thedrifter
04-21-09, 08:31 AM
Iraq's in sights of Yakima-based Bravo Company
By MARK MOREY
Yakima Herald-Republic
YAKIMA, Wash. -- Yakima's Marine Corps tankers are rolling for Iraq.
About 100 members of the 4th Tank Battalion's Bravo Company are expected to leave for the Middle East this week from Camp Pendleton, Calif., First Sgt. Michael Pullom said Monday in Yakima.
The Marine Corps Reserve unit quietly left Yakima last week after several months of training at the Yakima Training Center.
Company commander Maj. Jared Duff said the unit's federal activation in December was not widely publicized in order to keep the men focused on their training. No public departure ceremony was held.
They are expected to make a bit more noise when they get back after six to seven months of tank duty in western Iraq.
When they returned in October 2005 from their first tour in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, they were greeted by a crowd of grateful residents and dignitaries at Millennium Plaza in downtown Yakima.
During that tour, they were assigned as military policemen. They escorted more than 300 convoys, traveled more than 230,000 miles and escaped a dozen enemy bomb blasts with only a minor injury to one Marine.
This time, they are serving as tankers, the mission for which they are trained, said Pullom. He is part of the company's inspector-instructor command staff, based at the Armed Forces Reserve Center on Tahoma Avenue in Yakima.
The unit gained a reputation as "the best tank killers in the world" for destroying 119 Iraqi vehicles and taking 800 prisoners while leading the assault into Kuwait in the opening days of the first Gulf War.
While tankers saw heavy action during more violent parts of the current war, Bravo is expected to spend the bulk of this tour providing convoy security rather than offensive combat.
Pullom did not disclose where they would be based or which Marine unit they were replacing. Bravo is the only 4th Tank company going over, he said.
A handful of the company's Marines live in the Yakima Valley, with the rest coming mostly from other Washington cities as well as Oregon. About a quarter of the 100 Marines were on the 2005 deployment.
Pullom said the company benefited from being able to prepare at the Yakima Training Center instead of going to Camp Lejeune, N.C., as was the case last time.
"The stress level wasn't as high because they were at home," Pullom said.
Training included time with Iraqi role players joining in everything from Arabic language drills to an attack on a convoy.
Company officers were pleased that the company earned its highest-ever score on the annual unit certification exercise.
"They've been well trained," Pullom said.
* Mark Morey can be reached at 577-7671 or mmorey@yakimaherald.com.
Ellie
By MARK MOREY
Yakima Herald-Republic
YAKIMA, Wash. -- Yakima's Marine Corps tankers are rolling for Iraq.
About 100 members of the 4th Tank Battalion's Bravo Company are expected to leave for the Middle East this week from Camp Pendleton, Calif., First Sgt. Michael Pullom said Monday in Yakima.
The Marine Corps Reserve unit quietly left Yakima last week after several months of training at the Yakima Training Center.
Company commander Maj. Jared Duff said the unit's federal activation in December was not widely publicized in order to keep the men focused on their training. No public departure ceremony was held.
They are expected to make a bit more noise when they get back after six to seven months of tank duty in western Iraq.
When they returned in October 2005 from their first tour in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, they were greeted by a crowd of grateful residents and dignitaries at Millennium Plaza in downtown Yakima.
During that tour, they were assigned as military policemen. They escorted more than 300 convoys, traveled more than 230,000 miles and escaped a dozen enemy bomb blasts with only a minor injury to one Marine.
This time, they are serving as tankers, the mission for which they are trained, said Pullom. He is part of the company's inspector-instructor command staff, based at the Armed Forces Reserve Center on Tahoma Avenue in Yakima.
The unit gained a reputation as "the best tank killers in the world" for destroying 119 Iraqi vehicles and taking 800 prisoners while leading the assault into Kuwait in the opening days of the first Gulf War.
While tankers saw heavy action during more violent parts of the current war, Bravo is expected to spend the bulk of this tour providing convoy security rather than offensive combat.
Pullom did not disclose where they would be based or which Marine unit they were replacing. Bravo is the only 4th Tank company going over, he said.
A handful of the company's Marines live in the Yakima Valley, with the rest coming mostly from other Washington cities as well as Oregon. About a quarter of the 100 Marines were on the 2005 deployment.
Pullom said the company benefited from being able to prepare at the Yakima Training Center instead of going to Camp Lejeune, N.C., as was the case last time.
"The stress level wasn't as high because they were at home," Pullom said.
Training included time with Iraqi role players joining in everything from Arabic language drills to an attack on a convoy.
Company officers were pleased that the company earned its highest-ever score on the annual unit certification exercise.
"They've been well trained," Pullom said.
* Mark Morey can be reached at 577-7671 or mmorey@yakimaherald.com.
Ellie