thedrifter
05-16-06, 06:11 PM
May 22, 2006
Marine News Briefs
Escorts delayed in error
“Miscommunication” is to blame for the May 3 security mix-up that delayed a trio of leathernecks escorting the body of a fallen Marine through Philadelphia International Airport.
The Marines were escorting the body of Sgt. Lea R. Mills, a member of the Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, to his family in Gulfport, Miss., when they were ordered to a secondary screening.
They were taken to a room by Transportation Security Administration agents and told to remove their dress blue coats, belts and shoes.
According to a TSA official, military escorts usually fall under a different set of screening procedures.
“They did not follow these procedures,” Darrin Kayser, a TSA spokesman in Northern Virginia, told Marine Corps Times on May 8. “I think in this instance there was definitely some miscommunication.”
According to Kayser, TSA has special guidelines for troops accompanying bodies of fallen service members that “reflect the agency’s utmost respect for those who have lost their lives in service to this country.”
“We sincerely regret any inconvenience that Marines from the 1st [Marine] Division experienced during the screening process,” he said in a written statement.
Desert shield
Gunners on 7-ton trucks in Fallujah, Iraq, are hitting the road with one heck of an upgrade.
Regimental Combat Team 5’s 7-tons are slated for new turrets, which feature ballistic glass and steel-encased firing positions, a May 9 Marine Corps news release said.
According to Master Sgt. Adam Lyttle, the regiment’s motor transport chief, the new turrets’ ballistic glass provides additional protection for gunners.
The increased protection can increase the gunner’s confidence, said Cpl. Jose Ramirez.
“Now, there’s no fear to get up and peek at something suspicious,” said Ramirez, who is with the motor transport platoon.
According to Corps spokesman Gunnery Sgt. Mark Oliva, the new Marine Corps Armored Turret System will be implemented throughout the Corps.
Stolen donations replaced
Leathernecks with November Battery, 5th Battalion, 14th Marines, came to the aid of a local veterans post on Cinco de Mayo, the Whittier (Calif.) Daily News reported May 6.
According to the report, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6315 in Pico Rivera, Calif., recently raised more than $1,000 to help one of its members, a former Marine with cancer. However, a robber made off with $1,500 the post had intended to give cancer patient Frank Herman.
When the Marines of 5/14 heard of the theft, they collected $1,600 amongst themselves and presented the money to the post on May 5, the report said.
Tighter security at Bagram
After a well-publicized rash of thefts at the U.S. base in Bagram, Afghanistan, the military has made it harder to carry off computer storage devices.
The military has increased security measures to prevent Afghan workers from stealing portable flash drives to sell to shops near the base, a military spokesman said May 8.
One shopkeeper said Afghan workers on the base are scrutinized on their way out. “They even look in their shoes,” the shopkeeper said.
In April, dozens of used flash drives were available in Bagram markets. The Los Angeles Times, which broke the story, reported that some devices contained classified military secrets, including maps, charts and intelligence reports.
Military officials went shop to shop and bought all the drives they could find.
SecNav: Keep Miramar
In his first visit to Southern California as the Navy secretary, Donald Winter stood his ground on an ongoing issue: whether the military should give up or share Marine Corps Air Station Miramar for civilian use as an international airport.
Some local officials want the Corps to vacate Miramar and shift its air operations elsewhere, while others see joint use for civilian commercial flights as a compromise.
In November, city and county residents will vote on a ballot initiative to pursue options eyed by a regional airport board, which is on record as supporting the takeover of Miramar or another area military base to convert to a civilian airport.
But Winter echoed the views and concerns of regional military leaders May 10.
“We recognize that there is a need [to expand] … air and transport in and out of San Diego,” he told the regional chamber’s military affairs committee at a breakfast meeting. “But I worry about the pursuit of options to the exclusion of others.”
Closing Miramar would require the construction of replacement facilities.
“Why should the citizens of the United States spend taxpayer dollars to replace one of the best facilities that we have here … and the only West Coast facility?” Winter said.
Correction
The photo credits accompanying the story “Honor & loss,” May 15, were reversed. The photo of Sgt. Maj. Brad Kasal receiving the Navy Cross was taken by Sgt. Luis R. Agostini. The photo of Kasal’s family watching the ceremony was taken by Staff Sgt. Bill Lisbon.
Ellie
Marine News Briefs
Escorts delayed in error
“Miscommunication” is to blame for the May 3 security mix-up that delayed a trio of leathernecks escorting the body of a fallen Marine through Philadelphia International Airport.
The Marines were escorting the body of Sgt. Lea R. Mills, a member of the Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, to his family in Gulfport, Miss., when they were ordered to a secondary screening.
They were taken to a room by Transportation Security Administration agents and told to remove their dress blue coats, belts and shoes.
According to a TSA official, military escorts usually fall under a different set of screening procedures.
“They did not follow these procedures,” Darrin Kayser, a TSA spokesman in Northern Virginia, told Marine Corps Times on May 8. “I think in this instance there was definitely some miscommunication.”
According to Kayser, TSA has special guidelines for troops accompanying bodies of fallen service members that “reflect the agency’s utmost respect for those who have lost their lives in service to this country.”
“We sincerely regret any inconvenience that Marines from the 1st [Marine] Division experienced during the screening process,” he said in a written statement.
Desert shield
Gunners on 7-ton trucks in Fallujah, Iraq, are hitting the road with one heck of an upgrade.
Regimental Combat Team 5’s 7-tons are slated for new turrets, which feature ballistic glass and steel-encased firing positions, a May 9 Marine Corps news release said.
According to Master Sgt. Adam Lyttle, the regiment’s motor transport chief, the new turrets’ ballistic glass provides additional protection for gunners.
The increased protection can increase the gunner’s confidence, said Cpl. Jose Ramirez.
“Now, there’s no fear to get up and peek at something suspicious,” said Ramirez, who is with the motor transport platoon.
According to Corps spokesman Gunnery Sgt. Mark Oliva, the new Marine Corps Armored Turret System will be implemented throughout the Corps.
Stolen donations replaced
Leathernecks with November Battery, 5th Battalion, 14th Marines, came to the aid of a local veterans post on Cinco de Mayo, the Whittier (Calif.) Daily News reported May 6.
According to the report, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6315 in Pico Rivera, Calif., recently raised more than $1,000 to help one of its members, a former Marine with cancer. However, a robber made off with $1,500 the post had intended to give cancer patient Frank Herman.
When the Marines of 5/14 heard of the theft, they collected $1,600 amongst themselves and presented the money to the post on May 5, the report said.
Tighter security at Bagram
After a well-publicized rash of thefts at the U.S. base in Bagram, Afghanistan, the military has made it harder to carry off computer storage devices.
The military has increased security measures to prevent Afghan workers from stealing portable flash drives to sell to shops near the base, a military spokesman said May 8.
One shopkeeper said Afghan workers on the base are scrutinized on their way out. “They even look in their shoes,” the shopkeeper said.
In April, dozens of used flash drives were available in Bagram markets. The Los Angeles Times, which broke the story, reported that some devices contained classified military secrets, including maps, charts and intelligence reports.
Military officials went shop to shop and bought all the drives they could find.
SecNav: Keep Miramar
In his first visit to Southern California as the Navy secretary, Donald Winter stood his ground on an ongoing issue: whether the military should give up or share Marine Corps Air Station Miramar for civilian use as an international airport.
Some local officials want the Corps to vacate Miramar and shift its air operations elsewhere, while others see joint use for civilian commercial flights as a compromise.
In November, city and county residents will vote on a ballot initiative to pursue options eyed by a regional airport board, which is on record as supporting the takeover of Miramar or another area military base to convert to a civilian airport.
But Winter echoed the views and concerns of regional military leaders May 10.
“We recognize that there is a need [to expand] … air and transport in and out of San Diego,” he told the regional chamber’s military affairs committee at a breakfast meeting. “But I worry about the pursuit of options to the exclusion of others.”
Closing Miramar would require the construction of replacement facilities.
“Why should the citizens of the United States spend taxpayer dollars to replace one of the best facilities that we have here … and the only West Coast facility?” Winter said.
Correction
The photo credits accompanying the story “Honor & loss,” May 15, were reversed. The photo of Sgt. Maj. Brad Kasal receiving the Navy Cross was taken by Sgt. Luis R. Agostini. The photo of Kasal’s family watching the ceremony was taken by Staff Sgt. Bill Lisbon.
Ellie