinary. He's just living his life and getting things done."


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Wounded veterans show courage every day
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Scott Condon
The Aspen Times
April 7, 2005

Joey Avellone is a fresh-faced kid with movie-star quality looks. The former wrestler's 6-foot-1-inch frame used to carry 215 pounds, a lot of it muscle. It's degenerated a bit now that he uses a wheelchair plastered with U.S. Marine Corps stickers to get around, but he's still a big guy.

Joey is easy to approach because he's got a pleasant, welcoming look on his face. He is one of about 400 participants in the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic in Aspen this week. When he was at the Basalt shooting range with about 20 other vets yesterday it was easy to assume Avellone was recently wounded in the Iraq war, due to his youthful appearance.

"A lot of people do assume that," said Avellone, who lives in the St. Louis area. When he's shopping for groceries, for example, passers-by will thank him for fighting for their country in Iraq.

In those brief encounters, Avellone said, he doesn't correct them. "I think it makes them feel good," he said.

He's not trying to fool anyone. When he is around other veterans or engaged in any type of conversation, he explains how he got hurt.

Joey Avellone didn't get hurt on a battlefield but he's still a hero who made a huge sacrifice while serving his country.

He was training with his Marine unit in Hawaii on April 1, 2001, when they stopped on a pier. His best friend in the Marines accidentally fell backward over a fence and into the ocean. Avellone dove in to help but his face and head struck a coral reef. He was underwater for about four minutes before his comrades realized something was wrong and came to his aid. His training in Marine water survival saved his life, he said.

Avellone is paralyzed from the chest down because of the accident. He was 23 years old at the time. He turns 28 later this month. He has some sensation in his lower body: He can feel a wrinkle in his socks or pants. It bugs him.

"It's actually more of a burden than anything else," Avellone said with a laugh.

Counselor for disabled vets

Avellone's diving accident also broke his nose. "I told the doctor, 'I can live with paralysis but I can't live with being ugly.'" He wanted his nose fixed right away.

He applies that same attitude to life. Avellone said he hasn't let his paralysis slow him down. He was a skier before and after the accident. Last year at Snowmass he received the "Kamikaze Award" for going anywhere and everywhere on the mountain in his specially crafted ski during the disabled veterans annual gathering. He participates in a variety of other sports and, of course, chases women.

"I've had a few different girlfriends since I've been paralyzed," Avellone said. "A wheelchair hasn't slowed me down at all."

He's also used his injury to his advantage as a peer counselor for the Veterans Administration. His situation helps him relate to war veterans like those injured in Iraq.

Avellone said the Marines use a Latin phrase that translates as "fortune favors the bold." He reminds other disabled veterans about the phrase and tells them, "You fought for your country. Things might look bad now, but they'll be better."

Battle scars from Iraq

Ryan Autery, a 20-year-old Marine from the Nashville, Tenn., area, is one of about 70 soldiers at the winter sports clinic who suffered injuries in the war in Iraq. He lost his left arm just below the elbow when the Humvee he was patrolling in struck an explosive device in Fallujah on Aug. 19, 2004.

Two other occupants were injured and the soldier riding in front of him was killed. "When I think back, I'm surprised I lived through it," he said.

He's anxious to complete his physical therapy at Walter Reed Medical Hospital in Washington, D.C., and return to Nashville. He loves Tennessee, he said. He's come to grips with his injury, plans to go to college and train to become a teacher or work in law enforcement.

Autery looks like a young man who should be hanging out at a skateboard park or enjoying the spring sun on a college campus rather than dealing with a war injury.

"At first it was hard to deal with. Emotionally and physically it was hard to deal with," Autery said.

He's adapting. The former infantry rifleman in the Marines took a turn at the trap and skeet area at the shooting range. He balanced the barrel of the shotgun on what remains of his left arm, which is fitted with a metal-framed apparatus designed to keep his elbow straight.

Autery is still a good shot. He hit about 20 of 30 clay pigeons.

His injury hasn't changed his feeling about the war in Iraq. He said he hates the fact that "our guys" are over there and some are getting killed and wounded. But the effort isn't in vain. It's a worthwhile cause to help Iraqis find freedom, Autery said.

That's a message Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz shared with the veterans and their families at a banquet in Snowmass Village on Tuesday night.

The difficulties of a father

Autery had served in Fallujah for five months before he was injured. He had been in the Marines for a little more than one year. He said his dad, Rick, who also served with the Marines, inspired him to join.

"That hurts sometimes," said Rick, who also made the trip to the Roaring Fork Valley for the Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic. He said he feels bad at times that his son's desire to follow in his footsteps led to his injury.

Rick Autery said he worried every day that his son served in Iraq that something would happen. "The day I got the phone call, I knew," he said. He was working out at a gym when he was paged. He knew it had to be something serious.

The scariest part of the ordeal was initially trying to find out Ryan's condition. Military officials were a huge help in keeping the family informed. Ryan's buddies also helped him get word back to his parents. Ryan was at a medical facility that was surrounded by high concrete barriers that impeded the use of a cell phone. His buddies hoisted him over their heads on his stretcher so he could dial out and talk to his parents.

"The camaraderie and support of the military is remarkable," Rick said.

The elder Autery said there is no comparison between the treatment his son is receiving from his fellow countrymen and what military veterans encountered when they returned from the Vietnam War.

"I think the country learned a lesson [during Vietnam] - you can hate the war but don't hate the warrior," Rick Autery said.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Hailing Our Heroes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By By Owen & Bing West
National Review Online
April 7, 2005

Outside Fallujah a year ago today, a small convoy was ambushed by 50 insurgents. A rocket-propelled grenade hit the first Humvee, robbing one Marine of his hands and raking the others with shrapnel. Machine-gun fire swept the kill zone.

Captain Brent Morel was in the second Humvee. "Stop and dismount," was all he said before opening his door and sprinting off toward the ambush position. A small band of Marines followed him over two berms, splashing across a chest-deep canal as they closed on the ambushers.

As the surprised enemy broke, the Marines shot them down. It was the last time a large group of insurgents attacked an American convoy on that route with small arms, notwithstanding numerical advantage.

Twelve hours later, the casualty assistance teams were at the doorstep of Brent's widow, Amy, and his parents, Mike and Molly.

On a rooftop fight in Fallujah last year, Lance Corporal Carlos Gomez-Perez hurled grenades and manned a machine gun to drive back a band of insurgents. Once the roof was cleared, he walked downstairs, pouring blood. An RPG had torn a chunk the size of a Coke can out of his shoulder.

"Sorry, sir," he mumbled to his lieutenant. "Mind if I take a break to get this patched up?"

The public image of the military is shaped by the press. No matter how laudatory the actions of a soldier, if the press ignores them, the public is not aware of them. Today's battlefield elites are given scant focus by media elites. On Monday, Sgt 1st Class Paul Ray Smith was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award, with little fanfare and media coverage that burned out in 24 hours. So whom are we celebrating?

In World War II, the press were cheerleaders who shared a symbiotic relationship with the military. Gutsy warriors like Audie Murphy and "Pappy" Boyington were famous for their high kill totals. In Vietnam, the press soured on the effort, tied the troops to the policymakers and refused to laud aggressive soldiers. Instead, victims were accentuated. American prisoners of war — who were certainly brave — were the only acclaimed heroes. Rugged commando-types — just as brave — were ignored.

This was reflected in the wave of Vietnam movies that proliferated in the 1980s. In the four most popular movies — Rambo: First Blood Part II, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, and Casualties of War — two themes emerged: soldier as victim and soldier as criminal.

In Iraq, the most famous soldiers to emerge are PFC Jessica Lynch and PFC Lynndie England, a victim and criminal, respectively. Their public images are the offspring of Vietnam. Celebrity and cynicism have trumped achievement.

Habits die hard, for the press as well as for the rest of us. The disproportionate coverage of seven guards at Abu Ghraib and one quick-acting Marine in a mosque trumped the extraordinary victory won by thousands of Marines and soldiers in Fallujah, now one of the safest cities in the Sunni Triangle. The obsessive spotlight damaged the image of the American soldier at home while failing to assuage our detractors abroad. America is proud of its collective conscience, but self-flagellation has a deteriorating effect.

A nation's selection of its heroes is a reflection of its values. Jihadists like Zarqawi are not idealistic agrarian reformers. We are not a nation of victims. The press ought to make a real effort to show the tough guys who fight for us.

They don't have to look far. One hundred and forty squads fought house to house in Fallujah last November. In the course of two weeks, on three separate occasions the average squad shot jihadists hiding in rooms waiting to kill an American and die. The average 19-year-old searched dozens of houses each day, knowing with certainty that he would open a door and someone would shoot at him, not once, but on three separate occasions. Fewer than one SWAT team in a hundred encounters determined suicidal shooters barricaded in a room. Our SWAT teams are dedicated and courageous and we have seen many deserved depictions of their bravery.

Surely the media can do more to bring alive for all of us the nature of the sacrifices, courage, and, yes, ferocious aggression of our troops. The strength of our martial might is in our warriors more than in our weapons. It is time we understood why they are so feared. Our riflemen are not victims; they're hunters. Audie Murphy would be proud of Carlos Gomez-Perez, Brent Morel, and Paul Ray Smith.

— Owen West, a trader at Goldman, Sachs, served with the Marines in Iraq. Bing West, a former assistant secretary of defense, has written several books about combat. They are writing a screenplay entitled, No True Glory: The Battle for Fallujah.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense

No. 336-05
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Apr 07, 2005
Media Contact: (703)697-5131
Public/Industry Contact: (703)428-0711

General Officer Announcements


Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld announced today that the
President has made the following nominations:



Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Robert Magnus has been nominated for appointment
to the rank of general and assignment as the assistant commandant of the Marine
Corps. Magnus is currently serving as the deputy commandant of the Marine Corps
for Programs and Resources, Washington, D.C.



Air Force Maj. Gen. Michael A. Hamel has been nominated for appointment
to the rank of lieutenant general with assignment as commander, Space and Missiles
Systems Center, Air Force Space Command, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif. Hamel
is currently serving as commander, 14th Air Force, Air Force Space Command,
Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

April 11, 2005

Even deadlier aim
After success with Harrier’s gear, Hornets to get new targeting pods

By Barbara Opall-Rome
Special to the Times


After nearly a year of using external targeting pods borrowed from AV-8B Harrier jump jets, the Marine Corps’ fleet of F/A-18 Hornets is poised to receive a system of its own that incorporates the latest in targeting technology.
The Litening-Advanced Targeting system is set to be formally endorsed as the external targeting pod of choice for the Corps’ land-based Hornets, a decision that puts the service on a different course from the Navy, which is opting for a separate pod system.

U.S. strike fighters typically carry an externally mounted, cigar-shaped targeting pod on ground-attack missions. The pods include a swivel-mounted, day-night, forward-looking infrared video camera that projects magnified thermal imagery of a target area on a cockpit display, as well as a laser designator for “illuminating” a target so a laser-guided bomb can lock onto it.

They also include electro-optical video cameras with zoom capability for daytime use. The pods help aircrews acquire and identify a tactical target from long range or high altitude around the clock and in adverse weather, and then accurately deliver a precision-guided weapon to destroy it.

Besides the Litening-AT, the other two new targeting pods being fielded by the U.S. military are Raytheon’s Advanced Targeting FLIR, which is replacing the Nitehawk on Navy Hornets, and Lockheed Martin’s Sniper XR, slated for use on Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons, F-15E Strike Eagles and A-10 Thunderbolts.

The three new pods feature longer-range, higher-resolution, third-generation FLIRs and more powerful lasers. These enable aircrews to recognize targets and drop laser-guided or Global Positioning System satellite-guided bombs accurately from altitudes up to 50,000 feet or more, well above the engagement range of anti-aircraft artillery fire and mobile surface-to-air missiles.

Litening-AT is the latest version of the Litening II pod that has been used on Marine Harriers since 1999. The Corps’ Hornets, particularly its two-seat F/A-18D forward-air controller aircraft, were eventually supposed to receive the Navy’s Advanced Targeting FLIR. But Marines flying F/A-18s over Iraq couldn’t wait, so they borrowed Litening pods from the service’s Harriers and have been using them for eight months.

The Litening-equipped F/A-18s are flying nearly 1,000 hours of reconnaissance and targeting missions over Iraq each month, military and industry sources said.

Roughly 36 F/A-18s were modified to take the Harrier pod, said Jeremy “Rosey” Rosenberg, a retired Navy captain and naval aviator who manages Litening business development for Marine Corps and Navy programs at Northrop Grumman, the U.S.-based prime contractor for the Israeli-developed system.

A statement validating Litening-AT’s official place in the Marine Corps family was signed by service officials in late January and was winding its way through the Navy Department.

By early April, Litening-AT’s status as the standard pod not only for the Corps’ Harriers but also for its expeditionary F/A-18s is to be finalized.

The decision will come around the time the pod will have surpassed more than 10,000 combat flight hours on the land-based Hornets.

“By April, it should all be official,” said Lt. Col. Ed Barbour, anti-air warfare coordinator at Marine Corps headquarters. “The validated Universal Need Statement means that our [Marine Corps Combat Development Command] requirements branch at Quantico [Va.] has examined various options and determined that Litening-AT best meets our requirements. It puts us on the fast track for procurement and immediate, dedicated deployment of this system.”

Litening funding

Starting this year, through the Bush administration’s 2005 supplemental budget request to Congress, Marine Hornets should receive their first dedicated Litening-AT pods. The service requested about $40 million for 24 pods in that supplemental and a similar amount for another 24 pods is expected to be funded in the 2006 budget, Pentagon and industry sources said. Altogether, the Corps plans to buy more than 100 Litening-AT pods for its F/A-18A+, C and D models through 2008, the sources said.

“Right now, the current population of [about 100] Litening-AT pods that we purchased for the Harriers is being shared with the F/A-18s. But very soon, we’ll start building up our own inventory for these aircraft,” Barbour said.

Referring to the specific operational benefits of Litening-AT, Barbour cited the system’s ability to search wide areas and then automatically narrow the field of view for acquisition of battlefield targets and precision attack. He also credited the system’s data link, which allows for positive target identification by transmitting target imagery to ground controllers or to other aircraft.

In the past five years, Litening has flown nearly 300,000 flight hours on U.S. military aircraft, including more than 75,000 combat hours in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Litening-equipped B-52s flew hundreds of combat missions over Afghanistan, according to the Air Force, successfully delivering a variety of weaponry to their targets.

George Miller, a former Air Force aviator working with the Litening program at Northrop Grumman, said, “If you take the example from Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, here was an airplane that can carry a large number of laser-guided bombs, but had nothing with which to deliver them. But once those B-52s were outfitted with the Litening, they had the means of designating their own targets and delivering the goods.”

According to marketing data prepared by Northrop Grumman and its Israeli partner, the government-owned Rafael Armament Development Authority Ltd., the Litening-AT’s third-generation FLIR extends target detection and recognition ranges, improves target acquisition accuracy, and allows for targeting of up to 10 targets at the same time.

Designed with multiple sensors that can operate during most weather conditions and in total darkness from altitudes of about 50,000 feet, the pod features a sophisticated laser beam tracker and an inertial navigation system that precisely guides munitions to their targets.

Low failure rate

Northrop Grumman executives say the Litening’s modular design and its two-level — rather than three-level — maintenance system has resulted in unusually high readiness rates.

“Availability of the Litening among all our users runs in the high 90 percent ranges. We’re talking about an average of 95 percent or greater availability based on the 300 or so pods out there in the field,” Rosenberg said.

He emphasized that Litening availability rates are based on actual field data rather than analytical studies.

“All our experience with availability and ‘mean time between failure’ rates is based on 300,000 flight hours. And because of our very high MTBF, we have eliminated the need for intermediate-level maintenance, which spares our customers the money, time and effort associated with having to deploy all the test equipment.”

Miller noted that Northrop Grumman established a toll-free number where users can connect with Litening technicians any time of the day or night.

“The pods are deployed all over the world in many different time zones. A 1-800 number puts users in touch with technicians who are ready to assist with any type of issue that may arise,” he said.

Barbour said that exceedingly high availability rates were yet another reason why the Marine Corps selected Litening as its pod of choice for reconnaissance and targeting missions.

“It’s certainly a part of the compelling case in favor of Litening. These pods are less likely to break down in combat, and they are widely available,” he said.

Barbara Opall-Rome is a correspondent for Defense News.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Hoosier Marines, guardsmen return home
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alex Sanz/Eyewitness News

Indianapolis, April 7 - The long awaited return for the men from the Fourth Marine Division and their families was emotional on Thursday at the Heslar Naval Armory.

Their arrival to the cheers of family and friends under a light rain marked their second homecoming from Iraq in two years. The three left Indiana last summer with 27 others and spent just under a year near Iraq's Sunni Triangle.

Lance Corporal Aaron Middleton says, "The return home was very drawn out and long, but we're finally back and I couldn't be happier."

His mother, Laura Middleton, agrees. "I'm just so glad he's here and in one piece and I thank him for protecting my freedom."

It was a bittersweet homecoming after witnessing history before their eyes.

Their return to Indiana came days before Iraq's parliament elected Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani as the country's interim president, one of the final steps in establishing the nation's first democratically elected government in some 50 years.

Sgt. Chaz Hinkle says, "You know, there's a lot of progress being made and you know if people can just stick with us for a little bit we're more than willing to do it."

It was an amazing experience for the men, helping Iraqis stabilize their country and getting them on track for the future.

It was also an emotional return home.

Also, 15 National Guard members returned after serving in the War on Terror in Afghanistan. Family members waited at the airport to greet the troops Wednesday night.

The soldiers are part of the 1413th Engineer Company based at Camp Atterbury.

Sgt. Jonathan Spence says it's a mission they will always remember. "My whole life is going to start now. I guess I've changed a lot, hopefully for the best."

Over the past year the soldiers built roads and utilities across Afghanistan.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marine returns after serving near Fallujah
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OLATHE - Those who don't think there are soldiers on the home front have never met Barbara Hunt.

The proud Marine mom welcomed back with open arms - and screams of joy - her youngest child, Lance Cpl. Titus Hunt in San Diego March 10. Monday, she, his father, James, other family and approximately 45 guests, welcomed the 21-year-old Marine back to Olathe with a party.

Titus returned stateside after having been at Iraq's Camp Taqaddum, approximately 10 miles from Fallujah, since last August, his second overseas deployment.

"It's hard, but it makes us proud," Barbara said of knowing her son was thousands of miles from home, directly in harm's way.

"It was a decision he made that we had no choice but to back him up on."

Titus joined the Marines through its delayed entry program, which allowed him to attend boot camp after graduating high school. He'd attended Montrose High part-time and graduated from Colorado West Christian School.

Prior to serving at Camp Taqaddum, Titus was in Kuwait for two months and elsewhere in Iraq for three.

Barbara said her son had been considering enlistment for quite some time, owing partly to a strong military tradition in her family.

"Titus comes from a long line of military people," she said. "My father was a Marine for 20 years and fought in World War II. My mother, her sister and brother were all Marines in World War II."

Though she did not grow up as a military "brat" - her parents had left the Marines by the time she was born - Titus was inspired by his grandfather.

"Titus knew his grandpa real well," she said. "That was one of the reasons he chose the Marines."

Titus himself said he also wanted to take advantage of the GI Bill's college benefits, but before he was able to sign up, one more thing to consider cropped up: Sept. 11, 2001.

"Originally, I wanted to go to college, then 9-11 happened," he said. "I decided I wanted to do it for my country. ŠI haven't been to college yet - I've been to Iraq twice, but not to college."

His parents also had to confront the reality of Titus' enlisting during a time of armed conflict. "He looked at me (after 9-11) and said, 'Now what do I do?'" Barbara recounted. "I said, 'You have to decide if you want to be in a war.' The mother in me said, 'Don't go,' but the American in me said, 'I can't ask someone else to send their son.' I'm proud of him. I'm proud of all the kids that are over there."

Technology made the grim reality easier to bear - Barbara confesses she wouldn't know what to do if she were in the position the mothers of soldiers in other wars were.

"It's hard, because I knew what to expect, but we had it easier than mothers from other wars," she said. "They didn't hear for weeks and months on end from their sons."

Because Camp Taqaddum was fully modern, with electricity, Internet access and a phone center, Titus was able to communicate with moderate frequency.

"That's what kept us sane - knowing we'd be able to hear from him soon," said Barbara.

Careful editing on Tyler's part also helped - in his letters about base life, he left out the time when mortars landed a few tents from where he slept and made no mention when a building near the chow hall was blown up.

"I told Mom - afterward," he said.

Titus himself wasn't all that worried about his duties in base security. He said Taqaddum itself was largely secure and unlike others, he did not have to leave it for patrol duties.

The base did have some luxuries - those mentioned by Barbara - which gave him a different experience than did his first deployment.

That time around, camps were just being built and there were few modern conveniences - even showers were in short supply. Because his unit was set up to conduct decontamination activity in the event of a biological or chemical attack, they were able to clean up in an improvised shower once a week.

"And we were the lucky ones," he said.

Taqaddum also had sand - lots of it. "Everything looks like it's brown. Then it rains and you find out things actually have color," Titus said. "It just smelled like dust."

He hadn't noticed that smell, though until he was stateside, on a bus heading to his home base at Camp Pendleton, San Diego. By comparison to Taqaddum the polluted California air smelled "so fresh and clean."

His parents were waiting there to greet him on the parade grounds and they'd brought an old friend: his car.

"I screamed and ran and hugged him and wouldn't let go," Barbara said. "We went out to dinner and he ate the biggest steak on the menu."

After meeting up with him at Camp Pendleton, James and Barbara returned to Olathe to eagerly await Titus' leave time, which began April 3. His welcome home party was held a day later, at which he showed pictures of Iraq and greeted many of the people who'd supported him.

"We've had a lot of wonderful people supporting us while he was gone," Barbara said. Total strangers had e-mailed letters of support, church members had prayed for his safety and representatives from the local American Legion sent him packages.

Other Marine moms showed up at Monday's party, including a woman whose son will return Friday and another, whose son is in Okinawa.

"They just wanted to hug a Marine," said Barbara.

Marine moms and dads can get their hugs in between now and April 16, when Titus returns to San Diego. He is eligible to leave the Marines next June and will serve four years in active reserves after that.

"It gives you an appreciation for America," Barbara said of her son's service. "It matures him in a lot of ways, gives him direction in his life. I think he's an inspiration to those around him."

"I'm just a proud parent," James added.

Contact Katharhynn Heidelberg via e-mail at katharhynnh@montrosepress.com


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Kilo 3/2 captures known insurgents
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Division
Story Identification #: 2005450458
Story by Lance Cpl. Lucian Friel



SADAH, Iraq (March 04, 2005) -- In the early morning hours, Marines with 1st Platoon, K Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 2, took seven detainees during a raid here April 3.

The raid was conducted in order to detain individuals considered high value targets for questioning.

"There were a couple of high value targets that needed to be taken in for questioning. We gathered intelligence on them, the houses they occupied and we had pretty large files on a lot of them," explained Cpl. Richard C. Marshall, the 1st squad leader with 1st Platoon.

First squad was a part of the main effort in the raid, taking down and detaining the missions top priority high value target.

"The main individual we were going after was a known explosives expert and was also teaching others how to build them," continued the 21-year-old Denver native. "Bringing him in was important to cut down the number of improvised explosive devices and attacks on U.S. forces in the local area."

K Co. had support from explosive ordnance disposal technicians, combat engineers, amphibious assault vehicles and a combined anti-armor team with Weapons Co.

Marshall knew what he wanted to have happen and felt confident during the raid.

"I wanted to make sure that my Marines were aggressive enough and that none of them got hit during the mission," the 2002 Broomfield High School graduate said. "I felt confident that the Marines knew how to perform their assignments."

With the successful capture of his main target during the raid, Marshall hopes his unit continues to contribute to the success of capture of other known terrorist and insurgents continues.

"Overall, I want us to get rid of all the local and foreign fighters that are making it difficult on the Iraqi people to live peaceful and secure lives," he said. "Today's mission was definitely a successful one."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Iraq, Afghanistan campaign medals due in stores

By Vince Crawley
Times staff writer

New campaign medals for Iraq and Afghanistan are ready to be issued and should be in military clothing-sales stores almost immediately, defense officials announced Thursday.
The medals, which recognize service of 30 consecutive days or 60 nonconsecutive days on military operations in Iraq or Afghanistan, should be “in the stores this week,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, a Pentagon spokeswoman.

Service personnel officials have been making preparations to award the medals to those eligible and have been awaiting the final go-ahead and approval from the Defense Department, Krenke said.

The Bush administration long opposed the separate medals, insisting that a single Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal was sufficient to recognize military service in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere overseas.

Congress last year overrode the White House and passed Public Law 108-234 to create separate medals. Bush signed the law May 28, 2004.

On Nov. 29, 2004, Bush issued an executive order formally establishing Afghanistan and Iraq medals. The order says a service member may receive a country-specific campaign medal in lieu of the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, but can only receive one medal for a qualifying period of service.

Each medal depicts the country where troops served and includes the inscriptions: “For service in Iraq” or “For service in Afghanistan.”

Details on criteria for the medals are available online.

http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2005/nr20050407-2441.html


http://www.marinetimes.com/content/editorial/editart/040705medals.JPG

Persons authorized to wear the new Iraq campaign medal, left, or the Afghanistan campaign medal, right, can also wear the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal. — Department of Defense Photo


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Father of returning Marine ...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
encourages readers to turnout for salute to the troops tomorrow

Friday, April 08, 2005

It was nice to see the announcement in the Leader of the homecoming celebration for the 2/24 Marines [OPERATION "HERO'S WELCOME": Weekend Homecoming Set for Chicago Area Servicemen (April 6)].

For those who don't know. The 2/24 is a Chicago-based reserve unit. They have just completed an unbelievably successful tour in Iraq.

The battalion was about 1200 men strong. They were deployed in an area south of Baghdad in the Sunni Triangle that was called "The "Triangle of Death" because of the level of violence and terror used to control the general population by the Sadaam loyalists and terrorists who ruled the area in gang like oppression.

It was also only 3 or 4 miles from the huge weapons and ammunition depot that was overrun as the invasion was beginning. The combination of bad guys with decades long connections to Sadaam armed with practically any kind of weapon you could imagine made for an extremely dangerous area and a difficult assignment for the 2/24.

Immediately the 2/24 began conducting night raids into the AO (area of operations) to confront the enemy, to disrupt their comfortable patterns and to gather intelligence for future operations. Success came slowly at first. The AO was a total disaster, with no one venturing outside their houses for fear of being tortured or killed by Sadaam loyalists. Commerce was nearly impossible and even children didn't play in the streets. Fear was the sum of the people's existence.

As the 2/24 began to engage, defeat and capture the enemy's leaders and take control of the AO things improved. After a couple months we began to get pictures back of children playing, running and laughing and acting like we'd all expect kids to act. Eventually the people began to feel as though their lives weren't in total jeopardy and began to greet the Marines and some shared intelligence about the insurgents.

Then, real progress began. As Lt. Col. Mark Smith, battalion CO says, "All we need to know is where a terrorist sleeps and it's game on for us and game over for them." The whole nature of things changed once the intelligence level got to the point where consistent, reliable information was being acted upon.

Approximately 170,000 troops were in Iraq during the 2/24's deployment. The 2/24 was about 1200 strong. In addition to the terrorists that were killed the 2/24 sent over 1200 prisoners to Abu Graib of the total 8500 in the prison.

That's approximately 1/150th of the troop strength doing over 1/7 of the work. In addition they captured tens of tons of weapons, ammunition and explosives. Their area of operations, which was considered so dangerous that the Iraqi Interim Government, just one week before the elections, didn't think they could possibly hold safe elections ended up having over twice the turnout of any other Sunni area.

All in all, a pretty impressive job by a group of college students, policemen and salesmen who represented this country in the highest and finest fashion imaginable. They did their duty with honor and integrity and we can all be proud of them.

Of course, it came at a price. They lost 12 of their own, most at the hands of IED's, and about 130 injured. It is for them, the fallen and those who are returning, that this celebration will be held.

It is also for any serviceman of any era that, perhaps, never got the reception and welcome that anyone who serves in our behalf deserves. And it is for anyone who wants to be there to thank these men for their sacrifice and show support for the ones who make it possible for us to breath free and sleep peacefully in our beds. It will be a red, white and blue time that none of us will forget.

Please feel free to join in the fun.

Ed Moore
Father of LCpl. Patrick Moore
Antioch


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Two veterans deliver for Iraq war wounded
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, April 8, 2005
By SONI SANGHA
STAFF WRITER

A Marine - a triple amputee - and his young wife were in the first room that Nick Mascolo and John Clemente entered at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

"They had this look on their face," Mascolo said, "like, 'Is this what our lives are going to be like?'"

Mascolo and fellow Vietnam veteran Clemente knew they couldn't make the soldier's limbs reappear or shield him from worries about his future. But they knew they could make his hospital stay a little more comfortable and offer a heartfelt thanks for his service.

Mascolo and Clemente have raised money and supplies for care packages they took to wounded soldiers returning from Iraq. Donations continue to pour in to a beauty salon in Tenafly of which Mascolo is part owner.

Five weeks ago, they delivered 116 small, wheeled suitcases to patients at the Bethesda Naval Hospital, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and a rehabilitation residence called the Mologne House.

Each suitcase was neatly packed with toiletries and a change of clothes.

Saturday, they will deliver an additional 50 suitcases, along with 10 laptop computers.

Their efforts started small but are growing. In the next few months they will ship the packages to a burn hospital in Texas and an Army hospital in Germany. They hope one day to help wounded soldiers find work and get settled.

Mascolo and Clemente say they will continue their efforts until the war ends.

"We just wanted to let them know that people are thinking about them," Mascolo said. "The hospital is a lonely place."

Their February trip was their first back to a military hospital since the late 1960s, when both men were injured in combat.

Clemente was shot during his service with a rifle platoon in Vietnam. He

and another soldier were slogging through jungle at the head of their unit when suddenly an enemy scout ran between them. An explosion of gunfire erupted and Clemente was hit. A bullet pierced his knee. Another ripped off a part of his calf.

Clemente was lucky. His limbs were saved.

Mascolo recalls that his mortar platoon was in a jungle somewhere near the Cambodian border when he dislocated both shoulders. He was digging a foxhole when mortars rained down. Two soldiers dived for cover, landing on top of Mascolo. He went through a few surgeries and now can raise both arms above his head.

Though both served in Vietnam, they didn't meet until eight years ago at Mascolo's BBC salon. They've been good friends ever since.

"We're like Laurel and Hardy," Mascolo said.

Clemente, a mortgage loan officer, said their drive to the hospitals in February was five hours of exchanging barbs.

"I kept telling him he drove too fast," said Clemente with a laugh.

"Yeah?" countered Mascolo. "Well I didn't want to spend any more time with you in the car."

They were in high spirits before they arrived at the hospitals, and they had a plan. Mascolo was going to start with a little friendly talk and Clemente would be the closer, thanking the men and women for their service.

But as they began unloading the suitcases in front of the naval hospital, they became nervous.

"What do you say to a double amputee?" Mascolo wondered. "Ÿ'Gee, thanks a lot?'Ÿ" Yet hundreds of civilians who have come to the salon to make donations say just that.

Tom Hessmer from Englewood said he frequently passes the salon, which has signs advertising the campaign. He had been meaning to make a donation. On Wednesday, he contributed $50.

"I've seen these [soldiers] on TV," Hessmer said. "When I see them, I feel bad and figure I might as well do something."

Inside the salon, Hessmer filled out a card to accompany his donation. It read: Thank you for your service, heal up and be well.

Mascolo said that some Marines have called donors to thank them for their support.

At the Mologne House, Mascolo recalled two men outside in wheelchairs wearing shorts that revealed their metal prosthetics. Clemente gave them each a suitcase, and suddenly a buzz developed. Soldiers came downstairs, welcoming the two and thanking them for the care packages.

"It was great," Mascolo said. "We felt like Santa Claus."

The BBC Salon is at 1 Highwood Ave., Tenafly. For more information, call (201) 567-0007.

E-mail: sangha@northjersey.com


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines won't make it a career
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By JOYCE VANAMAN
The Press of Atlantic City
Staff Writer, (856) 825-2303

MILLVILLE - Two local 20-year-old Marines said Thursday they were gung-ho about enlisting in the Marines right after high school and had planned to make it a career, but both Cpl. Ryan Keith Donnally and Lance Cpl. David Lupperger said serving in Iraq changed their minds.

City Commissioner Tim Shannon, director of parks and public property, said: "It is our pleasure to recognize our hometown heroes. We have great admiration for everything they do."

He said that they are the 16th and 17th military personnel from Millville honored by the city.

Shannon, assisted by City Commissioner John Hollingshead, presented gift baskets from the city with items donated by area businesses in appreciation of their service.

In keeping with the Welcome Home tradition, city employees and some family members and friends of the two Marines lined the steps for a brief ceremony, and Sue Schwegel sang "God Bless America."

In an interview with reporters, the Marines said they saw combat, but they did not want to talk about it.

Donnally served as an intelligence specialist, collection analyst and combat interrogator in the Second Intelligence Battalion, which supported the Second Marine Expedition Force. He joined the Marines in 2002 and was in Iraq from August 2004 to March 20.

The son of Jean and Horace Merriman, Donnally said, "I'm proud of what we did there."

Lupperger was a diesel mechanic in the First Combat Engineer Battalion and served a nine-month tour in An-Najaf and Fallujah, returning to Millville on March 25. He enlisted in 2003.

Unlike Marine Staff Sgt. Michael Schenck, on leave from his job as a history teacher at Millville Senior High School, who said that he found 90 percent of the Iraqis were supportive or neutral, and 10 percent hostile, Donnally and Lupperger indicated that they didn't run into many Iraqis who were supportive.

"There was a big battle in Najaf and the little kids on the side of the road cheered us, but the people who stayed there disliked us, Lupperger said. "When the people came back, the American government gave them money to rebuild the city. It had been totally destroyed in August 2004."

Donnally, who was stationed in Al-Asad, said: "Running into Mike Schenck was the best thing that happened. It boosted both our morale. It was a great feeling seeing someone from home."

"I met someone in the Army who was from Millville, but I can't recall his name," Lupperger said.

Asked whether they regretted serving in Iraq, Donnally said: "I'm glad that I went. I learned about myself and can handle more than I thought I could."

"He's right," Lupperger added. "You get that adrenaline going. I did everything from grunt work to mechanic. I could get a call at midnight that a tractor was down and needed to be repaired. It was tiring, but I got used to it."

Donnally said he enjoyed his recent visit to Millville Senior High School.

"I saw Dr. (Christy) Thompson (the principal)," Donnally said. "She's great, and it was a pleasure to see her and my former teachers, Mrs. (Irene) Savicky and Mrs. (Rose) Showell. I sent e-mails to Mrs. Savicky and Mrs. Showell from Iraq."

Donnally said that his five-year contract with the Marines runs to June 30, 2007, and that he expects to go back to Iraq for another eight months in August or September. He said he is halfway through his college course in criminal justice, and is considering going into the Secret Service when he completes his military contract.

Lupperger said he wants to go to Universal Technical Institute in California and continue to be a diesel mechanic. The son of Larry and Janice Lupperger, David said, "My father taught me everything I know (about mechanics)."

Lupperger's four-year contract with the Marines is up in July 2007.

After the news conference, the Marines attended the Millville Kiwanis Club lunch in Corson Hall with Hollingshead.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Pantano gets congressional support <br />
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <br />
Posted: April 8, 2005 <br />
WorldNetDaily.com <br />
<br />
Second Lt. Ilario Pantano, the...

[thedrifter]

Love Means Reporting Back to Duty
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An amputee gets back to business.
Q&A by Kathryn Jean Lopez

On Valentine's Day 2003, Captain David Rozelle had to tell his pregnant wife, Kim, that he was being deployed to Iraq. Four months later, a land mine took his right foot.

Since then, Rozelle, who has earned a Purple Heart, now runs marathons and skis with a prosthetic leg. About a year after he lost his foot, he was declared "fit for duty" and returned to command. His next stop was back to Iraq. He spends time trying to inspire his wounded brothers - life goes on after amputation. About one visit to the amputee ward at Walter Reed Medical Center, he writes, "I tried to set an example and offer hope. That is what these guys needed most."

Captain Rozelle tells his story in the new book Back in Action: The Inspiring True Story of the First Amputee to Return to Active Command in Iraq. He answered a few questions from NRO editor Kathryn Lopez late last week.

National Review Online: You were specifically targeted, and were warned in advance, weren't you? Why did you go out on that mission anyway in June 2003?

Captain David Rozelle: Although I was targeted, I was not afraid. I knew that many men were trying to kill me so going on my daily missions was no different.

NRO: You spent some time at Walter Reed. What do the guys there have in common?

Captain Rozelle: Walter Reed has sort of turned into a fraternity. Guys are living together and going through some demanding rehab. They are already brothers in arms, and now they are brothers without arms or legs.

NRO: You've done triathlons and the New York City marathon post-amputation. What are you trying to prove?

Captain Rozelle: I am not trying to prove anything. I just enjoy challenging myself. Some people like to do drugs to feel high, but I love competition because I feel like a champion.

NRO: You've done your service, man, why would you ever want to go back?

Captain Rozelle: It is my duty. By accepting command, I knew that I would eventually return to Iraq. I am smarter, stronger, and more ready to help create freedom for the Iraqi people.

NRO: Deployment is hard on a marriage - as it is on your whole family. And for you as a young father. Why is it worth it nonetheless?

Captain Rozelle: I am a warrior. It is a mindset that allows you to leave your family. Those that are afraid to leave their family to accomplish something great will never achieve anything.

NRO: If Americans could know only one thing about why we are in Iraq, what would you want that to be?

Captain Rozelle: Freedom. You don't know what it is until you lose it. We are giving it back for the first time in most of their lives.

NRO: If there was only one thing Americans could know about the enemy, what would you like it to be?

Captain Rozelle: They are cowards that hide behind women and children. We will destroy them.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Wal-Mart Helps Sell the Marine Corps <br />
Posted on Friday, April 08 @ 01:58:30 PDT by joeb <br />
<br />
The next time you’re at Wal-Mart shopping for a new television, don’t be surprised to see a few...

[thedrifter]

Echo Company Marines Return To Iowa
Flight Hits Delay In California

POSTED: 4:47 pm CDT April 7, 2005
UPDATED: 6:23 am CDT April 8, 2005

DES MOINES, Iowa -- They finally made it back. After seven months of duty in Iraq, 140 Marines from E Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th Regiment, finally landed in Des Moines late Thursday night. They had been expected around 1 p.m., but mechanical problems with an airplane delayed their departure from California.

Relatives planned a reunion in the Tourism Building at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. But when the return was delayed, they cooled their heels around town. The plane eventually landed after 9 p.m. at the Des Moines Airport. Buses took the Marines to the fairgrounds, where they joined up with family members after 10:30 p.m.

"As soon as they'll let me, I am going to put such a hug on him," said Meredith Miller, the grandmother of a Marine in the unit.

Many of the families are not even from the Des Moines area, and were forced to book hotel rooms for an unanticipated overnight stay.

Echo Company was called to active duty last year. They served in Iraq conducting security operations near Baghdad. Three Marines in the unit were injured during their tour of duty.

One of those Marines, 23-year-old Cpl. Donny Daughenbaugh, was shot in the face while on foot patrol in October 2004. He's a 1999 graduate of Lincoln High School.

The Echo Company Marines are well known in Central Iowa. They're the Marines behind the annual Toys for Tots drive, which collects toys for needy children during the Christmas holidays.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Kaneohe Marines Return From Iraq
Troops Part Of War's Deadliest Battles

POSTED: 4:27 pm HST April 7, 2005
UPDATED: 4:38 pm HST April 7, 2005

HONOLULU -- There was an emotional homecoming Thursday for 135 Hawaii-based troops returning from Iraq.

The Marines were involved in one of the war's deadliest battles.

Family and friends crowded around the international arrivals gate at the Honolulu International Airport Thursday morning, waiting to hug their loved ones.

Rebecca Hamm hadn't seen her father, Chief Warrant Officer John Hamm, for a year.

"I was excited that he got home safe and I love him to death, and I'm so proud of him," Rebecca Hamm said.

"I've been gone a long time and it's good to be back," John Hamm said.

Dan and Michelle Brown flew in from Vermont to be there when their son, 1st Lt. Aaron Brown, arrived.

The returning Kaneohe-based Marines were part of Operation Phantom Fiery, the siege to take the Iraqi city of Fallujah.

"It was pretty much urban combat the whole time," John Hamm said.

"My Marines did just an outstanding job in the city and just the amazing things that I've seen and those guys were all heroes," Brown said.

The 27 Marines killed in January's deadly helicopter crash were from Brown's company.

Pride was the running theme at Thursday's homecoming. Every Marine with whom KITV 4 News spoke talked expressed it.
Copyright 2005 by TheHawaiiChannel.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.



Ellie

[thedrifter]

3 strikes
Corps falls short of recruiting quota for third straight month

By Gordon Lubold
Times staff writer


Marine Corps Recruiting Command missed its recruiting goal for the third month in a row, falling short of its contracting mission by 56 recruits and continuing to reduce the number of applicants available to ship later in the year.
Recruiters signed up 2,999 recruits, just shy of their goal to enlist 3,055 recruits for March, said Maj. Dave Griesmer, a spokesman for Marine Corps Recruiting Command at Quantico, Va.

In January, recruiters fell 84 applicants shy of their contracting mission, marking the first time in nearly a decade the command had stumbled.

In February, recruiters missed the goal again, this time by 191. Since Oct. 1, Recruiting Command has failed to contract 181 recruits.

The Corps and the Army have both had recruiting problems recently. But officials point out that the Corps’ contracting goal is merely an internal goal, a “cushion,” of applicants who will ship to boot camp later this year or next.

“We are optimistic that we will be able to make up that ground as the rest of the year continues,” Griesmer said.

However, the Corps is meeting or exceeding its shipping goal, the number of recruits who are actually shipped to boot camp each month, a far more important number, Griesmer said.

As of April 1, the command had met 102 percent of its shipping goal, or 269 applicants above goal.

That excess means that Recruiting Command is actually above its shipping goal by more than it is missing its contracting goal. Those extra applicants probably will ship sometime over the next few months to help offset any shipping shortages that may occur later in the year, Griesmer said.

News from the war in Iraq has taken its toll on recruiting efforts, and it’s also become more difficult to convince parents that their children should serve, said Sgt. Maj. John Estrada, sergeant major of the Marine Corps, in an April 1 interview.

Estrada said the Corps’ leadership understands how important recruiting is to the overall mission of the Marine Corps.

“Next to combat, that is the next most toughest duty in the Marine Corps,” said Estrada, a former recruiting station sergeant major.

Sergeants major from around Recruiting Command will meet for their annual conference April 13-15 at a hotel outside Washington, D.C., to discuss recruiting issues.

In a separate effort, Estrada said Commandant Gen. Mike Hagee and other senior leaders are considering several initiatives that could help recruiting efforts.

Recruiting may have faltered temporarily because of the war in Iraq, where the Corps’ best and brightest were unavailable for B-billet tours on recruiting duty. Now, that operational tempo has begun to slow, officials believe many quality Marines will again see recruiting duty as a solid career option. That in turn will help improve recruiting efforts, officials have said.

Officials also are hoping to dispel the notion that recruiting duty has a negative effect on Marines’ careers.

“We’re trying to break down the myth that recruiting is a career-ending duty,” Estrada said.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Lima 3/2 aids 2nd MAW security with exterior patrols
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing
Story Identification #: 20054604918
Story by Cpl. C. Alex Herron



AL ASAD, Iraq (April 6, 2005) -- Installation security plays a vital role in repelling enemy attacks. Regardless of the threat level security Marines serve as a deterrent for the possible terrorist attacks, however the volatile environment of Iraq can place these Marines in harms way at any moment. Putting pressure on the enemy and maintaining the initiative is the way Marines fight.

A platoon with Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines, attached to 2nd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing daily patrol the area surrounding the air base here. The platoon rotates its four squads on shifts, 24-hours a day to provide security for the units and squadrons aboard Al Asad.

“Our mission is to provide security for the base by patrolling the surrounding area, talking to locals and looking for weapons or anything that would compromise the safety of the base,” said Sgt. Greg Utalin a squad leader with Lima Co., 3/2.

Every time the Marines patrol they receive a brief on locations of interest which need to be checked or surveyed.

“Our intelligence personnel give us leads to check out, Utalin said. “While we are out we also stop vehicles and local Iraqis to ask them if they know anything about weapons and insurgents in nearby towns.”

The Marines drive through the desert, checking buildings and other man-made objects that could house weapons or terrorists who might pose a threat to the aircraft wing.

“We check a lot of the places multiple times, yielding no results,” said Utalin, a Buffalo, N.Y. native. “We always keep checking even if we never find anything. Even if there isn’t anything in a building 99 percent of the time, we don’t want to miss it the one time something or someone could be hiding there.”

Some checkpoints are geographical features in the terrain, and some are coordinates on a map. When the Marines arrive at their predetermined point, they stage their vehicles into a formation giving them a full circle of vision and watch the terrain for anything out of the ordinary.

“Most of the time we like our checkpoints to give us a broader view of an area,” said Lance Cpl. William Lowe, driver and Fayetteville, Ga., native.

When the Marines notice a vehicle or person in the distance, they spring into action, in a trail of desert dust they race to stop the person or vehicle.

“We try to talk to as many people as possible,” Utalin said. “You never know who has information on a terrorist cell or who could lead us to the next weapons find.”

When the convoy stops at their next objective a team of five Marines leap from the vehicles and questions the person of interest. They write down their information and snap a photo of the person in question. When the patrol returns they deliver their findings to the intelligence section to analyze. The information is filed away and added to a data base about the surrounding population.

“We pick up key words,” said Cpl. John Coxhend, team leader, 3/2 and Perkasie, Penn., native. “A lot of them know or at least understand English.”

The Marines from Lima Co. are working hard everyday to ensure the security of Al Asad and everyone who work here. With every weapons find or bit of information gathered they are putting a strain on the insurgents.

“We have the best mission on this base,” Utalin said. “We are establishing solid intelligence for the next platoon who takes over for us. We are helping keep insurgent activity around the base to a minimum.”

Security patrols not only protect the Americans at Al Asad, they also protect the Iraqi people who live here. While the Marines search for terrorist activity and gain knowledge of the Iraqi populace here they are making a difference. Although many of the patrols return without detainees, information on insurgents or weapons caches, these Marines are sending an important message. The enemy is not welcome here. The security patrols not only protect the base, they also serve a purpose to keep insurgents from calling the surrounding communities home.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Sent to me by Mark (Fontman) <br />
<br />
Battalion Readies for Homecoming <br />
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <br />
WISHTV Indiana <br />
April 8, 2005, 04:42 PM <br />
<br />
The...

[thedrifter]

U.S. Marine given probation following road-rage shooting <br />
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <br />
By TIM WELDON/Sun Staff Writer <br />
Friday, April 8, 2005...

[thedrifter]

Visual information Marines unite as Combat Camera
Submitted by: MCAS Beaufort
Story Identification #: 200546141515
Story by Cpl. Micah Snead



MARINE CORPS AIR STATION BEAUFORT, SC (April 1, 2005) -- The visual information occupational field received a face-lift recently when it was renamed Combat Camera.

The diverse field is comprised of combat illustrators, lithographers, photographers and videographers who are serving in jobs ranging from duty alongside infantry units to billets in the White House Communications Agency. Prior to the change, most visual information sections were known as the base or station Combat Visual Information Center. They will now operate beneath the Combat Camera banner.

The Global War on Terrorism has transformed the perception of the military occupational specialty field from a station support job to a direct tool for battlefield commanders, according to Master Gunnery Sgt. Vonzell A. Mattocks, enlisted occupational field specialist, Training and Education Command.

“We did not have the focus that we have today as far as helping the war fighter and commands make decisions,” Mattocks said. “If used properly, a commander can make educated choices. We have to educate upward and tell commanders that we are a great commodity.”

Garrison services offered by the 4600 field include still photography, video and graphic arts support, computer-based training, desktop publishing, printing and reproduction, video productions and multi-media authoring. Putting the “combat” label back into their reputation was just one of the reasons for the name change, according to Mattocks.

“We have several very unique technical specialties under one banner, and we wanted to give a stronger identity to the field,” Mattocks said. “We wanted to create a synergy amongst the different specific jobs similar to what infantry Marines have. Every Marine knows that the 0300 field is the infantry, no matter what specific job you’re talking about. That’s the feeling we wanted to create.”

Some Marine Corps bases and stations combine their Public Affairs Offices and Combat Camera units. Making a distinction between PAO and ComCam was another goal, according to Mattocks.
“We do a lot of support for PAO, but our missions are totally separate,” Mattocks said. “PAO is all about information for the public, whereas we provide intelligence, reconnaissance and similar battlefield support that Public Affairs is not involved in.”

That battlefield support can provide military departments, unified combatant commanders and on-scene commanders with direct image capability in support of operational and planning requirements during world crises, contingencies, exercises and wartime operations, according to Mattocks.

“We can not only be a tool for the CO, we can be a weapon,” Mattocks said. “Imagine if two forces are facing off on opposite sides of a hill and one commander can see photos, video or even drawings of what the hill and everything around it looks like.

“That is an invaluable commodity. It can be even more important in the urban-warfare environment that has become so common.”

The new name should be an instant reminder to commanders that the Marines are weapons and should be used accordingly, according to Mattocks.

“Combat Camera has been around a long time and as technology grows, so does our effectiveness,” Mattocks said. “We are an important part of any team and we want everyone to know it.”

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200546141935/$file/ComCamLogo_low.jpg

The Global War on Terrorism has transformed the perception of the military occupational specialty field from a station support job to a direct tool for battlefield commanders, according to Master Gunnery Sgt. Vonzell A. Mattocks, enlisted occupational field specialist, Training and Education Command. Photo by: Submitted

Ellie

[thedrifter]

April 11, 2005

An extra pair of ears
New gunfire-detection system may give vehicle crews an edge

By Dave Moniz
Special to the Times


Riding inside heavily armored Humvees, U.S. troops in Iraq have a problem that goes beyond the threats of roadside bombs and rocket-propelled grenades.
It’s noise.

The inside of a Humvee is so loud that the driver and front-seat passenger often have to shout to be heard. Troops inside the box-like military trucks sometimes don’t hear gunshots being fired at them, even when their vehicles are winged by enemy bullets. Even when troops are aware they’re under attack, they sometimes have a hard time figuring out the origin of the shooting.

To solve these problems, Capt. Steve Philipp and his comrades at the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab at Quantico, Va., have spent much of the past year shooting machine guns and other weapons toward an odd-looking, flower-shaped device attached to the back of a Humvee.

Cash program

The object that Philipp and others have fired at more than 4,000 times is called a “Boomerang.” It’s an acoustic sensor that the Marine Corps hopes will alert troops that they’re being shot at and help them quickly figure out where the enemy gunfire is coming from.

The Boomerang grew out of a program the Pentagon began in late 2003, months after the major combat phase of the Iraq war had ended but at a time when it was clear that U.S. troops were increasingly at risk from a growing and aggressive insurgency. The Pentagon launched a crash effort to build a cheap and reliable sniper-detection system. There were existing gunfire detectors, but the Corps thought they were expensive and in some cases too error-prone to be reliable.

To develop an inexpensive and reliable device, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency contracted with a private firm to create a system within 60 days, an extraordinarily short development window for a battlefield system.

The company, BBN Technologies of Cambridge, Mass., is renowned for its expertise in the field of acoustics. In 1978, Congress asked one of BBN’s chief scientists, James Barger, to analyze audiotapes of President Kennedy’s assassination to determine how many shots were fired at him.

Just missing the tight two-month deadline, BBN developed a first-generation Boomerang in 66 days in early 2004. The Corps has used 40 of those prototypes in Iraq for the past year, and BBN is developing a more reliable second-generation system.

The clunky-looking Boomerang resembles a 9-foot-tall Tinkertoy. It employs a cluster of seven microphones to measure both the sound of the muzzle blast and the shock waves bullets make as they zip through the air faster than the speed of sound. Boomerang uses sophisticated algorithms to compute what direction a bullet is coming from, as well as how high above the ground and how far away the shooter is — all in less than one second.

That information is displayed on a panel mounted near the vehicle dashboard. A computer-generated male voice simultaneously spits out information on the origin of the enemy fire. It will say, for example, “Shot, 6 o’clock. Shot, 5 o’clock.”

The Boomerang is not the only sniper-detection system in development or on the market. There are about a half-dozen such devices available, including ones made by French and Canadian companies. The Army and U.S. Special Operations Command began using a limited number of French-made PILAR systems in 2003.

DARPA officials asked BBN to design a new system because the agency felt affordability was important. At $65,000, the PILAR system is more than six times the cost of the Boomerang.

Scott Miller, an engineer at the Army Research Lab in Adelphi, Md., said he believes the PILAR is more accurate than the Boomerang and said the Army is happy with its performance in limited use in Iraq. The military will not discuss how or where U.S. commandos are using PILAR.

Philipp, the Marine officer, said he has tested all of the existing sniper-detection systems. The Boomerang, which can be manufactured for less than $10,000 per copy, is as good if not better than the others, he said.

One of the other systems is particularly prone to false alarms, a problem that until recently also plagued the Boomerang, he said. Signals from military radios had a tendency to prompt false alarms in the Boomerang because its software interpreted the radio static as gunshots. BBN engineers were able to fix the problem by tweaking its software, Philipp said.

The Corps is testing second-generation Boomerangs at Quantico and at Camp Lejeune, N.C., after having worked out a number of bugs identified by Marines in the field.

“They’d say, ‘I don’t like this,’ ‘I don’t like this,’ ‘don’t like this,’” Philipp said. The second-generation Boomerang has overcome several of those complaints, he said.

Early version too wordy

One of the criticisms was an excessively wordy warning system whose voice alert said “incoming” before giving the direction of the gunfire. Marines in the field thought that extra word wasted time, even if only a second. They wanted just the direction of the shot, and right away. Another problem was that the Boomerang’s software sometimes had difficulty filtering out “celebratory” gunshots, which are typically fired into the air and are not threatening.

Philipp envisions the Boomerang being used in two ways. For support troops in convoys that come under attack, it will provide warning time to escape ambushes once the first shot is fired. Combat forces, Philipp said, can use the Boomerang “to stay and fight.”

Dave Moniz is a staff writer for USA Today.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

April 11, 2005

Few amphibs in fleet plan
Shipbuilding forecast trims number of ‘gator’ ships

By Christopher P. Cavas
Special to the Times


The 30-year shipbuilding plan laid out by the Navy is an ambitious design for a fleet heavy on small Littoral Combat Ships and thin on amphibious ships.
The plan includes two options for the fleet of 2035: one with 260 ships, a second with 325.

This range reflects uncertainty about new technologies, manning ideas and forward-basing concepts, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vern Clark told lawmakers in March.

The plan foresees adding one dozen to two dozen cruisers and destroyers costing about $3 billion apiece, and up to 40 attack submarines, currently running about $2.5 billion per copy. But even the low option may not be affordable.

The overall ship count in both fleets depends on high numbers of Littoral Combat Ships, a small warship. Navy leaders have said the service intends to buy about 60 of the ships — the small fleet indicates 63 LCSs — but the larger fleet shows 82 LCSs in service by 2035, a number much higher than previously stated.

The plan was produced by Vice Adm. Joseph Sestak, the Navy’s head of warfare requirements and programs, and sent to Congress on March 23. A copy was obtained by Marine Corps Times.

In letters to Congress, Navy Secretary Gordon England described it as an “interim report” on ship levels through 2035. England said the Navy would produce a “final detailed report” this summer to “more thoroughly address build rates with regard to important issues such as fiscal constraints, industrial base and global war on terrorism challenges.”

Key to the smaller fleet is Sea Swap, a plan for crews to rotate through ships that stay deployed. The Navy tried the idea in 2002 during an experiment involving seven Pacific Fleet destroyers, and a new test with three Atlantic Fleet destroyers has begun. Proponents claim the practice dramatically increases the time deployed ships are actually on station and, by saving about two months of transit time out of each six-month deployment, reduces the overall number of ships needed.

Clark had hoped to try the concept on a deployed Expeditionary Strike Group this year, but ongoing Marine commitments in Iraq have put that idea on the shelf for now.

Shrinking gator fleet

While Navy officials declined offers to comment on the plan, the dependence on Sea Swap is evident in the dramatic differences in the structure of the amphibious fleet — the fleet designed to carry Marines and their gear to far-off lands.

The larger fleet envisions 24 amphibious ships in service by fiscal 2035, down from 35 today. The smaller fleet takes that number down to 17 ships — eight amphibious assault ships and nine San Antonio-class amphibious transport docks.

“This implies the amphibious fleet is a shadow of itself in the year 2035,” said Robert Work, author of a new future force structure study of the Navy. “The part of the fleet that delivers Marines is really changing,” said Work, a retired Marine colonel and an analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington.

Taking over some traditional “amphib” roles is the Maritime Prepositioning Force (Future), or MPF(F) ship, a large cargo ship designed to support operations ashore from as far as 100 miles at sea. By 2035, the big fleet plan foresees 22 large sea base ships in service, along with eight each of assault ships, transport docks and dock landing ships — enough to maintain eight three-ship amphibious ready groups, the standard configuration.

The smaller fleet plan shows 16 big sea base ships, eight assault ships, eight transport docks and no dock landing ships, indicating future amphibious ready groups will incorporate only two ships.

The smaller numbers, Work said, are based on the lower number of ships needed because of crew rotations.

The new plans show the future emphasis on sea base ships. Although the concept is still being thought out and no ship designs have been approved, three new ship types are envisioned as key: The MPF(F), a ship similar to today’s maritime prepositioning ships; the High Speed Ship, a more sophisticated, aviation-capable ship; and the High Speed Connector, a small vessel able to shuttle between the sea base vessels offshore and the land.

Both large and small fleets show two HSS ships but provide only three connector ships. That perplexes some observers, who think many more shuttle craft will be needed, although all the sea base ships also will be equipped with flight decks to handle helicopters or vertical/short take-off and landing aircraft.

One reason so few connector ships are indicated, Work said, might be that the Navy is not counting smaller landing craft or joint high speed vessels similar to converted ferries now in service.

Large or small, the amphibious fleet proposed in the plans simply may be too expensive.

A recent Government Accountability Office report criticized the fleet as unaffordable and proposed several lower-cost alternatives, including doing away altogether with the sea base ships.

Christopher P. Cavas is a staff writer for Defense News.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

You ‘WILL’ be honored in a living will <br />
Submitted by: MCB Quantico <br />
Story Identification #: 20054612577 <br />
Story by Cpl. Sara Carter <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va (Apr. 06, 2005) -- Terri...

[thedrifter]

Families await returning Marines
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Nathan Phelps
nphelps@greenbaypressgazette.com

About 350 Marines from two Wisconsin reserve units of the 24th Marine Regiment are returning to the state this weekend after deploying to Iraq last year.

About 200 members of the Madison-based G Company returned Friday and another 150 members of the Milwaukee-based F Company are expected home from Camp Pendleton, Calif., today.

Among the Marines coming back today is 21-year-old Lance Cpl. Dave Warnacut of Pulaski.

For his mom and dad - Joe and Joyce - the homecoming seemed a long way away in November, when the unit was engaged in heavy action south of Baghdad.

"The first several months were the toughest because he was new there and also November was probably the most dangerous month," Joe Warnacut said. "Early on … your mind was always over there."

But he said the time seemed to pass quicker starting in January.

"I don't know if it ever did for you," he said to his wife.

"No," she responded.

Dave Warnacut, a 21-year-old student at Marquette University, is one of two children. His 16-year-old brother, Joey, is a student at Pulaski High School.

During the deployment, the unit was attached to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Through direct-action raids, searches, and thousands of patrols and vehicle checkpoints, the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit - along with Iraqi security forces -rounded up nearly 900 criminals and terrorists, according to a press release from the unit.

Additionally, the 24th seized more than 75,000 munitions.

The reservists were part of that effort.

In a Dec. 14 e-mail to the Green Bay Press-Gazette from Iraq, the public-affairs officer for the 24th wrote that the unit was "doing incredible work over here."

The Warnacuts kept up on their son's deployment through regular updates from the commander and information from other families posted on Web sites as well as occasional letters and phone calls from their son. They also knew when someone in the unit had been wounded or killed.

Getting that immediate news sometimes made it easier, and other times it was difficult.

"Part of that was very nice because you felt like you knew what was going on," Joyce Warnacut said. "But you'd get up in the morning and go on the computer - which I did every day - and look and they would say 'There was Marine had been killed last night in Babil Province,' and you'd know a Marine in Dave's area had been killed.

"Then you'd spend the next 24, 48 hours hoping nobody shows up at your door, not wanting a knock, not wanting the phone to ring," she said.

F Company lost five Marines during the deployment, said Warrant Officer Terry Bellis, who served on active duty at the Milwaukee headquarters during the deployment.

"We're going to keep those Marines in our memory," he said. "There won't be a day that goes by that I won't remember knocking on the door and looking in their parents' or loved ones' face and telling them, 'Your son was killed.'

G Company lost four Marines in Iraq.

One of the images Warnacut's parents share shows Dave with the rest of his platoon celebrating the 220th birthday of the Marine Corps in Iraq last November.

"He's never felt more at home with a group of people," Joe Warnacut said.

His mom added: "They've been through a lot together."


Ellie

[thedrifter]

The general's lead-man in convoys
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Division
Story by Sgt. Stephen D'Alessio

CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, AR RAMADI, Iraq (April 06, 2005) -- One Marine here drives a little more aggressively in his Humvee than some of the mechanics who fix his vehicle feel comfortable with. Regardless of their concerns about fixing a busted bumper or a torn off headlamp, they keep their opinions to themselves. This Marine has the authority to put the pedal to the floorboard.

He's thought of as a trailblazer. Corporal Vincent Zanghi is the lead vehicle driver in the 2nd Marine Division Commanding General's convoy or "jump." The 21-year-old Stewartstown, Pa. native and motor transportation operator likes to push it to the limit, especially since his job involves the safety of the division's senior leader.

The 2001 Kennard-Dale High School graduate rolls out on security convoys almost daily - or at least whenever the 2nd Marine Division's commander needs to move to another location.

Zanghi and the rest of his team of Marines also provide the general's personal security. They're heavily loaded with machineguns, shotguns, rifles and pistols and an assortment of pyrotechnics. Some of their assets are designed just to signal and make loud noises to move traffic; others are to dismantle insurgent threats. Whatever the case, Zanghi is part of a team that does dangerous things in a very safe way.

Although the training that all Marines receive would prove to be enough for a confrontation with insurgents, he and his crew went through specialized courses that put them a step above many of his peers.

Before deployment, Zanghi was sent to the Smith Consulting Group, a security company that holds the High Threat International Protective Operations course, taught by former U.S. Special Forces and CIA agents. They taught him the kind of driving moves people only see in the movies. Zanghi learned how to make 360 degree spins, 180 degree turns on a dime and other evasive driving maneuvers. Best of all, he learned how to make his own trail.

"I've gotten into the craziest situations in Ramadi," said Zanghi. "There are no signs, no lights and people drive on either side of the road at full speed. A lot of the times, we make our own road. That's because we don't stop - no matter what," he added matter-of-factly.

There is an enormous sniper threat in the area surrounding the camp and a propensity for the insurgents to use vehicles as improvised explosive devices. The jump has fallen victim to roadside bombs a few times.

"There are a lot of holes in our trucks, but they're really safe," said Zanghi. "Mine is this well-built because sometimes I have to bust through roadblocks. I try to minimalize collateral damage whenever possible, though.

"You can think of my Humvee as a bullet-proof box. I've seen trucks totally blown out in the engine compartment and the rear and everyone walked away in one piece."

Zanghi is used to customized vehicles. One of his greatest loves is drag racing. Back home, he's entered his 1970 Dodge Duster in a few races and won. The purses aren't that big, but it's the love of the sport he's after.

He likes getting into grudge races, where someone challenges him to a race with something out of the ordinary like their mom's station wagon. It's all in fun and it's legal - sponsored by the American Hotrod Association.

"I love racing the older Mopars (Dodge-Chrysler cars) and working on them with my friends," said Zanghi. "But for now, this armored Humvee is my baby."


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Former POWs tortured in Iraq battle U.S. to collect awards
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Otto Kreisher
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
April 8, 2005

WASHINGTON - Marine Corps pilot Cliff Acree was tortured while being held as a prisoner of war in Iraq in 1991 during the first Persian Gulf War.

Now, the retired colonel and 16 other former prisoners find themselves in what one called the unimaginable position of fighting their own government in an effort to obtain the compensation from Iraq that a federal court awarded them for their brutal treatment.

Acree, an Oceanside resident, joined retired Air Force Lt. Col. Jeffrey Tice, another former POW, and their lawyers yesterday in asking the Bush administration to stop opposing their effort to receive a judgment for nearly $1 billion against the regime of Saddam Hussein that the former POWs and 37 family members won in July 2003.

The former prisoners and their families had filed their claim for compensation using the provisions of a 1996 federal anti-terrorism law. Although they had kept the government fully informed of their legal action, one of their attorneys said, the administration offered no opposition until they won their case.

The administration then appealed, and the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington overturned the judgment. The POWs are asking the Supreme Court to reverse the appeals court ruling.

The administration has argued that the money the former prisoners would receive is needed to help rebuild Iraq and bolster the new government.

Acree, as commander of a Marine observation squadron, was shot down over Iraq and captured the second day of Operation Desert Storm when his aircraft was hit by a surface-to-air missile.

"For the next 48 days of my captivity, I experienced torture, starvation, mock executions and confinement in a freezing, filthy environment," Acree said. He also suffered "violent, prolonged and frequent beatings, to the point of being beaten into unconsciousness," he said.

Acree said he and his fellow POWs filed the lawsuit under provisions of U.S. law and the international Geneva Conventions on treatment of prisoners of war "that allowed us to hold accountable a nation that had tortured us."

Tice, a former Air Force fighter pilot, recalled that when he was a prisoner in Baghdad, "shivering, starving and just trying to survive for the next 15 minutes ... I never, ever imagined, in my wildest dreams, that I would be petitioning the Supreme Court to help me fight my own country for the rule of law."

John Norton Moore, one of the POW's attorneys, said the money to pay the judgment could come from $1.7 billion in assets the United States seized from the former Hussein regime after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Vietnam generation is due honor
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By Joe Galloway
04-09-2005

Johnny finally came marching home again on a rainy day in late March in the town of Quincy, Mass. The town turned out to pay its respects to Edward Alan Brudno and to 47 other hometown sons who made the ultimate sacrifice in a war no one wanted.

Al Brudno was one of the longest-held American prisoners of war during Vietnam: He endured nearly eight years of torture and solitary confinement that began when he was shot down over North Vietnam in October 1965. He was 25 then. He survived to come home with the other POWs who were freed in 1973.

Four months later, the day before his 33rd birthday, Al Brudno took his own life. Last Memorial Day, his brother Bob and his widow Debby saw his name join the 58,244 others on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, with four more to be added on Memorial Day.

"The outpouring of respect and honor for my brother some 32 years after he died was extraordinary," Bob Brudno said of the ceremony in Quincy. Brudno said it wasn't too late to welcome his brother home, and "it is not too late to welcome those who fought and hold inside the same bitterness that has eaten away at me these many years."

Brudno said the ceremony, held before a standing-room-only crowd at the local high school, "was from one small town's heart."

In his own speech at that Quincy celebration, Brudno said, "For a while, I wondered why Alan's story attracted so much attention so many years after his death. I now understand. The war is not over for many who served in Vietnam - not just POWs. Unlike any war before Vietnam and none since, this one offered no glory to those sent in harm's way."

"Alan's generation, our generation, never got to become the 'greatest generation.' No less brave than those who landed at Normandy, our men were asked to risk their lives for their country and endure the horrors of war, but were denied the thanks and respect of a grateful nation. Today this country truly understands. I am happy that military service is again a noble calling. But for those of us affected by Vietnam directly or indirectly, the pain will never go away."

Brudno said that even as the crowd recognized the service of his brother, "We must keep in mind the debt still owed to so many. We must never, ever blame the war on the warriors again."

He told the hometown crowd how his brother, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was pursuing his dream of becoming an astronaut when he joined the Air Force, had resisted his captors in every way he could.

Al became a past master at the art of double-talk in the 20 letters that got through to his family during his long imprisonment. Intelligence agencies assigned specialists who, with the help of Al's family, decoded the hidden messages. Some contained clues to the names of American POWs the North Vietnamese had never acknowledged they were holding; others confirmed that the POWs were being tortured.

The Air Force acknowledged that Brudno was a Vietnam War casualty just as surely as anyone who caught an enemy bullet in the jungle. A military psychiatrist explained to Bob Brudno how his brother could give up even as he regained his freedom: "He just used up everything he had over those long years in captivity. There was no strength left with which to survive."

By his death, Al Brudno helped save many other lives. The military was shocked and realized that all the other POWs needed counseling and needed help restarting their lives. All the POWs began receiving that help, and it's now standard procedure for all returning American POWs.

It was 40 years ago this month that I landed in South Vietnam and began covering Americans at war in that place. In my four tours, I lived with and marched with soldiers and Marines and counted myself honored to be welcomed as one of them, through good times and bad.

They were fine young men, average age 19, doing their best to do their duty, doing their best to survive to make it home. What they found when they got home was a nation divided, many of their fellow Americans hating the war they had been ordered to fight. Some even hated them. Some called them baby-killers and murderers. Some spat on them and their uniforms.

Bob Brudno is right. This should never ever happen again in the land of the brave and the home of the free. Next time you see a Vietnam veteran, go over and thank him for his service to our country, then watch the tears come to his eyes.

Joe Galloway is the senior military correspondent for Knight Ridder and the author of several books, including the national bestseller "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young." He can be reached at jgalloway@krwashington.com


Ellie

[thedrifter]

April 11, 2005

Supersized convoy care
New kit for bomb injuries could arrive this summer

By Laura Bailey
Times staff writer


Marines running convoys in Iraq will soon be issued new lifesaving gear dedicated to treating the often traumatic injuries caused by roadside bombs and other threats.
It’s a lot like the medical pack that corpsmen now carry, only supersized.

The 32-pound pack, to be loaded in Humvees during convoy ops, comes in response to recent requests from field commanders.

Crammed with medical supplies and a collapsible stretcher, the $800 backpack kits will be fielded in Iraq starting as soon as this summer.

The aim is to give Marines enough supplies to deal with the multiple and massive casualties caused by ambushes and improvised explosives, said Tom Eagles, the medical acquisitions officer for Marine Corps Systems Command at Quantico, Va., who created the kit.

Known as the Convoy Bag/Vehicle Life Saving Kit, the pack will feature a greater number of the items found in leathernecks’ Individual First Aid Kits, as well as a few extras.

“It’s an IFAK on steroids,” said Eagles, who is the Systems Command medical acquisitions officer.

The new individual kits are good for coping with one or two casualties, but they do not contain enough supplies to handle multiple massive injuries, said Eagles, who also created the new individual medical kits.

And while corpsmen carry their own large first-aid packs, they can run out of supplies when treating high numbers of casualties.

“A corpsman can only carry so much, and resupply is a fair amount of a problem because of distance,” Eagles said.

Commanders got the idea from the Army, which outfits soldiers in Iraq with a similar kit.

After seeing troops with the 82nd Airborne Division using such bags, “general officers said ‘Hey, we want this,’” Eagles said.

Officials with II Marine Expeditionary Force submitted an urgent request in February that Systems Command create a similar kit, and now Eagles is waiting for the funding to produce large quantities of the Marine Corps version, which he expects to be approved soon.

What’s inside

Featuring seven small pouches surrounding a main compartment, the kit includes dozens of combat dressings and gauze rolls, as well as splints and tourniquets. It also will contain large anesthetic-soaked burn dressings, as well as four pouches of QuikClot, a powder that, when poured in large wounds stops bleeding.

Eagles said the compact stretcher, which takes up the bulk of the pack, will help reduce instances of further damage to internal injuries caused when Marines carry wounded troops on improvised litters, such as those made from ponchos. Also, a large roll of duct tape is included in the pack so Marines can tape up splints, secure patients to litters or, in the case of a spinal injury, tape a casualty’s head and body to the litter to prevent him from being jostled.

Once funding is approved, Systems Command will produce between 1,000 and 2,500 kits to be sent to Iraq as soon as this summer, he said.

It is not yet clear whether the kits would remain with vehicles or if vehicle crews would have to be issued one before each convoy.

Eagles said the kits could go with one of every three or four vehicles per convoy but that battalions will be left to determine distribution.

Along with the new convoy bag, Systems Command will field another medical kit in May for corpsmen. That kit, the Medical Assault Pack, will replace the corpsman’s MOLLE assault pack.

The larger 2,150-cubic-inch pack will give corpsmen a place for medical gear as well as more space for personal gear.

Laura Bailey covers Marine Corps Systems Command and the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab. She can be reached at (703) 750-8687 or lbailey@marinecorpstimes.com.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

CAC learns SASO at Schofield
Submitted by: MCB Hawaii
Story Identification #: 20054520335
Story by Pfc. Roger L. Nelson



MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii (March 29, 2005) -- Marines are considered the number one fighting force in the United States because of their elite and strenuous training exercises.

Combat Assault Company, 3rd Marine Regiment, continues to hold true to this elite reputation by expanding their rifleman skills and increasing their combat knowledge while taking the Support And Stability Operations course. The two-week course puts lessons learned in the field into practice for those who may be faced with war-type situations in the future.

“This training actually just started in Regimental Schools,” said Sgt. Juan R. Martinez, SASO instructor, Regimental Schools. “For this course the first week is all in classrooms the whole time and the next week we are in the field doing training exercises.”

Martinez explained, they receive information back from Marines who have already been to combat zones, such as Iraq and Afghanistan, and gather useful information needed to teach other Marines how to survive in similar situations. The most helpful parts of this information are then taken and implemented into the SASO course.

“We have six instructors in the course (to) help Marines learn different field training exercises they could see in the real combat zones,” said Martinez, a Hartford, Conn., native. “The Marines run 24 hour operations so they also endure sleep deprivation.”

After the Marines finish the first week of classroom exercise they then go on to do a wide variety of different field exercises. The training includes Military Operations in Urban Terrain training skills, POW detaining and vehicle control points.

In the MOUT training the Marines are expected to clear rooms as instructors fire back at them with M-16 A2 service rifles with paint simulated rounds.

“The reason we will be shooting at them with the paint rounds is so we will be able to tell if the Marine was hit while clearing the room or not,” explained Martinez. “If a Marine is hit he will know what he did wrong and will hopefully correct it so it doesn’t happen again.”

This is the first MOUT course Regimental Schools is offering that includes SASO training. They are expected to start giving the training up to five times a year.

“We actually never get to do this kind of training,” said Capt. Robert A. Kleinpaste, commanding officer of CAC, 3rd Marine Regiment. “This is the first time Regimental Schools has done this. We usually just get to work with vehicles.”

According to Kleinpaste, a Spokane, Wash., native, the combat training should be balanced because it is important that Marines get this training while maintaining their primary jobs because there is a chance that the Marines from CAC will see combat.

“For this being the first time we’ve done this training it seems to be working out pretty well,” explained Kleinpaste. “It’s really good training for squad and platoon size units. Its really been more close quarters combat training.”

Kleinpaste explained that there is more than a 90 percent chance he and some of his Marines will be going to Iraq in the upcoming months so the training is essential for these Marines.

“Next month we will be training Marines at [Marine Corps Training Area] Bellows,” explained Martinez, “but we will be doing different training exercises then what we’re teaching here and changing some things around.”

Cpl. Jake D. Hinderliter, an amphibious assault vehicle chief with CAC, 3rd Marines, says the only thing he would change about the training is instead of having two weeks of training, he would combine the training into classroom sessions in the morning and field training in the afternoon.

“I think this is actually really good training,” said Hinderliter. “These kind of exercises are usually done with blanks, but with the simulated rounds it’s more life-like.”

Students from CAC who are currently in the SASO course are not only expanding their knowledge of different combat situations in preparation for deployment, but also helping to ensure the Marine Corps remains America’s number one fighting force.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

New Baltimore, Mich., native serves in Corps, honors late father
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Division
Story Identification #: 20054211654
Story by Cpl. Tom Sloan



CAMP HURRICANE POINT AR RAMADI, Iraq (April 1, 2005) -- The loss of a loved one can be devastating. Some people never fully recover from the death of a close family member.

This is not the case, however, for Pfc. David S. Johnson, a motor transportation mechanic here with Headquarters and Service Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment.

After the 27-year-old from New Baltimore, Mich., got over the initial shock of his father's sudden passing in late 2003, he found the nearest Marine recruiter and joined the Corps.

"My dad was a Marine," said the 1997 New Baltimore High School graduate while changing a flat tire on a humvee. "His death inspired me to join."

Johnson enlisted out of Mount Clemens, Mich., and attended Marine Corps Recruit Training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Paris Island, S.C., in 2004.

His father, Steven R. Johnson, was a career Marine who served in the Corps for more than 20 years as an airplane mechanic.

Mechanic ingenuity must run in the Johnson bloodline, because he said he's always enjoyed spending time in the garage working on vehicles.

Johnson's skills with a wrench landed him a job at a Chrysler automobile factory in Dearborn, Mich., where he made glass for all the company's cars and trucks.

"I became a mechanic because I like the work," he said. "It will be something I can use when I get out of the Marines, too."

Johnson said his rank will be the determining factor on whether or not he'll reenlist.

"Rank will determine if I re-up or not," he said. "If I make corporal in four years, then I probably will."

Johnson is known to be quiet, hardworking and easy going according to his fellow Marines in the battalion.

"He's humble," said Lance Cpl. Galipcio Torres, a motor transportation operator with H&S Company. "He has a stressful job because the battalion relies on his services to keep their vehicles up and running. When a vehicle is down, it's his responsibility to get it fixed and back on the road. He doesn't let it all get to him, though. He always goes right to work and never complains. It seems as though he enjoys it," continued the 28-year-old of Puerto Rican decent.

Aside from honoring his father with his service in the Marines, Johnson said he's doing it to support his wife, Debbie, who's back home in New Baltimore, Mich.

"I want her to be able to get out of Michigan and see more of the world."

Johnson said he plans on moving Debbie to California to live with him when he returns to Camp Pendleton six months from now.

"We need someplace with a yard for our dog, Ruben."

When he's not doing bodywork on a classic car or tweaking a motorcycle engine in his garage back home, Johnson ice fishes on Lake Saint Clair.

"I did some ice fishing while on pre-deployment leave before coming here," he said with a smile. "It's a lot of fun."

Johnson won't be doing any ice fishing for the next six months while supporting the War on Terrorism here in Iraq, but he's fine with that. He's here to do a job, and it's a job he enjoys.

"The work is hard, but it's also rewarding."

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines come home to heroes' welcome in Madison
Company patrolled 'Triangle of Death'; 4 members died
By STACY FORSTER
sforster@journalsentinel.com
Posted: April 8, 2005

Madison - For Cpl. Andy Wentworth, it was a pitcher of green beer saved from St. Patrick's Day at a favorite watering hole.

For Lance Cpl. Justin Landaal, it was settling into life in Waupun with 4 1/2 -month-old son Payson, born while he was away. And for Cpl. Keegan Murphy, it was the joy of knowing that after nearly a year of living under a tight military schedule, he had free time staring him in the face.

From the simple to the sublime, well-earned rewards awaited each returning member of Golf Company, part of the Chicago-based Marine Reserve 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment.

Not that Wisconsin was ever far from their thoughts, even as they patrolled the dangerous insurgent heartland of Mahmudiyah, Iraq, where they were headquartered.

"Every day," said Lance Cpl. Troy Egger, 22, of Madison, when asked about how often he missed Wisconsin. "I was thinking about home every day."

After a brief training period at Camp Pendleton, Calif., over the summer, the battalion arrived in Iraq in September and was based in an area of central Iraq known as the "Triangle of Death" because of insurgent attacks in that region. Another Wisconsin company from the battalion, Fox Company, is scheduled to return to Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee this afternoon.

Though Friday's homecoming was a joyous one - with an airplane hangar plastered with bunting, "Welcome Home" signs and American flags - there was a bittersweet undertone.

During its tour of duty, the 900-member battalion lost 12 soldiers, most of them from Wisconsin. Of the 186 Marines in Golf Company who went to Iraq, four were killed in action: Shane O'Donnell, 24, of DeForest; Robert Warns II, 23, of Waukesha; Ryan Cantafio, 22, of Beaver Dam; and Brandon Ramey, 22, of Belvidere, Ill.

"In the 20-some odd years they lived, they did more and accomplished more than some people who live to be 80-plus," said Maj. Adam Holton, the company's commanding officer. "No one could live more than they did."
Heroes' homecoming

Terrorists in Iraq nicknamed the company the "Mad Ghosts" because, interpreters told them, television news reports said it seemed as if the Marines didn't sleep and were everywhere.

At their homecoming gathering Friday, they could have been called "Celebrated Heroes" instead.

Cheers - and tears - from the 3,000 people on the ground swelled as soon as the plane landed at Dane County Regional Airport in Madison. Once in formation on the runway, the company members marched into position and were dismissed as their wives, parents, girlfriends, friends and children clambered to clutch and kiss them.

"He's here, in the flesh," said Barbara Wentworth, Andy Wentworth's mother and the volunteer coordinator for Golf Company.

Wentworth and a dozen friends baked 18 giant apple pies - 23-year-old Andy's dessert of choice - Thursday in their hometown of Wales, to share with the company and their families.

"What is home? Apple pie and mom," Wentworth said. "We're going to give them that."

Lance Cpl. Marty Schwader's family was preparing to throw a "Marty Gras" party this weekend to welcome him back to his Milwaukee home - but he has to find it first. Schwader's mother, Jackie Huber of Kenosha, said she and Schwader's fiancée, Jill Kwasny, had to move his things to a new apartment while he was gone.

"I don't even know where I live yet," said Schwader, 22, adding that once he gets there, he plans to relax until returning to his job as a mortgage officer in May.

Schwader said Golf Company returns with great pride. The insurgent-filled area the company patrolled was considered by some to be too unstable to participate in the elections, but the battalion was considered so strong that the U.S. military forged ahead with the vote. More 70% of eligible voters cast ballots, he said.

"We really kicked off something in the Middle East, and all the other countries over there starting to really think about the way they want to run their countries," Schwader said.

Those celebrating the company's return agreed but added that the mission's success extended to what the soldiers had done for America, too.

"There is an entire family of the state of Wisconsin that is so proud of its sons, so proud of what you have done on our behalf," said Gov. Jim Doyle, who was among several state and federal officials to welcome Golf Company.

Debbie Sokol-Mester helped her Mineral Point neighbor, Sue McVay, erect signs all over town to celebrate the return of McVay's two sons, Sgt. Michael McVay Jr., 27, and Lance Cpl. Chad McVay, 23, as well as seven other Marines from the area.

The two women stayed up late Thursday night making T-shirts with pictures of the McVay boys and making sure storefronts were decked out with the proper messages of appreciation.

"The word 'thanks' is on every sign," Sokol-Mester said.

With the Marines' return, Murphy, 22, of Fond du Lac, said he hopes people in Wisconsin will get a better sense of the outpouring of support they received from Iraqis.

"We were thanked on a daily basis by the civilians," Murphy said. "It's not something that people see (in the news) back here."

The party will last for only a few days. Golf Company is due back in Madison on Wednesday to begin the process of wrapping up its work.

Andy Wentworth said he expects his thoughts in the coming days to be split between planning work to do on his La Crosse home and the experiences he now shares with his fellow Marines.

Meantime, the Marines' families and loved ones plan to shower them with attention as they begin to settle back into the routines of daily life.

"We have one piece of advice for our families: As long as we can have our remote controls back so we can watch (ESPN's) SportsCenter, it's all good," said Holton, the company's commanding officer.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marine in Iraq writes his fellow students at OSU
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Marc Fencil, a senior at Ohio University, currently serving in Iraq, writes to his fellow students:

"It's a shame that I'm here in Iraq with the Marines right now and not back at Ohio University completing my senior year and joining in blissful ignorance with the enlightened, war-seasoned protesters who participated in the recent 'die-in' at College Gate. It would appear that all the action is back home, but why don't we make sure? That's right, this is an open invitation for you to cut your hair, take a shower, get in shape and come on over! If Michael Moore can shave and lose enough weight to fit into a pair of camouflage utilities, then he can come too!

"Make sure you all say your goodbyes to your loved ones though, because you won't be seeing them for at least the next nine months. You need to get here quick because I don't want you to miss a thing. You missed last month's discovery of a basement full of suicide vests from the former regime (I'm sure Saddam's henchmen just wore them because they were trendy though). You weren't here for the opening of a brand new school we built either. You might also notice women exercising their new freedom of walking to the market unaccompanied by their husbands."

As Marc concludes, "If you decide to decline my offer, then at least you should sleep well tonight knowing that men wearing black facemasks and carrying AK-47s yelling 'Allahu Akbar' over here are proud of you and are forever indebted to you for advancing their cause of terror. While you ponder this, I'll get back to the real 'die-in' over here. I don't mind."


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marine reservists to get chance to thank community
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By MELISSA SULLIVAN
Eagle Staff Writer

Maj. Roger Sheridan said that while serving in Iraq over the past seven months, he continuously was moved by the outpouring of support from the Bryan-College Station community.

Folks whom the Marine Reserve officer never met and who had no ties to anyone in his family or circle of friends were sending letters and care packages to the more than 1,000 members of the 1st Battalion 23rd Marines Regiment based in Houston.

Now, Sheridan and almost 10 other locally based Marine reservists will have the chance to express their gratitude to area residents during a welcome-home gathering from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday at Central Park in College Station.

Sheridan’s wife, Jodi, said the public is invited to mingle with the troops, including some coming to town from East Texas and Louisiana. State Rep. Fred Brown, R-College Station, will make a special presentation to the Marines at 4 p.m.

Sheridan said he hopes to see many of his friends and the families of his fellow Marines at the gathering so he can thank them in person.

“This is for us to say, ‘Hey, we appreciate it,’” he said. “Plus, we are one big family, so now we get to incorporate the wives and kids and make it a bigger one.”

Since his return to Bryan on Sunday, Sheridan, a self-employed painter who also does remodeling, said he has been relaxing, spending time with his kids and enjoying not having as many responsibilities.

“My whole family had it harder than I did,” Sheridan said. “I am right there doing whatever we do, and they have to worry about us the whole time.”

During his tenure in the war-torn country, the regiment provided around-the-clock security throughout the Anbar province and helped train the new Iraqi security forces, Sheridan said.

While her husband was in the Middle East, Jodi Sheridan said, she kept herself busy taking care of the couple’s two kids, Jessica, 6, and Justin, 3, and was the key coordinator for the families as she relayed information about the troops through phone calls and e-mails.

Now she’ll get to meet some of those families face to face while thanking the community for its kindness.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Recruiting trip puts Marine in the right place <br />
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <br />
By LISA ROBERSON <br />
Gazette Staff Writer <br />
<br />
A recruiting trip to...

[thedrifter]

Canadian soldiers battle alongside 13th MEU Marines at TRUEX, MAGTFEX 2005
Submitted by: 13th MEU
Story Identification #: 200546153250
Story by Cpl. Andy J. Hurt



MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (April 6, 2005) -- In an average training environment, patrols and combat tactics can become monotonous. But in the high-speed world of expeditionary work-ups, combined with joint training efforts from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit and Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI), things become a bit more interesting, eh?

Soldiers from the 3rd PPCLI flew south for the duration of the Fighting 13th’s Training in an Urban Environment and Marine Air-Ground Task Force exercises March 17-April 3 at Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, Calif.

Shock and Awe

“This blows our exercises away,” said 2nd Lt. (pronounced “Leftenant”) Matt Dawe, 8th platoon commander, C Company, 3rd Battalion, “the realism is, for lack of a better term, breathtaking.”

Dawe and the green warriors of the north took part in every event tailored for U.S. Marine combat operations. From security and stability operations to cordon and knock ops, the soldiers had their boots on the ground and their rifles at the ready.

“The training has been so worthwhile,” said Dawe. “The troops are loving every single minute of it. It’s awe-inspiring.”

The Fighting 13th MEU

The 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, an amphibious force affectionately referred to as “America’s 9-1-1 force,” a reflection of it’s agile and fierce posture and ever-present combat readiness around the globe, hosted the Canadians during a critical point in pre-deployment work-up training.

In January, the MEU was formed with the attachment of Battalion Landing Team 2/1, Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron-163 “Evil Eyes," and MEU Service Support Group-13 “Shamrock Warriors.” It is currently involved in a six-month training cycle to prepare for the Western Pacific ‘05 deployment, scheduled for July.


Leadership Strengthened

Dawe, a Kingston, Ontario, native, is relatively new to the PPCLI, joining 3rd Bn. in October 2004. Though he is new to this leadership role, Dawe said he observed a level of maturity and leadership in his unit that he hadn’t seen prior to training with the Fighting 13th.

“Usually the novelty of training wears off after a bit,” started Dawe with a “let’s be realistic” tone, “but it’s really been a reality check. Some of us weren’t aware of how intense, fast-paced, and very violent war can be,” he continued. “I (now) feel prepared as a leader. It’s made me mature … slightly.”

The intensity he described was most likely the constant echo of improvised explosive devices, mortar shells, automatic weapons fire, AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters and simulated Arabic screams.

Aside from Marine warfighting equipment on the training area, Hollywood production crews were on deck providing make-up, actors, pyrotechnics and costumes that amplified the realistic training.

“This is our first exercise with multiple elements like this. The locals, the ‘press’ … it just takes the fight to a whole new level,” Dawe said.

He said the idea to expand the training opportunities for the 3rd PPCLI came in December. Early in the year, upper-echelon brass from the U.S. and Canada coordinated this joint training effort with the Fighting 13th, and on March 17, the Canadians found themselves in the desolate Mojave Desert plains of Southern California Logistics Airport, a realigned, former U.S. Air Force Base.

Base housing and several facilities at the site were open for exploitation in the interest of combat readiness training. After staying a few nights in the now abandoned commissary, the Canadians tactically advanced to “Firm Base-4,” a fortified compound that would serve as their home for the duration of the training.

Professional Marines

Instruction for operations in the urban environment was led by Special Operations Training Group, who is preparing the MEU for it’s Special Operations Capable qualification before the “float.” The level of instruction undoubtedly had a positive impact on the soldiers.

“The instructors were knowledgeable and they spoke from experience,” said Pvt. Ryan McLaren, machine gunner, C Co., 3rd PPCLI.

Pvt. Ryan VanHorlick agreed, saying, “it’s one thing to hear this stuff from book mongers, but from someone who’s actually been (in combat), it really means something.”

VanHorlick and McLaren, both from British Columbia, agreed that the professionalism of the Marines was unparalleled to their experiences with “other” forces at Fort Lewis, Wash., where they conducted urban combat training in the past. After having Marine Devil Dogs embedded in their ranks for the exercise, the two grunts were left with positive impressions.

“We’ve worked with ANGLICO and they’re professional, level-headed and well-trained,” said McLaren. His ‘brother’ echoed the sentiment, adding, “Yeah, (the Marines) are pretty decent compared to the other guys we’ve worked with.”

Even Dawe, their platoon commander, seconded the notion. “You’ve been a lot easier to deal with.”

Fair winds and following seas

At the sound of “End-Ex!,” sighs of relief rang out, weapons were unloaded and boots were unlaced. Battle-fatigued warriors from both sides of the border spoke of liberty plans and reminisced over lessons learned. A formation was held and ceremonial plaques were exchanged, hands were shaken and salutes rendered.

Sometimes, though, the most meaningful words are not addressed to troops in formation. When sitting on his cot, reeking of carbon, sweat and rations, Dawe took a deep breath and spoke from his heart on behalf of his unit and country.

“We are extremely grateful. We thank the MEU and the U.S. Marines," he added. “This company is now the best trained in Canada.”

For more information about the Fighting 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, visit the unit’s Web site at www.usmc.mil/13thmeu.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Delta Company departs for Mississippi

By DANIEL BRUCE/News Editor

Tears, hugs and good-byes.

The scene has been repeated countless times around the United States over the past few years as soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen bid their family a final farewell and departed to face an uncertain future in a war zone thousands of miles away.

On Monday, the tears were from tri-state residents, as the members of Middlesboro-based Delta Company said goodbye to their families and friends at a public ceremony hosted at Binghamtown Baptist Church.

They were joined by members of the Pulaski County-based mortar platoon, which was also being deployed to Iraq, and a contingent of volunteers from other companies in Knox, Laurel and Harlan counties.

Before the keynote speakers gave their addresses at the ceremony, Maj. John Luttrell, of the 1st Battalion, 149th Infantry's battalion staff read a proclamation from the Middlesboro City Council that designated March 28 as D Company Day in the city.

Following the reading, Luttrell yielded the floor to the speakers.

Brig. Gen. Lonnie Culver represented the 38th Infantry Division, which was the parent unit of the 149th during World War I and World War II. He spoke of the righteousness of the cause in which Delta Company was about to take part.

Looking up at the balcony area of the church where a group of young people were gathered, Culver pointed to them and said, the true purpose behind U.S. involvement in Iraq was to spread freedom and protect America's young people.

Culver was followed by Col. Charles T. Jones, who commands the 149th Brigade Combat Team, echoed Culver's point.

"True independence and freedom comes from doing what is right."

He continued by describing the war in Iraq by saying, "It's the right thing for the right reason at the right time."

Capt. Jeff Cole, a graduate of Thomas Walker High School in Southwest Va., will lead Delta Company during their deployment to Iraq.

"We will train vigorously, fight valiantly and return victorious," said Cole.

Following the ceremony the soldiers said their final good-byes to their families, loaded onto three charter buses and were escorted by police down 25th Street to the intersection of 24th Street and Cumberland Ave. There the buses turned east and slowly made their way down the street escorted by emergency vehicles of every make and description.

Along the streets were flag waving residents of Middlesboro including hundreds of elementary school children from West End and East End primary schools. At Fountain Square, the buses paused briefly as they were serenaded by the Bell County High School Choir and saluted by the American Legion and the Bell County High School JRTOC.

The buses continued east through a gauntlet of cheering students and business-workers before turning south and heading to Knoxville, where they were slated to fly to Mississippi later that day.

Following a period of intensive training at Camp Shelby, Miss., the company, along with the 2nd Brigade of the 28th Division (of the Pennsylvania National Guard) will deploy to the Al-Anbar Province in Iraq, where they will be attached to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines at Ali Al Salem meet Corps' senior leaders
Submitted by: MCLB Blount Island
Story Identification #: 20054554718
Story by Staff Sgt. Michael Reed



ALI AL SALEM, Kuwait (April 4, 2005) -- Gen. Michael W. Hagee, Commandant of the Marine Corps, and Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps John L. Estrada stopped here to change aircraft before continuing on into Iraq.

Marines from Marine Corps Central Command Coordination Element Kuwait greeted the Corps’ top leaders and took advantage of the aircraft transition to talk and snap a few photos with the commandant and sergeant major.

For Cpl. Ceasar Hidalgo, administrative clerk, and many of the other MARCENT Marines, it was their first time meeting the Corps’ top Marines.

According to the Kissimmee, Fla., native, the meeting was a highlight in his career.

Gen. Hagee and the sergeant major will spend the week meeting with Marines, touring bases, receiving briefs, and observing training throughout Iraq.

“There was one other time I has even seen the Commandant, but it was through a glass window,” said Hidalgo.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Safety is continuous mindset
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Division
Story Identification #: 200544103218
Story by Lance Cpl. Athanosios L. Genos



CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (March 22, 2005) -- For three days Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, held meetings on different safety concerns around their living area and other areas of Camp Fallujah March 22 through the 24 to help eliminate preventable accidents.

Weapons handling, weapons maintenance, hygiene habits, use of supplements, personnel accountability, vehicle driving and ground guiding were some of topics discussed. During the three days, troops attended classes by a number of instructors and subject matter experts.

"With new policies coming out, the class is a way to get everyone up to speed on the current and up-to-date information," explained 1st Lt. Daniel J. Nilsson, Headquarters and Service Company Commander and St. Paul, Minn., native.

The weapons handling and maintenance class allowed the Marines to refresh themselves with weapons safety and the proper way to clean them while in an arid, desert climate.

"We are going back and mentally checking our knowledge and understanding of the weapons systems and how we properly clean them," explained Nilsson.

Like maintaining a personal weapon, each Marine must maintain his health to stay safe in a combat environment. Some Marines take diet supplements to aid in performance while working out at the gym. To educate Marines about these supplements, corpsmen explained the risks of taking certain supplements as well as taking too much.

"We have many challenges while in combat, and we don't want to fight sickness and unhealthiness when we are out there," he said.

Another vital part to mission accomplishment is accountability of men, weapons and equipment. This is everyone's responsibility from small unit leaders to commanding officers.

Not only are all Marines responsible for accountability, they are also responsible for safety. Top on the list of safety issues discussed was safe driving. It was reiterated that it is something practiced not only at home, but also while deployed in Iraq.

Even with a well-maintained vehicle you can find yourself in an unsafe operating environment. One standard practice to help prevent vehicle accidents is using ground guides in certain congested areas.

"Doing pre-combat checks, continuing preventative maintenance and maintaining accountability of gear and vehicles benefits all of us by helping prevent injuries and save lives," he stated.

Safety stand-downs, like this one, ensure Marines are aware of and prepared to deal with safety issues while here conducting counter-insurgency operations as a part of the Global War on Terrorism.


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Sapper teams secure mine threat in Iraq
Submitted by: 2nd Force Service Support Group
Story Identification #: 2005471093
Story by Cpl. John E. Lawson Jr.



AL ASAD, Iraq (April 8, 2005) -- Improvised Explosive Devices and mines remain two of the insurgents’ favorite weapons against American and Iraqi forces operating within Iraq. One of those weapons is steadily being disarmed by the Marines of A Company, 6th Engineer Support Battalion, augmented to 8th ESB and operating with Combat Logistics Battalion 2, 2nd Force Service Support Group (Forward).

The company’s sapper teams specialize in the detection, discovery and destruction of mines along the routes commonly used by forces operating through the CLB-2 area of operations. The teams attach to every convoy CLB-2 dispatches from Al Asad as part of force protection and security measures as Operation Iraqi Freedom continues to bring stability to Iraq.

“Mines and IEDs require less manpower and no skill or bravery to emplace,” said 1st Lt. Stanton C. Lee, platoon commander.

“If a mine is detected early enough, our sapper teams are trained and equipped to determine what needs to be done,” the Los Angeles native, an activated reservist who works as a police officer when not mobilized, said. “They can destroy them in place with [explosives].”

Specially trained and equipped to handle their mission, the Marines destroy any mine discovered by the convoys and search for mines as directed by the convoy commander.

Using Army Navy Portable Search System 14s, equipped with ground-penetrating radar, and special titanium probing rods to search for mines emplaced by insurgents, these Marines practice to become experts in mine detection.

“It takes a lot of practice when you first start,” said Cpl. Nathan Winegardner, a Vancouver, Wash., native, “but after a while you get really good at it.”

The ground-penetrating radar on the ANPSS14 allows the Marines, with some practice, to determine the shape of metallic object buried underground. If the Marines determine an object found with the metal detector is a possible mine, they clear the area, checking also for secondary mines, and carefully probe for and uncover the mine. Once uncovered, they carefully pack composite-four explosives on the mine to detonate it in place, neutralizing the threat.

The sapper teams’ ability to detonate land mines without calling for an Explosive Ordinance Disposal team speeds the convoys along their journeys by eliminating the delay waiting for EOD to arrive on scene.

“If we have to call EOD we could have to wait for hours,” said Sgt. Rick P. Noble, a sapper team leader.

“EOD does a great job, but they are very busy,” the reserve Marine, a theater arts major at Oregon State University, said. “By the time they get Marines out there, it’s a delay.”

Lance Cpl. Draper Robinson, a team member and student at Lower Columbia College, typically mans the team’s M-240G machinegun, providing the team with its own security while clearing an area. He is also ready to help with the preparation of demolitions, if need be.

The Longview, Wash., native, who missed his son’s birth due to his service in Iraq, said, “If we weren’t here right with the convoy and they came across something they needed us for, it adds that much more danger to the mission.”

If a mine was found and not destroyed, the convoy could move around it and continue with their mission, but that mine would remain a threat to future convoys.

“Clearing the mines saves lives in the convoy,” said Pfc. Andrew Wollam, a Springfield, Ore., native. “It could also save civilian lives in the area.”

“Mines have been an extreme threat. We’ve lost Marines,” said Noble.

The teams continue to attach to every convoy with hopes to mitigate that threat and save more lives.

“We’ve destroyed several mines to date,” said Lee. “We potentially saved an unknown amount of lives, both military and civilian, as a result.”

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Battle-weary Marines await ‘taste of freedom’

Many feel pull of home 2 years after Saddam’s fall

By Ann Scott Tyson
The Washington Post
Updated: 11:33 p.m. ET April 9, 2005


FALLUJAH, Iraq - Two years ago, Cpl. Justin Soule rushed across the Tigris River bridge into Baghdad with the Marines who first entered the city and toppled a statue of President Saddam Hussein. During a bloody uprising that swept Iraq last April, he and his battalion fought their way into insurgent-held Fallujah before commanders ordered a halt.

Today, the infantry squad leader from Itasca, Tex., is back for a third tour in Iraq, living in a bombed-out soda factory, surviving on packaged meals and junk food and admitting that he thinks more about his own liberation than Iraq's.

"I don't really care for the desert, the flies, the dust storms, the trash on the side of the road with kids playing in it," he said as he sat on his bunk this week in the dank, 25-foot-wide room he shares with 13 other Marines. "I'm ready to get out. I'll have a taste of the freedom I've been fighting for."

‘Darkside’ makes its mark
Soule proudly counts himself among the "Darkside" — the battle-weary 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines — the first U.S. military unit to serve three rotations in Iraq. About two-thirds of the battalion's 800 men are on their third tour, having spent more time in Iraq over the past two years than at home.

Like many of his comrades, Soule is a 9/11 Marine, driven to join the corps by duty or outrage after the terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001.

Yet over the course of two years, fighting in Iraq has robbed these young Marines of buddies, left their bodies scarred and tired, and snatched away their innocence. Last week, the conflict stole another Marine from the 3rd Battalion, the 11th killed so far as fatalities among U.S. troops grew to 1,543.

Many Darkside Marines, feeling the pull of family and civilian life, say they don't plan to reenlist for what will inevitably mean more combat zone deployments. A far smaller number say they live for being at war and vow never to leave.

On the anniversary of Baghdad's fall, Marines described the war with stories of euphoria and helplessness, of bitterness and hope and the toll on the lives of U.S. troops.

Lt. Brian Sitko watched the glow of munitions exploding on the horizon, creating the surreal appearance of a sunrise as U.S. forces launched their invasion of Iraq in 2003. He pulled out a pen and paper and wrote a letter to his wife, then slipped it into his chest pocket.

As the Marines battled north, the possibility of death accompanied Sitko as "a daily presence, a fear you have to manage," he recalled in an interview. At war for the first time, many Marines in their teens and twenties grew up overnight, he said. "Childhood is lost, and innocence is left behind."


Toppling Saddam
Officers warned the Marines to expect heavy casualties as they thrust into Baghdad. But they were surprised to find their push into the city relatively unopposed. Instead, some Iraqis offered flowers, candy and a sense of purpose to Marines who say now they were uncertain what they were fighting for.

At Baghdad's Firdaus Square, Marines from the battalion used a chain and tank-recovery vehicle to pull down Hussein's statue, unleashing jubilation among the crowd. A portly, balding Iraqi man, sweat streaming down his face, approached Sitko to give him flowers and a hug. Sitko said he suddenly remembered an Iraq guidebook that said kissing another man on the forehead signified high respect. In an instant, he pulled the man toward him.

"I gave him a smack on the forehead," he said. "It was probably one of the more gross moments for me, but it was something I wanted to do. He lit up even more. It was so joyous."

Within hours, though, the mood gave way to chaos as looters swarmed the city.

Soule recalled looters invading a hospital that his unit was trying to guard. "We ran them off, but they kept coming back," he said. "They'd cut their arm on one side breaking into the hospital looting and then come in another door to get medical care."

The confusion made the Marines feel helpless and unprepared. "We weren't a police force. We didn't know how to deal with it," Sitko recalled.

Driving through the city in a Humvee with three other officers, he spotted a man with an AK-47 rifle in an electronics store. In an effort to protect the surrounding crowd, Sitko and the others got out of the Humvee and disarmed the man.

"They all applauded," he said. "We had cleared the way for them to loot."


Ambivalent return
When the battalion received a second call to Iraq in late 2003, many of the troops felt ambivalent. "We'd already been to a war, we were just going to a combat zone," said Lance Cpl. Michael Hinson, 21, an M-249 machine gunner from Odessa, Tex.

Yet with the insurgency in full swing, the unit faced some of its toughest battles yet. In early April 2004, it was abruptly ordered to Fallujah to take part in an assault on the city a few days after four American contractors were killed and mutilated there.

The unit pushed three blocks into Fallujah but was halted when U.S. and Iraqi officials ordered the assault aborted. The Marines say they and their commanders felt intensely disappointed.

"I believe we should have pushed through Fallujah then. We would have been a lot more successful, and there would have been a lot less bombing," Hinson said at a camp on the outskirts of Fallujah, where thousands of homes were destroyed in a large-scale offensive in November.

Soon after the Darkside arrived in Fallujah last year, one of Hinson's close friends, Lance Cpl. Torrey L. Gray, was killed by sniper fire. "The moment I will never forget is when our sergeant came up and said [Gray] was fatally wounded," said Hinson. "We were like brothers."

A month later, Hinson almost died as well. A bomb exploded under his convoy, hurling shrapnel into the vehicles. Hinson lost sight in his left eye. "We just heard a beep, not a boom or anything. Then it was a blur," he said. "We had nine Purple Hearts."

Back to the front
In January, the battalion was called to Iraq again, ordered to deploy about a month earlier than anticipated to help provide security for Iraq's elections. The news was unwelcome but not entirely unexpected — some of the Marines say they had kept their duffle bags packed.

U.S. policymakers "didn't have the foresight of seeing that it wouldn't be an easy war. They didn't think it out," said Soule, listening to Texas country music as he took a break one recent evening in his cramped room at the gutted Fallujah soda factory.

Conditions at the camp in downtown Fallujah are austere compared with many bases in Iraq today. With the staple food still packaged meals-ready-to-eat (MREs), Soule and his buddies say they prefer to survive on cheese puffs, PayDay bars, CornNuts and other junk food sent from home.

Infrequent showers are taken by filling a black plastic bag with water, letting it warm in the sun and suspending it for a brisk splash. Lacking even a portable toilet, the Marines dispose of human waste in "wag bags" and later burn them.

Soule and others said such conditions were actually a step up from past tours. "This is the best setup we've had. This is pretty good," he said.

Pinups, race-car photos and beer ads liven up the walls of an otherwise drab room, its windows blocked by sandbags. In brief breaks between 10- to 12-hour shifts patrolling Fallujah or pulling guard duty, the Marines watch movies, play Monopoly and smoke cigarettes. The close quarters sometimes lead to arguments and shoving matches, and some Marines let off steam by hacking away at palm trees on the base with an ax.

"Problems stem from people just being tired of being over here," Soule said.

Family pressures mount
The Marines said few among them planned to reenlist. Those who did, such as Hinson, were signing up for so-called non-deployable jobs such as teaching or administration. "I don't think there's a lot of Marines who want to come back to Iraq every six months," said Cpl. Scott Rolston, who plans to return to his native Anchorage to join the highway patrol or fire department.

Family pressures are mounting on many Marines — especially those who, like Hinson, are married and have babies on the way.

Lance Cpl. Dan Despain, 26, of St. Louis, gazes at a handful of laminated photos of his infant daughter before he beds down each night. "I've missed seeing her crawl, hearing her start talking and saying 'Da Da.' I'm not going to be the type of parent who isn't there when she needs me," he said.

Still, none of the Marines said they regretted their service in Iraq, despite what they consider missteps in a war that they anticipate could drag on for five, 10 or even 20 years.

"A lot of people made the ultimate sacrifice, but they did it saving other people," said Cpl. Shawn Rodgers, of Owensville, Mo., who plans to leave the corps for college. "It's an all-volunteer force. And whether they realize it or not, this is what you join the military to do. You either love it or you hate it."


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marine Corps Sgt. Brandon Hampson was out looking for qualified applicants Monday when he found a purse-snatcher instead. <br />
<br />
No sweat. <br />
<br />
He just used another part of his Marine training, tackled the...

[thedrifter]

April 08, 2005

Small fire detected on Osprey

By Gordon Lubold
Times staff writer


A small fire ignited inside one of the nacelles of an MV-22 Osprey at Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C., on March 28, after hydraulic fluid spilled onto another component.
The aircraft was undergoing a routine inspection on the flight line when the plane’s captain noticed a “flash” inside the nacelle on the plane’s starboard side, said Ward Carroll, a spokesman for Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River, Md.

The captain used a fire extinguisher, but the fire had already burned out after the hydraulic fluid dissipated, Carroll said.

The problem occurred in the line that carries hydraulic fluid back to the air particle separator in the nacelle. Although the plane received minor damage and all its components were still functional, the hydraulic return line and a small panel were replaced, Carroll said. The plane was placed in “full-mission status” two days later.

An investigation into why the hydraulic fluid dripped from the line is ongoing. The ignition of fluid did not pose a flight hazard, Carroll said.

“This is not an event that would happen in flight because of the temperatures involved,” he said.

The Osprey program began operational evaluation the same day. The extensive testing, which amounts to a final exam for the plane, will end this summer. Pentagon acquisition officials will then decide if the controversial plane, which takes off like a helicopter and turns its nacelles to fly like a plane, should go into full-rate production.

Ellie