thedrifter
03-06-08, 07:51 AM
Marine reservists set to return home after training Iraqis
Thursday, March 06, 2008
TOM GORDON
News staff writer
Thirteen Marines from an Alabama-based Marine Reserve unit will be returning home later this month after training police officers in Iraq.
The returning Marines are members of the Anti-Terrorism Battalion, 4th Marine Division, which is headquartered in Bessemer and has sites in 10 other states. They are winding up a seven-month tour training police officers in Iraq's Anbar province.
Master Gunnery Sgt. David Holladay, a battalion spokesman, said the Marines should be arriving at Camp Lejeune, N.C., in a few days and head home about a week later.
Most of the soon-to-return team members are from the Anti-Terrorism Battalion's Chicopee, Mass., site, but two are from Alabama. One, Master Sgt. Jerry Cowart from Kimberly, is a Jefferson County sheriff's deputy. The other, Gunnery Sgt. Ronnie Dickey, is a Huntsville police officer.
About 140 other Anti-Terrorism Battalion members, including about 33 from Alabama, have been in Anbar province on a separate mission since September. These members of Charlie Company are attached to the 1st Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment. Their mission includes protecting convoys carrying supplies and prisoners, searching houses, patrolling streets and manning checkpoints. They are expected home in late April.
A few weeks after Charlie Company's return, another company-sized contingent from the battalion is scheduled to head to Camp Lejeune for a few months of training and fly to Iraq for a seven-month mission.
Most of the Marines in Delta Company will be from sites in Billings, Mont., and Anchorage, Alaska, and about a dozen will be from Alabama, Holladay said.
E-mail: tgordon@bhamnews.com
Ellie
Thursday, March 06, 2008
TOM GORDON
News staff writer
Thirteen Marines from an Alabama-based Marine Reserve unit will be returning home later this month after training police officers in Iraq.
The returning Marines are members of the Anti-Terrorism Battalion, 4th Marine Division, which is headquartered in Bessemer and has sites in 10 other states. They are winding up a seven-month tour training police officers in Iraq's Anbar province.
Master Gunnery Sgt. David Holladay, a battalion spokesman, said the Marines should be arriving at Camp Lejeune, N.C., in a few days and head home about a week later.
Most of the soon-to-return team members are from the Anti-Terrorism Battalion's Chicopee, Mass., site, but two are from Alabama. One, Master Sgt. Jerry Cowart from Kimberly, is a Jefferson County sheriff's deputy. The other, Gunnery Sgt. Ronnie Dickey, is a Huntsville police officer.
About 140 other Anti-Terrorism Battalion members, including about 33 from Alabama, have been in Anbar province on a separate mission since September. These members of Charlie Company are attached to the 1st Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment. Their mission includes protecting convoys carrying supplies and prisoners, searching houses, patrolling streets and manning checkpoints. They are expected home in late April.
A few weeks after Charlie Company's return, another company-sized contingent from the battalion is scheduled to head to Camp Lejeune for a few months of training and fly to Iraq for a seven-month mission.
Most of the Marines in Delta Company will be from sites in Billings, Mont., and Anchorage, Alaska, and about a dozen will be from Alabama, Holladay said.
E-mail: tgordon@bhamnews.com
Ellie