thedrifter
08-21-08, 08:02 AM
THURSDAY AUGUST 21, 2008 Last modified: Wednesday, August 20, 2008 3:23 PM PDT
Reservists return from duty in Iraq
By Kurt Schauppner / The Desert Trail
MCAGCC — About 1,000 reserve Marines and sailors with Chicago-based 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment returned to the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 15 and 16 after a six-month deployment to Iraq.
About 1 p.m. Saturday some 322 Marines and sailors arrived in eight buses to turn in their gear and undergo medical tests.
They were greeted by Marine Corps Community Services, which provided free refreshments, and four official huggers.
The Marines and sailors served at Camp Habbaniyah in the Al Anbar province in Iraq, Chief Warrant Office Charles An-drews said.
One of the official huggers, Toinette Isher, brought her children, Ajala, 14, Brenton, 5, and Zach, 7, with her.
“I like to volunteer all through the base,” she said, adding that her husband is serving in Iraq.
Monica McBroom, another official hugger, explained that the program began at Miramar Air Station soon after the beginning of the war and soon migrated to the Combat Center.
McBroom started working with the huggers in 2003. Her husband served two tours of duty in Iraq and now works with Mojave Viper, training Marines and sailors for duty there.
She noted that official huggers
are there for families of departing Marines and sailors as well.
“I like being around to answer questions,” she said.
While waiting for the troops to make their way through the Morongo Basin to the Combat Center, 1st Sgt. Dan Miller of Golf Company explained the work returning Marines and sail-ors did during their time in Iraq.
They worked hand in hand with Iraqi security forces, including elements of the Army, police and the Sons of Iraq, to improve security in their zone of operation. Miller described the Sons of Iraq as being the local version of our neighborhood watch.
Marines and sailors, he said, conducted joint patrols with local security forces.
“Teaching them to provide a higher level of security for the people of Iraq,” he said. “The more they learn the more we step away from it.”
He said they worked with each group, Army, police and Sons of Iraq, equally.
“You don’t favor one group over the others,” he said.
The deployment, Miller said, was his third in Iraq but the company’s second.
“Security overall has in-creased two-fold,” he said of his time in Iraq. “It’s a much safer environment than it was even a year ago. There is still danger but there always is going to be danger.”
The troops, he added, are enjoying a much better relationship with the Iraqi people. “The people are much more trusting now,” he said.
Ellie
Reservists return from duty in Iraq
By Kurt Schauppner / The Desert Trail
MCAGCC — About 1,000 reserve Marines and sailors with Chicago-based 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment returned to the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 15 and 16 after a six-month deployment to Iraq.
About 1 p.m. Saturday some 322 Marines and sailors arrived in eight buses to turn in their gear and undergo medical tests.
They were greeted by Marine Corps Community Services, which provided free refreshments, and four official huggers.
The Marines and sailors served at Camp Habbaniyah in the Al Anbar province in Iraq, Chief Warrant Office Charles An-drews said.
One of the official huggers, Toinette Isher, brought her children, Ajala, 14, Brenton, 5, and Zach, 7, with her.
“I like to volunteer all through the base,” she said, adding that her husband is serving in Iraq.
Monica McBroom, another official hugger, explained that the program began at Miramar Air Station soon after the beginning of the war and soon migrated to the Combat Center.
McBroom started working with the huggers in 2003. Her husband served two tours of duty in Iraq and now works with Mojave Viper, training Marines and sailors for duty there.
She noted that official huggers
are there for families of departing Marines and sailors as well.
“I like being around to answer questions,” she said.
While waiting for the troops to make their way through the Morongo Basin to the Combat Center, 1st Sgt. Dan Miller of Golf Company explained the work returning Marines and sail-ors did during their time in Iraq.
They worked hand in hand with Iraqi security forces, including elements of the Army, police and the Sons of Iraq, to improve security in their zone of operation. Miller described the Sons of Iraq as being the local version of our neighborhood watch.
Marines and sailors, he said, conducted joint patrols with local security forces.
“Teaching them to provide a higher level of security for the people of Iraq,” he said. “The more they learn the more we step away from it.”
He said they worked with each group, Army, police and Sons of Iraq, equally.
“You don’t favor one group over the others,” he said.
The deployment, Miller said, was his third in Iraq but the company’s second.
“Security overall has in-creased two-fold,” he said of his time in Iraq. “It’s a much safer environment than it was even a year ago. There is still danger but there always is going to be danger.”
The troops, he added, are enjoying a much better relationship with the Iraqi people. “The people are much more trusting now,” he said.
Ellie