thedrifter
06-17-06, 06:54 AM
Area Marines return from summer adventure
June 17, 2006
By John Andrew Prime
jprime@gannett.com
The last time Bossier City-based Bravo Co., 1/23rd Marines met in a bedraggled group at Barksdale Air Force Base's Hoban Hall, it was after seven arduous months of combat and bloodshed in Iraq.
Friday, most of the same folks again returned to Hoban Hall, tired and full of sand, but from a far better clime -- the sunny Caribbean, where they spent more than two weeks training with Dutch troops and other European allies.
"It was a big change from Iraq," said Capt. Matthew Phillips, who was wounded in Iraq and spent the first week of the Caribbean mission with his men on Aruba before returning to prepare their way home. "There was the same sand and sun, but it wasn't nearly as hazardous."
That first week was mostly spent doing live-fire and individual training as a Marine unit, but the second week, on Curacao, was spent cross-training with Dutch Marines and the Dutch navy, as well as Dutch army units and select forces from Great Britain, France, Germany and other European allies. All told, about 1,000 personnel took part, including two ships from the U.S. Navy.
"So many of the places we train as Marines are not nearly as carefree of beautiful," Phillips said. "It's a place you'd normally go to on your honeymoon -- not as part of a military mission."
More than 140 Marines left a charter jet that landed at Barksdale Air Force Base around 5 p.m. Friday, then traveled by bus to their training center on Swan Lake Road in Bossier City, where they turned in their guns and other gear. Today, they'll do drill there, then head back to their civilian lives.
Some came back with nice souvenirs. Company 1st Sgt. Thomas Stone brought back a richly bound history of the Dutch Royal Marines.
As a token to his hosts, he left a U.S. Marine Corps flag.
Chris Loughrey, a 21-year-old from Carrollton, Texas, came home heavier in a nice way. He left here a lance corporal, and returned a corporal. He got a merit promotion on the beach at Curacao, with his company enjoying the moment with him as the company commander, Maj. Shayne McGinty, pinned on Loughrey's new chevrons.
Like all the other Marines who got off the charter jet, Loughrey and McGinty sported hair a little longer than the usual Marine close cut -- someone forgot to pack along shears, and they all got behind in their haircuts.
Another reason for longer hair and tired looks could have been the days of liberty at the end of their time in Aruba and the training in Curacao.
"The Marines worked hard and enjoyed their time off," McGinty said. "But a lot were so tired they just crashed."
Not so Sgt. Jacobie Richardson. He used his liberty to sightsee.
"Sleeping was a no-go," he said. "It was too pretty. There was a constant breeze, not like here, and the water was incredible."
The experience will live on in the Marines, McGinty said. "It was a place many of them would never be able to see, and to be able to train with the Dutch was very interesting. We now have an appreciation of their tactics and they have an appreciation of ours."
Ellie
June 17, 2006
By John Andrew Prime
jprime@gannett.com
The last time Bossier City-based Bravo Co., 1/23rd Marines met in a bedraggled group at Barksdale Air Force Base's Hoban Hall, it was after seven arduous months of combat and bloodshed in Iraq.
Friday, most of the same folks again returned to Hoban Hall, tired and full of sand, but from a far better clime -- the sunny Caribbean, where they spent more than two weeks training with Dutch troops and other European allies.
"It was a big change from Iraq," said Capt. Matthew Phillips, who was wounded in Iraq and spent the first week of the Caribbean mission with his men on Aruba before returning to prepare their way home. "There was the same sand and sun, but it wasn't nearly as hazardous."
That first week was mostly spent doing live-fire and individual training as a Marine unit, but the second week, on Curacao, was spent cross-training with Dutch Marines and the Dutch navy, as well as Dutch army units and select forces from Great Britain, France, Germany and other European allies. All told, about 1,000 personnel took part, including two ships from the U.S. Navy.
"So many of the places we train as Marines are not nearly as carefree of beautiful," Phillips said. "It's a place you'd normally go to on your honeymoon -- not as part of a military mission."
More than 140 Marines left a charter jet that landed at Barksdale Air Force Base around 5 p.m. Friday, then traveled by bus to their training center on Swan Lake Road in Bossier City, where they turned in their guns and other gear. Today, they'll do drill there, then head back to their civilian lives.
Some came back with nice souvenirs. Company 1st Sgt. Thomas Stone brought back a richly bound history of the Dutch Royal Marines.
As a token to his hosts, he left a U.S. Marine Corps flag.
Chris Loughrey, a 21-year-old from Carrollton, Texas, came home heavier in a nice way. He left here a lance corporal, and returned a corporal. He got a merit promotion on the beach at Curacao, with his company enjoying the moment with him as the company commander, Maj. Shayne McGinty, pinned on Loughrey's new chevrons.
Like all the other Marines who got off the charter jet, Loughrey and McGinty sported hair a little longer than the usual Marine close cut -- someone forgot to pack along shears, and they all got behind in their haircuts.
Another reason for longer hair and tired looks could have been the days of liberty at the end of their time in Aruba and the training in Curacao.
"The Marines worked hard and enjoyed their time off," McGinty said. "But a lot were so tired they just crashed."
Not so Sgt. Jacobie Richardson. He used his liberty to sightsee.
"Sleeping was a no-go," he said. "It was too pretty. There was a constant breeze, not like here, and the water was incredible."
The experience will live on in the Marines, McGinty said. "It was a place many of them would never be able to see, and to be able to train with the Dutch was very interesting. We now have an appreciation of their tactics and they have an appreciation of ours."
Ellie