thedrifter
02-13-06, 06:29 AM
Posted on Fri, Feb. 10, 2006
Marine families briefed on worst to expect
Grim possibilities face troops in Iraq
Los Angeles Times
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - In the beginning, the meeting might have passed for the kind of briefing that employees and spouses endure in the corporate world, with talk of insurance options, taxes and payroll deductions.
But then the session for Marines bound for Iraq and their families ventured into a topic unique to this kind of employment.
The matter was introduced with a euphemism: "What if something happens over there?" No one had any doubt what that meant; this is the base that has had more personnel killed in Iraq than any other base in the nation.
The room fell silent.
Notification will not be made by the Red Cross, said Aurora Sanks, Red Cross coordinator for the base. Nor will you learn the bad news from television or the rumor mill, she promised.
"I can't stress this enough," said Sanks, a retired Marine Corps gunnery sergeant. "Do not believe anything you hear or see unless you get it from someone in your husband's or wife's command."
In the audience, Chief Warrant Officer Tom Kircher and his wife, Heather, moved closer together. Soon he will leave for his third tour in Iraq. She leaned her head on his shoulder.
Heather Kircher, 28, knows the risks for Marines in Iraq. The Marine death total exceeds the corps' percentage of the overall U.S. force.
"It's always a possibility," she said during a break in the briefing, her tone flat with what seemed to be acceptance.
Tom Kircher, 35, a specialist in nuclear, biological and chemical warfare, said the pre-deployment briefings for families were not so elaborate three years ago when the Marines led the assault to topple Saddam Hussein.
"The Marines have come a long way in doing a better job of getting information out there to the families," he said.
For two hours one recent night, several hundred Marines and spouses from Brigade Service Support Group 1 sat on folding chairs on an indoor basketball court to absorb information about pay and services available to the "stay-behinds." Unmarried Marines gathered information for their parents.
Similar sessions are being held for other battalions as 25,000 troops from the Camp Pendleton-based 1st Marine Expeditionary Force return to Iraq to relieve Marines from Camp Lejeune, N.C. The job is one of the toughest in Iraq: to bring stability to violent Al Anbar province.
As the war stretches into its fourth year, there is a mantra that begins with the top generals: Combat readiness depends on family readiness.
Gone are the days of spouses being treated as unwanted baggage. "If the Marine Corps wanted you to have a wife," an old saw went, "it would have issued you one." Not now.
The parade of speakers included Marines and several civilians who worked for social-service agencies on base. One message was paramount.
"Ready yourself for what's coming your way," Sanks said.
Ellie
Marine families briefed on worst to expect
Grim possibilities face troops in Iraq
Los Angeles Times
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - In the beginning, the meeting might have passed for the kind of briefing that employees and spouses endure in the corporate world, with talk of insurance options, taxes and payroll deductions.
But then the session for Marines bound for Iraq and their families ventured into a topic unique to this kind of employment.
The matter was introduced with a euphemism: "What if something happens over there?" No one had any doubt what that meant; this is the base that has had more personnel killed in Iraq than any other base in the nation.
The room fell silent.
Notification will not be made by the Red Cross, said Aurora Sanks, Red Cross coordinator for the base. Nor will you learn the bad news from television or the rumor mill, she promised.
"I can't stress this enough," said Sanks, a retired Marine Corps gunnery sergeant. "Do not believe anything you hear or see unless you get it from someone in your husband's or wife's command."
In the audience, Chief Warrant Officer Tom Kircher and his wife, Heather, moved closer together. Soon he will leave for his third tour in Iraq. She leaned her head on his shoulder.
Heather Kircher, 28, knows the risks for Marines in Iraq. The Marine death total exceeds the corps' percentage of the overall U.S. force.
"It's always a possibility," she said during a break in the briefing, her tone flat with what seemed to be acceptance.
Tom Kircher, 35, a specialist in nuclear, biological and chemical warfare, said the pre-deployment briefings for families were not so elaborate three years ago when the Marines led the assault to topple Saddam Hussein.
"The Marines have come a long way in doing a better job of getting information out there to the families," he said.
For two hours one recent night, several hundred Marines and spouses from Brigade Service Support Group 1 sat on folding chairs on an indoor basketball court to absorb information about pay and services available to the "stay-behinds." Unmarried Marines gathered information for their parents.
Similar sessions are being held for other battalions as 25,000 troops from the Camp Pendleton-based 1st Marine Expeditionary Force return to Iraq to relieve Marines from Camp Lejeune, N.C. The job is one of the toughest in Iraq: to bring stability to violent Al Anbar province.
As the war stretches into its fourth year, there is a mantra that begins with the top generals: Combat readiness depends on family readiness.
Gone are the days of spouses being treated as unwanted baggage. "If the Marine Corps wanted you to have a wife," an old saw went, "it would have issued you one." Not now.
The parade of speakers included Marines and several civilians who worked for social-service agencies on base. One message was paramount.
"Ready yourself for what's coming your way," Sanks said.
Ellie