24th MEU's Army MPs capture weapons, suspected insurgents

[thedrifter]

24th MEU's Army MPs capture weapons, suspected insurgents
Submitted by: 24th MEU
Story Identification #: 20048120598
Story by Sgt. Zachary A. Bathon



FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq (Aug. 11, 2004) -- After seeing a supply convoy ambushed early Wednesday, soldiers from the 118th Military Police Company (Airborne), under command of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, captured three suspected insurgents and recovered 11 weapons with ammunition.

The find came after the MPs, based at Fort Bragg, N.C., saw the convoy get hit while traveling south on Main Supply Route Tampa at about 1 a.m.

The MPs were positioned to the rear of the convoy behind a Marine patrol. When the convoy took fire, both the convoy and the Marines returned fire in the direction of the ambush. Once the fire ceased, the MPs pulled up next to the Marines and told them they were going to search the area from where the ambush had come.

"We drove around the ambush site for about half an hour," said Army Staff Sgt. Adam Shaw, 27, a Bangor, Maine, native and military policeman. "Then we spotted three or four guys in between two buildings. When they saw us, they started running."

The MPs quickly secured the two buildings and began sweeping and searching the area. During their search they found the weapons outside one of the buildings.

The weapons found consisted of three rocket propelled grenade launchers along with five rockets; 4 AK-47 assault rifles with more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition, one RPK light machine gun; and three other machine guns.

After finding the weapons, they were put in a central location and the soldiers continued their sweep of the area.

Army Sgt. Domenic Lombardi, 22, of Torrington, Ct., led a team of two other soldiers and swept the area from west to east. During his sweep he found two of the three captured individuals.

"[Those guys] were hiding pretty well," said Lombardi. "They had their backs pressed up against the canal with long grass over the top of them."

Pressing further into the canal, the team found the third individual. All three detainees were brought back to the FOB for processing.

"This was a good find," said Shaw.

"There have been a lot of ambushes in the area between checkpoints ... over the last few weeks," added Lombardi. "I think we put a big dent in their operations."

The team agreed.

"It felt pretty good," said Lombardi. "We worked well together and just paid attention to detail. There are numerous canals in that area, so finding three personnel was really fortunate."



(left to right) Army Sgt. Domenic Lombardi, Army Pfc. Chris Connerley, Spec. Kenneth Griffin and Army Staff Sgt. Adam Shaw were part of the team of Army military policemen under the command of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit that captured three suspected insurgents and 11 weapons with ammunition in the early morning of Aug. 11.
Lombardi, 22, is a Torrington, Ct., native, Connerley, 18, is a Sarasot, Fla., native, Griffin, 21, is an Orlando, Fla., native and Shaw, 27, is a Bangor, Maine, native. All four are with the 118th Military Police Company, from Fort Bragg, N.C.
The 24th MEU is currently conducting security and stability operations in the Northern Babil province of Iraq.
Photo by: Sgt. Zachary A. Bathon

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn20...9?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

'Bats' take flight in war on terror
Submitted by: MCAS Miramar
Story Identification #: 2004813103918
Story by Sgt. Kristen L. Tull



MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. (Aug. 13, 2004) -- Those on Iraqi soil may now be seeing two black wings flying near the speed of sound, followed by 11 other F/A-18D Hornets.

Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 242 sent their Marines to replace Marine Attack Squadron 214 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom II.

"It's going to take a while to get there; we're doing it in several legs," said Capt. Michael Bridges, Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures Standardization officer and weapons systems officer, VMFA(AW)-242. "We've been waiting for this for a while now, and we finally got the go ahead to take part."

The pilots as well as their crew have spent numerous hours preparing for this real-world mission.

"The jets are definitely ready," said Pfc. Nathanial Fry, F/A-18D mechanic, VMFA(AW)-242. "Last night we threw a "panel party", where the whole squadron came out here, and we spent hours checking every screw on every panel to make sure it was secure."

Most of the mechanics departed on an Air Force C-17, a few days after the planes. Their first stop is Italy.

"I've never left the country before. California is the furthest I've been from South Carolina, so, I'm a little nervous," said Fry.

Fry says it's a long flight, and his biggest worry is the planes not making it over there.

"My brain has been set on one thing, not messing up, they depend on us to do that," stated Fry. "I'm nervous about what could happen, what can happen. It will feel good when they actually get over there knowing I was part of that."

Everyone works together, sometimes that extra "push" is the fear of failing.

"I just don't want to fail the Marines on the ground. Our (the pilots') job is relatively safe compared to theirs," said Bridges.

With family and friends waving goodbye, their skipper, Lt. Col Kevin Iiams led the 'Bats' down the runway to do what they've prepared to do for months.

"There's no doubt in my mind we are ready to accomplish this mission and return safe and sound," said Capt. Greg McGuire, powerline officer-in-charge and F/A-18D pilot.



Marines with Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 242 show their support as one of the first F/A-18Ds of their squadron taxies to the runway. The 'Bats' deployed to support Operation Iraqi Freedom II, Aug. 4. Photo by: Staff Sgt. Chad McMeen

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


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Chaplain calls rocket attack survival a matter of faith
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 2004895630
Story by Sgt. Jose E. Guillen



CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (Aug. 6, 2004) -- Navy Cmdr. Stephen Pike has a new sermon about faith in God for his Sunday morning services.

The chaplain for Regimental Combat Team 1 said it was nothing less than Divine intervention when a 107 mm rocket soared in from about three miles away and buried itself underneath the trailer where Pike slept July 27.

The rocket never detonated.

At about 3:10 a.m., Pike later recalled, he jumped off his bed. A tremendous "thud" startled him from his sleep, caused by the rockets' unspent fuel that bore down into the ground.

"The first memory I have is being about three feet above the bed and parallel to it," said Pike, a 47-year-old Episcopalian priest from Louisville, Ky. "It missed the corner of the trailer where the head of my bed is on by three inches, so it missed my head by about 20 inches."

Pike said the fact the rocket didn't detonate is nothing short of a miracle. One Marine familiar with ordnance, he said, told him that 107 mm rockets reliably detonate on impact.

"I don't know why it didn't explode," said Pike. "Many of the munitions that our enemy uses are degraded or it could have been a faulty fuse, but the fact is much of what they shoot at us does explode."

Pike doesn't question they why's or how's. For him, it's a matter of faith and the fulfillment of promises between him and God.

"God preserved my life for some reason that I've yet to discover," he explained. "It just wasn't my time to die, which I say with all humility because I've worked with so many wonderful young men at Bravo Medical whose time it was to die."

"Why they died and why I live - I don't know," Pike added. "But I do know God is ultimately in charge of all things," added Pike.

Pike was working on a weekly gospel lesson - verses from the Bible's Luke 12:13-21 - that evening. The lesson of the scripture wasn't lost on the chaplain.

It's a story of the rich fool whose land produced such abundance that he built bigger barns for all his goods, Pike explained.

"The Lord's comment about this is, 'You fool! Don't you know that your life will be required this very night and then what of all your wealth,'" he said.

Pike said that since the occurrence, the camp's buzzed about it. Marines and sailors, he said, are taking a moment and think about their life.

"Some have a purely rationalistic understanding of it, while others say I've been preserved by the very hand of God," Pike said. "Something extraordinary happened and the fact it happened to the chaplain has pushed people to a new level of reflection about it. I certainly believe that it's one way God is using the experience."

Despite having to shift the trailer to properly excavate the rocket two weeks ago, Pike since returned to his original living quarters. There, he said, his faith is grounded.

"I don't want to move," Pike said.



Navy Cmdr. Stephen Pike, chaplain for Regimental Combat Team, kneels next to the 107 mm rocket that impacts next to his quarters, but failed to detonate. Marines and sailors are calling the incident a miracle.
(Photo courtesy Navy Cmdr. Stephen Pike) Photo by: Courtesy Navy Cmdr. Stephen Pike

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn20...0?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

CSSB-1 builds base for land-locked 24th MEU
Submitted by: 1st Force Service Support Group
Story Identification #: 200489102210
Story by Sgt. Matt Epright



FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq (Aug. 9, 2004) -- Like members of a construction road show, they move from camp to camp in western Iraq, making roads, laying gravel and building berms. By the time they get a new base built up, they must move and start all over again.

Marines from Combat Service Support Battalion 1 have spent more than a month working 12- to 20-hour days in the blazing heat to get this camp up to standards for the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

The MEU, which falls under the control of the 1st Marine Division, will be based here for the rest of its deployment. It will help provide security for the Iraqi people in the Babil Province, as they transition to a democratic society.

This is a major change for the MEU, as it normally operates directly from the naval ships it travels on and is not structured to support itself ashore when it comes to a major undertaking such as building a camp almost from scratch, said Maj. Steve A. Plato, the MEU's logistics officer.

The MEU Service Support Group, one of the elements of the MEU, is set up to directly support and sustain the unit for its typical short-term, smaller-scale missions, such as humanitarian assistance operations, aircraft recovery and evacuation of civilians from hostile territory.

While the MSSG is made up of Marines possessing a wide variety of skills, there are not very many people representing each skill, due to the space limitations on the ships, said Plato, a 34-year-old native of Orange Park, Fla.

"We don't have a lot of depth because we would not have the number of racks for them to sleep on," said Col. Ron Johnson, 48, the MEU commander.

Since The MEU does not typically spend six months as a land-based force, it is not built to conduct extended operations this far inland. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, in 2003, the 24th MEU was only away from its ships for about 45 days, said Johnson.

With the new mission for this deployment in mind, the MEU's leaders found it necessary to adapt. They beefed up their support sections and added some borrowed construction gear.

However, the size of the ship's cargo hold limited how much gear the MSSG was able to bring to Iraq.

"We don't have the heavy equipment capability that exists in the CSSB," said Johnson, a native of Duxbury, Mass.

To compensate for these shortages, the MEU called on CSSB-1, which is part of the 1st Force Service Support Group, to lend its time, personnel and equipment.

"We had to build a landing field ... we had to build a command and control capability and we had to build tents and billeting for the ... Marines that are coming in here," said Johnson. "Some days, these Marines were working 20-hour days to make that work."

The camp looks a lot different than it did when CSSB-1 first arrived in early July.

The 3-foot berm that used to crop up intermittently around the camp is now more than four times as high and surrounds the entire base.

A walk from the living area to the chow tent used to produce its own sand storm from tromping though the pervasive Iraqi "moon dust." Now every trip is accompanied by the sound of gravel crunching underfoot.

That same gravel coats the ground under the newer tent area, as well as the roadways throughout the camp and the forward arming and refueling point, where helicopters of all types land to drop off and pick up supplies.

Most important, from a defensive standpoint, are the dozens of great, gray, concrete monoliths, known as "Alaska" barriers, surrounding the more sensitive areas of the camp.

Standing about 15 feet tall and weighing in at around 17,000 pounds each, the barriers are made to block flying shrapnel from mortars or rockets that the enemy might fire into the camp.

"These guys and gals were working in 125-degree heat, all day long," said Johnson. "Nobody complained."

The Marines of CSSB-1 didn't even stick around to appreciate the fruits of their labor. When they had put the final touches on their work, they packed up their tools, loaded up their bulldozers and headed back to their home base at Camp Fallujah, to be ready for the next call for support.

"Nobody cared that they were going to have to get in there and work these long hours and be able to do something for us -- not their unit," said Johnson. "I can't say enough for those Marines who were out there, and sailors, who worked morning, noon and night to get our camp ready for combat."



Lance Cpl. Paul G. Adams, a heavy equipment operator with Combat Service Support Battalion 1, spreads gravel in an open dirt field at Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq, on Aug. 6, 2004. Elements of the battalion, which is part of the 1st Force Service Support Group, built the base up, almost from scratch, for the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which will be staying here for its entire deployment. Adams, 28, is from Miami. Photo by: Sgt. Matt Epright

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn20...0?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Posted on Sun, Aug. 15, 2004





Offensive resumes in Najaf, prompting desertions of Iraqi troops

By Hannah Allam, Tom Lasseter and Dogen Hannah

Knight Ridder Newspapers



BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi forces launched a renewed assault Sunday on Shiite Muslim militiamen in the southern holy city of Najaf in a risky campaign that was marred from the onset by an outcry from Iraqi politicians and the desertion of dozens of Iraqi troops who refused to fight their countrymen.


The latest siege began Sunday afternoon, a day after Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's administration announced that fighting would resume after negotiations between government officials and aides to Muqtada al-Sadr failed to end the militant cleric's 10-day rebellion. The failed cease-fire talks, desertions and renewed fighting further undermined Allawi's leadership just as Iraq was poised to take its first step toward free elections by picking a national assembly.


More than 100 delegates walked out of a national conference that was hailed as Iraq's first experiment with democracy after decades of dictatorship. Enraged over the fresh violence in Najaf, the delegates left the meeting hall declaring that, "as long as there are airstrikes and shelling, we can't have a conference."


The day's events illustrated the dilemma that plagues Allawi and his American supporters.


It will be difficult, if not impossible, for Allawi to establish his leadership, hold Iraq together and prod the country toward democracy without crushing his militant opponents, not only in the Shiite south but also in the old Saddam Hussein strongholds north and west of the capital. But to do that, Allawi must rely on unpopular U.S. troops, whose offensives only lend support to the charge that Allawi is an American puppet.


Sunday's showdown in Najaf was troubled even before the fighting resumed. Several officials from the Iraqi defense ministry told Knight Ridder that more than 100 Iraqi national guardsmen and a battalion of Iraqi soldiers chose to quit rather than attack fellow Iraqis in a city that includes some of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam. Neither U.S. military officials nor Iraqi government officials would confirm the resignations.


"We received a report that a whole battalion (in Najaf) threw down their rifles," said one high-ranking defense ministry official, who didn't want his name published because he's not an official spokesman. "We expected this, and we expect it again and again."




"In Najaf, there are no Iraqi Army or police involved in the fighting. There were in the beginning, but later the American forces led the fighting," said Raad Kadhemi, a spokesman for al-Sadr. "Only the mercenaries and the bastards are supporting the Americans and helping them ... We salute our brothers who abandoned participating in the fight against the Mahdi Army."


Arabic-language satellite channels broadcast live all day from inside the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, where dozens of members of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia chanted vows to defend the holy site. Plumes of smoke rose from just outside the shrine, and reporters heard the crackle of machine-gun fire and the deeper booms of tank and mortar rounds. Many journalists had fled the area after Iraqi police evicted them and threatened them with arrest if they stayed.




Sober-faced Iraqi colonels gathered inside the defense ministry command center, their cell phones ringing with continuous updates from the battlefield. American military advisers wandered in and out of the room, located at the end of a marble hallway in the massive, heavily guarded palace that serves as headquarters for U.S.-led forces and American civilian administrators.


"Aziz is trapped in the ancient fortress with two wounded men and two of his vehicles surrounded!" shouted one Iraqi officer.


The officers, most of them decorated veterans from the former regime, shook their heads at the thought of Iraqis battling Iraqis on sacred soil. Several said they would resign immediately if senior officers ordered them to serve in Najaf. They asked to withhold their names for fear of reprimand.


"I'm ready to fight for my country's independence and for my country's stability," one lieutenant colonel said. "But I won't fight my own people."




"No way," added another officer, who said his brother - a colonel - quit the same day he received orders to serve in the field. "These are my people. Why should I fight someone just because he has a difference in opinion about the future of the country?"




However, an Iraqi military analyst inside the ministry defended the assault, saying that crushing al-Sadr's militia would finally bring stability to the volatile southern Shiite region and smooth the way to national elections. The analyst, who spoke on background because he wasn't authorized to give interviews, said force was the last resort because "dialogue and rational policy" had failed with al-Sadr's men.




The analyst said Iraqi forces are taking precautions against damaging the Imam Ali shrine, a place of pilgrimage for millions of Shiites, but added that battles in the area were inevitable because militiamen holed up there were attacking from the shrine.


"Iraqi forces will shoot them even if they are inside," the official said. "The militia itself has violated this place, storing weapons there and using it as a fort."


Halfway through the interview, two mortars landed outside his office with deafening thuds that rattled windows throughout the building.


"That? That's just music," the analyst said with a grim smile.




Another mortar strike Sunday killed two Iraqis and wounded 17 at a bus station near the Baghdad convention center, where the national conference was under way. Pools of blood dried in the blazing sun and pieces of flesh were still stuck to the seats of a bus at the scene. In total, nine Iraqis died and 56 were injured in Sunday's violence in Baghdad, according to the Iraqi health ministry.


At an Iraqi national guard base near the border of Sadr City, the vast Baghdad slum that serves as al-Sadr's support base and recruiting ground, 1st Sgt. Khalid Ali described the death threats he and other Iraqi troops have received from the Mahdi Army. He drew distinctions between fighting fellow Iraqis and fighting militiamen, whom he holds responsible for the deaths of two of his relatives.


"There are concerns about what's happening in Najaf because most of the people working here are Shiite and they are concerned about what happens to their sacred sites," Ali said. "We do not fight our brothers, we fight against those people who are sabotaging our country. The Mahdi Army is not Shiite, they are saboteurs."


But when Ali was asked about the number of guardsmen who have quit since al-Sadr's latest uprising, U.S. Army 1st Lt. Vernon Sparkmon cut him off.


"Certain things, you can't discuss," Sparkmon told Ali. "If somebody asks that question, that's, like, classified stuff."


---


(Lasseter reports for The Miami Herald; Hannah reports for the Contra Costa (Calif.) Times.)

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/9409919.htm


Ellie

[thedrifter]

1/2’s Charlie Co. captures IEDs, suspect
Submitted by: 24th MEU
Story Identification #: 200481663414
Story by Sgt. Zachary A. Bathon



FORWARD OPERATING BASE ISKANDARIYAH, Iraq (Aug. 14, 2004) -- Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit seized three improvised explosive devices and detained one suspect during a cordon-and-knock mission outside of the forward operating base here Aug. 14.

The Marines from Charlie Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Bn., 2nd Marines, conducted the mission in hopes of finding IEDs and other weapons.

“This was a good find for us,” said Sgt. Randy Hawkins, 27, a Mosspoint, Miss., native and squad leader with Charlie Company. “Any time you can get some IEDs off the street, it is good.”

Charlie Company, together with a few attachments of Marines and an interpreter, secured the area around the suspected house then knocked on the door and announced who they were.

“The suspect was being very compliant with us,” said Hawkins. “He let us in and we started searching.”

After checking the living room and another room in the house, the Marines asked about entering a room that was locked. Once they gained entry, the Marines began their search and found the IEDs along with one hand grenade.

“He had that stuff pretty well hidden,” said Hawkins. “Found two of the IEDs and the hand grenade up in the ceiling panels. We found the third [IED] wrapped up in some clothes.”

The Marines then detained the suspect and called an explosive ordnance disposal technician to remove the items from the house.

“We just provided security for EOD until he was finished, then loaded back onto the vehicles and headed home,” said Hawkins.

The Marines from the 24th MEU continue to make their presence known in the areas around their forward operating bases. The goal of these missions is to help bring security and stabilization to the region by disrupting the flow of weapons and IEDs.

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn20...1?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Najaf Battle Resumes After Lull
Two American soldiers are killed as U.S. forces try to squeeze Sadr's militia. Local police order journalists to leave the city or face arrest.

By Edmund Sanders, Times Staff Writer


NAJAF, Iraq — A day after peace talks collapsed, U.S. troops and the militia led by Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada Sadr resumed fighting Sunday, leaving two American soldiers dead and a wall near the sacred Imam Ali shrine damaged.

Fighting in the vast cemetery and in the Old City picked up roughly where it had left off when a cease-fire was declared Friday. U.S. troops moved to tighten a cordon they had set up last week to rein in Sadr's militia.

"The Iraqi government has asked us to squeeze them," said Maj. David Holahan, executive officer of the 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment in Najaf.

One pro-Sadr protester was reportedly killed outside the shrine by an explosion Sunday afternoon that broke a hole in a wall about 30 yards from the shrine, witnesses said. Sadr supporters blamed the attack on American tanks firing from the cemetery. Military officials said it was unlikely that they could have caused the damage.

Civilians in Najaf braced for renewed fighting. Mortar fire and explosions resounded through the day and night.

The Najaf police chief ordered all journalists to leave the city, saying authorities could not guarantee their safety. When some refused to leave, police officers threatened to arrest them.

At a camp just north of Najaf, U.S. military planners met with their Iraqi counterparts, including a general in the new army, to discuss ways to give Iraqi security forces a more prominent role in future operations.

"I was impressed by the questions they were asking," said Lt. Col. John Mayer, commander of Marine ground troops in Najaf. "They are absolutely up to the job." Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi told U.S. officials Saturday night that he wanted Iraqi forces to lead, particularly on sensitive missions, such as attempting to remove Sadr's militia from the shrine.

U.S. officials are waiting for as many as 3,500 Iraqi troops to join them in Najaf, which could take a week or more. "I think they're sending the entire army," said Army Lt. Col. Myles Miyamasu, commander of the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment.

As a result, U.S. officials delayed a major offensive they had planned for Saturday night.

Bringing in Iraqi troops was the latest in a series of shifts on the standoff. Initially, the U.S. said it was taking orders from Najaf's governor. Last week, military officials said the U.S. was taking operational control of all security forces in Najaf. Now the U.S. says it will provide support and backup to Iraqi forces.

"Everything we are doing, we are doing with the Iraqis," said Army Maj. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, commander of the 1st Cavalry, during a visit to Najaf on Sunday. "It makes perfect sense, particularly in this situation."

The standoff with Sadr is shaping up to be a litmus test for Allawi's new government. Violence has spread from Najaf to other southern Iraqi cities, and the issue was a key point of contention at a political conference Sunday in Baghdad to elect an interim national assembly.

Putting Iraqis at the forefront of the conflict may address some political sensitivities, but military leaders worry the delay will allow Sadr's militia to regroup. "It's less efficient this way," said Army Maj. Douglas Ollivant, operations officer of the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment.

The delays have also frustrated the troops. In addition to trying to avoid damage to the Imam Ali mosque, soldiers have watched as several missions were scrapped over the last week because of political sensitivities and to allow for peace talks.

"It's hard not to have the capability to fire back," said Maj. Robert Pizzitola, executive officer of the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment.

The deaths of two soldiers Sunday cast a pall over the base, where soldiers had just begun to relax a little after being told that they would begin playing a support role for the Iraqis. Then two Humvees came racing through the camp to deliver the injured men to the medic's tent.

"Hang in there, man!" one medic shouted as they rushed an unconscious soldier into the camp hospital. A second soldier, who had died at the cemetery, was covered with a blanket.

Within minutes, a rescue helicopter landed in the sand to evacuate the wounded soldier to Baghdad. But the chopper departed five minutes later without a patient upon receiving word that he too had died.

Identities of the soldiers were withheld pending notification of family members.

In the chow hall Sunday evening, the usual raucous atmosphere was noticeably quieter.

"These are not our first battlefield casualties," Pizzitola said. "We're soldiers. We'll continue to do our job until the mission is complete."

In Baghdad on Sunday, another soldier was killed by a roadside bomb. The deaths brought the number of U.S. troops killed to eight over the last 10 days in Najaf and 932 in Iraq since the invasion last year. Meanwhile, the Dutch Defense Ministry said one of its troops was killed by a gunman late Saturday in the city of Rumaythah.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedi...,5033840.story


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Issue Date: August 16, 2004

A golfer’s paradise?
Developer looks to open a dozen Middle East courses in 3 years

By John Stearns
Gannett News Service


A golf trip to the Middle East? It may sound crazy to Americans, who tend to associate the Middle East with the war in Iraq, suicide bombings and terrorist training camps.
But if you’re missing the links while on deployment, it may be only a matter of time before you can hit a U.S.-style golf course in theater.

Provided you own a house in the Middle East.

Troon Golf, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based manager of high-end golf courses, is expanding its business in the region — while steering clear of trouble spots.

Calmer areas such as Dubai in the United Arab Emirates are popular for vacations, retirement and second homes, and that fuels the demand for golf.

But don’t put in your R&R request just yet. These courses will be part of planned, private communities.

Housing growth is the driving force behind the idea. Because using golf courses to help sell homes is a new concept there, it’s proving fertile ground for Troon to expand its international portfolio in a model similar to the United States, even in a region where being an American can be a liability.

“We know our limitations, and we know who we need to be for the safety of our employees and our clients, [and] we think we found the right mix and the right amount of caution versus expansion, and hopefully we’ll see good results,” said Dana Garmany, Troon’s chairman and chief executive officer.

Troon manages two golf course operations in the Middle East, in Qatar and the UAE. It has five facilities under construction or in planning stages in the UAE and Kuwait.

Troon opened an office in Dubai to oversee regional operations. It’s also looking at Oman and Bahrain as the company seeks to increase its facilities in the Middle East to perhaps 15 within three years.

The Middle Eastern growth will come fast as developers rush to build golf courses to sell homes, Garmany said.

It’s a fascinating region, he said, cautioning against an American tendency to paint it with a broad brush of danger and instability.

It’s no more accurate than the “French thinking everybody in America wears a cowboy hat, cowboy boots and talks loud,” he said.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/stor...PER-292266.php


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines team up with Seabees to pass along construction skills
Submitted by: 1st Marine Division
Story Identification #: 20048845337
Story by Cpl. Macario P. Mora Jr.



CAMP AL ASAD, Iraq (Aug. 6, 2004) -- Marines are getting a hand when it comes to rebuilding Iraq from some of the military's most-practiced construction crews.

Marines teamed up with Navy Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 14, based in Jacksonville, Fla., to run an Iraqi Civilian Apprenticeship Program to teach locals the construction skills needed to help Iraqis rebuild their country.

The sailors are shepherding a class of 20 Iraqis from nearby Baghdadi. The first project: build a schoolhouse for Iraqi Security Forces.

"These guys are the ones really helping them out," said 1st Sgt. Octaviano Gallegos Jr., a 37-year-old first sergeant for Company B, 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, from Las Cruces, N.M. "They're training them how to do something other than kill."

According to Navy Petty Officer 1st Class John Graham, a 33-year-old instructor from Flagler Beach, Fla., the program has been going on throughout Iraq for nearly six months, but that this is the first in Al Asad.

"There are many buildings we're putting up here for the Academy," Graham said. "We've been working with them for nearly six weeks and won't be done until October."

The apprenticeship program is much different from the Marine-sponsored security schools, said Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Gene Chomor, an instructor.

"We're not tough with these guys, they're just civilians," said 36-year-old Chomor, from Melbourne, Fla. "We take our time and ensure they know everything. We hope they take with them these tools to help in reconstructing their cities."

The students already made lasting contributions to the camp here. They helped build nearly a dozen tents and have since moved on to learning how to construct solid structures.

"We've put all sorts of different construction works into this building," Graham said. "They'll learn how to not only build the hard structure, but also know the electrical, plumbing and wiring works."

Upon graduation, the students will receive a variety of different tools to help them with job interviews and to give them a head start.

"Once they graduate, they'll get tool belts and all the tools they need," Chomor said. "When they show up to interviews... they'll already be equipped to work."

The two sailors with the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion have different reasons for enjoying the work with the Iraqis.

"I think it's good, really good," Graham said. "Now they've learned a trade that can help them."

Graham added that the fact the Iraqis leave with valuable skills also makes it less likely they'll turn to being paid hands for terrorists.

Chomor was happy to pass on his knowledge to the Iraqi civilians.

"These guys learn really fast," Chomor said. "When we first got them they didn't know a hammer from a nail, but now they take over for us sometimes. It's just really great, I know they'll take these skills now and apply them to help themselves.

"We came over here to help them get back their freedom," he added. "To me, this is the best way. They are no longer trapped and unable to provide for themselves and the community."



Navy Petty Officer 1st Class John Graham, 33, an instructor from Flagler Beach, Fla,, intructs one of his 20 Iraqi students on how to saw through wood while building a classroom at Camp Al Asad Aug. 5. Graham is one of two intructors for the Iraqi Civilian Apprenticeship Program here.
(USMC photo by Cpl. Macario P. Mora Jr.) Photo by: Cpl. Macario P. Mora Jr.

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn20...2?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

War wounds won’t keep Marine down




By KRISTIN SMITH , Ksmith@delcotimes.com 08/16/2004




ASTON -- Marine 1st Sgt. Steve Fantau is a Marine’s Marine.
A 1983 Sun Valley High School graduate, Fantau, 39, is recuperating at his mother’s home after being severely wounded May 13 as his unit patrolled the outskirts of Fallujah, an Iraqi city west of Baghdad.

Despite returning home a combat-wounded war veteran and having recently received the Purple Heart, Fantau wants no part of public parades or accolades and downplays his role in earning one of the highest medals the military can bestow.


"There was another Marine killed during that point in time," he said. "I wear it proudly ..but there is another Marine in my unit that won’t be able to wear his, so I wear mine proudly for him."

An 18-year veteran who was serving his second tour of duty in this Gulf war, Fantau was riding in the front passenger seat of a Humvee when a blast from an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) detonated as his vehicle passed.

The blast tore through the vehicle, killing the machine gunner on top and seriously wounding Fantau and three other Marines, who were all evacuated stateside for emergency treatment. The other five Marines riding in the vehicle received lesser injuries and were treated in country.

Fantau, whose left eye socket was crushed from the blast, was scheduled to return to Bethesda, Md., on Sunday, where he will undergo a third surgery in October.

After a tracheotomy to restore his breathing, doctors had to cut a horizontal line across the middle of his scalp and pull the facial skin back in order to operate on his damaged eye socket.

His left eye now hangs lower than the right and his jaw is beginning to heal after being wired shut for eight weeks. He now wears a plastic nose stint in his nostrils to keep his air passages open, and at one time could only eat through a feeding tube in his stomach.

His left cheek below his eye socket is a tangle of titanium plates and screws, and surgeons are planning to insert foam padding into his cheek to fill it out to its former size.

Doctors believe he will recover from some of the nerve damage in his scalp, but are less sure about the nerve damage to his cheek.

Fantau’s unit, Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., had been patrolling Fallujah in late March but had to pull out after mobs of insurgents killed a group of private contractors and set their bodies on fire before hanging them from a bridge outside the city.

The area was especially volatile at that time, Fantau remembers.

"We had just relieved an Army unit along a main supply route. The Army unit had just detonated an IED and there was an existing crater there we would pass by every day. I had probably driven by it about 30 times," he said. "We were en route to pick up the company commander, but during the course of the night (insurgents) must have put the IED in the crater.

As my vehicle rolled by that hole, they detonated the IED by remote control."

Fantau and his men were in the third Humvee in the convoy, but no other vehicles were hit by the blast.

IEDs have become one of the most common means of attack by terrorists in Iraq because they are small and can be detonated from a distance. Officials believe the IED that injured Fantau was inside a cell phone that was detonated by remote control.

Military officials told Fantau they believe the IED was packed with 155-millimeter artillery shells, C-4 and white phosphorous mortar rounds.

Doctors have predicted he won’t be fully healed for another year, but Fantau says not only does he want to return to Iraq, it’s his duty to his fellow Marines.

It’s something his mother, Sonia, doesn’t want to hear. "I understand what he’s saying, but from a mother’s point of view, I don’t agree with that," she said. "I think he’s paid his dues."

A career military man set to be discharged in little over a year, Fantau also served in the first Gulf War.

Friday, Fantau received a state flag that was flown over the capitol building from state Rep. Stephen Barrer, R-160, of Upper Chichester, who is facing Democratic challenger Michael McGann of Pocopson, Chester County, in the November general election. Amid praise from Barrer, Fantau merely said, "I’m just proud to do what I’ve been doing the last 18 years."

Fantau’s sister, Kathy Fuller, 42, felt this tour of duty was different than her younger brother’s earlier tour last year.

"It seemed we were just sitting around waiting (for something bad to happen)," she said.

"It’s been a lot harder to define over there. War is normally a lot more clear-cut than this, like this is the bad guy and this is the good guy. Here you can’t really define who is who."

Fantau, who insists there’s nothing wrong with his body, is hoping to return to active duty as soon as possible.

"Their intent is to make me look the way I did before, but once it gets to a point they’ve corrected the breathing and my eye, I don’t intend on hanging out for too many of those (cosmetic) surgeries if it prevents me from getting back to my unit," he said.



©The Daily Times 2004

http://www.delcotimes.com/site/news....id=18171&rfi=6

Ellie