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thedrifter
07-17-05, 06:27 AM
Published July 17, 2005
Marines with a Mission
Lansing's Charlie Company trains for Iraq duty

Marines clad in olive green shorts and T-shirts stretch early Saturday morning, limbering up for a three-mile run through the damp, hazy streets of downtown Lansing.

Asked if they are ready, Lance Cpl. Diego Romero, 23, of East Lansing, steps forward, squares his shoulders and says in a booming voice, "We were born ready."

His buddies crack up.

When the run ends about a half-hour later, a sweat-soaked Romero gulps for air, hands on his knees, in the parking lot of the Marine Corps and Navy Reserve training hall at the corner of Saginaw Street and Marshall Avenue.

More than 100 Marine Corps Reservists of Lansing's Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment are gearing up for a likely deployment to Iraq after the first of the year.

Last month, the rifle company trained for two weeks at Camp Grayling and learned how to guard outposts and convoys, and how to deal with insurgents.

They stayed in Lansing this month, tending to pages and pages of paperwork in classes on suicide prevention, sexual harassment and the rules of engagement, and seeing to their physical fitness.

It's not always pretty - as in the case of dozens of Marines, bent over after the three-mile run.

"Outstanding!" nods one Marine as another Marine's vomit just misses his shoes.

Others clutch their sides, red-faced, and breathe hard.

All of the Marines take it in stride, knowing their chances of promotion - and a bigger paycheck - depend on how well they perform. A perfect score of 100 comes with running three miles in 18 minutes.

Marines slap one another on the back and offer loud "Devil Dog" congratulations as groups of runners return.

If it takes 28 minutes or more to run the course, the Marine has failed and will need special training.

"We will make them run faster," said Maj. Kevin Yeo, the company's head instructor, with a wide grin.

It's his job to make them ready for what may await them in the narrow, twisting alleys of Iraq.

Maj. Chris Watkins, the company commander, will deploy with his Marines when the time comes.

In preparation, he and several of his staff will drive to Milwaukee next month and meet with another company of Marines who have just returned from Iraq.

Watkins said the coming months will be an emotional roller-coaster ride not only for his Marines but for their families, too, because of the uncertainty of when they will leave, and eventually return.

"That's the biggest thing everybody wants is certainty, and they just won't get it," Watkins said. "The Marines have to harden their families to that reality."

Contact T.M. Shultz at 377-1061 or tshultz@lsj.com.

Ellie