Memorial recognizes fallen HMM-166 Marines
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  1. #1

    Cool Memorial recognizes fallen HMM-166 Marines

    Memorial recognizes fallen HMM-166 Marines
    Submitted by: 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing
    Story Identification #: 20048252532
    Story by Staff Sgt. A.C. Mink



    AL ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq (Aug. 19, 2004) -- Marines, Sailors and Soldiers gathered to pay homage to Capt. Gregory Ratzlaff, pilot, Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 166 (Reinforced), 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), I Marine Expeditionary Force, and Staff Sgt. Sean Howard, crew chief, also with HMM-166.

    Ratzlaff, 36, an Olympia, Wash. native, died Aug. 3 during a non-combat related incident at a forward operating base in Iraq.


    Howard was killed Aug. 12, in a CH-53E crash near Al Najaf. Also killed in the crash was Lance Cpl. Tavon Hubbard, a Postal clerk, who was assigned to the Command Element, 11th MEU, I MEF.

    Capt. Bryan Forney, a fellow ‘Grey Elk’ pilot, spoke of Ratzlaff as a “consummate professional.”

    “Greg loved his Marines and what the Corps stands for… but above all, Greg loved his family,” said Forney. “His devotion to his family was absolute – to his wife, Mary, and his son, Drew, who was the very center of his life.”

    Capt. Jeffrey Olesko, also an HMM-166 pilot, echoed that sentiment. “When I am a father, I wish to be half the father that Greg was to Drew.”

    Lt. Col. Will Guthrie, commanding officer, HMM-166 (Rein) said, “These men were more than just Marines … they were our friends. They were sons, husbands, fathers … I am personally grateful I had the opportunity to know and serve with these men.”

    Howard is survived by his wife, Amie, and children, Kaitlynn and Sean.

    Sgt. Joel Diehl, fellow squadron-mate, read a message from Howard’s wife.

    Choking with emotion he read, “If I only lived until tomorrow, I would have lived fully because I’ve loved you …The war is over for you my love, you are a hero. …”



    Lt. Col. J. W. Guthrie, commanding officer of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 166 (reinforced), 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, sits in front of memorials for Capt. Gregory A. Ratzlaff (left) and Staff Sgt. John R. Howard, Aug. 19, at a packed chow hall at a forward operating base in Southern Iraq. Guthrie, the commanding officer of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 166 (reinforced), 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, lost both Marines since arriving in Iraq a few weeks ago.
    Photo by: Sgt. Nathan K. LaForte



    Capt. Jennifer O. Marino, CH-46E Sea Knight pilot, steadies a helmet atop the memorial for Capt. Ratzlaff. Capt. Bryan Forney, pilot and good friend to Ratzlaff, watches as the finishing touch is put on the memorial. All three captains were fellow Marines and friends who belonged to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 166 (reinforced), 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
    Photo by: Sgt. Nathan K. LaForte



    Emotions ran high for the Marines of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 166 (reinforced), 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, at the memorial ceremony for two of its own Marines who died since the units deployment to Iraq. The ceremony for Capt. Gregory A. Ratzlaff, a 36-year-old pilot training officer from Mount Vernon, Wash., and Staff Sgt. John R. Howard, a crew chief from took place at a forward operating base in Southern Iraq, Aug. 19.
    Photo by: Sgt. Nathan K. LaForte

    http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn20...7?opendocument


    Ellie


  2. #2
    Iraqi forces move near shrine as defense minister threatens a raid

    By: ABDUL HUSSEIN AL-OBEIDI - Associated Press

    NAJAF, Iraq -- A Shiite insurgency appeared to be weakening Tuesday night as Iraqi forces moved to within 200 yards of the revered Imam Ali Shrine and Iraq's defense minister once again demanded fighters loyal to a radical cleric surrender or face a violent raid.

    The militant force, which once waged fierce battles with U.S. troops throughout the Old City and Najaf's vast cemetery, seemed considerably diminished in number and less aggressive after days of U.S. airstrikes and relentless artillery pounding.

    In Baghdad, assailants bombed the convoys of two government ministers in separate attacks that killed five people and a suicide bomber, but left the ministers unharmed, officials said.


    Hundreds of insurgents have been spotted leaving Najaf in recent days, witnesses said. Those that remained appeared to have pulled back to the area around the shrine, where the fighting Tuesday was concentrated, U.S. troops said.

    Police say radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who has not been seen in public for days, has fled the city.

    His aides, however, vigorously denied that, saying al-Sadr was in a secret hideout here. Regardless, the fiery, charismatic cleric's absence from the battlefield may have withered his followers' morale.

    U.S. warplanes bombed the Old City late Tuesday for the third night in a row, witnesses reported. Huge blasts rumbled throughout the city for about 10 minutes followed by gunbattles and smaller explosions.

    Earlier in the day, fierce fighting broke out near the shrine compound, with rockets launched from U.S. helicopters kicking up clouds of smoke and debris. Bradley fighting vehicles patrolling the nearly deserted, bullet-scarred streets attacked militants, who responded with mortar fire and rocket-propelled grenades.

    "We are under constant enemy small-arms, mortar, and RPG attack," said U.S. Lt. Chris Kent, whose unit was about 300 yards from the compound. "U.S. forces are consolidating positions to allow for future operations. Morale is very high."

    Iraqi forces, accompanying U.S. troops into the Old City for the first time in recent days, combed through the neighborhood, approaching as close as 200 yards to the shrine, controlled by militants loyal to al-Sadr.

    Both the Iraqi government and the U.S. military say no military moves are being made without the approval of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

    Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan, addressing Iraqi National Guard troops in Najaf, said Tuesday that Iraqi forces would head toward the shrine "tonight" to await the signal for a raid or the capitulation of the militants.

    "When your brothers approach the holy shrine compound, they will direct calls of mercy to those (militants) to surrender," Shaalan told the troops. "They have hours to surrender."

    By late Tuesday, there was no indication Iraqi forces had advanced on the shrine.

    Shaalan made a similar threat a week ago, saying the government could raid the shrine by the end of the day last Wednesday to free it of "its vile occupation." The government later backed down and said it would work for a peaceful solution.

    Any raid on the shrine, the holiest Shiite site in the country, risked igniting a massive Shiite rebellion throughout Iraq against the fledgling interim government, already battling a persistent and bloody Sunni insurgency.

    "I tell Shaalan to throw his new declaration in the same garbage that he already threw his earlier declarations in," al-Sadr aide Sheik Aws al-Khafaji told Al-Jazeera television.

    But other al-Sadr lieutenants reiterated their appeal for talks, a request the government has repeatedly rejected.

    "We are ready to negotiate to end this crisis and the suffering of our persecuted people ... but this government doesn't want negotiations," said Sheik Ali Smeisim, a senior al-Sadr aide.

    The militants have repeatedly accused U.S. forces of damaging the shrine during the fighting. The U.S. military accused the militants of launching attacks from holy sites, but said it has restrained itself from attacking those positions.

    The military released aerial photos Tuesday purportedly showing a complete militant mortar system set up just outside the shrine compound.

    Iraqi officials have said that any raid on the shrine would be conducted by Iraqi forces, since the presence of U.S. troops at the holy site would future inflame Shiites here.

    In other violence, clashes between British forces and al-Sadr militants in the southern city of Amarah killed eight people and injured 18 others, said Dr. Saad Hemood, of the Zahrawi General Hospital.

    The fighting started when militants attacked a British foot patrol with small arms and fired mortar rounds at a building housing British troops, residents said.

    Residents said British warplanes bombed the city, but Squadron leader Spike Wilson, a British military spokesman, said no planes were used in Amarah and he had no reports of coalition casualties.

    In southern Baghdad, a car bomb exploded in the Qadisiyah neighborhood as Environment Minister Miskhat Moumin was passing through in a convoy, ministry spokeswoman Dalal Ali said. Moumin escaped unharmed, Ali said.

    Four bodyguards were killed in that blast and two other people were injured, Interior Ministry spokesman Col. Adnan Abdul-Rahman said. A suicide bomber was also killed.

    In a second attack about the same time in the western Baghdad district of al-Khadra, a roadside bomb exploded beside Education Minister Sami Mudhafar's convoy, killing one of his bodyguards and wounding two others, police said.

    The convoy was heading to work at the time and the minister was not injured, a bodyguard who survived the attack said on condition of anonymity.

    In a statement posted on an Islamic Web site, Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad group purportedly claimed responsibility for the attack on Moumin. The claim's authenticity could not be verified.

    Insurgents have repeatedly targeted top officials for assassination, accusing them of collaborating with U.S. forces here.

    Also in Baghdad, assailants fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a U.S. patrol on Monday night, killing one soldier and wounding two others, the military said Tuesday. A second soldier was killed early Tuesday near Fallujah when the vehicle he was in rolled over, the military said. As of Monday, 958 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq in March 2003, according to the U.S. Defense Department.

    Also Tuesday, a militant group calling itself "The Islamic Army in Iraq" said it had kidnapped Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni and could not guarantee his safety unless Italy announced within 48 hours it would withdraw its 3,000 troops, according to a video and statement sent to Al-Jazeera.

    Italy said its troops would remain, but it would work for Baldoni's release.

    "We are committed to obtaining the freedom of Mr. Baldoni, who is in Iraq for private work as a journalist and therefore absolutely not connected to our government," Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi's office said in a statement.

    AP reporter Jim MacMillan contributed to this report from Najaf.

    http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004..._318_24_04.txt


    Ellie


  3. #3
    Cleric Returns to Broker Najaf Peace Deal

    By ABDUL HUSSEIN AL-OBEIDI

    NAJAF, Iraq - Iraq's most powerful Shiite cleric returned home from Britain on Wednesday to help broker an end to nearly three weeks of fighting in Najaf and is calling on his followers to join him in a march to reclaim the holy city, his spokesmen and witnesses said.

    Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani return came as heavy fighting persisted in Najaf's Old City. U.S. warplanes fired on suspected insurgent positions, helicopters flew overhead and heavy gunfire was heard in the streets, witnesses said.

    Al-Sistani, 73, crossed into southern Iraq from Kuwait about midday in a caravan of sport utility vehicles accompanied by Iraqi police and national guardsmen. The convoy quickly passed through the southern city of Basra, witnesses said.

    '); // -->
    He had been in London for medical treatment since Aug. 6, one day after clashes erupted in Najaf. The cleric wields enormous influence among Shiite Iraqis and his return could play a crucial role in stabilizing the nearly three-week-old crisis.

    "His eminence Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani will arrive in beloved Iraq in a few hours and he will return to the holy city of Najaf to rescue it from its ordeal," Hamed al-Khafaf said in an e-mail sent to The Associated Press in Beirut.

    On Tuesday, U.S. and Iraqi forces in Najaf tightened a cordon around the Old City and the neighboring Imam Ali Shrine, the holiest Shia site in Iraq.

    In separate violence west of Baghdad, U.S. warplanes and tanks bombed the volatile city of Fallujah for more than two hours on Wednesday, killing at least four people, hospital officials and residents said.

    Based in the city are Sunni insurgents the government believes are responsible for months of kidnappings, bombings and shooting attacks against coalition troops, Iraqi forces and civilians across Iraq.

    A Marine spokesman, Lt. Col. Thomas V. Johnson, said Wednesday that several insurgent "firing positions ... have been struck this morning with tank-fire and yes, aircraft were also used against the targets."

    Adel Khamis, a doctor at Fallujah General Hospital, said four people were killed and four were wounded in the strikes.

    The relentless American bombing in Najaf appeared to be weakening as Iraqi forces. Iraqi troops moved to within 200 yards of the revered Imam Ali Shrine and Iraq's defense minister once again demanded fighters loyal to a radical cleric surrender or face a violent raid.

    The militant force, which once waged fierce battles with U.S. troops throughout the Old City and Najaf's vast cemetery, seemed considerably diminished in number and less aggressive Tuesday after days of U.S. airstrikes and heavy artillery pounding.

    Hundreds of insurgents have been spotted leaving Najaf in recent days, witnesses said. Those that remained appeared to have pulled back to the area around the shrine, where the fighting Tuesday was concentrated, U.S. troops said.

    Police say al-Sadr, who has not been seen in public for days, has fled the city.

    His aides, however, vigorously denied that, saying al-Sadr was in a secret hideout here. Regardless, the fiery, charismatic cleric's absence from the battlefield may have withered his followers' morale.

    Al-Sayyid Murtadha Al-Kashmiri, an al-Sistani representative in London, said al-Sistani was headed back to Najaf "to stop the bloodshed."

    Al-Khafaf told the Arab satellite television station Al-Arabiya that al-Sistani "will lead thousands of followers on a march to holy Najaf."

    "We call upon all devout Iraqis who follow him" from all over the country to be "on alert to head to holy Najaf under his leadership," al-Khafaf told the station. He said an announcement on the next steps will be made later.

    Al-Sistani underwent an angioplasty, a procedure to unblock a coronary artery, Aug. 13 in London. Al-Kashmiri told the AP the senior cleric "is in good health and left the hospital three or four days ago."

    On Tuesday, fierce fighting broke out near the shrine compound, with rockets launched from U.S. helicopters kicking up clouds of smoke and debris. Bradley fighting vehicles patrolling the nearly deserted, bullet-scarred streets attacked militants, who responded with mortar fire and rocket-propelled grenades.

    "We are under constant enemy small-arms, mortar, and RPG attack," said U.S. Lt. Chris Kent, whose unit was about 300 yards from the compound. "U.S. forces are consolidating positions to allow for future operations. Morale is very high."

    Iraqi forces, accompanying U.S. troops into the Old City for the first time in recent days, combed through the neighborhood, approaching as close as 200 yards to the shrine, controlled by militants loyal to al-Sadr.

    Both the Iraqi government and the U.S. military say no military moves are being made without the approval of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

    Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan, addressing Iraqi National Guard troops in Najaf, said Tuesday that Iraqi forces would head toward the shrine "tonight" to await the signal for a raid or the capitulation of the militants.

    "When your brothers approach the holy shrine compound, they will direct calls of mercy to those (militants) to surrender," Shaalan told the troops. "They have hours to surrender."

    By late Tuesday, there was no indication Iraqi forces had advanced on the shrine.

    Shaalan made a similar threat a week ago, saying the government could raid the shrine by the end of the day last Wednesday to free it of "its vile occupation." The government later backed down and said it would work for a peaceful solution.

    Any raid on the shrine, the holiest Shiite site in the country, risked igniting a massive Shiite rebellion throughout Iraq against the fledgling interim government, already battling a persistent and bloody Sunni insurgency.

    http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004.../d84m5mf01.txt


    Ellie


  4. #4
    Lawyer: Marine never abused Iraq prisoner

    By: DARRIN MORTENSON - Staff Writer

    CAMP PENDLETON ---- A Marine accused of punching and kicking an Iraqi prisoner who later died in custody never struck the man, his lawyer said during opening arguments in court martial proceedings Tuesday at Camp Pendleton.

    Defense attorney Capt. Anders Folk said Sgt. Gary Pittman "never did anything" to the prisoner, and said another Marine could "very easily" have caused the injury that a medical examiner said probably killed the Iraqi.

    "There was no kick," Folk said, adding that Pittman was too sick with "debilitating diarrhea" to have struck the man.


    Pittman, 40, is charged with two counts of dereliction of duty and assault in connection with the death of 52-year-old detainee Nagem Sadoon Hatab at Camp Whitehorse, a temporary detention facility outside Nasiriyah, Iraq, in June 2003. He faces up to two years in prison if convicted in the court martial that began Monday.

    Both sides presented opening arguments Tuesday and lawyers questioned the first three witnesses in a trial that is expected to take a month.

    In his opening argument Tuesday, prosecutor Capt. Leon Francis said Pittman punched, kicked and kneed the "completely defenseless" Hatab while the prisoner was bound by the wrists and hooded with a sandbag. He said a witness will testify that Pittman later kicked the prisoner in the chest to show him "who's boss."

    "He did it without any justification, without any cause whatsoever," Francis told the jury of nine Marine officers who were selected before arguments began Tuesday.

    Cause of death in question

    On June 6, after nearly three days in American custody, Hatab was found dead and covered in his own feces in an outdoor pen at Camp Whitehorse, which was then run by about 25 Marine reservists from the New York-based 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment.

    The original autopsy indicated that Hatab suffered from at least six broken ribs and a broken bone in the throat that probably caused him to suffocate. Folk, the defense attorney, said he will challenge the autopsy results and blamed the Army medical examiner for not keeping important tissue samples that were needed to establish the time of injuries.

    "The cause of death, manner of death are, at best, uncertain," Folk said, summing up the conclusions of a Navy pathologist who is expected to testify this week.

    Jessica Lynch connection

    Lawyers said Marines had detained Hatab three days before his death based on information that he had participated in the March 23 ambush of an Army convoy in Nasiriyah, Iraq, which killed 11 soldiers and led to the capture of Army Pvt. Jessica Lynch.

    According to the prosecutor, Hatab was left in the custody of Pittman and then-Lance Cpl. William Roy at Camp Whitehorse.

    Roy was originally charged in the case but was later punished administratively with a loss of one rank and other penalties. Roy is expected to testify Wednesday under immunity.

    Francis, the prosecutor, said the guards were told by members of a special interrogation team to rough up detainees when they were first brought to the camp and searched. They played "bad cop" until Arabic-speaking interrogators could play "good cop" during questioning, Francis said.

    Roy is expected to testify that he and Pittman struck Hatab on at least two occasions while the man was bound.

    Francis said the two Marines had a grudge against Hatab because of his possible role in the March 23 ambush. The alleged blows were "pure reprisal, pure retaliation," Francis said.

    The defense opened by saying that conditions at Camp Whitehorse were less than ideal.

    Camp was 'chaos'

    With no Arabic translators and no guidance on how to run a detention camp, the 25 or so Marines at Camp Whitehorse did their best to accomplish a "difficult and dangerous mission that they never got trained to do by the Marine Corps," Folk said.

    The defense attorney blasted away at the credibility of the government's witnesses, especially targeting Roy.

    Folk said Roy was the only one of the nearly 30 witnesses in the case who will say Pittman ever struck Hatab. He suggested that Roy made a deal with prosecutors and will blame Pittman to take the heat off himself.

    Folk also suggested that Roy could have landed the fatal blow.

    He said that between the two times Pittman allegedly assaulted Hatab, interrogators said Hatab told had them in Arabic that he was "good to go" and did not need medcal attention.

    But sometime before other guards reported that Hatab seemed sick and was moaning in pain, the 200-pound, six-foot-plus Roy had punched, tackled and grabbed Hatab by the throat at least twice, Folk said.

    "That grabbing of the throat," Folk said, "could have very easily broken that bone in Hatab's throat."

    Testimony begins

    Maj. William Vickers, the former officer in charge of Camp Whitehorse, who left before Hatab was detained, testified that he had never seen Pittman or the other guards at the makeshift camp mistreat prisoners.

    Vickers said he once saw a prisoner knock Pittman off his feet but said Pittman used restraint. He said he saw Roy punch the man into compliance, but called the treatment appropriate.

    "A couple of shots (punches) to the side was better than a 5.56 round (bullet from an M-16)" he said.

    Vickers was once charged with dereliction of duty in connection with his running of the camp but the charges were later dropped.

    Before Hatab was detained he turned the camp over to Maj. Clarke Paulus, who also faces a general court martial in relation to Hatab's death. His trial is scheduled to begin on Sept. 9 at Camp Pendleton.

    The first witness called to the stand Tuesday seemed to disappoint the prosecutor.

    Gary Solis, an expert on the law of war who teaches the subject to military cadets at West Point, suggested that prisoners taken during the war in Iraq fell under the 1949 Geneva Convention, which established the international standard for the treatment of prisoners of war.

    Under scrutiny by civilian defense attorney John Tranberg, however, Solis admitted to having said in an interview that prisoners taken after major combat operations were declared over in May 2003 would be excluded from the Geneva Convention.

    "Regardless of their status," he said, coming back from what appeared an embarrassing moment, "there is no status that does not require humane treatment."

    http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004..._558_24_04.txt


    Ellie


  5. #5
    Prison Abuse Report Cites Top Commanders

    By JOHN J. LUMPKIN

    WASHINGTON - Inattention to prisoner issues by senior U.S. military leaders in Iraq and at the Pentagon was a key factor in the abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib prison, but there is no evidence they ordered any mistreatment, an independent panel concluded.

    The panel's report, the first of two expected this week looking at prisoner abuse, directly blamed the events at Abu Ghraib on the soldiers there and their immediate commanders.

    It also said senior commanders and top-level Pentagon officials, including Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, can be faulted for failed leadership and oversight.

    '); // -->
    "We found fundamental failures throughout all levels of command, from the soldiers on the ground to (U.S.) Central Command and to the Pentagon," said Tillie Fowler, a former Republican congresswoman from Florida who served on the four-member commission appointed by Rumsfeld and headed by former Defense Secretary James R. Schlesinger.

    "These failures of leadership helped to set the conditions which allowed the abusive practices to take place," Fowler said.

    Details of a second investigation, which focused on the military intelligence unit at Abu Ghraib prison during the abuses, were expected to be released Wednesday. That Army investigation, initially headed by Maj. Gen. George Fay, is expected to blame the intelligence unit and its commanders for some of the abuses at the Iraqi prison.

    The Schlesinger report is one of several that have examined various aspects of the prisoner abuse scandal, which rocked the Bush administration and triggered calls by some in Congress for Rumsfeld to resign.

    No senior officials deserve to lose their jobs, the Schlesinger commission members told reporters Tuesday while releasing their findings. They said they believed the Pentagon was on a path to remedying the underlying causes of the abuse.

    Schlesinger's review criticizes senior leaders for not focusing on issues stemming from the detention of large numbers of prisoners in Iraq. This lack of attention and resources contributed to the chaotic conditions at Abu Ghraib, the report said.

    In particular, war planners at the Joint Chiefs of Staff did not expect a widespread anti-U.S. insurgency or the breakdown of civil order in postwar Iraq, so they did not plan or provide resources for the operation of a large American-run prison system, commissioners said.

    Nor did senior leaders fully clarify what interrogation methods were permissible at Abu Ghraib. In some cases, harsher techniques approved for use against al-Qaida and Taliban fighters were employed against Iraqi prisoners.

    The Schlesinger report assigned significant blame to Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, saying he should have ensured that his staff dealt with the command and resource problems at Abu Ghraib when they first came to light in November 2003. Still, it acknowledges that Sanchez was focused on combatting a mounting Iraqi insurgency at the time.

    Schlesinger said soldiers who stacked naked Iraqi prisoners in pyramids, forced them into positions of sexual humiliation and confronted them with snarling guard dogs were renegades.

    The abuse depicted in the Abu Ghraib photographs made public was "a kind of 'Animal House' on the night shift," Schlesinger said _ in other words, acts of sadism committed by low-ranking guards for their own entertainment.

    The report described the abuse as "acts of brutality and purposeless sadism," and said _ as have others who reviewed the case _ that the soldiers involved were not acting on approved orders or policies.

    On the other hand, the report contradicts the Bush administration's assertion that the problem was limited to a few soldiers acting on their own. So far, seven military police soldiers have faced criminal charges; two dozen or more military intelligence soldiers may also be charged, but it appears increasingly unlikely that top-level commanders will be disciplined.

    The White House had no immediate comment on the Schlesinger report.

    Rand Beers, national security adviser to Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, said, "This report makes clear that the failures at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere start at the top _ beginning with a failure to plan for the peace in Iraq, a failure to adequately train the troops and a failure to provide clear orders for interrogation."

    About a third of 66 substantiated cases of abuse were committed during interrogations, presumably by military intelligence personnel or people working with them, the Schlesinger report said. At least five prisoners died as a result of abuses committed during questioning.

    At Abu Ghraib, "Some individuals seized the opportunity provided by this environment to give vent to latent sadistic urges," the report said. Trying to balance the need to obtain information that could save lives against treating prisoners humanely, some people involved stepped over the line accidentally, some knowingly, it said.

    But the report did not cast blame solely on military interrogators, police and their chain of command at prisoner abuses in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Others who may have played a role included CIA officers, special operations forces, contract interrogators and military dog handlers.

    The Schlesinger panel said disciplinary action "may be forthcoming" against Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, who commanded the 800th Military Police Brigade at Abu Ghraib; and Col. Thomas M. Pappas, commander of the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade, which was assigned to Abu Ghraib last year.

    Karpinski has maintained that she was not alerted to abuses at Abu Ghraib until they were brought to the attention of Sanchez, her commander, in January 2004.

    On the Net:

    The report is available at:

    http://wid.ap.org/documents/iraq/040824finalreport.pdf

    http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004.../d84m2d000.txt


    Ellie


  6. #6
    Marines in Iraq use gym as outlet for stress
    Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
    Story Identification #: 200482524238
    Story by Cpl. Shawn C. Rhodes



    CAMP MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq (Aug. 22, 2004) -- Little free time and long days in the sun are just a few things that contribute to stress in a combat zone. The constant threat of rocket and mortar attacks is another. There is much here that these Camp Lejeune Marines can't control - but there is a tool they use to beat their stress and anger - physical exercise.

    "The main reason I see people come in here is to take care of their stress, whether it's from boredom or from battle," said Lance Cpl. Adam M. Groves, one of the four Marines who run the gym here. "When they leave here it definitely looks like they worked out some of that energy."

    The gym here has followed 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment through their moves from Mahmudiyah to Fallujah and back to Mahmudiyah again. Marines realize the importance the gym has to the welfare of their troops.

    "When they're not working, Marines have choices. They can A, sleep; B, watch movies; C, go to the Internet café," said Staff Sgt. Kelly M. Crawford, a Marine with Combat Service Support Battalion-1. "The lines are pretty long at the internet café. We all know how Marines hate to wait in line."

    The gym here is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Riflemen and administration clerks work side by side to improve themselves and relieve their stress, but not all stress comes from outside the wire.

    "Marines have a lot to be stressed out about. Being away from their families and having little time to talk to them is enough to stress people out," said Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Albert M. Delacruz, a 23 year-old from Paterson, N.J. "Without the gym I think we'd see a lot more fights and arguments. It would definitely hurt our effectiveness outside the wire."

    The gym isn't just for relieving stress; it can also build character. Getting to the gym when you could be sleeping or watching a movie takes commitment, though, according to Delacruz.

    "When you get to the gym the payback is more than at you put into it. It pays back mentally and physically," Delacruz said.

    Marines find few excuses to miss their appointments with the treadmill when their gym is located just down the street.

    "In garrison you have to deal with everything that goes on with garrison life," said Crawford, 34, of Corvallis, Ore. "You have to get in the car to get to the gym. Here it's just a short walk away."

    The ease in getting a good workout at the gym is a relief to the Marines.

    "You come in, take care of what you need to, and carry on," said Groves, a 20-year-old from Deale, Md.

    For some, the gym's benefits extend beyond themselves.

    "The reason I go to the gym here? I told my wife I was going to look better when I got back than when I left," Crawford said with a smile.



    Staff Sgt. Kelly M. Crawford, a Marine with Combat Service Support Battalion-1, relieves stress inside the gym every day at Camp Mahmudiyah. When Marines aren't outside the wire the gym is one of the best places to improve their minds and bodies.
    (USMC Photo by Cpl. Shawn C. Rhodes) Photo by: Cpl. Shawn C. Rhodes



    Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Albert M. Delacruz uses the excercise bike at the Camp Mahmudiyah Gym. The 23 year-old from Paterson, N.J. said it's necessary for Marines to find a way to relieve stress.
    (USMC Photo by Cpl. Shawn C. Rhodes) Photo by: Cpl. Shawn C. Rhodes

    http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn20...8?opendocument


    Ellie


  7. #7
    The Marine Corps Skunk Works
    by Doug Mohney
    August 22, 2004


    Established in 1995, the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab (MCWL) in Quantico, Virginia is about the closest thing the Marines have to an in-house “Skunk Works” research facility. Its stated purpose is to improve current and future expeditionary warfare capabilities. The lab works with off-the-shelf technologies, and combines these with innovative concepts to move projects from concept, through rapid prototyping for testing in field exercises and, more recently, directly to marines in Iraq and Afghanistan. One division of the MCWL, the Corps Wargaming division, got some media attention by adapting the “Doom” PC game for training Marines in squad-level tactics.

    One of the lab’s more recent quick-response projects has been a pair of Kevlar shorts designed to stop shrapnel from roadside bpmns. Ten pairs of the “lower body armor” have been distributed to vehicle gunners -- typically well-protected along the torso with standard-issue body armor, but receiving “a lot” of injuries to the buttocks and upper thighs. A pair of the one-size shorts are worn over the uniform and held up with built-in suspenders. Weighing in at nearly 5 pounds, they have been nicknamed “lederhosen” and “fishing shorts.”

    Another product of the lab are the “X-Files,” printable information summaries designed printed out and tucked away in a cargo pocket for easy reading. Topics of the “X-Files” include such hot topics as urban defense, urban patrolling, as well as more mundane topics as the Animal Packers manual and water procurement.

    Other MCWL efforts include several different satellite-based communications projects, a search for a “personal defense weapon” to replace the 9mm pistol ( with a more effective submachine gun), and a supercomputer-based combat “simulation” to game through multiple options in a particular combat situation. The simulation effort, Project Albert, is described as “SimCity adapted to a combat situation.”


    Ellie


  8. #8
    Echo Company

    By Sara Steffens
    Contra Costa (Calif.) Times

    SAN DIEGO - The day he left for Iraq, they took pictures - one after another of him in his fatigues, cap shading his eyes from the sunlight, with medic's insignia pinned to his collar.

    To the mother of Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Fernando Mendez-Aceves, the pictures capture the way things used to be: her beaming with pride, head leaning on his right shoulder, his younger brother at his left shoulder, Fernando's muscular arms encircling them both.

    Friends teased him, but Fernando was never embarrassed to show his devotion to his family.

    "The thing is, he was a very unusual son," said his mother, Sandra. "Very unusual for American standards, or even Mexican standards, because he actually liked hanging out with me and my mother."

    "They would say, 'Oh, mama's boy,' but he didn't care," said his younger brother, Kenneth, who's 15. "He was proud of us."

    Fernando knew the importance of family from his birth, 27 years ago in Mexico City. He was the third boy his mother had in as many years, for years the youngest member of a home shared by four generations.

    Fernando was smaller than his brothers, a gentle boy who brought home wounded birds. "He was always extremely sensitive. His heart was always hurting for someone," his mother said.

    When she slept, he would line his GI Joe dolls alongside her bed, to protect her.

    Fernando was 11 when Kenneth was born. Jealous at first, Fernando soon fell in love with his younger brother, helping to change his diapers, playing with him, caring for him to allow a rest for his mother, who had malaria.

    "I would be taking care of Kenneth in the middle of the night having fever and crying and Fernando would be right there, and he would calm him down," she remembers. "I have pictures of Fernando exhausted and Kenneth like a little teddy bear on top of him, both asleep."

    "He's a little like my son," Fernando once told a friend.

    The boys grew up all over the world. Sandra's second husband worked in research, and the family moved from Mexico to Ghana, West Africa, then to Thailand.

    Fernando became a U.S. citizen, but he embraced his Mexican heritage, wearing a custom-tailored Charro suit to graduate from high school in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

    Another family tradition was respect for military service, instilled in the boys since infancy, when their great-grandmother would rock them to sleep humming soldier's marches.

    No one was surprised when Fernando's older brother Enrique joined the Air Force.

    A year later, at 21, Fernando signed up for the Navy, choosing a career as a combat medic.

    He'd been a scrawny kid. Boot camp changed that.

    Fernando outran everyone, won top marks on every fitness test. His biceps grew so thick he needed to wear oversize shirts. He began training as a Navy SEAL, but was forced to quit after suffering from hypothermia.

    When Fernando was assigned to Southern California, he brought his mother and Kenneth along and rented a small apartment for the three of them.

    He took Kenneth everywhere. Girlfriends used to joke that his younger brother came along as a chaperone.

    "You wanted to see him furious? Touch me. Touch his brothers," his mother said.

    He could intimidate anyone with the mean, cold stare he developed. "If he looked at you, you would feel his eyes on you," Kenneth said. "You would feel a very heavy look."

    Fernando lifted weights at work, then again in the afternoon with his brother. They hung a pull-up bar in the bathroom.

    At the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, friends nicknamed him for his bulk, calling him Rocky, the Muscle Man or simply Hulk. His job was preparing troops for Iraq, but he volunteered to go himself, not wanting to waste his combat training.

    Fernando left on Feb. 16.

    "You have no idea how much I miss you," he wrote two days later. "I hope these seven months pass very soon so we can see each other again."

    Snapshots taken in Iraq showed that Doc Mendez - as he was known to the Marines of Echo Company - hadn't lost his goofy grin.

    "He kind of struck me as different because you don't see a lot of smiling people around the base," his platoon leader wrote in a letter to Sandra after Fernando was killed on April 6. "He never complained at all, even if he went on missions that lasted day and night. ... I could tell he was a good man, and whoever raised him did a good job."

    When his convoy was ambushed in Iraq, Fernando was seen dragging people to safety before he was killed. His mother said she knew that he must have been afraid. "He would have been a fool not to, and my son was no fool."

    A candle burns continuously on the memorial altar they've built, where Fernando watches over them from a half-dozen photographs. There's a bottle of Corona, his favorite beer; a not-quite-complete deck of playing cards; a last letter from a female friend, still sealed because Fernando never had the chance to open it. Inside a plain navy blue sack is the box that contains Fernando's remains.

    His mother returns, again and again, to one comforting thought: Fernando believed that all things happen for a reason, and it's not our place to question God's plan.

    Kenneth honors his brother in his own way, continuing his running and weight-lifting, as Fernando would have wanted. He wears the T-shirt his brother used to wear to the gym, worn from many washings, along with a baseball cap darkened by a ring of his brother's sweat.

    "I loved him so much," he said, voice not wavering. "I'm so proud of him. I'm really proud of him."

    Contact Sara Steffens at ssteffens@cctimes.com



    Age: 27
    Home: San Diego, Calif.
    HM3 Fernando Mendez-Aceves
    "He was always extremely sensitive. His heart was always hurting for someone," his mother said. When she slept, he would line his GI Joes alongside her bed, to protect her.

    http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwash...ny/9282997.htm


    Ellie


  9. #9
    3/11 families prepare for unit's return
    Submitted by: MCAGCC
    Story Identification #: 2004823235613
    Story by Lance Cpl. Heidi E. Loredo



    MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. (Aug. 14, 2004) -- Families of Marines and Sailors of 3rd Battalion, 11th Marines, had a good reason to celebrate together at their family function Aug. 14, at the battalion headquarters building.

    "We had a family function every month since the deployment began," said Annie Connally, wife of Lt. Col. Thomas J. Connally, commanding officer. "This one is special because it is our last one before the battalion comes home."

    The nights of little or no sleep and running around juggling the tasks of a single parent will come to an end for spouses soon.

    When 3/11 enters through the Combat Center gates in mid-September they will be greeted with glittering signs that their loved ones made after they spent the afternoon together to construct signs for their heroes.

    Families are anxious to welcome home nearly 500 Marines and Sailors from 3/11 who boarded buses mid-February and deployed once again to the Middle East to support Operation Iraqi Freedom 2. The battalion deployed to establish a presence in Iraq as a security force.

    Since February the families have come together to support each other through the months of separation from their loved ones by participating in family functions and keeping each other company. For some families, this deployment was the first period of separation they endured; for others, deployments are old news.

    "This deployment has gone well for us both," said Elizabeth, wife of Cpl. Pedro Soltero, Kilo Battery. "The families get together often, and the base does a lot for the families so we can take our minds off the separation and base personnel can show their appreciation."

    Soltero's comfort is her 5-year-old daughter, Katelynn, and long distance phone calls from her husband.

    While Elizabeth stenciled a sign for her husband of two-and-a-half years, their daughter colored her own sign that read "Welcome Home Daddy."

    "We were used to the separation a little," said Soltero. "First, Katelynn went through the separation because of boot camp, school, then he was in Japan for 11 months and now he's been gone for almost seven months. We didn't have it as difficult as some families did."

    Getting together with other families helps ease the loneliness the spouses often experience.

    Seven-year-old Marco, son of Cpl. Hector M. Gutierrez, Kilo Battery, added red glitter to his sign to make sure his father could see it miles away.

    "It says, 'Family belongs together. Welcome home dad,'" said Marco. "I miss him a lot. I remember when he left. He told me he'd come home in September. I was mostly sad because I wanted him to be with me when I went to football practice. Since he's coming back soon he can go to my games."

    September marks the end of a nerve-wracking deployment in combat as it draws to a close for families of 3/11.

    "We enjoy coming to the functions," said Soltero. "We especially like it since we don't have any family members here. It's just her and me," she said gesturing toward her daughter. "The first thing we're going to do when he comes home is visit our family."



    MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif.-"Oorah daddy," yell the children of Marines and Sailors from 3rd Battalion, 11th Marines, as they salute. On Aug. 14, the families held their final family function, a sign-making event, before their heroes return in mid-September from their deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 2. Photo by: Cpl. Itzak Lefler

    http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn20...4?opendocument


    Ellie


  10. #10
    Los Angeles Times
    August 25, 2004

    'We Have Been Fighting Nonstop'


    Some of the most heated clashes in Najaf have shifted to the streets of the Old City.


    By Edmund Sanders, Times Staff Writer

    NAJAF, Iraq — On the top floor of the "Apache Hilton" in downtown Najaf, U.S. Army sniper Paul Buki ended a 24-hour shift by collapsing into a pile of dust, bullet casings and empty military food packages.

    From this penthouse perch in a half-built tourist hotel — seized and nicknamed by U.S. troops — the Army staff sergeant has an unobstructed view of Najaf's Old City, a historic district in Iraq's holiest city that over the last week has been transformed into a war zone.

    With the gold-domed Imam Ali Mosque in the background, smoke and flames rose Tuesday from a building still burning more than 15 hours after the previous night's fighting. Two Apache helicopters swooped down through a deserted street and disappeared behind a three-story building. Mortar rounds, tank cannons and machine guns boomed and cracked throughout the day as U.S. forces battled followers of Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada Sadr.

    "It's been intense here," said Buki, covered in a ghostly white dust after a night spent huddled behind a brick wall, firing at militants and reporting hostile positions from his fifth-floor lookout.

    In the struggle to remove Sadr's militia from the mosque, some of the most heated clashes have shifted from the cemetery where major fighting began to a neighborhood of the Old City just south of the shrine.

    "We have been fighting nonstop," said Lt. Col. Jim Rainey, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, whose 800 soldiers have been battling street by street to seize control of the area south and east of the mosque.

    In the cramped ancient city, hand-to-hand combat has been unavoidable.

    During a raid Monday, U.S. troops swarmed into the basement of a school building now occupied by the militia. The troops were unaware that the militia was using tunnels to move in and out.

    Catching each other by surprise, a 240-pound Army sergeant, a native of Samoa, and a 130-pound militia member found themselves face to face, said Maj. Tim Karcher, operations officer of the unit.

    "He beat the snot out of the guy," Karcher said.

    But during the fight, another militia member tossed a grenade into the basement, killing a comrade and seriously injuring the sergeant, who was evacuated for treatment.

    On average, Rainey said, his troops are attacked about three dozen times a day with mortar shells, small arms and rocket-propelled grenades.

    "We see a lot of activity during the day," said 1st Lt. Jimmy Campbell, part of the scout platoon based in the commandeered hotel. Not long after he spoke, a militant sniper's bullet pinged into the lobby where troops were hanging out. It hit a wall.

    "We're used to it," Campbell said with a shrug. "They never hit anything."

    There are no showers and no chow hall. Soldiers eat MREs — meals ready to eat — and shower with bottles of water, heated by the 115-degree temperatures.

    Out front is a sign, "Apache Hilton," hand-painted by Alpha Company, which inhabited the space before moving closer to the mosque a few days ago.

    As Rainey moved his soldiers closer to the holy site, he noticed that the resistance increased. The artillery used in the mortar attacks went from 60-millimeter to 120-millimeter.

    So far, no one in the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment has been killed in action.

    The toll on the neighborhood, however, has been heavy.

    It's unclear how many civilians have died; the military does not compile figures. Iraqi Health Ministry officials say dozens of civilians have been killed since the fighting in Najaf resumed nearly three weeks ago.

    Though some areas of the city have returned to normal, residents in parts of the Old City say they live in fear. Sidewalks are covered with broken glass from storefront windows. The bombing has exposed interior walls of buildings. A traffic cop's stand lies toppled in the street.

    Rainey said that U.S. troops had taken "excruciating pains" to avoid damaging civilian buildings but that it was unavoidable.

    "It's like playing tackle football in a hallway," he said.

    Over the last day, the militants' resistance appears to have waned, officials said.

    U.S. troops were optimistic that Sadr's militia was starting to fold.

    "They've stopped maneuvering on us," Karcher said. "We have to go out there and find them."

    The militants' tactics are also growing more frantic, U.S. officials said.

    Last weekend, militia fighters tied an explosive device to a donkey cart, shoved the donkey into the street and then used a long string to detonate the device from around the corner.

    "It's a sign that they're getting more desperate," Karcher said.



    Ellie


  11. #11
    Wall Street Journal
    August 25, 2004
    Pg. 1

    Battlefield Debate


    An Army Surgeon Says New Helmet Doesn't Fit Iraq


    Stronger, Lighter and Smaller, But Does It Cover Enough?; Military: 'Good Trade-Off'; Studying Shrapnel's Entry Point


    By Greg Jaffe, Staff Reporter Of The Wall Street Journal

    BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Earlier this year, with the insurgency in Iraq building and U.S. casualties mounting, Lt. Col. Jeff Poffenbarger, the Army's senior neurosurgeon here, became convinced the Army was making a mistake that could lead to American deaths.

    The Army had begun issuing a new helmet, dubbed the Advanced Combat Helmet. Made of a new type of Kevlar, the helmet is stronger and lighter than its predecessor. But the new helmet has a critical flaw, Col. Poffenbarger contends: It is about 8% smaller than the old helmet, offering less protection on the back and side of the head.

    In past wars, this might not have been a big problem. In infantry-style combat, soldiers typically are struck in the front of the head as they charge toward the enemy. But in Iraq, where the deadliest threat is remote-detonated roadside bombs, many soldiers are getting blasted on the sides and back of the head, says Col. Poffenbarger. In other words, they are getting hit in areas where the new helmet offers less coverage.

    "I've become convinced that for this type of guerrilla fight, we are giving away coverage that we need to save lives," says Col. Poffenbarger, a 42-year-old former Green Beret.

    This summer, he briefed Gen. George Casey, the top American general in Iraq, as well as a senior Army official in the Pentagon about his concerns regarding the helmet. Gen. Casey declined to comment on the matter. However, a senior defense official said the colonel's observations are raising questions about whether the Army should move forward with a helmet that may not be suited for the kind of hit-and-run insurgency it is fighting in Iraq. The Marine Corps has already decided not to issue the helmet to the vast majority of its forces.

    Broader Struggle

    The questions surrounding the new helmet reflect the broader struggle facing the Army as it tries to transform from a force built to fight traditional armies into one capable of waging guerrilla warfare. Already, the Army is retraining more than 100,000 troops, in specialties such as artillery and air defense, to work as military police, engineers and civil-affairs troops, concentrating on reconstruction. All are considered more effective in battling insurgencies.

    Col. Poffenbarger isn't the only one with doubts about use of the new Army helmet. The Marines have developed their own new helmet, made of the same stronger Kevlar as the Army's. The Marines decided not to alter the shape, so their new helmet will continue to cover portions of the side and back of the head.

    The Marines say their helmet provides protection against mortars, remote-detonated roadside bombs and rocket-propelled grenades -- three of the biggest killers of U.S. troops in Iraq. "We felt like the extra coverage was needed to protect against those indirect fire threats," says Lt. Col. Gabe Patricio, the Marine Corps' project manager for infantry equipment.

    Col. Poffenbarger's observations are by no means a comprehensive study. His research is based on about 160 head-trauma patients who have passed through the 31st Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad, where he works. Because the hospital houses the only American neurosurgeons in Iraq, virtually every serious head-trauma patient is treated by him or his partner. "If you get shot in the head in Iraq, I see you," he says.

    He has gone through the records of all the hospital's head-trauma patients, documenting the exact entry point at which the shrapnel or bullet entered the brain and the type of helmet the soldier or Marine was wearing. Extrapolating from this, Col. Poffenbarger estimates the new helmet might result in a 30% increase in serious head traumas if distributed throughout the entire force in Iraq.

    Because of his research, some senior commanders of new units arriving in Iraq have been given the choice of keeping their old helmets or using the new ones, one defense official says. Tens of thousands of soldiers are already wearing the new helmet in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    For now, the Army is committed to issuing the helmet to all 840,000 soldiers in the force by 2007, says Col. John Norwood, the Army's project manager for soldier equipment.

    There's a good reason that the new helmet is slightly smaller, Col. Norwood says. For years, soldiers have complained that when they are lying on their stomachs firing rifles, their body armor rides up -- tipping their helmet over their eyes. The new helmet was designed to address that problem. "We think it is a good trade-off or we wouldn't be fielding it," he says.

    The new helmets -- which cost $300 each, compared with about $100 for the old ones -- are made to the Army's specifications by MSA Corp., based in Pittsburgh; Specialty Defense Systems of Dunmore, Pa.; and Gentex Corp., of Carbondale, Pa. Like the Army, the manufacturers say the new helmet allows soldiers to see and hear better than its predecessor. A spokesman for MSA says soldiers are likely to wear the new helmet longer because it is more comfortable.

    The Marine Corps has bought about 40,000 of its new helmet, which is larger than the Army's and is also made by Gentex. The Marines plan to buy about 140,000 more over the next two years, at a cost of about $200 each. The Marines also plan on purchasing about 1,000 of the new Army helmets for Force Reconnaissance soldiers, who typically charge out in front of the larger Marine force and are less exposed to shrapnel from artillery and mortars.

    Col. Poffenbarger, whose father was an Army physician in Vietnam and whose mother was a geneticist, says that for infantrymen charging into conventional battle, a smaller helmet makes sense. "The best way to be safe in combat is to be more lethal than the enemy," he says. The new helmet, which allows soldiers to see better while lying on their stomach shooting, should make them more effective in that situation, he says.

    But for the majority of soldiers in Iraq, who aren't aiming at the enemy head-on, he contends the new helmet will lead to more injuries and deaths.

    The doctor concedes his research has at least two shortcomings. If a soldier is shot or struck by fragment in the head -- but is protected by the helmet and avoids serious injury -- Col. Poffenbarger is unlikely to see him. "My conclusions could be slightly slanted to the negative because I don't see the success stories," he says.

    continued............


  12. #12
    He also hasn't been able to get data on soldiers who are struck in the head and die before reaching the hospital. Col. Poffenbarger estimates there have been 300 such cases since the war began. He has asked the military morgue at Dover Air Force base in Delaware for copies of those autopsy reports but says that so far, officials there have denied his requests to e-mail him the data.

    A senior defense official said Col. Poffenbarger could review the autopsy data when he returns from Iraq. This official said the request to e-mail data was denied because of concerns the information could circulate and compromise patients' rights to privacy. "There has been no attempt to keep him from doing research. In fact, we welcome it," this official said.

    The Army's smaller helmet was developed as part of the service's Rapid Fielding Initiative, which seeks to push new equipment to soldiers in the field. Usually, it takes months or years to develop new military gear. Under the Rapid Fielding Initiative, the Army says it can speed new equipment to soldiers in weeks.

    The rapid-fielding program kicked off in early 2002, in an effort to address complaints from soldiers in Afghanistan that their equipment wasn't holding up in the rocky terrain. So far, more than 50 items, such as improved ammunition packs, better radios, shoulder pads and weapon sights, have been sent to troops under the initiative, which typically looks to commercially available products.

    In the case of the Advanced Combat Helmet, the Army used a preexisting contract the U.S. Special Operations Command had to develop a new helmet for its troops.

    The biggest appeal of the new Army helmet is that it is made of a stronger Kevlar, able to stop a bullet from a 9mm pistol at close range. The old helmet can't stop such a round, says the Army's Col. Norwood. The new helmet is also lighter, weighing three pounds compared with the older four-pound helmet.. "The extra pound makes a big difference to the soldier in Iraq," Col. Norwood says.

    Soldiers in Iraq say the new Army helmet, which is padded on the inside, is more comfortable. "It doesn't shift around on your head as much as the old helmet. That's important when you are using night-vision goggles," says an Army sergeant who leads regular convoys between Ramadi and Khalidiyah. Night-vision goggles usually are bolted to the helmet. The sergeant says he also noticed the new helmet doesn't cover as much of his head. "It seems the area around my ears is a lot more exposed," he says.

    At about the same time the Army was starting to field its new helmet in Iraq, Col. Poffenbarger was trying to persuade the Army to send him off to war.

    In the U.S., Col. Poffenbarger serves as Chief of Neurosurgery at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. Generally, hospital chiefs are deemed too senior to send to war zones. Col. Poffenbarger, a married father of four, says he volunteered for duty in Iraq, in part because he believed the nature of combat might help spur medical innovation, as it has in past wars. He wanted to be a part of that innovation.

    In World War II, neurosurgeons learned that by moving closer to the front lines -- where they could see patients within hours of their injury instead of days -- they could dramatically lower infection and fatality rates. Even though front-line surgeons were operating in far-more-primitive conditions, infection rates for patients dropped to less than 5% when the doctors were closer to the front, from 33% when they were positioned further back, Col. Poffenbarger says.

    Before the Vietnam War, military neurosurgeons went out of their way to ensure that every bit of shrapnel and dirt was removed from soldiers' skulls during surgery. Often that meant operating as many as five times. By the end of the Vietnam War, surgeons had discovered they could leave a small amount of shrapnel or dirt behind without increasing the patient's risk of seizures. Fewer surgeries meant more patients survived longer.

    Because he had worn a helmet as an enlisted and Special Forces soldier, Col. Poffenbarger was particularly interested in how that piece of equipment could be improved. In his more than 20 years as an airborne soldier, he estimates he made more than 100 jumps. "I know what it is like to jump from an airplane in a helmet and body armor," he says.

    Upon his arrival in Iraq in January, Col. Poffenbarger volunteered for flight duty, boarding helicopters that fly out to the scene of attacks to evacuate the wounded, as well as for duty with his old special-operations unit. "He's got serious thrill issues," says Maj. Rich Gullick, Col. Poffenbarger's assistant in Iraq.

    The colonel also began plotting on a spreadsheet the entry point at which shrapnel penetrated the skulls of his patients. He noted whether they were wearing the old helmet or the new one. After logging in the first 50 or so patients, he noticed a disturbing trend. Soldiers wearing the Army's new combat helmet were suffering repeated blows to exposed portions of the skull. In about a third of the cases, the shrapnel was penetrating the skull in areas that he figured would have been covered by the old helmet.

    When struck on the side of the head, the soldiers often suffered serious injury requiring surgery, he says. When struck on the back of the head near the neck, a part of the skull that houses the cerebellum, patients frequently died. "Even moderate injury to the cerebellum causes swelling which crushes the brain stem," he says. The brain stem regulates breathing and heart rate.

    Col. Poffenbarger's day usually begins with a 7:30 a.m. staff meeting, followed by two hours of hospital rounds and a three-mile jog in what has lately been up to 115-degree heat. He and Maj. Gullick refer to the time between 3 p.m. and 3 a.m. as the "witching hours," when most of the head-trauma cases come into the hospital. In one 48-hour period last week, he and his partner did six back-to-back craniotomies, or surgical openings of the skull, before they had a chance for a few hours of sleep.

    In his small office in Baghdad, Col. Poffenbarger keeps the helmets of a half a dozen soldiers he has operated on in the last year. So far, he has personally seen only one case in which a patient was struck by shrapnel in his Kevlar helmet and died. In that instance, a giant piece of shrapnel from a massive artillery shell placed by the side of the road exploded.

    The shrapnel didn't penetrate the Kevlar. But it hit the soldier's head with such force that it caused a massive concussion, which killed him. "This is the only documented failure I have seen in eight months in Iraq," he says. "The message is that when struck, Kevlar helmets work."

    --Nicholas Zamiska contributed to this article.



    Ellie


  13. #13
    BLT 1/2 Marines get in scrap in Musayyib
    Submitted by: 24th MEU
    Story Identification #: 20048237389
    Story by Sgt. Zachary A. Bathon



    FORWARD OPERATING BASE ISKANDARIYAH, Iraq (Aug. 21, 2004) -- Iraqi insurgents set off a roadside bomb, then attacked a convoy of Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit Aug. 20, as the convoy made its way through Musayyib to Forward Operating Base Kalsu.

    The Marines from Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, fought with roughly 12 to15 insurgents in the town. The Marines held their own and eventually made it to FOB Kalsu with no casualties.

    “We had just made a left turn onto a dirt road in Musayyib when I noticed a man on the left side. He looked liked he was plunging something, so I halted the convoy,” said Staff Sgt. Michael C. Mceachern, 29, a Hyannis, Mass., native and motor transport operations chief. “Some Marines went after the man, but did not catch him. We then made another left turn, and about 200 meters in front of us an explosion went off.”

    The Marines then halted the convoy and set up to wait for Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians.


    As nearly two hours passed, the streets in the city began to empty and the Marines could hear a person talking on what sounded like a loud speaker. Later on, Marines were told the voice was urging locals to rise up against the Americans.

    Soon after that, the Marines began to notice people running away from their area.

    “Get ready, something is going to happen,” shouted one of the Marines.

    At the same time, a few of the mechanics from the Battalion’s Motor Transport section were working to repair a busted tow-chain on one of the trucks.

    “I heard them call for a mechanic, so I went up to look at one of the humvees,” said Mceachern. “I had just said this is not a good time. Then all hell broke loose.”

    Two Marines from the convoy were standing in the road searching a pedestrian trying to pass by the convoy went bullets started flying from down the street.

    Marines manning the vehicle-mounted M-240G and MK-19 machine guns immediately began to return fire in the direction of the insurgents. Other Marines quickly found cover wherever they could and sent their own lead downrange.

    Along with machine gun fire, the insurgents fired a mortar round hitting the top of a building where several Marines had found cover. The Marines continued to return fire.

    “When I looked up, all I could see was Lance Cpl. [Rattanak] Yun firing his [M-240G],” said Mceachern. “His truck was taking a beating, but he never flinched and just kept firing that 240.”

    I fired off my whole belt of ammunition,” said Cpl. Andre Queiroga, 21, a Ludlow, Mass., native and a motor transport operator. “The building I was shooting at went up in flames.”

    The whole event lasted about 10 minutes, but the Marines continued to hold their position as other Marines from Charlie Company pushed out and began searching buildings in the area around the firefight.

    A few shots were fired here and there, but eventually the Marines mounted their vehicles and pushed on to FOB Kalsu.

    “All the Marines did a helluva job,” said Mceachern. “They did what they were supposed to do, and no one flinched what so ever. I think they picked the wrong day to mess with 1/2 Motor T.”

    http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn20...4?opendocument


    Ellie


  14. #14
    Iraqi forces tighten grip on Najaf shrine


    By Michael Georgy
    REUTERS NEWS AGENCY


    NAJAF, Iraq — Iraqi security forces advanced on a key shrine in Najaf yesterday after the government warned Shi'ite rebels inside that they would be killed if they did not surrender.
    "God willing, we'll be moving in tonight," a commander of one unit told Reuters, adding that about 500 Iraqi troops had been deployed to the area around the Imam Ali mosque, the first time government forces had entered the battle zone.
    After nightfall, a U.S. AC-130 gunship joined an attack on Shi'ite militant positions, its rapid-fire cannon sounding like a jackhammer as it hit targets. Blasts were heard throughout the night, and U.S. helicopters circled overhead.







    By early today, U.S. military vehicles had moved to within 20 yards of the gate of the shrine, Agence France Presse reported.
    Makeshift barricades set up to protect the entrance to the compound were torched, as flames licked upward into the early-morning sky, AFP reported.
    Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan said the Mahdi's Army fighters loyal to radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr faced death unless they ended their rebellion, which has sparked fighting that has killed hundreds, helped drive oil prices to record highs and sparked clashes in several other Iraqi towns and cities.
    "We are in the last hours. This evening, Iraqi forces will reach the doors of the shrine and control it and appeal to the Mahdi Army to throw down their weapons," he told reporters.
    "If they do not, we will wipe them out."
    Al-Sadr aide Ali Smeisim told reporters in Najaf the Mahdi's Army was willing to hold talks to end the fighting.
    "We are ready to negotiate to put an end to the suffering," Mr. Smeisim said in Najaf.
    But another al-Sadr aide mocked Mr. Shaalan's threat — the latest in a series of government ultimatums.
    "Let him throw his warnings in the trash along with his previous statements about last chances in the last three weeks," Aws al-Khafaji told Al Jazeera television.
    "This is a new night of holy jihad against tyrannical forces trying to attack our sanctities and honor," he said. "What will Shaalan tell himself if morning comes and the Mahdi Army is still defending the holy shrine?"
    The Iraqi advance was backed by U.S. aircraft that fired missiles and strafed militants dug in at a cemetery near the mosque, where most of the fighters have holed up during the three-week uprising in the city.
    With fighting raging, U.S. tanks reinforced positions along the southern flank of the mosque. Smoke rose from the area and automatic gunfire crackled.
    In Baghdad, insurgents tried to assassinate Iraq's environment and education ministers in separate bombings that killed five of their bodyguards and wounded more than a dozen people, officials said.
    Environment Minister Mishkat Moumin said she survived a suicide car-bomb attack on her convoy in Baghdad. Education Minister Sami al-Mudhaffar was unhurt after a roadside bomb hit his convoy in the city, officials said.
    A group linked to al Qaeda ally Abu Musab Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the attempt on Ms. Moumin and said it would not miss next time, according to a statement posted on the Internet.



    http://www.washingtontimes.com/world...5214-2806r.htm


    Ellie


  15. #15
    Coalition supplies An Najaf police
    Submitted by: 11th MEU
    Story Identification #: 200482511557
    Story by Cpl. Matthew S. Richards



    AN NAJAF, Iraq (Aug. 25, 2004) -- Soldiers from the 66th Military Police Company, attached to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), delivered more than 300 SAPI (Small Arms Protective Inserts) plates and flak jackets to Iraqi police headquarters in An Najaf, Iraq, recently.

    As part of an effort to effectively equip the Iraqi police in Najaf, these deliveries have been ongoing for the past six months, continuing when the 11th MEU (SOC) assumed operational control of the An Najaf and An Qadisiyah provinces July 31.

    "We've been trying to train, equip and mentor the Iraqi police service on how to run a police station," said Army Capt. Richard T. Cranford, commanding officer, 66th MP Co. "We've been sharing our subject matter expertise."

    This most recent shipment was meant to supply a new wave of Iraqis from tribes outside of Najaf, who want to help oust the Muqtada Militia.

    This extra tribal support has spiked in the last few days, according to Army Staff Sgt. William J. Trabucco, platoon sergeant, 66th MP Co.

    "I've got some good guys from Karbala City who hate the militia," said Gen. Ghalib Hadi, commanding general, An Najaf Police Force. "This new force will help enforce security."

    Hadi plans to supply these new additions to the Iraqi police with everything they need to fight the militia.

    "They are trained well and I'm going to give these volunteers good weapons and good trucks to use," Hadi said. "I learned from my experience in the Iraqi Army, do it well or don't do it at all."

    As soldiers of the 66th MP Co. continue to work with the police, contributing to the development of the growing force, they express confidence with the IP's leadership.

    "Hadi is the right guy. He was specifically sent here to fix the problem with the militia," Trabucco said.

    And Hadi can think of no better friend he would rather have to help him defeat the militia than those he has in the coalition.

    "The Iraqi police's best friends are the Americans, who protect and help them," he said. "We are working together as a team with our coalition friends."

    The MEU is also ready to hold steadfast and help the Iraqis take control of their city.

    "We are committed to helping the Iraqis defeat the Anti-Iraqi Forces who are working against stability and security in this great city," said Col. A. M. Haslam, commanding officer, 11th MEU (SOC). "Together, we are determined to restore the rule of law and order, so Najaf citizens no longer have to live in fear of the militia."



    Elllie


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