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thedrifter
07-05-05, 06:42 AM
Courtesy of Mark aka The Fontman

Local Marine honored
By Roberta Forsell Stauffer of The Montana Standard - 07/04/2005

Butte native and Marine Corps Maj. Brian Gilman has twice led dangerous missions in Iraq.

At the start of the war in March 2003, he was commanding officer of the 80 members of Company C, First Reconnaissance Battalion, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif. Their job was to cross the border into Iraq ahead of the major deployments to scope out the territory.

They were on the move pretty much every day for three months, then-Capt. Gilman said in a recent interview, digging holes to sleep in at night. The only time they spent two nights in one place was when they helped secure an abandoned air field the military planned to use as a base. They traveled mostly in Humvees, moving from the Kuwait border north to 90 miles north of Baghdad.

"I brought all my men home," he said of that tour. "That was my number one goal." Roughly a year later, Gilman was stationed in Fallujah, about 40 miles west of Baghdad - this time as operations officer for the whole First Reconnaissance Battalion, roughly 300 Marines.

The promotion to major came during that seven-month tour in which he was responsible for planning and executing battalion operations - patrols around the city, sweeps for IEDs (improvised explosive devices), raids and ambushes. In the course of 600 patrols and 15 raids, he lost only one man.

Gilman received a bronze star medal for each of these tours, and when asked to explain their significance, he replied, "I did my job while getting shot at is probably the best way to put it." Even with the stress and the danger, Gilman, 34, has not one regret about deciding to join the Marines 12 years ago. He's done quite a bit of intelligence training, too, and says he loves the teaching part of the job. He also realizes he may have to return to Iraq.

"As long as this thing continues, Marines will have to go back," he said. "That's what we do." For now, however, he's looking forward to a year of national security studies at the Naval Command and Staff College in Rhode Island's Newport Naval Station. He should find out in January what his next attachment will be.

"I'm looking forward to being around family for a while," he said. "I missed the first six months of my son's life." Tyler was born while Gilman was in Fallujah and now he's 15 months old. Gilman said marrying his wife Marianne was the best decision he's ever made, having a child the second best, and joining the Marines number three.

The 1988 Butte High graduate didn't join until after graduating from Montana Tech with an environmental engineering degree. He said even as a child he'd looked up to the Marines, and after a few internships, he decided he had to give it a try.

"I knew I'd regret it if I didn't do it," he said.

He intended to serve only four years, but now plans to make it his career.

"As long as I'm still having fun and feel like I'm making a difference (I'll stay)," he said.

With his parents - Butte's Pam and Vern Gilman - looking on, plus his father-in-law and brother-in-law from Ohio, Gilman was honored with a standing ovation and a plaque at the last Butte-Silver Bow council meeting.

"As we approach our national holiday, the Fourth of July, I think there's no better time to recognize the debt of gratitude we all owe to those who serve our country and protect the freedoms we all enjoy," said Clerk and Recorder Mary McMahon at the close of her introduction.

Gilman said earlier that evening that he appreciates all those yellow ribbons hanging around town.

"Keep recognizing your soldiers," he said. "There are a lot of them." Reporter Roberta Forsell Stauffer may be reached via e-mail at roberta.stauffer@mtstandard.com.

Ellie