thedrifter
08-21-07, 11:26 AM
More Marines leaving for Iraq
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
THE SAGINAW NEWS
Twenty Saginaw-based U.S. Marine Corps re-servists will head to Iraq this winter.
Those deploying joined the reserve force during or after about 110 other Saginaw Marines completed a seven-month deployment to the Middle Eastern nation in April, said Maj. William P. Clark, inspector and instructor with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment.
"These are Marines who have not deployed before," said Clark, who served as the unit battalion operations officer in Iraq. "They are not the Marines who just returned from Iraq."
The 170-person unit's home base is at the Armed Forces Reserve Center in Saginaw.
The 20 Marines will train at the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in that southern California city to learn urban warfare tactics, convoy operations and firearms use, Clark said.
They will depart for the desert base next month. They eventually will join fellow Marines in Iraq assigned to the 2nd Battalion, headquartered in Chicago.
The Saginaw Marines who returned home have shared lessons with those getting ready to leave, Clark said. "Quite a bit of focus is on making sure that they don't make the same mistakes we did," he said.
Two of those lessons: Avoid complacency and learn as much as you can before leaving, he said.
Clark and the other Saginaw Marines joined 50 of their counterparts from Nashville, Tenn., during their deployment. v
Ellie
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
THE SAGINAW NEWS
Twenty Saginaw-based U.S. Marine Corps re-servists will head to Iraq this winter.
Those deploying joined the reserve force during or after about 110 other Saginaw Marines completed a seven-month deployment to the Middle Eastern nation in April, said Maj. William P. Clark, inspector and instructor with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment.
"These are Marines who have not deployed before," said Clark, who served as the unit battalion operations officer in Iraq. "They are not the Marines who just returned from Iraq."
The 170-person unit's home base is at the Armed Forces Reserve Center in Saginaw.
The 20 Marines will train at the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in that southern California city to learn urban warfare tactics, convoy operations and firearms use, Clark said.
They will depart for the desert base next month. They eventually will join fellow Marines in Iraq assigned to the 2nd Battalion, headquartered in Chicago.
The Saginaw Marines who returned home have shared lessons with those getting ready to leave, Clark said. "Quite a bit of focus is on making sure that they don't make the same mistakes we did," he said.
Two of those lessons: Avoid complacency and learn as much as you can before leaving, he said.
Clark and the other Saginaw Marines joined 50 of their counterparts from Nashville, Tenn., during their deployment. v
Ellie