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  1. #1

    Cool Marine News Briefs

    April 10, 2006

    Marine News Briefs

    Pop a pill, stop PTSD?

    Scientists are testing a pill that, when given after a traumatic event, may make the resulting memories less painful and intense, the Associated Press reported.

    Scientists think post-traumatic stress disorder happens because the brain goes haywire during and immediately after a strongly emotional event, pouring out stress hormones that help store these memories in a different way than normal ones are preserved.

    Taking a drug to tamp down these chemicals might blunt memory formation and prevent PTSD, they theorize.

    Propranolol is in a class of drugs called beta blockers and is the one most able to cross the blood-brain barrier and get to where stress hormones wreak havoc. It is widely used to treat high blood pressure and is being tested for stage fright.

    Who is your hero?

    Marine Corps Times is looking for heroes. Not the type who make headlines for combat exploits, but rather the quiet, everyday heroes whose dedication, professionalism and concern for their fellow Marines and community set a standard for us all.

    They are unsung heroes who lead by example — giving their time, sharing their knowledge and inspiring others — without drawing much attention to themselves.

    Through April 7, we are accepting nominations for the Marine Corps Times’ Marine of the Year. The only way someone can be nominated is by our readers.

    To nominate someone, send us:

    • Your name, address, commercial phone number and e-mail address.

    • The name, address and commercial phone number of your nominee and his or her unit commander.

    • An explanation in 300 words or less of why your nominee deserves this award.

    • Names and contact information for three people who can verify the nominee’s achievements that took place in 2005.

    You can submit nominations in one of four ways:

    • Online at www.marinecorpstimes.com/marine.

    • By e-mail at marine@marinecorpstimes.com.

    • By fax to Marine Corps Times’ Marine of the Year award at (703) 642-7325.

    • By mail to Marine Corps Times’ Marine of the Year award, 6883 Commercial Drive, Springfield, VA 22159.

    The awards presentation will take place July 13 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

    Scholarships doled out

    Nearly $3.5 million in scholarships has been awarded to 697 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the inaugural year of the Horatio Alger Military Veterans Scholarship program.

    “Helping a veteran obtain an education is one of the best possible ways you could thank him,” said Peter McCollough, who left the Marine Corps in 2004 as a sergeant and received one of the $5,000 scholarships.

    McCollough, 23, is one of 70 California residents who received scholarships. Recipients came from every state but Delaware and Wyoming, and all branches of service. Nearly half, 339, were soldiers; 157 were Marines, according to the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans Inc., a nonprofit educational association that sponsors the scholarships.

    McCollough said he is grateful to the association members, including former U.S. Ambassador to Spain George Argyros and his wife, Julia, who donated $5 million in seed money for the program after making frequent visits to wounded soldiers at Rota Naval Air Station, Spain.

    Veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom can apply for the next round of scholarships through July 1 at www.horatioalger.org.

    Miramar eyed for airport

    Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., is back in the sights of regional airport officials as a deadline looms to select an alternative site to San Diego’s Lindbergh Field.

    San Diego city councilman Tony Young proposed joint use of bases at Miramar, North Island and Camp Pendleton during a planning meeting March 27.

    The military has no interest in a joint-use airport at Miramar, but Young said officials should consider a stand-alone operation there.

    “Let’s find ways in which we can come up with a solution together,” Young said. “Let’s make a deal.”

    But Marine and Navy leaders have said the current Miramar/North Island/Camp Pendleton base combination offers an ideal configuration of strength and readiness that can’t be duplicated anywhere else in the world.

    Career management online

    Marines now have more flexibility to manage their careers after an Internet-based program at Marine Online became effective April 1.

    According to a March 30 Marine Corps release, the Automated Career Retention System is a Web-basedtool that assists Marines submitting re-enlistments, tour extensions and lateral move requests.

    The ACRS allows Marines, career retention specialists and commanding officers to interact with one another. Marines can schedule interviews, while the career retention specialist and commanding officer can conduct the interviews via the new program.

    By January, the ACRS will allow Marines to research and submit re-enlistment packages, make a dream list of future assignments and submit requests for tour extensions and special-duty assignments, the release said.

    Not all of the ACRS functions are available yet, but the interview management system currently allows Marines, career retention specialists and commanding officers to help advance a Marine’s career by researching both re-enlistment and career information, said Staff Sgt. Jason Steadman, the assistant operations chief for enlisted retention and counseling.

    Reebok recalls bracelets

    Customers who received one of 300,000 Reebok “Heart-Shaped Metal Charm Bracelets” as a gift with the purchase of children’s shoes should take the charm bracelet away from children immediately and dispose of it, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and Reebok International Ltd., which has launched a voluntary recall.

    The bracelet contains high levels of lead, and Reebok has received a report of the lead-poisoning death of a 4-year-old in Minneapolis who reportedly swallowed a piece from one of the bracelets, according to an alert issued March 28 by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service.

    AAFES and other major shoe retailers nationwide provided the charm bracelet as a gift with the purchase of various styles of children’s footwear.

    Navy exchanges also participated. Spokeswoman Kristine Sturkie said all bracelets in stock have been pulled from shoe boxes and destroyed, and recall notices are being posted in stores.

    Marine Corps Exchange Service officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

    The 8-inch-long bracelet has a heart-shaped charm with “Reebok” engraved on one side.

    For more information, contact Reebok at (800) 994-6260 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday, or go online to www.reebok.com.

    Ellie


  2. #2
    April 10, 2006

    News Breaks

    Captain arrested on child porn charges

    Federal agents arrested a Camp Pendleton, Calif., Marine officer March 23 on suspicion of possessing and distributing child pornography, according to a base spokeswoman.

    Capt. Richard Toschiaddi, 34, a logistics officer assigned to the base’s Tactical Systems Support Activity, was taken into custody by agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, according to a March 25 San Diego Union-Tribune report.

    Customs spokeswoman Lauren Mack said an August 2004 tip from German police led investigators to seize a computer at Toschiaddi’s house “months ago” that authorities allege contains thousands of pornographic images of children, according to the report.

    Tennessee to execute Marine’s murderer

    Tennessee’s Supreme Court on March 29 announced a date for the execution of a lance corporal’s killer, according to an Associated Press report.


    Convicted killer Sedley Alley is slated for execution May 17 for the 1985 rape and murder of 19-year-old Lance Cpl. Suzanne M. Collins, who was assigned to Naval Air Station Millington, near Memphis, at the time, the report says.

    The U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to hear his case last year exhausted his last appeal.

    Alley was convicted of kidnapping Collins while she was jogging, beating her, stabbing her in the head with a screwdriver and sexually assaulting her with a tree limb.

    Alley has since claimed that the confession he gave to police was coerced, according to the report.

    Sergeant charged with pot cultivation

    A Marine reservist was arrested in Long Beach, Calif., on March 26 after police stopped him regarding the tint on his vehicle’s window and discovered marijuana and a loaded handgun in his possession, according to Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman Nancy Pratt.

    Pratt said Sgt. Philip Northcutt’s comments to police led authorities to a warehouse where they found about 400 marijuana plants valued at around $500,000.

    Northcutt has been charged with cultivation, transportation and possession of marijuana for sale, along with charges involving a “firearms enhancement” that stiffens the possible penalties, Pratt said.

    Northcutt is being held in Los Angeles County jail in lieu of $150,000 bail.

    Grunts tackle suspect fleeing police

    Two infantry Marines in Jacksonville, N.C., tackled a man who was running from police March 25, according to a Jacksonville Daily News report.

    Sgt. Jason Millspaugh and Lance Cpl. Clifford Ray, both assigned to 6th Marines at Camp Lejeune, N.C., tackled and held Detony Greaves, 22, as he ran toward them with the police in pursuit, confirmed 2nd Lt. Barry Edwards, a spokesman for 2nd Marine Division.

    Millspaugh said Greaves gave himself up after he and Ray tackled him. The Marines pinned Greaves and held him until police could catch up.

    Police charged Greaves with possession with intent to sell, manufacture and deliver marijuana. He was also charged with maintaining a vehicle for transporting marijuana; possessing drug paraphernalia; resisting, obstructing and delaying; and driving with a revoked license, according to the report.

    Edwards said 2nd MarDiv “is extremely proud of what [the Marines] did for their community over the weekend.”

    “It is a perfect example of how Marines never cease performing their duties,” he said.

    “[My goal is] just keeping the streets safe or at least helping out,” Millspaugh said.

    Both Marines say they plan to pursue careers in law enforcement.

    Ellie


  3. #3
    April 10, 2006

    Around the Corps

    Compiled from military and other public sources.

    South Korea

    Combined training focus of exercises

    Leathernecks from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the amphibious assault ship Essex arrived in South Korea on March 24 to participate in bilateral training with their South Korean counterparts in two annual exercises.

    According to military news releases, the exercises — Reception, Staging, Onward-Movement and Integration; and Foal Eagle — are designed to train troops to defend South Korea using a full range of equipment, capabilities and personnel.


    Georgia

    Task force completes training mission

    The Marine-led Georgia Sustainment and Stability Operations Program U.S. Task Force completed training soldiers from Georgia’s 1st and 2nd Brigade Logistics Battalions on March 24, a Marine Corps news release said.

    The task force’s mission is to assist and enhance Georgia’s military capability to sustain its contribution to the effort in Iraq.

    Georgian units trained in squad-level tactics and battalion staff operations. The squad training included patrolling, weapons handling, convoy operations, urban terrain operations and first aid, said Staff Sgt. Roy Brady, a task force trainer.

    The Georgian soldiers started their training in January.

    Iraq

    1/1 gets mission near Abu Ghraib

    Marine infantrymen in Iraq have joined the Army to conduct patrols in the area surrounding Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison, a March 25 Marine Corps news release said.

    Leathernecks with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, are filling gaps left by soldiers who were recently sent to Baghdad to boost security.

    Keeping the insurgents from attacking the prison is high on the Marines’ agenda, said Capt. Brian Middleton, Charlie Company’s commander.

    “When the insurgents successfully attack the prison, it’s a morale victory for them,” Middleton said. “We’re here to stop those attacks from happening.”

    “We stop and just provide a presence for the community to see and for the insurgents to see too,” Sgt. Jesse Auten said. “We let them all know we are here.”

    Engineers dig up trouble in Anbar

    Marine combat engineers from Charlie Company, 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, have discovered more than 500 weapons caches over the past six months near Haditha Dam in the western zone of Iraq’s Anbar province, a March 24 Marine Corps news release said.

    The unearthed caches located during the unit’s deployment contained a variety of explosives and ordnance ranging from bullets to anti-tank mines, artillery and tank rounds. The explosives are used by enemy forces to make roadside bombs, the top killer of coalition forces in Iraq last year.

    California

    UAV leathernecks home after Iraq tour

    Anxious family members, friends and leathernecks welcomed 141 members of Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 1 who returned home to the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, Calif., on March 20 after a seven-month deployment to Iraq, a Marine Corps news release said.

    The VMU-1 Marines departed in August to support Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based II Marine Expeditionary Force units.

    The squadron is one of only two Marine units that operate unmanned aerial vehicles to provide tactical aerial reconnaissance for ground commanders.

    “It feels great to be back and see everyone again,” said Staff Sgt. John Thompson, the squadron’s intelligence chief. “I just want to take this break to spend as much time with my family as I can.

    “After we settle in again, we’ll start preparing for the next time we have to head over there,” Thompson said.

    More Miramar units leave for Iraq

    About 200 leathernecks and sailors from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing left Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., on March 27 for duty in Iraq, according to a March 28 report in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

    The Marines and sailors are from 3rd MAW’s Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361 and Marine Aircraft Group 16. They are expected to be gone about seven months.

    The 3rd MAW supports the Camp Pendleton-based I Marine Expeditionary Force, which assumed command in February from II MEF.

    Ellie


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