Published August 7, 2006
[ From the Lansing State Journal ]
Ready to make a difference: Lansing's Charlie Company primed to serve in Iraq

By Nicole Geary
Lansing State Journal

Brian Alexander's life has been moving fast.

On Friday morning, the Lansing man reviewed how to handle detainees and to protect fellow Marines from enemy fire, a booming instructor's voice warning him never to hesitate.

That afternoon, he married his longtime love in a quiet courthouse ceremony.
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But the lance corporal will ship out to Camp Pendleton, Calif., sometime this week, joining the 100-plus men of Charlie Company as they count down to Iraq.

Alexander, 25, is one of 10 new Marine reservists on a shorter path to the war front and away from the warmth of family. While the rest of the Lansing-based unit waited about a year for their call to active duty, most of the new men are fresh from boot camp and infantry school.

"It's mixed emotions from day to day," he said. "But I think we're ready to get there, do our jobs and make a difference."

And they've been prepping at the California base for much of the summer. For the last week, they had one last chance for "liberty time" before the call to deploy overseas, sometime before year's end. Some paid to take a plane home; others arranged for family to visit them out West.

After the break, it's back to practicing plans for success and survival in a country where violent attacks are commonplace.

"We could get the call at any time and say go," spokeswoman Capt. Mabel Balduf said. "So right now, we're using every moment to train and retrain.

"A combat situation, that will be the ultimate test for these Marines."

The company, part of the 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, has been chronicled in several Lansing State Journal stories since it was notified of possible deployment last year.

In March, the reservists practiced dodging sniper fire and patrolling the streets of downtown Toledo to prepare for their assignment.

The "new joins" have been in block training at the Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Center for the last few weeks. Sessions in areas such as identifying explosives, emergency first aid and radio communication are intended to help them get caught up with the company.

Pfc. Anthony Wieber, 19, among the new members leaving Lansing soon, admits he's already anxious to return home.

"It's going to be something not a lot of people get to do; it also has its risks," said the Ovid resident, who joined to get help paying for college.

He dreams of getting a teaching degree ... when he gets back.

"I got a job. I got to get it done."

Contact Nicole Geary at 377-1066 or ngeary@lsj.com.

Ellie