thedrifter
03-08-06, 06:27 AM
Company C headed back to Iraq
By Dionne Waugh
dwaugh@newsadvance.com
Tuesday, March 7, 2006
The Lynchburg-based Marine reserve unit that lost five members during its tour in Iraq last year has been reactivated.
The Company C, 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, which has about 150 reservists, will send 45 Marines to Iraq in early summer. The group will train in California before deploying.
Of the 45 Marines, nine who deployed in 2004 volunteered to return. The rest are Marines who have not previously been to Iraq.
“We’re a force in readiness. We’re always prepared to deploy in support of Marine forces,” said Capt. Jamie Wagner, the company’s inspector-instructor.
Company C lost five men, including Lynchburg’s first death in the Iraq war, during its last tour.
Sgt. Jesse Strong, 24, a Liberty University graduate originally from Vermont, died Jan. 26, 2005, along with three other company members when their unit was ambushed during an intense firefight in Iraq’s Anbar Province.
Two other company members - Cpl. Mark Miller, 21, of Forest and Cpl. Timothy Franklin, 25, of Lynchburg - were among four men also injured in the attack.
Miller is one of the Marines planning to return to Iraq.
The company’s first fatal casualty occurred in November 2004 when Bradley Arms, 20, of Charlottesville, died in Fallujah from small arms fire.
The new six- to seven-month activation comes one year to the month after the unit returned from Iraq last year. The company was activated in June 2004, shipped to Iraq in September 2004 and returned March 31, 2005.
Wagner said it’s not uncommon for the company to be reactivated this soon.
“We try to maximize their time back here at the home training site,” he said, “but there’s no set ‘You will not deploy for this amount of time.’ ”
Wagner said several other Marine reservist units have also been deployed several times.
Company C’s skills are in high demand, Wagner said. The company is trained to locate and destroy mines and improvised explosive devices; find and destroy weapons and ammunition caches; conduct mechanical and explosive breaches of obstacles such as buildings; and quick construction of roads, fighting positions and temporary shelters.
When they leave, the 45 Company C Marines will join 35 Marines from Company D, 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, out of Knoxville, Tenn.
Cpl. Mike Detmer, 25, who deployed to Iraq with Company C in 2004, said the Marines should pay attention to their training.
“When I got there, I don’t think I could’ve been trained any better,” he said.
Detmer said the mix of returning Marines and new ones is a good combination.
“The guys going (back) are really good at what they do,” he said. “The new guys are in really good hands.”
Ellie
By Dionne Waugh
dwaugh@newsadvance.com
Tuesday, March 7, 2006
The Lynchburg-based Marine reserve unit that lost five members during its tour in Iraq last year has been reactivated.
The Company C, 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, which has about 150 reservists, will send 45 Marines to Iraq in early summer. The group will train in California before deploying.
Of the 45 Marines, nine who deployed in 2004 volunteered to return. The rest are Marines who have not previously been to Iraq.
“We’re a force in readiness. We’re always prepared to deploy in support of Marine forces,” said Capt. Jamie Wagner, the company’s inspector-instructor.
Company C lost five men, including Lynchburg’s first death in the Iraq war, during its last tour.
Sgt. Jesse Strong, 24, a Liberty University graduate originally from Vermont, died Jan. 26, 2005, along with three other company members when their unit was ambushed during an intense firefight in Iraq’s Anbar Province.
Two other company members - Cpl. Mark Miller, 21, of Forest and Cpl. Timothy Franklin, 25, of Lynchburg - were among four men also injured in the attack.
Miller is one of the Marines planning to return to Iraq.
The company’s first fatal casualty occurred in November 2004 when Bradley Arms, 20, of Charlottesville, died in Fallujah from small arms fire.
The new six- to seven-month activation comes one year to the month after the unit returned from Iraq last year. The company was activated in June 2004, shipped to Iraq in September 2004 and returned March 31, 2005.
Wagner said it’s not uncommon for the company to be reactivated this soon.
“We try to maximize their time back here at the home training site,” he said, “but there’s no set ‘You will not deploy for this amount of time.’ ”
Wagner said several other Marine reservist units have also been deployed several times.
Company C’s skills are in high demand, Wagner said. The company is trained to locate and destroy mines and improvised explosive devices; find and destroy weapons and ammunition caches; conduct mechanical and explosive breaches of obstacles such as buildings; and quick construction of roads, fighting positions and temporary shelters.
When they leave, the 45 Company C Marines will join 35 Marines from Company D, 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, out of Knoxville, Tenn.
Cpl. Mike Detmer, 25, who deployed to Iraq with Company C in 2004, said the Marines should pay attention to their training.
“When I got there, I don’t think I could’ve been trained any better,” he said.
Detmer said the mix of returning Marines and new ones is a good combination.
“The guys going (back) are really good at what they do,” he said. “The new guys are in really good hands.”
Ellie