Mine resistant ambush protected vehicles counter IEDs, ambushes
Submitted by: Marine Forces Pacific
Story Identification #: 2005624185238
Story by Pfc. J. Ethan Hoaldridge



U.S. MARINE CORPS FORCES PACIFIC, CAMP H. M. SMITH, Hawaii (June 24, 2005) -- “Block off all their main and secondary supply lines for these are their main arteries, and ambush them along those routes for they are exposed and easy prey.”

These words from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi were cited by the Winds of Change website, showing the real danger for convoys traveling Marine supply lines in Iraq.

There have been 341 Marines killed in action and 4,099 wounded in combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom since February 16, 2004. How many of these fatalities and casualties have been caused by improvised explosive devices and ambushes on convoys? Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles could’ve saved some of those lives and kept those Marines in the fight.

With its flat bottom and soft-skin plastic doors, if a humvee is directly hit by a land mine or IED, most likely the passengers inside will lose their life and the vehicle will be destroyed beyond repair, said Maj. Gert de Wet, Central Command plans officer.

“In 1968, South Africans in conjunction with Rhodesians started developing the technology to create new vehicles that would counter the land mine threat introduced in the Bush War in Southern Africa. They developed the technology that created a new modular design for their military vehicles. For example, the vehicle’s wheels could be blown off in a mine/IED blast, but the passengers and the rest of the vehicle survived,” said de Wet.


“South Africa and Rhodesia did not have a large military and realized that you cannot afford to loose lives on the battlefield,” said de Wet. “These countries also didn’t have a large military budget and soon found that it was too expensive to loose a vehicle every time it hit a mine. It was far cheaper to replace an axel or wheel than an entire vehicle.”

“The military in South Africa and Rhodesia have been using these vehicles for the past 30 years, steadily improving the technology,” said de Wet.

The Marine Corps recognized these vehicles’ successful track record and became interested in incorporating them into the fleet.

The Corps decided to do business with Force Protection, located in South Carolina, which is the company that developed a version of a Mine Resistant Ambush protected vehicle named the Cougar.

“These vehicles are all designed from the ground up specifically built to survive IEDs and ambushes. The v-shaped hull assists deflection of a mine or IED blast away from the vehicle’s capsule keeping the passengers safe and the vehicle intact. The vehicle is also built to rollover and is equipped with multi-point, racing style harnesses, so if the vehicle rolled 360 degrees the passengers inside would avoid injury,” said de Wet.

Ballistic glass, another feature on the Cougar, allows Marines to see and engage an enemy ambush through the gun ports in the glass not exposing themselves to fire.

In a humvee, gunners are usually perched above the vehicle on a 50-caliber machine-gun open to enemy fire, while in some vehicles the passengers inside cannot see what direction enemy fire is coming from.

“When I was deployed forward, a friend of mine was in an ambush in a light-armored vehicle,” said de Wet. “They got out of the vehicle not knowing they were being attacked on the left side and luckily didn’t take casualties. In a Cougar you could just look out the glass and engage.”

Marines started reaping the benefits of the MRAP vehicles in Fall 2004 after procuring around 27 Cougars.

Because of these benefits the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force requested 1,169 MRAP vehicles. There are different variants such as, multi-mission combat vehicles, ambulance variant vehicles, troop transport vehicles and so on.

“The Corps presently uses them in Iraq for explosive ordinance disposal. When receiving calls from convoys that come upon land mines or IEDs, they could send an EOD team out in a Cougar. So even if the mine hits the Cougar, its passengers will stand a far better chance of survival due to the v-shaped hull design and other special features incorporated in the vehicle,” explained de Wet.

The Cougar is scalable as well, meaning that it can be used for humanitarian efforts as well as combat by detaching the arms and gun systems to look less lethal, but still protects the crew against threats from terrorists such as, Al Queda.

"The Cougar has been hit by IEDs and ambushes and done very well. As far as I know to date, no one has gone to the hospital as a result of an attack,” said de Wet. “I have a friend in Iraq right now who has survived four IED blasts in the same MRAP vehicle, and after some repair, the vehicle is still in use,” he continued.

The Cougar may be the rebuttal to al-Zarqawi’s statement that the supply lines are unprotected. This vehicle could cause a role reversal between the predator and its prey.
“The Marine Corps now has an opportunity and a way to alleviate the problem of so many casualties from IEDs and ambushes in Iraq,” said de Wet.

U.S. Marine Corps
Sgt. Ray M. Ranger

Former Marine Returns for Fight in Iraq

By U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Tom Sloan
2nd Marine Division

CAMP HURRICANE POINT, Iraq, June 22, 2005 — A year ago, Ray M. Ranger was serving as a deputy sheriff in Platte County, Mo., when, after watching the war unfold on TV, he decided to go back to being a Marine infantryman.
“I saw my Marine brothers over here in Iraq,” said Ranger, now a sergeant who’s currently a squad leader for 2nd Squad, 4th Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, during a recent mission in the city here. “I wanted to join them in the fight and do my part.”

Exemplifying true patriotism, the 28-year-old from Grosse Ile, Mich., put his law enforcement career, which spans two years, on hold and reenlisted in the Corps in 2004 for a second tour of duty.

Ranger previously served as a rifleman in the Marines from 1995-1999 and left with an honorable discharge.

Replacing his sidearm and badge with an M-16 and the Eagle, Globe and Anchor was an easy choice for Ranger to make.

“I saw my Marine brothers over here in Iraq. I wanted to join them in the fight and do my part,” U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Ray M. Ranger.



“It was something I had to do,” said the 1995 Grosse Ile High School graduate. “I felt compelled to serve my country and help my fellow Marines. I like the camaraderie, too.”

Shortly after his reenlistment, he received orders to 1st Battalion, 5th Marines. He deployed to Iraq with the infantry battalion early last March to support Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Ranger knows well the duties of a Marine squad leader in a combat environment.

“I maintain accountability of my Marines and ensure they’re properly trained and equipped,” he explained. “Physical and mental preparedness is important out here.”

Ranger and his fellow 4th Platoon warriors aren’t strangers to hard work. They conduct operation such as combat foot and vehicle-mounted patrols for hours on end in temperatures of more than 100 degrees in the insurgent infested city for four consecutive days. Then, they man an observation post in the city for four more days.

“The hours are different from those of a police officer,” he said. “Where I was doing eight hours in the states, we’re always on the go here. Sometimes for 24 hours. We accomplish our missions by giving 110 percent all of the time.”

Ranger has two years left on his contract, and he plans on returning to the sheriff's department when it’s up.

“I’d like to do a full 20 in the Marines, but I have to get out after this enlistment due to personal reasons,” he



U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Ray M. Ranger, the squad leader for 2nd Squad, 4th Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, is geared up for a mission. The 28-year-old from Grosse Ile, Mich., was serving as a deputy sheriff in Platte County, Mo., in 2004 when he decided to reenlist in the Corps to fight in Iraq alongside his fellow Marines. Ranger served as a rifleman in the Marines from 1995-1999 and left with an honorable discharge. He plans on continuing his law enforcement career in two years when his current contract ends. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Tom Sloan


explained. “Law enforcement is another passion of mine. It’s something I’ll definitely be going back to.”

Fighting crime and helping civilians back home appeals to Ranger.

“I love putting bad guys in jail and helping people in the community,” said Ranger, who has a two-year-old son named Brendan.

For the time being, Ranger’s squad car is an up-armored humvee, and the bad guys he and his comrades stop are insurgents.

The fact that he’ll be 30 when he puts the badge back on doesn’t bother Ranger.

“The nice thing about law enforcement is that age doesn’t matter,” he said. “As long as you can take care of yourself, your partner and accomplish the mission.”

2nd Marine Division Band
Rocks Horn of Africa

By Marine Cpls. Andrew W. Miller and. Matthew J. Apprendi

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — A brass quintet from 2nd Marine Division Band based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., visited here Feb. 20 when Maj. Gen. John F. Sattler, Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa commander, asked them to play at the Ethiopian National Day ceremony. As it turned out, the brass quintet entertained at several events and places during their visit to the Horn of Africa.

“ We began practicing in the chapel at Camp Lemonier (Djibouti) and before we knew it we were playing at the Protestant worship services on Sunday and did the same Wednesday night,” said Master Sgt. Mathew J. Boatright, band master and native of Fort Wayne, Ind. “We also began conducting the morning and evening colors at the camp, and also had the opportunity to perform during the American National Day celebration which was held at the camp.”

Before they left for Ethiopia, the band visited a Djiboutian orphanage. There, Boatright asked the children, “Do you like soft or loud music?”

Without hesitation - they roared for loud music.

“ Just seeing all of the smiling faces on the kids made this the kind of day we will remember all of our lives,” Boatright said.

The children seemed to welcome the mid-morning break -- cheers ran rampant as the band continued to play for more than an hour.

Each band member gave a solo performance. One played an American favorite, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” written in 1908 by Jack Norworth.

“ It’s one of the first times they have heard this type of music - a very good learning experience for the children,” said Abdi Aden Farah, director of the orphanage where, beginning at the age of 15, the children also learn different trades ranging from masonry to engine mechanics.

The tour continued at a nearby elementary school in Dorale. This crowd was even livelier than the other, with students jumping, clapping and dancing to the band’s rhythm. Even the camels and goats, freely roaming about, took a peek inside to see what the ruckus was about.

At the end of the performance, the children wanted to show their appreciation to the Marines. Or maybe they just wanted to show they, too, have an artistic side. The children brought out colorful pieces of pottery they made themselves. Some Marines were lucky enough to take some of the pottery home - compliments of the children.









Sgt. Elena Guerrero, a trumpet player with the 2nd Marine Division Band, from Camp Lejeune, N.C., plays her instrument in front of a full house of Djiboutian children at an orphanage Feb. 19. Guerrero is part of a quintet, which also played at a local elementary school. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Matthew J. Apprendi

“ Days like this one break down the misconception that we are only good for war,” Boatright said. “We can put smiles on faces too.”

“ The children were very excited to see us,” explained Lance Cpl. Alfredo D. Rodriguez Jr., a Marine Corps musician. “No words could even begin to describe the looks on their faces and how enthusiastic they were to interact with us and ask questions.”

Finally, the band left Djibouti and boarded a U.S. Air Force C-130 aircraft en route to Ethiopia to perform during the National Day celebration.

Before the big day though, the band visited the Yared School of Music here. Interacting with the students and giving them one-on-one periods of instruction after a performance, the band members taught the Ethiopian students how things are done in the 2nd Marine Division Band.

“ The feelings that these people felt when we played can never be taken out of them no matter what their hardships may be,” said Boatright. “We really maxed out our potential as a quintet on this particular deployment, but it is all part of our jobs, and I’m just glad the command gave us these opportunities to share and teach our music.”

Their final performance was at the Ethiopian National Day celebration Feb. 20. The band played an assortment of patriotic marches and classical tunes.

“ It was just an honor to be here representing the United States while representatives from other countries were watching us,” said Rodriguez. “It has been fun out here, but looking at all the poverty really makes me think of how lucky I am, and what it means to be a service member helping other countries.”

http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcn...3ZxZWVFRXl5Mw==

DUMONT - A 20-year-old Marine from Dumont is in critical condition after last week's suicide attack on a convoy of female Marines returning to their base in Iraq, her family said.

Cpl. Angelica Jimenez suffered severe burns to her face and body when the convoy she was riding in was ambushed in Fallujah.


Jimenez is hospitalized in Germany and on a respirator, said Claudia Jimenez, her sister. When she can be taken off the respirator, she will be moved to the burn unit at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, Claudia Jimenez said.

Officials at the Marine Corps base at Camp Lejeune, N.C., where Jimenez was based, would neither confirm nor deny her condition.

The attack, for which al-Qaida in Iraq has claimed responsibility, killed six service members. Three of the six soldiers killed and 11 of the 13 Marines wounded were women, according to the Marine Corps.

"It's not right," said Claudia Jimenez. "Women shouldn't be in combat, period."

Jimenez joined the Marine Corps after graduating from Dumont High School in 2002. The youngest of eight siblings, Jimenez joined the Marines because she wanted to travel a lot - like her brother Ralph, a staff sergeant, said her sister. She aspired to become a physical therapist later.

The family lived in Dumont for more than 30 years. Jimenez's parents have since moved to Florida, but many still fondly recall the family.

"She was the type of person that anybody would be proud to have as a daughter," said Rich Chiandusse, the high school band director, adding that she is a fine flute player. "There was not a day in the four years that [I had her as a student] that she didn't greet me with a smile."

Jimenez's former supervisor at Holy Name Hospital, where she worked as a part-time dietary aide, describes her as a quiet, bright and goal-oriented woman who had great rapport with everyone in the hospital.

"The patients loved her," said Fontella Scott, the operations manager. "She went the extra mile for them."

Over the past few months, Holy Name has sent several packages to soldiers serving in Fallujah. Upon hearing of Jimenez's injury, the staff also put together a crisis fund for the family.

Jimenez and many of the women who were injured in the bombing trained together at Camp Lejeune, her sister said. They served together in Ramadi, their first stop in Iraq, and had to spend one month in Fallujah. The attack occurred during their second week in Fallujah.

Cpl. Ramona Valdez of the Bronx, who was one of the women killed in the attack, was one of Jimenez's friends, said her sister.

The attack last week involved the highest number of U.S. military female casualties in one day during the Iraq war. It also renewed the debate over the role of women in the U.S. military.

Claudia Jimenez, for one, thinks that the combat unit is no place for females.

"They shouldn't be there at all," she said. "No, no, uh-uh. It's just not right."

Military policy prohibits women from serving in front-line combat roles, such as the infantry or artillery. However, with no real "front lines" in Iraq, female soldiers have seen more close-quarters combat than in any previous war.

Jimenez's duty was to pat women down at the Fallujah border. Women are used in this role because it is considered insulting to Muslims if a man searches a woman.

Her biggest fear was that she might trigger a bomb while doing her job.

She was weary of the war and her bright attitude had changed dramatically since arriving in Iraq, her sister said.

"She was very depressed, and she was having nightmares," Claudia Jimenez said. "Especially Fallujah - you don't sleep, you hear the bombs all night. She always said, 'This is not a war. This is a suicide war.'Ÿ"

And with the recent turn of events, Claudia Jimenez's hatred for the war keeps growing, she said.

"This has to stop, there are so many dying already," she said. "So many hurt, so many dead. Enough is enough."

For those who can no longer "SOUND OFF ABOUT ANYTHING!"



http://www.turnto10.com/news/4665039/detail.html


Army Reserve 2nd Lt. Matthew Scott Coutu, 23, was on patrol in Baghdad when he was shot and killed Monday. The Pentagon said Coutu was investigating a burning vehicle when he was shot in the back. He later died of his wounds at a Baghdad hospital.

Coutu was assigned to the 64th Military Police Company, 720th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade in Fort Hood, Texas. He had been in Iraq since February.

The soldier's mother and brother live in North Kingstown. The Army and U.S. flags flew at half-staff outside their home Wednesday.

Coutu's mother told NBC 10 News her son wanted to be a soldier since he was a child. She said during the Gulf War, when her son was in the third grade, he adopted a soldier as a penpal, and eventually met him when he returned from duty.

FeedRoom


R.I. Family Loses Soldier





Coutu graduated from the University of Maine. As a senior in the Reserve Office Training Corps, he received that organization's highest honor, the George C. Mitchell award.

A Marine from Rhode Island was killed in Iraq last week.

Lance Cpl. Holly A. Charette, 21, of Cranston, was one of six Marines killed June 23 in a suicide car-bomb attack in Fallujah. Ten other Marines were injured.

An Associated Press count finds at least 1,737 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war -- more than 1,300 them as a result of hostile action.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nati...153_iraq01.html

At least 68 U.S. soldiers, Marines and sailors were killed by hostile fire in Iraq during June, the highest since November 2004, when 125 U.S. troops were killed by hostile fire, many during intense combat in the Anbar province city of Fallujah.

U.S. deaths in Iraq increased about 34 percent in the past 12 months compared with the year earlier. About 882 U.S. troops were killed in the past 12 months compared with 657 in the year prior. In total, 1,743 U.S. troops have died in the war, according to an Associated Press count.




At least 39 of the June deaths came in Anbar. And there were disturbing signs that the insurgency is active again in Fallujah, which American forces retook from insurgents in November.

But on June 23, six Marines and sailors were killed in Fallujah after a suicide bomber slammed his car into their convoy.

Big Four accountant moonlights as Marine in Iraq
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing
Story Identification #: 20057145226
Story by Sgt. Juan Vara



AL ASAD, Iraq (July 1, 2005) -- Pfc. Amy E. Crego is a reserve Marine who’s never done any monthly drills. The Los Angeles native, a certified public accountant, didn’t even get a chance to experience what being a reservist is like before she had orders to Iraq.

Serving with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 764 as a maintenance administrative clerk, Crego is a 2002 graduate of Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif. She has a bachelor’s degree in accounting and puts it to use working for an international accounting firm in L.A.

A few years ago, when Crego was still in college, representatives from the five international accountancy firms that handled the majority of audits for publicly traded corporations looked for applicants and she landed a job with Arthur Andersen, the largest of the ‘Big Five.’

As a result of involvement in the Enron collapse, Arthur Andersen voluntarily surrendered its certified public accounting firm license. The firm was removed from the Big Five and Crego’s future was at stake.

A recruiter from one of the military services was on campus one day and struck up a conversation with Crego. After she told him about her plans and the sudden changes he brought up the military as an employment option. “That’s what planted the seed,” said the 25-year-old. “It kind of stuck with me.”

Crego found out later about an opening at PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the now Big Four accountancy firms, and took the position. “My goal all along was to work for a big accounting firm,” she said.

A three-mile race held at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, put a spin on things.

After having joined PricewaterhouseCoopers Crego was an auditor working mostly with insurance companies and took part in “The Boot Camp Challenge.” She remembers seeing recruits marching as she drove around the base and as she was running through the drill fields and the obstacle course the idea of serving her country became something she definitely wanted to do.

With a great deal of support from her counselors and superiors in PwC, Crego enlisted in the Marine Corps in April 2004 but didn’t leave for basic training until November, when she completed two years with the firm. After graduating from basic training she attended the maintenance administrative clerk course at Naval Air Station, Meridian, Miss., and returned to California to check in with her unit.

The squadron, based at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., had been activated and it was already in Iraq. She was told she’d be coming here in a few weeks to catch up with them.

“I called the firm and said, ‘Remember how I said I was coming back? I’m not coming back just yet,’” she said. “They were disappointed but they were really supportive again. Every one said things like, ‘Be safe and let us know if you need anything.’”

With a college degree Crego could have joined the Marine Corps as an officer. She would have had to make an active duty commitment and leave the firm, but she decided to join as an enlisted reservist and be able to do both.

“I wanted to be able to keep my job so I had to be a reservist,” she said. “The only way to come in to the reserves is as an enlisted Marine.”

And she doesn’t mind starting from the bottom. There are programs that after a certain time in service she can request a commission and she’s thought about looking into them as that time nears.

“At this point I really want to serve,” she said. “Circumstances always change, but I always wanted to be a Marine. If I do become an officer I’ll know what’s going on with the people I’m supervising because I’ve been in their shoes.”

Crego’s role as a maintenance administrative clerk is important to the squadron and ultimately to the warfighters on the ground rooting out insurgents and foreign fighters throughout the Al Anbar province.

“If no one keeps track of the aircraft maintenance records then the squadron can’t keep the helicopters flying,” she said. “The ground troops rely on the helicopters for transportation, re-supply and other things.”

When HMM-764 returns to California and its inactive reserve status Crego will go back to the firm and continue working as an accountant. She’ll report for training two days per month and will conduct annual training two weeks per year.

Her plan is to stay in the Marine Corps reserves as long as she can and move up the ranks both in her military and accounting career.

“I really like being an auditor. I work with great people and I have great clients,” she said. “I love being with the squadron too. I’m just lucky I get to do both.”


- For more information about the Marine reported on in this story, please contact Sgt. Juan Vara by e-mail at varaj@acemnf-wiraq.usmc.mil -

Join The Marines!
The Few, The Proud, The Psychotic

{Editor's Note: I'm disgusted with what the American military has devolved into thanks to the satanic infiltrators who have been maneuvered into positions of command within all branches of the military. Today, American military fighters are no longer known as defenders (not real defenders) of freedom, but rather are now members of a Killing Machine consisting of former human beings who are converted into Nazi robots by the use of highly developed brainwashing techniques. There was a time when I was proud to be in the military because the average rank and file U.S. military member of an earlier day still consisted of a human being who knew right from wrong, believed in fair play, and was dedicated to the principles of humane treatment. That's not the case today.

There is no act of cruelty, inhumaneness, mistreatment, excessive force, torture, murder, defamation, deceit, 'false flag' sabotage, or atrocities committed against innocent civilians that is beyond the pale for today's 'Semper Fi' or 'All You Can Be' pawns in the game. Fortunately, there is a growing body of American servicemen (not reported in the mainstream media) who are rebeling against the Nazification process and their numbers are growing, however, it will take a wholesale refusal to participate in inhumane conduct by active military personnel and their families before this evil will end. The German soldier of World War II would never entertain the notion of defying orders, no matter how cruel, how immoral, or how insane they might be. Americans, raised in a tradition of democracy, Constitutional liberties, and individualism might prove less willing to be used for atrocities by corporate empire builders, but whether they have what it takes to stand up to the intimidation and coersion remains to be seen.

Don't allow your children or loved ones to be hoodwinked by phony recruitment psycho-garbage. Stay out of the military at all costs...Ken]

http://educate-yourself.org/cn/jointhemarines20apr05.shtml
April 20, 2005

Photo and quote from: http://home.earthlink.net/~root.man/

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba

"Prisoners are tortuted at Gitmo. Sensory deprivation goggles, headphones, breathing restriction, hands bound and cuffed, kneeling for hours while American psycho "guards" abuse them. This is disgusting. "





Excerpt from

The Battle for Your Mind
by Dick Sutphen

http://www.hiddenmysteries.com/freebook/neuro/sutphen.html

The US Marines as a Brainwashing Cult

Before I go on, let's go back to the six tip-offs to conversion. I want to mention the United States Government and military boot camp. The Marine Corps talks about breaking men down before "rebuilding" them as new men--as marines! Well, that is exactly what they do, the same way a cult breaks its people down and rebuilds them as happy flower sellers on your local street corner. Every one of the six conversion techniques are used in boot camp. Considering the needs of the military, I'm not making a judgement as to whether that is good or bad. IT IS A fact that the men are effectively brainwashed. Those who won't submit must be discharged or spend much of their time in the brig.

[ I, Ken Adachi:, however, am making a definitive and crystal clear judgement about the propriety of this evil policy: there is no legitimate need by any government to brainwash their military servicemen into compliance with inhumane and reprehensible conduct. None. The ultimate purpose of the Illuminated satanic traitors in tuning the Ameircan soldier into a monster is to create world-wide hatred against him which will ultimately lead to his destruction. Destroying the US military is simply another facet of the overall Illuminati agenda to destroy America. ]

http://educate-yourself.org/cn/jointhemarines20apr05.shtml

The Marines, the few and the fewer

Underbear

Think, nope--I know your right on with that statement!!! Hang Tough ~

http://www.stevenzeeland.com/zeeland/marines/marines.htm

In "The Masculine Marine," Steven Zeeland interviews active-duty U.S. Marines about what it means to be a man, to be a Marine, and to desire other men. Their answers shed light on homoerotic bonding among Marines, hazing and institutional violence, how gay Marines reconcile their sexual identity with the ethos of "hard" Marine supermasculinity, Marines in all-male pornography, how Marines feel about being viewed as sex objects, and male attitudes about women in the Marine Corps. In the following excerpts, "Captain Eric" (aka "R", as featured on the cover of The New York Times Sunday Magazine) takes issue with the gay stereotype that "all Marines are bottoms."

June 28, 2005 | Members of a US Marine honor guard carry the casket of Marine Lance Cpl. Thomas Keeling, 23, past family members into Saint John Neumann Church Tuesday, in Strongesville, Ohio. Keeling died in an explosion in Haqlaniyah, Iraq. He was assigned to the Marine Forces Reserve, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division.
(Photo: Tony Dejak / AP)

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Jason Wittling, who was injured during Operation Iraqi Freedom, meets with Green Bay Packers head coach Mike Sherman Dec. 13, 2003, before a game against the Chargers.
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Daniel Raifsnider

U S. Marine Corps
Sgt. Jason Wittling
Injured OIF Vet Hits Locker Room with Packers
By John Raifsnider / Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif., Dec. 12, 2003 -- It is probably a safe bet to say that Marine Sgt. Jason Wittling won't soon forget the weekend of Dec. 12-14, 2003.

Friday afternoon, just minutes after his three brothers arrived at Camp Pendleton from their home state of Wisconsin, Wittling was surprised to hear the voice of his favorite NASCAR Busch Series driver, Team Marines' Bobby Hamilton Jr., on the other end of the phone.

Hamilton was apprised of Wittling's condition -- he's now a quadriplegic after an accident in Iraq -- and wanted to extend his best wishes for a speedy recovery and an invitation to join the Team Marines crew at the California race next April.

"Bobby wanted me to know that he was pulling for me and he told me not to give up," Wittling said.

"He also said I was welcomed to be his guest at the next race they have out here. He said he'd take care of everything and I'd be his personal guest. That's pretty cool."

Wittling also received an autographed poster and die-cast car from Hamilton.

The next morning, Wittling's family drove him to La Jolla, ostensibly to have brunch at the Hyatt Regency Hotel with other injured Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans.

Shortly after arriving at the hotel, Wittling said he knew something just wasn't right -- there were too many Green Bay Packers souvenirs in the family van, and his mom and brothers were decked out in their Packers-logoed clothing and hats. He figured he was there to meet someone, but didn't know whom.

Minutes later, Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre walked into the room and greeted Wittling and his family, then autographed several items for the family and posed for pictures.

Favre was followed into the room by Packers' head coach Mike Sherman, who also met with Wittling's family and had his picture taken with the injured Marine.

But that wasn't all.

Before leaving for meetings with his assistants, Sherman invited Wittling and his family to be on the Packers sideline before the game on Sunday.

"It's the least we can do for him, after all that he and the other Marines over there have done for us," Sherman said.

"They're over there protecting our freedoms so we can play football games over here. I think that if we can give him even an ounce of joy from all this, then maybe we've done something."

The invitation from Sherman resulted in a pound of happiness for Wittling, who admits to having bouts of depression over his injury. "There are days when I get to feeling a little sorry for myself, and I'm not too happy about not being able to do certain things around here," admitted Wittling. "Sometimes I just stare at my toolbox and wonder if I'm ever going to use any of my tools again. That kind of bums me out a little."

Sunday morning Wittling was wheeled to the Green Bay sideline where, once again, his favorite NFL player, Favre, greeted him. "That was so cool, to be on the sidelines and to see all the Packers' players up close," Wittling recalled.

"It was really cool that he and Coach Serman took time out before the game to stop by and talk with me. I thought I might be in their way, but they seemed happy to spend the time with me. I was really surprised."

But the surprises didn't stop there.

Just before kickoff, Sherman told Wittling that if the Packers won the game against the Chargers, he would invite him into the Green Bay locker room afterward. Green Bay won 38-21 and Wittling and his older brother, Jim, were the only two non-Green Bay players or coaches initially allowed into the team's locker room.

Once inside, Sherman gathered his players around the Camp Pendleton Marine and, according to Jim Wittling, told his team: "There are a lot of football heroes in this room, but there is only one real hero -- and he's sitting right here."

With that, Sherman handed Wittling the game ball and had the Packers players stop by and sign it. "That right there overwhelmed me," said Wittling.

"Pretty soon the players were coming up to me and signing my hats and then autographing their gloves and giving them to me.

"I told them they were doing too much -- I never expected to even get to meet Brett Favre, much less go on the Packers sideline. Then to get to go into their locker room after the game -- I'm still amazed that it all happened and that they were all so genuinely nice to me."

But the outpouring of gifts and thanks from the Packers still hadn't run its course.

On his way out of the Packers locker room, Sherman summoned Wittling into his office. There, the two men shared a beer and the head coach offered to have Wittling attend Green Bay's next game against the Raiders in Oakland.

"I'm not sure that he could stand that long of a drive just yet," Jim Wittling said of his brother. "I know he'd love to go, but I think that might be just a bit too much for him right now, but we'll see."

Wittling's mother, Betty, who accompanied Jason and his three brothers to the Packers-Chargers game, says this past weekend was the happiest she has seen her son in a long time. "This whole weekend was such a blast for him. It was just great," Betty Wittling said.

"Things have been pretty rough for him lately and he really needed something to boost his spirits. Meeting his hero, Brett Favre and spending that time with Coach Sherman -- that really cheered him up. It was really good for him to be able to do that."

Jim Wittling said he has never seen his brother Jason so happy. "You should have seen him when the coach gave him the game ball," recalled Jim. "His eyes were as big as silver dollars and he was in shock by all the attention. I've never seen him so happy."

Monday morning, Jason said he couldn't remember all the things the Packers players and coaches had given him, but he said he'd always remember this past weekend.

"Just think -- I've talked with my favorite Busch Series driver, Bobby Hamilton. I met my favorite football player, Brett Favre. And we caught Saddam Hussein.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeas...ill_26_in_iraq/

Also yesterday, the US military promised a full investigation into a June 25 incident in which Iraq's UN ambassador, Samir Sumaidaie, said Marines killed his unarmed 21-year-old cousin in ''cold blood" in Anbar province.

Sumaidaie said his cousin, Mohammed Sumaidaie, took Marines doing house-to-house searches to a bedroom to show them where a rifle that had no live ammunition was kept. When the Marines left, he was found in the bedroom with a bullet in his neck, Sumaidaie said.

He called the killing ''a betrayal" of the values and aspirations of Iraqis and Americans to defeat the terrorists and build a country based on freedom, democracy, and respect for human rights and the rule of law.

© Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company.

And guess what underbear? If these allegations turn out to be true the United States military will punish the responsible parties. Why don't you make the assumption the Marines involved are innoncent until after the investigation proves otherwise, eh?

U.S. Marine Corps
Pfc. George K. Bhimji

L.A. Native Joins Marines
To Build a New Future


By Marine Lance Cpl. Edward R. Guevara Jr.
Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego

MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Young men in today's American society often choose gangs or drugs over education, work and family.

But Marine Corps Pfc. George K. Bhimji, from Platoon 3034, Company K, chose family despite hailing from a Los Angeles neighborhood that presented the same troubles that landed his brothers in jail.

"It took strength for him not to give in," said Ellary L. Bhimji, his mother. "I always told them, 'Just because we have to live in a neighborhood, doesn't mean we have to be a part of that neighborhood.'"

Her son persevered through those tough winds by setting goals and wanting more than anything to achieve them -- sometimes for himself and sometimes for his family.

"I've learned as long as you don't quit, you are able to get what you want," said the 24-year-old Bhimji.

He had to be an achiever for his family after his father left.

When he was 12, he told his drug-addicted father that he hated him. After this confrontation, he didn't see his father again for six years, when he found him in a drug rehabilitation center.

"It made me watch my mouth and not talk back to my mom," said Bhimji.

In addition to learning that his father wasn't going to be the provider and role model for his family, Bhimji had to deal with violence and an unhealthy environment as he grew up to be the male role model of his family.

His older, half-brother, was also a bad influence at that time in Bhimji's life.

He finally realized what was going on around him halfway through his teenage years, when his big brother told him what to wear and where to wear it.

"As stupid as it was, I still had to do it so I didn't get shot," said Bhimji.

Keeping safe also required sleeping on the floor sometimes if someone decided to shoot at his house.



U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. George K. Bhimji reads over his practical application study sheet while standing in line for his evening meal. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Edward R. Guevara Jr.

Through everything, Bhimji said he always listened to his mother’s guidance. "I grew up with my mother and could never say no to my mother or argue with her," he said.

It showed in his schooling. His mother was a driving force for his high school success. "I was the first one in my family to graduate," Bhimji said. "It was a big accomplishment for me to graduate on time."

After high school, he worked to help support his family. "I worked because I got tired of eating (ramen noodles) every night," he said. "I paid to put food on the table."

Bhimji felt good about taking care of his family because they respected him.

He now has goals for his own family as a Marine.

"I joined the Marine Corps to make sure I had a future," said Bhimji.

He gladly took on the challenge of becoming a Marine for his 4-month-old son, George K. Bhimji IV, and his girlfriend.

He pushed himself through all the tough training times by thinking of his family.

"I didn't want to go home as a failure to my family," he said.

His mother said she rented a van to bring family members along to see Bhimji graduate today after three months of training.

U.S. Marine Corps
Capt. Darius L. James

Logistics Officer
Makes Beautiful Music

By Marine Cpl. Sharon E. Fox
4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (Anti-Terrorism)

WILMINGTON, N.C. — In high school, a 14-year-old started playing the trombone. At first, it was a hobby; another extracurricular activity. But as the teenager improved and immersed himself in music, his hobby turned into a passion. Darius L. James was first chair trombone in the all-state band and orchestra in high school and was accepted to the University of South Carolina on a full music scholarship.

Sixteen years later, James – now Capt. James, a logistics officer for the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (Anti-Terrorism), – still has a passion for making music.

"It was my dream in high school to be in the Marine band," said James. The Marines were the best, and James wanted to be a part of that.

Upon college graduation, James signed on to become an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. Commissioned officers are not able to play in the Marine band, but James was still ecstatic to be one of the few and the proud.

As an active-duty Marine, James could not pursue his passion full-time. But after getting stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C. the Bishopville, S.C., native was pleased to learn that the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra was holding auditions.

After earning a chair in the symphony, James made time to rehearse and perform on some weeknights and weekends.

Recently, James and the WSO performed their annual Christmas concert at Keenan Auditorium at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

James opened the performance by welcoming the audience and saying a few words about the holidays and the importance of supporting the arts. He also talked about how he became a



U.S. Marine Capt. Darius L. James rehearses before his Christmas performance with the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra . The logistics officer finds time in his schedule to rehearse and perform on weeknights and weekends to pursue his passion for music. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Sharon E. Fox

musician and how the support of friends, family and schools had helped him succeed.

He thanked his wife of three years, Alicia, and 9-month-old son Jadan for their support.

After a much-appreciated performance of Christmas music, accompanied by the Girls' Choir of Wilmington, Wilmington Boys Choir and the Cape Fear Theatre Ballet, the orchestra took their curtain call and James went home to rest before another work-filled week with the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (Anti-Terrorism) and his fellow Marines.

http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?...050701120730880

Army officials point out that re-enlistments for May among active duty, Guard and Reserve soldiers were more than 100 percent of the service’s goals. But an Army memo obtained by The Wall Street Journal in June showed the service also searching for ways to keep new recruits from dropping out during training (in March, 17.4 percent left) or during the initial three years of duty (reportedly another 7.3 percent).

While the Army is adding recruiters and advertising dollars, it is also upping enlistment bonuses, increasing the top age range for Guard and Reserve eligibility and taking the greatest number of non-high school grads officials say they will allow: 10 percent.

Army recruiters held a “stand down” on May 20 to institute fresh trainings following accounts of alleged recruitment abuses, including a much-publicized CBS News report of a reluctant prospect threatened with arrest and another allegation of a recruiter suggesting ways in which a recruit could fool a drug test. On May 3, The New York Times reported the case of a man enlisted despite the recruiter’s knowledge of the recruit’s recent psychiatric hospitalization.

Meanwhile, in Iraq May was the deadliest month of the war so far for Marine reservists. And on June 23, 2,100 more Commonwealth soldiers were Iraq-bound, in what the Post-Gazette labeled “[t]he largest combat deployment of Pennsylvania Army National Guardsmen since World War II.”

With troops who expected to be weekend warriors now facing deadly fire, it is the toughest atmosphere for recruiters since the all-volunteer service was created in 1973.

“There’s a war going on, and the Army is competing with every other organization in the country,” says the Army’s Dale Terry. Parents, he admits, “weigh the odds: Do I want to send my son or daughter to the military and give them a chance of going to Iraq?” Army recruiting here “is going the same as it is across the nation. We wait until the end of the year to see what the outcome is.”


POG’s campaign charges that the main enticements for Army recruits -- college tuition and job training -- at best benefit a small proportion of ex-soldiers and at worst are misleading. Using financial incentives to recruit creates a de facto “economic draft,” they charge.

“Most of the job training is for very highly technical military jobs, not necessarily skills you can use in the workplace,” claims Skoczylas. And only 35 percent of people in the military ever get money for college because of GI Bill restrictions and the proportion of dishonorable discharges (which disqualify veterans from benefits), leaving only 15 percent of veterans to ever graduate from college after service.

Jose Llamas, a Veterans Administration spokesperson, said he did not have government statistics to answer POG’s contention.

POG also claims that recruiter efforts to meet increasingly difficult recruitment goals have fueled an increase in reported abuses. The New York Times reports that there were only 199 “substantiated cases of what [the Army] calls recruitment improprieties” in 1999, 213 in 2002 and 320 in 2004, with charges ranging “from threats and coercion to false promises that applicants would not be sent to Iraq.” One in five of all recruiters came under investigation in 2002. According to a May 18 report in The Christian Science Monitor, the Army has had “480 allegations of improprieties by recruiters since Oct. 1” of this year.

The counter-recruitment movement knows it must offer military-age adults another place to go for college money and job training, Bradley adds. One of POG’s latest flyers is a guide to alternative-service programs, college scholarship opportunities, career help and social-justice groups.

The group also realizes they’re beginning a public-relations battle against the military without a fraction of the federal government’s advertising budget. The Army has long used a state-of-the-art videogame as a recruiting tool. This June, the Navy announced their own downloadable “Strike and Retrieve” game as a recruitment aid.

“They take what Gap and Nike do and they turn it into trying to get people to kill someone,” says Bradley.

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cf...=72&ItemID=8104

Counter-recruitment: A movement in progress

Beyond my own school, the potential for activism is being shown by the movement against military recruitment, particularly on campuses. By the middle of the semester it seemed as if nearly every week the Campus Antiwar Network’s national listserv was receiving another excited report from students who had just kicked recruiters off their campuses. City College of New York did this on two separate occasions at the beginning of the fall; and the counter-recruitment movement received national attention after 300 Seattle Central Community College students walked out of classes, surrounded their campus’s Army recruiter, pelted him with his own literature, and drove him off campus to chants of “Don’t come back!”—all on the same day George W. Bush was being inaugurated to his second term in Washington.

Soon many campuses were following Seattle’s lead. One of the more exciting examples toward the end of the semester was UC-Santa Cruz, where Students Against War led 300 students in kicking Army, Navy, and Marine recruiters out of the campus’s career fair. 86 students surrounded their tables inside while the remaining 200 rallied outside, blocking the entrances to the event. After the recruiters received a police escort out – with cowardly Army and Navy recruiters hiding from students behind stage curtains until they could leave – students set up a makeshift counter-recruitment booth in their place.

High school students, who are routinely denied basic free speech rights, also won important victories this semester for their right to present anti-recruitment views, at schools like Minneapolis’s Kennedy High School and Tacoma’s Foss High School. Most recently, the Parent Teacher Student Association at Seattle’s Garfield High School took a symbolic vote against allowing recruiters at their school.

Counter-recruitment has taken off, I think, in part because it represents a concrete way to fight the war. Getting recruiters out of our schools – or even just preventing them from recruiting successfully – has a visible impact on our immediate environment. It is also helping to take a toll on the military’s efforts to garner the forces needed to continue occupying Iraq, leaving the military scrambling to find recruits – and then taking desperate measures which, when publicized, can further turn people against the war.

So on May 20, the Army had to take the unprecedented step of conducting a national “values stand-down”: halting all recruitment for the day, supposedly to “re-train” recruiters in ethics and the law, in reaction to well-publicized abuses such as a Houston recruiter threatening a young man with arrest if he didn’t show up to his local recruiting station that day. While the stand-down was a public relations move on the Army’s part, activists saw it as an opportunity; the Campus Antiwar Network, Code Pink, American Friends Service Committee and other organizations called it as a national day of action and staged counter-recruitment protests across the country.

The counter-recruitment movement, then, has been able to grow because it taps into widespread hatred of the war, and produces tangible results.

Yet while the counter-recruitment movement has taken off quickly, drawing in students across the U.S., it is still a very young movement, with activists often isolated from one another in the absence of a more visible national antiwar movement. And it doesn’t seem that it can continue to grow unchallenged, since the military, and school administrations that may themselves be under enormous pressure from the government, are determined to crack down and destroy its momentum. In so doing, they are happy to run roughshod over student free speech rights, as when Thomas Keenan, a 19-year-old student at William Patterson University in New Jersey, was arrested simply for handing out counter-recruitment fliers on his own campus.

While university administrations are determined to send a message that anti-recruitment activism will not be tolerated, a campaign at City College of New York (CCNY) shows that it is possible to defend our movement. On March 9, three CCNY students and one staff member involved in a peaceful counter-recruitment protest were arrested and then suspended from school without a hearing. Two of the students were also beaten by campus security guards. After a defense campaign led by student groups and the faculty union gained substantial support, the school and the District Attorney were both forced to drop all charges against the students, who were escorted back onto campus by 100 cheering CCNY students, and applauded when they returned to their classes. The staff member, Carol Lang, still faces disciplinary charges from school, and the defense campaign is mobilizing to defend her and demand that she receive back pay – particularly considering that the District Attorney has had to concede that the charges against her had no merit. The CCNY defense campaign has so far succeeded in defending the right to protest recruiters on campuses.

But the threat of administrative crackdown remains very much an issue for students who want to challenge recruiters on their campus. A case that began the same day as CCNY’s on the other side of the country remains up in the air, with student free speech hanging in the balance. At San Francisco State University (SFSU), 200 students rallied against recruitment on campus in protest of the war and the discriminatory Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, ultimately driving recruiters out of the campus career fair with their peaceful chanting and placards. The SFSU administration then decided to single out two student groups (among the six sponsors) and three students for disciplinary action. The groups, Students Against War (a CAN chapter) and the International Socialist Organization, have both had their student club funding eliminated. Meanwhile, the students face undetermined penalties at disciplinary hearings this week. Students have organized a defense campaign that has garnered support from national figures including Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Peter Camejo and Lynn Stewart, but the SFSU administration remains determined to punish them if it can.

The SFSU case is doubtless being watched by the military and by university administrations across the country. Since the counter-recruitment movement first began they have sought ways to halt it with administrative retaliation: Seattle Central Community College, the school where counter-recruitment first got national publicity, originally told Students Against War that they must apologize to the recruiters or be decertified by the school. When students refused, however, the administration quickly backed down. The CCNY case was likewise a huge victory for the counter-recruitment movement, and if the students win at SFSU, it will serve as a model for other students around the country. Yet as long as schools remain major hubs of recruitment, we will run up against administrators eager to disable the movement that threatens their relationship to the military. Ultimately our movement will continue to grow only as long as it can mobilize the strength to protect itself from repression.

U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Patrick J. Carroll, foreign area officer, G-5, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Headquarters Group, II MEF (Forward), plays his highland bagpipes in Camp Fallujah, July 2, 2005. Carroll has been playing the bagpipes for 10 years. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Joshua C. Cox

U.S. Marine Corps
Lt. Col. Patrick J. Carroll

Marine Uses Music as Motivation

By U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Joshua C. Cox II
Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward)

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq, July 6, 2005 — As the sun begins to set around camp here, the musical tones of bagpipes can be heard and servicemembers gather to enjoy traditional songs.
Lt. Col. Patrick J. Carroll, foreign area officer, G-5, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Headquarters Group, II MEF (Forward), has been mastering the art of the legendary bagpipes.

“I actually play highland bagpipes,” said the native of Shrewsbury, Mass. “I started playing them about 10 years ago.”

The Irish descendent takes his pipes wherever he treks, even on deployments.

“That's the mark of a piper, you've always got to take your pipes with you,” he said.

Carroll also plays another type of bagpipes, called the Irish Uilleann pipes, and takes them on his travels as well.

When Carroll first saw the mystifying instrument being played during parades and festivals, he became interested in learning the art.

An encounter with a bagpipe musician also sparked his decision to pursue the instrument.

“I happened to run into a father of a Marine who was playing pipes at a dining out at Camp Lejuene, N.C.,” he said.

Carroll approached the Marine's father at the dining out and inquired about learning how to play the bagpipes.

“How do you learn?” Carroll asked the gentleman. “He laughed and said that he had only recently retired as a school superintendent in Connecticut about three years earlier, and picked up the pipes as a means to keep him busy,” said Carroll.

The musician gave him tips on how to begin, and told him what he needed to invest in to get started.

“He advised me to buy a practice chanter, a pipe tutorial book and then give it a try,” said Carroll.




The chanter is an actual part of the instrument that resembles a recorder, he said.

“I essentially taught myself the basics of how to play the chanter,” said Carroll.

Soon after picking up the basics, his wife purchased a set of his own highland bagpipes as a Christmas gift.

“I was able to learn the basics for the whole pipes by myself, but then made the most progress after joining a band,” he said. “I still play in this band called the Northern Virginia Firefighters Emerald Society Pipe Band.”

The band consists of firefighters, police officers, active and retired servicemembers and a plethora of others from all walks of life. There are roughly 25 members in the band including drummers and bagpipers from the northern Virginia area.

“We march in various parades around the northern Virginia/greater Washington D.C., area,” he said.

Carroll said he plays the bagpipes for several reasons. One is to commemorate his mother, who passed away just before he picked up the instrument.

“I took up pipes after she died to remember her,” he said. “She had always loved Ireland, loved Irish music and her heritage was Polish, Irish and German as well.”

In addition, his father often listened to bagpipe music, which also influenced him to play.

“My father didn't play, but he loved the pipes, and had many records of pipe tunes,” he said.

Furthermore, Carroll plays the instrument to relieve daily stress, and to entertain himself and his comrades. He said Marines come to listen to his traditional and patriotic tones as the sun sets in the evenings here.

“I think it helps other people,” he said.

U.S. Marine Corps
Cpl. Nicholas L. Gentry
Marine Chooses Service Over College


By U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Ruben D. Maestre
II Marine Expeditionary Force

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq, July 8, 2005 — One well-known son of Jasper, Ind., Matt Mauck, a former quarterback for the Louisiana State University Tigers, led his team to national collegiate football championship status in 2004. Another son of this small town, less recognized in the public eye but just as worthy of attention, decided to serve his country by joining the Marine Corps.

“Even though my parents would help me out (financially) with college, I wanted to go all out and join what I thought was the best branch in the military,” said Cpl. Nicholas L. Gentry, a 2002 graduate of Jasper High School. “Other than my grandfather serving in the Air Force, no one else in my family has served in the military so they were apprehensive at first.”

Gentry, assigned to Force Deployment and Execution Office, II Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group, II MEF (Forward), contemplated joining the Marine Corps from the urging of a friend. He said he also joined in response to the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and to fulfill his desire for travel and adventure.

While serving as a planner for Marine Air/Ground Task Force, the former high school tennis player has been to California, Virginia, North Carolina, Missouri, Hawaii, Kuwait and now Iraq.

“I wanted to get out and travel,” said Gentry. “Being a Marine has been a way for me to get away from home for a while, see different parts of the country and now different parts of the world.”

As a planner in Iraq, the 21-year-old is responsible for certifying movements of thousands of troops and their gear. His mission is essential in getting the proper replacements and gear necessary for the Marines, sailors and soldiers conducting combat operations.

“We certify big movements of thousands of people or more and their equipment for redeployment to and from the states,” said Gentry. “We provide to (the chain command) the amount of people and the weight of their gear so they can provide the necessary modes of transport.”

Despite his important role, Gentry was recently tasked outside his office to assist in the destruction of enemy weapons and ammunition accumulated from combat operations outside Camp Fallujah. “That was probably the most enjoyable task, I have




U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Nicholas L. Gentry, a planner for Marine Air/Ground Task Force, Force Deployment and Execution Office, II Marine Headquarters Group, II MEF (Forward), in Camp Fallujah, Iraq, is responsible for certifying movements of thousands of troops and their gear to and from the states. The native of Jasper, Ind., said that his four-year commitment to the Marine Corps would not be sufficient without being in Iraq. “I didn't think I could do four years in the military without serving my country here.” U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Ruben D. Maestre

been able to do out here,” he said of destroying the cache with explosives. “Doing that job was more of a privilege than a duty.”

Yet, it is his sense of duty that drives him to do the best job possible each day for his country and the Marines around him. Those in charge of him have taken notice.

“Corporal Gentry is part of a new generation of Marines who are a lot smarter, more motivated and mature,” said Gunnery Sgt. Troy A. Nicks, force deployment chief, assigned to Force Deployment and Execution Office, II MHG, II MEF (Forward). “One of his greatest attributes is his maturity, attention to detail, and most of all, his drive to be successful no matter what the task. He never wants to make a mistake.”

U.S. Marine Corps
Pvt. Martin Langhorst

Cousin Won't Take Freedom for Granted


By U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jess Levens
Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego

MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO, May 24, 2004 — They were inseparable. Born just one day apart, these small-town Minnesota boys were more than cousins; they were best friends. The Marine Corps brought them even closer, but war separated them forever.

Homemade punk music resounded through the small town of Kettle River, Minn., as the band, The Humbuckers, regularly practiced. Martin Langhorst sang and played lead guitar, and his cousin, Moises Langhorst, sang and played rhythm guitar.

When they weren't practicing or making plans for the band, they were in the woods hunting for small game. They did almost everything together, according to Martin.

"When we were teenagers, it was all about the band," said Martin. "We got a little older, and it started to become more about the Marine Corps. Moises especially wanted to join. He even painted his (sport utility vehicle) camouflage."

As high-school graduation neared, Martin and Moises sought out their local Marine recruiter. They planned to enlist through a buddy program, but there was a problem.

"Moises was good to go, but there was a problem with my transcripts," said Martin. "I was home-schooled, so I didn't have the usual paperwork."

Marine Pfc. Moises Langhorst, Martin's cousin and best friend, was killed April 5 in Iraq. U.S. Marine Corps photo

Moises joined as an infantryman while Martin stayed back to organize his paperwork. When Moises returned from recruit training, Martin was ready to go.

"Moises actually got recruiting points because I joined when he was home on leave," said Martin. "I'm a big reason he got promoted to (private first class). We always helped each other out however we could."

Moises joined Infantry Training Battalion and Martin began recruit training here nearly 13 weeks ago.

"Even though we were separated, I felt closer than I've ever felt to him," said Martin. "We were more than cousins or best friends. We were brothers in arms."

While Martin continued to pursue the title Marine, Moises deployed to Iraq to do his part in Operation Iraqi Freedom.


Marine Pvt. Martin Langhorst. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Jess Levens

"We were up north at Edson Range when I was called in to see the company commander," recalled Martin. "My family passed a Red Cross message. Moises was killed in combat. I didn't get any details. I just know that on April 6, my best friend died."

Actually, Moises died April 5 while serving with 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, deployed from Camp Pendleton, Calif. He was killed in the province of Al Anbar, Iraq, during a firefight, according to a U.S. Department of Defense news release.

"He was devastated when he got the news," said Staff Sgt. John Maciel, Martin's senior drill instructor. "But his desire to become a Marine never wavered."

Unit leaders granted Martin emergency leave for Moises' funeral. He returned to recruit training just in time for the Crucible, the most challenging training evolution in the cycle.

"When he came back from the funeral, the platoon gave him a welcome-back card," said Maciel. "He seemed more focused after that."

"I was really down before I went home for the funeral," said Martin. "I was so sad. But after I spent four days at home and went to Moises' funeral, I came back motivated. I don't take freedom for granted, and I want to ensure the next generations have the freedom I've had, the freedom I'm ready to fight for, ... the freedom Moises died for."

The pain of losing someone so close and dear is hard, according to Martin. The void in his life is there, but it's been partially filled by his fellow platoon members and anyone else who wears the eagle, globe and anchor.

"To get through something like this while in recruit training shows that he has a lot of heart," said Maciel. "His potential is unlimited in or out of the Marine Corps."

Martin graduated May 21 with one goal in mind: go to Iraq and fight.

"It's not even about revenge or anything like that," said Martin. "It's the right thing to do. I support this country, and I'm ready to die if I have to."

Now able to defend freedom, Martin will spend 10 days with his family and friends in Kettle River. With a population of 168 people and no gas station or grocery store, the town is relatively unknown. However, it is home to some good hunting, and The Humbuckers - probably the only punk band in town history.

There are times when we must fight. This is not one of them.
--Joe Cordileone, USMC, 1966-1969


I support our troops. I do NOT support the government that sent them. This needs to stop, NOW.
--James David Reyome, USMC 4 years

Notice that those who say "we gotta go to war in Iraq" are not going anywhere -- nor are their children! It is our children who are now in harm's way; our loved ones and hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians. We believe the most supportive thing we can do for our son, who is 25 years old, in the Marines and in the Persian Gulf, is to do everything we can to stop this war from happening -- to keep yet another generation from being put in harm's way for the wrong reasons.
--Nancy Lessin and Charley Richardson, children of WWII veterans and parents of current Marine sergeant

U.S. Marine Pfc. Shahid Aziz
By Cpl. Ethan E. Rocke
MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Militant Muslim terrorists learned to fly the planes used in the Sept. 11 attacks at an aviation school in Florida. The discovery that the United State's most hated villains learned in America's backyard the skills necessary to carry out their malicious attack haunted Americans after Sept. 11.

Today, a Pakistani-born Muslim man, who also attended aviation school in Florida, is helping to clear the haze of stereotypes and racial profiling that has hovered over America since that horrific day.

Pfc. Shahid Aziz said he joined the Marine Corps after evil men with distorted ideals shattered his dream of becoming a commercial airline pilot.

"Sept. 11 basically ended my dreams of being a pilot because of all the racial profiling that came from the incident," said the soft-spoken 27 year old.

Aziz moved to Fort Worth, Texas, from Pakistan in 1997. A short time later, he attended Com Air Aviation Academy in San Ford, Fla., where he received his instrument grading.

The study of flight was nothing new to Aziz. After earning a Bachelor's of Commerce Degree from Punjab College in Pakistan, he got his private license to fly and passed the commercial written exam.

After studying both accounting and aviation in Pakistan, Aziz chose to pursue a career in aviation when he moved to the United States. Before Sept. 11, he had been working as an instructor at Pro Aircraft Flight School in Texas on and off for four years.

Aziz was scheduled Sept. 12, 2001, to begin another aviation course on his way to becoming a pilot. When all flights were grounded on Sept. 11 by the FAA, so were Aziz's plans to become a pilot.

Soon after the shock of Sept. 11 subsided, Aziz decided to focus his energy on a new goal. He decided to become a U.S. Marine.

"This is the country I call home," said Aziz. "I wanted to defend my family and our way of life. I wanted to contribute what I can."

Aziz said his wife was shocked and scared for her husband initially because of all the hostility towards Muslims, but now she is proud of what he is doing.

Aziz arrived at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, in April 2002. He stepped onto the yellow footprints anxious to begin the training that would give him the title U.S. Marine. However, unlike most Marine recruits, he would not be home 13 weeks later. About a month into his training, Aziz shattered his jaw.

"I spent two months at Balboa Naval Medical Hospital with my jaw wired shut, living on a liquid diet," said the Marine. "My family was not allowed to visit; so trying to cope and stay motivated in the hospital was the hardest part of recruit training."

Although his family was not allowed to visit him, Aziz did have one persistent visitor at Balboa who helped him focus on his goal of becoming a Marine.








After the Sept. 11 attacks, U.S. Marine Pfc. Shahid Aziz left his pursuit of a career as a commercial airline pilot to become a U.S. Marine. U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Cpl. Ethan E. Rocke.

"My first senior drill instructor, Staff Sgt. Rivera, visited me quite a few times to check on me. He showed a genuine concern," said Aziz.

Upon release from Balboa, Aziz was assigned to the Medical Rehabilitation Platoon for one month. Where he said the MRP recruits relied on each other for motivation and encouragement.

"My time at MRP was motivating. The drill instructors take care of you, and the recruits help each other through," said Aziz. "When you're broken, you suffer and make sacrifices other recruits don't have to make. That forms some pretty strong bonds."

When Aziz's rehabilitation was complete, he picked up his training more motivated than before, according to Aziz.

"After he broke his jaw, he came to us, ... and he's really excelled since then," said Sgt. James P. Gillespie, a senior drill instructor. "He's an outstanding recruit. He was one of two recruits from my platoon to get a noteworthy on the battalion commander's inspection for having an immaculately maintained weapon."

Aziz said he is glad to be a part of the Marine Corps, an institution where strong bonds are commonplace.

"I joined the Marine Corps because I believe in brotherhood, working as a team, and looking out for each other," he said. "I like the fact that Marines don't leave their brothers behind; all we see is green."

After he completes his training to become a motor transportation mechanic, Aziz will probably return home to Texas as a reservist. There he will continue to fight his own battle against racial profiling, he said.

"I want to try to prove that not all Muslims or Pakistanis are bad," said Aziz. "A few people give a whole country or group a bad name."

After six months at MCRD San Diego, Aziz is finally a part of a new group. He has earned the title Marine, and he said the trials and tribulations he experienced along the way gave him a renewed respect for American freedom.

"Boot camp makes you appreciate freedom even more and not take anything for granted, even the little things," he said.

U.S. Marine Corps
Staff Sgt. Andy S. Beavers

Senior Drill Instructor Marches Platoon Past Perfect Score, Breaks Depot Record


By U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Ethan E. Rocke

MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO, Calif., July 2, 2003 — Final Drill 101 - A drill instructor from 1st Recruit Training Battalion set a new mark for excellence in final drill competition at the depot June 17, recording a better than perfect score to shatter the depot's previous record for the competition.

For Staff Sgt. Andy S. Beavers, senior drill instructor, Platoon 1078, Company B, it truly was his final drill competition here as he scored a 101 and finished out his time "in the trenches" with a performance that will not easily be matched or surpassed.

Beavers' long-time friend, Staff Sgt. Leopoldo Ruiz, series gunnery sergeant, Company B, held the previous record with a score of 99, and Beavers had made it his goal to beat his friend's record.

"Before I went out there, I told him I was going to beat him," Beavers said. "I felt confident when I started, but I had no idea I would be as successful as I was."

A score of 100 is considered a perfect score in the competition, but drill instructors can earn a maximum of five bonus points for the addition of a personalized song-like cadence, or what drill instructors like to call "sing-song."

Drill masters rate a drill instructor's sing-song and decide how many bonus points he should receive for the extra effort.

Beavers received the maximum five bonus points possible for his sing-song.

He was gigged a meager four points for minor discrepancies such as improper execution of eyes right and return sword and improper arm swing.

Platoon 1078 was selected as Company B's honor platoon thanks to Beavers' record-setting performance, which was crucial for his platoon's come-from-behind victory in the battle for honor platoon recognition

"The platoon was on. I was on, and everything felt right that day," Beavers said. "This is a rewarding end to a demanding tour on the drill field. I'm ecstatic."



Staff Sgt. Andy S. Beavers, senior drill instructor, Platoon 1078, Company B, set a new record during the company's final drill competition June 17. Beavers scored a 101 during the competition, breaking the previous record of 99. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Ethan E. Rocke

The meticulous attention to detail that helped Beavers set a new record is part of a Company B tradition, according to Ruiz.

"Bravo has a reputation in RTR (Recruit Training Regiment) for being exceptional at drill," he said.

Beavers is currently enjoying a well-earned break from the drill field and will be the new follow on series gunnery sergeant for Company B.

Do not allow our military to police the world. Do not allow our military to become pawns of corrupt and arrogant politicians and corporations. Peace is patriotic.
--Ronald Mauer, US Marine Corps, 4 Years

Marine Corps
Capt. Steve Hahn

Boston Marathon - Marine Style


By U.S. Army Sgt. Jacques-René Hébert
Marine Forces Central Command

UMM QASR, Iraq, April 21, 2002 — When Marine Corps Capt. Steve Hahn applied for entrance into the 2003 Boston Marathon, he had no idea that he would be miles away, deployed to a small town in the southern desert of Iraq, working to help rebuild a country. Indeed, when April 21 came around, it appeared that Hahn's hopes of running the legendary marathon had come to an end. But after some internal deliberation, he decided that if he couldn't run Boston's marathon, he would run his own.

Hahn, a Colonial Heights, Va. native, is currently attached to the Office of Reconstruction and Human Assistance: Southern Region, a coalition effort to provide humanitarian and reconstruction assistance in Iraq and to help restore control of Iraq to the Iraqi people.

"To simplify it, I didn't want Saddam to get the best of me," Hahn said. "It was his fault that I had to miss my first Boston Marathon. Saddam had already lost his big battle - I wasn't going to let him win this one.

"Plus, it was just something to do in my off-time."

Hahn measured out a 5.8-kilometer track and did a little math. Seven and one quarter times around would put him roughly at the marathon length of 26.2 miles. However, measuring the course was only the first step to preparing for his run. Hahn explained, to run a distance of this magnitude, it takes a little bit more work than to "just do it."

"I had been running on a pretty regular basis, doing work ups for the real deal," he said. "But because of the work load here, I just haven't had the time to train the right way, doing my carbohydrate loads and my training runs."

At 110 degrees on an April afternoon, training for a marathon is a difficult endeavor, Hahn later explained. Prime running conditions are early morning and evening, when the sun is but a sliver in the sky and the desert winds race across the sand to cool the brow. Fortunately for Hahn, his marathon would begin shortly after the sun slipped below the western horizon.

At 8:30 p.m., simultaneous start time as the Boston Marathon across the globe, Hahn began his own Boston Marathon, the first unofficial marathon run in a "free Iraq."

Mile after mile, Hahn's feet pounded the asphalt, running a race pitting man versus himself - or so he thought. As he began his race, an SUV with a flashing blue light pulled up behind him to ensure his safety throughout the run. On his fourth lap, as miles started to wear on his body, his fellow Marines joined him to give him some extra motivation to complete his marathon mission.

"The intangibles in a marathon that help you get through it - the excitement of the crowd, the intensity of the other runners - all



U.S. Marine Capt. Steve Hahn chases down the miles in his Iraqi version of the Boston Marathon, April 21, in Umm Qasr, Iraq. Due to his deployment to the region, Hahn was unable to attend this year's marathon, though he commemorated the event by running 26.2 miles through the Iraqi desert. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Jacques-René Hébert

the things missing from this run, were more than compensated by my fellow Marines, some of which I had known for less than a week, running with me and standing by to help me out with water and emotional support," he said with a smile. "What I thought would be a long, painful run really turned into a motivating experience I'll never forget. The only difference is that there's no t-shirt at the end of this race."

When it was all said and done, Hahn finished his "Boston Marathon" in roughly three and a half hours. He said later that his goal wasn't to run the fastest marathon he could, since the next day, he had to return to work, business as usual.

"In the past, I've really killed myself over a race," he said. "This run was different. There was no need to burn myself out over it. The running of the marathon itself was what counted. Not to mention, taxpayers sent me out here to fight a war, not run races."

Since 1996, Hahn has been serving his country as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. Though he thinks his marathon pales in comparison to the efforts of U.S. and coalition forces in battle, and the sacrifices the Iraqi people have made, his fellow service members believe he is a credit to his service and his country.

"The determination Steve displayed in running the Umm Qasr, Iraq version of the Boston Marathon, is the very determination we need to rebuild this country," stated retired Army Brig. Gen. Buck Walters, director of ORHA South.

As for Hahn, he is excited about the possibility of going home soon, though he has valued his experiences in the desert of Iraq.

"Everyone is here (Iraq), both coalition forces and U.S. forces," Hahn explained. "We all want this to be over so we can get on with our lives. Though I'm still out here doing my job, I decided that running this race anyway would be my first step in getting on with my own life."

Iraq is and has been cowed since the Gulf War. No, they haven't done everything we've asked of them. What a surprise? Why, in the midst of last summer's national outrage over corporate malfeasance, did it suddenly become important to go after Saddam Hussein? I can't help but feel like I'm watching a real-life version of "Wag the Dog." I'm a liberal, and a Democrat, and I'm proud of it. And I can't help but feel that the President used our national disdain for Saddam to his own benefit in the off-year elections. I hope at some point we'll find out what really happened in the White House to catapult Iraq into a top priority.
--Lin Lofley, USMC, 2 years, 10 months

U.S. Marine Sgt. Alan Poe
By Sgt. Zachary A. Bathon
USS NASSAU (Underway) — In the tough world that is Marine Reconnaissance, one Marine currently deployed with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) attributes his success to the support of his father.

Sgt. Alan Poe, Reconnaissance and Surveillance Platoon, Reconnaissance Battalion Detachment, says his father, a retired Marine sergeant major has played a big part in making him what he is today.

"My dad treated the Marine Corps like a regular job," said Poe. "So when the time came I just knew I wanted to go and he was very supportive of that."

It's a small Marine Corps and not surprisingly Poe's career path has crossed his Dad's more than once. His first duty station was among his dad's last at 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines. Poe's father had served as that battalion sergeant major in 1997-1998.

Interestingly, Poe has another connection with his Dad's career. His father's Commanding Officer at 3/6 was then Lt. Col., now Col. Richard Mills, who is Poe's Commanding Officer with the 24th MEU (SOC). While assigned to 3/6, Poe's father also deployed with the 24th MEU.

"It was funny, I ended up at 3/6 after the School of Infantry," said Poe. "My father had just retired so he still knew a lot of people there, and they liked to mess with me."

After arriving at 3/6 Poe went to Lima Company and did a deployment with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit. It was there he heard about Marine Reconnaissance from some of his friends.

After that float, Poe passed the indoctrination and went over to Reconnaissance Battalion. From there, he went to the Basic Reconnaissance Course, Jump School and to the (Helicopter Rope Suspension Training) HRST course."

Currently, Poe is the point man in his team. "Basically I'm the navigator," he said. "It is my job to know where the team is at all times. I also check for booby traps and mines."

"But, Recon is tough," he added. "You need to have good physical fitness, a tough attitude and be able to do things without anyone telling you."

Poe said he is able to do these things because of his father's positive influence. "He is always telling me to make sure my (Marine Corps Institute Courses) MCIs are done, to go to the sergeants course and to make sure I am being a positive role model for others."

Poe said his father also passes on some of the tips that made him a successful leader of Marines. "The most important thing he taught me was to make sure you take care of your troops." He said this helps him because he just re-enlisted and plans on staying in Recon and wants to become a team leader and later a staff sergeant then a gunnery sergeant.






Sgt. Alan Poe, Reconnaissance Battalion Detachment, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), during a soccer match at Camp Able Sentry, Macedonia. U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Lance Cpl. Alexander Whitney



He also said there is a bit of competition as to who may be the better Marine. "My dad was also good at administrative stuff," said Poe. "But I think I am a better (physical trainer.)"

On his off time, Poe said he enjoys backpacking and rock climbing, something he picked up with his dad while he was in the Boy Scouts. He has backpacked and climbed through a lot of different places throughout the country. He most recently went backpacking with his dad at Pilot Mountain, N.C.

Whether it is in the field with his recon team or hiking through the mountains, Poe said his relationship with his father is one of the things that makes him who he is today.

"Sgt. Poe is cut from the same cloth as his dad, just an all around outstanding Marine," said Mills. "His father was simply a superb battalion sergeant major, the best I've ever been around. He didn't have an infantry background but was as fine and as hard a "grunt" as I've ever seen.

Although he's retired now and kicking back in Texas, we stay in touch and he's still keeping me out of trouble! It's an honor to have his son in the MEU."

Who was recently awarded huge construction and oil contracts in Saudia Arabia, the true subsidizers of al Qaeda? None other than Halibruton! If we look back to Vietnam, who received most of the large contracts to build runways, airports, harbors and highway projects? None other than what is now called Brown and Root. Not only is Brown and Root the world’s largest nonunion construction company, it is a subsidiary of none other than Halliburton.
--Mark James Hankins, USMC, 1977-81, 1984-91

U.S. Marine Corp
Capt. Matthew C. Shortal
by Cpl. James S. McGregor
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. — With possibly the biggest race of his life approaching, U.S. Marine Capt. Matthew C. Shortal was in constant preparation as he eyed his chance to represent the United States of America at a triathlon on foreign soil.

Shortal, 30, is an F-A/18 Hornet flight instructor at Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 101, aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., which happens to be a non-deployable unit. While there, he has also continued to improve on the sport, competition and lifestyle that have made up a great deal of his life over the past five years.

It has all led up to his latest challenge — the 2002 Long Course Triathlon World Championships this week in Nice, France. He qualified for the U.S. National Amateur Team when he raced in San Francisco, Aug. 4, at the Half Vineman race.

The Half Vineman consists of 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride, and a 13.1-mile run.

To get to this point, however, has taken years of competing and day after day of arduous training.

It all started in high school, when Shortal ran cross-country and track. In 1989 he qualified for the U.S. Duathlon Championships at the age of 16. Since then, he ran track in the Big 10 while attending college at the University of Illinois.

Shortal has been on the All-Marine Triathlon Team for the past three years. The last two years he competed in the World Iron Man Triathlon Championships, the competition he once saw on television that originally got him into triathlons.

Over the years of training and racing, Shortal has developed his physical training regimen, which he calls a periodization-training cycle. During this training cycle, he runs, bikes and swims various distances through the week.

In the first two weeks of the cycle he trains hard. Each of these weeks, he runs 50 miles, bikes 200-250 miles and swims 10,000-13,000 meters.

The third week in the cycle is an easier week, as he works out less and goes for fewer miles. This gives him time to recover from the hard weeks. It is this cycle that prepares him for every race.





Marine Capt. Matthew C. Shortal when he's not in training to represent the Marine Corps in the 2002 Long Course Triathlon World Championships in France. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. James S. McGregor.

Nine days prior to a race, he works out very little, and during the winter he cuts back on the training.

"This training lifestyle is something I enjoy, but I also do it to get ready for a big race," Shortal said. "It's taxing on the home life, but I enjoy being in shape, going swimming and biking with my friends and also on my own," the Chicago native added.

Shortal said hoped that all the miles he has covered will help him in France, because not only will the race be physically challenging, but it is also significant for many reasons. The world championship attracts the best athletes representing more than 50 countries around the world.

The championship consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 78-mile bike ride and an 18.6-mile run.

"During this event I will represent the United States, and it will be the first time for me to wear the U.S. national uniform," Shortal explained. "It's important to me because I'll be racing in Nice, France, on the French Riviera, and some of the roads I'll be on are part of the Tour de France.

"It will be an honor for me," he added. "My goals are to have fun, do as well as I can and improve on my personal records time-wise."

Marine Sgt. James D. Clarke, a drill instructor at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, inspects his recruits’ rifles to ensure that there are no rounds remaining in them. Clarke’s military career began with eight years in the Navy as a nuclear machinist’s mate. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Brian Kester

U.S. Marine Corps
Sgt. James D. Clarke
Sailor Joins Corps after 8 Years in Navy
By U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Brian Kester / Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island
PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. — He was once a sailor. Now, he is a Marine.

This dramatic change in lifestyle has taken Sgt. James D. Clarke, a drill instructor at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, from a life aboard an attack submarine to turning recruits into Marines.

Clarke was born in Twentynine Palms, Calif., the son of a Marine. It seemed his life was destined for the Corps from the beginning, although his career did not start that way.

"I had always planned on joining the Marine Corps," he said. "However, when I was about to graduate from high school I got a letter about the Navy's nuclear-power program. They said they had looked at my grades, and I was interested in science, so I made a split decision. I joined the Navy, where I served the next six years as a nuclear machinist's mate."

Starting in 1988, Clarke spent the next four years stationed in Charleston, S.C., on an attack submarine. He served his term of service on active duty and followed that up with a two-year stint in the Naval reserves.

"During that time I was in a Seabee unit, which is kind of the equivalent of a combat engineer for the Navy," said Clarke. "The Seabees worked out in the field with heavy equipment, and we did a lot of training with Marines. That was something that really started making me think seriously about the Marine Corps."

The exposure to Marine Corps training and camaraderie awakened Clarke's past and the prior goal he had not yet attained.

"The Marines really liked the Seabees," he said. "Half of the unit were former Marine Corps grunts. I heard Marine Corps stories all the time and that's when I started thinking about going back on active duty, joining the Marine Corps, and hopefully getting on an air wing."

In 1997, armed with experience and maturity, Clarke set out on a new journey into the Marine Corps with the emotional, and somewhat tentative, support from his family.

"Going into boot camp, my dad had some misgivings," said Clarke. "He asked me quite a few times, 'Is this what you think you ought to be doing at 27 years old?'"

Though he was a 27-year-old recruit, Clarke excelled in recruit training and went from being a squad leader to graduating as the guide.

"(Being in the Navy) prepared me as far as knowing the chain of command and knowing the importance of the chain of command," he said. "So coming into the Marine Corps wasn't that big of a shock. Although boot camp was drastically different than Navy boot camp, all I had to do was polish up a few areas."

He had gotten a foundation from somewhere, and surely he got some of that from the Navy, said Staff Sgt. Justin A. Forbes, a fellow drill instructor.

"I'm sure the Navy gave him some kind of qualities," said Forbes. "He's a little bit older too, a little bit more mature; that had something to do with his success so far."

Overcoming hardships in boot camp is one hurdle, but out of boot camp he was again faced with the adversity and demands of his age.

"I went from being a [petty officer first class] to being a private first class," said Clarke. "That [was tough], but I feel better knowing what it felt like being a 'Pfc.' or a lance corporal in the Marine Corps instead of starting as a corporal or whatever."

Those kinds of experiences are what lured Clarke to the Marine Corps in the first place.

"I liked the more military experience of the Marine Corps," said Clarke. "The Navy is the military and they have a job to do, but the Marine Corps is more what you think of as far as armies go."

Forbes witnesses the adaptation Clarke made from his Naval background to the Marine Corps way of life on a daily basis.

"He doesn't really make reference to it much," said Forbes. "As far as Navy-wise, I don't think he really displays much of that. He is pretty knowledgeable about the Marine Corps and puts forth more of a Marine Corps attitude."

Firmly entrenched in his new world, Clarke set out to succeed in his new job-aviation hydraulics.

"The two jobs were a lot the same," said Clarke. "They are both really technical, and you have a lot of people double-checking that the job is done correctly. If things aren't done right, then the consequences of failure could be really bad. A pilot could crash or, when I was in the Navy, something bad could happen to the reactor."

Clarke seems to thrive on working under extreme circumstances. He exhibits the dedication it takes to do the job proficiently and with speed.

"I think being in the Navy for a time has made me a better Marine," he said. "I have seen the way the Navy operates. They always get their job done, but they don't get it done as efficiently or as quickly as the Marine Corps."
When reflecting on his change of career, Clarke is satisfied with his achievements.

"It has been a success for me in pretty much every direction," he said. "So I feel really good about the decision I made."

When it comes to training recruits, Forbes agrees that Clarke made a sound decision and sees many admirable traits.

"He is a hard worker and is not afraid to do things that he doesn't really know," said Forbes. "He's not afraid to ask questions or put his own spin on things. He is a very well-rounded Marine who is very knowledgeable and is constantly out working with the recruits."

"Going into boot camp, my dad had some misgivings," said Clarke. "He asked me quite a few times, 'Is this what you think you ought to be doing at 27 years old?'"[emphasis added]



I am a Gulf War Vet, but I did not serve in country. I had been out of active service (IRR) for 18 months and then received orders and an airplane ticket to report to Camp Pendleton. My family has a long record of military service dating back to the Civil War. I now have my own family and understand there is no glory in war. I can't imagine the pain of losing my family. Nor can I imagine bringing that unimaginable pain to a family on the other side of the world. Mr. Bush's bloodlust and inflammatory rhetoric will lead us to conflict where none should exist. His "with us or against us" rants are unnerving. My generation has never experienced such troubled times. It must be our turn. "Peace"
--Curtis Berg, USMC, 4.2 Years

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050710/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

Suicide Attacks Kill at Least 48 in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A man strapped with explosives blew himself up Sunday at an Iraqi military recruiting center in Baghdad, one of a series of suicide attacks that killed at least 48 people and ended a relative lull in violence in recent days.


Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari criticized U.S. and multinational forces for shooting at Iraqi civilians who act suspiciously near patrols or military areas, but a spokesman for the U.S. command blamed the problem on the growing use of suicide car bombs as an insurgent weapon.

Military working dog teams secure the wing
Submitted by: 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing
Story by: Computed Name: Cpl. C. Alex Herron
Story Identification #: 2005711134748




AL ASAD, Iraq (July 11, 2005 ) -- When it comes to the security of Al Asad, nothing is left to chance. Cameras, firepower and a team of military working dogs are always ready. The dogs are able to use their noses to sniff out trouble.

The Al Asad military working dog detachment is a joint service unit with Air Force and Marine canines and handlers. The partnership of dog and handler is never ending. When the dog works, the handler works.

“Our job is all about the dogs,” said Air Force Staff Sgt. Michael Williamson, one of the Air Force military working dog handlers and Fort Worth, Texas native. “We work daily to ensure our dog is ready for their next assignment. They do all the work. We just take care of them and provide them guidance.”

While aboard Al Asad there is no shortage of work for the dog teams. With security being the heart of all of their missions they can not afford to have a dog sidelined for something as preventable as a heat related injury.

“Once the dogs get acclimated, they work on shifts that are generally a couple hours long,” Williamson said. “Work and rest cycles are the key to ensuring their safety and well-being throughout the hot summer months. They are too valuable to the military to be taken out of the fight prematurely.”

“It comes down to knowing your dog,” said Marine Cpl. Robert La Place, a military working dog handler and Sacramento, Calif., native. “If your dog starts to act different from his normal behavior, something is usually making him feel uncomfortable.”

The military working dogs and their handlers work side by side during the day at various security points and flightline. The team also conducts security sweeps special events.

“We ensure the safety and security of buildings, luggage, and vehicles as part of our different missions,” La Place said.

Being able to work with the dogs daily allows the handlers to witness how their partners’ skills far exceed their expectations.

“Our dogs are dependable partners,” Williamson said. “They are aware of things well before the average person is. They are loyal partners who will do anything they can to please us.”

Just having the dogs around makes everyone feel safer and helps deter any suspicious behavior, according to the team.

“I think having us around makes everyone feel more at ease about whatever situation they are in,” Williamson said. “After we check a vehicle, the probability of a foreign substance being on board is greatly diminished. Usually if the dog is acting like nothing is amiss then everyone follows his lead. If something isn’t right the dog will pick up on it well before any of us will.”

The military working dog teams split their time among their various missions they are called two perform. By providing security for all personnel here, they are proving to be an essential part of the Al Asad security team. They allow others to concentrate on their jobs without worrying about their basic safety and help the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing continue the mission of supporting ground units throughout the Al Anbar province.


*For more information about this story please contact Cpl. Herron at herronca@acemnf-wiraq.usmc.mil*

26th MEU troops enjoy slice of home
Submitted by: 26th MEU
Story by: Computed Name: Gunnery Sgt. Mark E. Bradley
Story Identification #: 200571073320




ABOARD USS KEARSARGE(July 9, 2005) -- As the Marines and sailors of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) continue distributed operations from the north Arabian Gulf, members of the aviation combat element received a special treat from the home front thanks to the technology of video teleconferencing, or VTC as it is commonly called.

In all, 22 Marines and sailors from Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron-162 (Reinforced) had five minutes each to sit down and have a live conversation from the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) directly to their loved ones gathered aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C.

A video screen about the size of a large computer monitor and camera were set up in the ship’s main briefing room with a satellite link to Camp Lejeune where there was a similar set up. The system works much the same as a webcam allowing the two parties to have a face-to-face conversation despite the thousands of miles between them.

"I think this is a great opportunity to give them a slice of home," said Lt. Col. Kurt E. Diehl, commanding officer of HMM-162 (Rein). "They get a spring in their step and a smile on their face when they get to see [and talk] to their wives and kids. And from what I hear from the other side, it’s the same thing there."

For one avionics technician, the VTC was more than just a chance to see his family; it was the closest he has come to meeting its newest member. Staff Sgt. Cory J. Lenkowski’s wife gave birth to their third daughter June 23.

"When I first saw her through the VTC, she was crying and she bought a huge smile to my face. I just wanted to reach into the monitor and hold her," he said. "My wife has sent me plenty of pictures of her, from the time she was born until now, but nothing beats seeing her move and hearing her cry for the first time."

Staff Sgt. Johnny R. Akers with the maintenance admin section echoed Lenkowski’s view. "The best part was getting to see them in real time," he said. "Even if you have a digital camera, it’s not the same."

The teleconference was also a special moment for Akers, whose wife is recovering well from a recent surgery. He said she looked really good, and his two boys talked a lot about what they were doing to help their mother. "My oldest is really helping out - like mowing the grass and taking out the trash - and my youngest is just staying out of the way, which is a big help," he said.

CH-46 pilot 1st Lt. Zack R. Webb was also moved by the experience. "That was awesome," he said afterward. "The last time I saw my baby girl she wasn’t even crawling. Now she is all over the place."

He said the best part of the experience was interacting with his wife and two daughters and "just being able to see the expressions on their faces."

The VTC was just one of several the MEU has conducted for all the elements of the command since departing the coastal waters of North Carolina in March. There are more scheduled in the future. It’s one way the modern Marine Corps and Navy are reaching out to help families stay connected during the long separations brought on by deployments.

The 26th MEU will continue its current mission as the theater reserve in the Central Command area of responsibility before returning to the Mediterranean Sea next month.

The unit is scheduled to make the trans-Atlantic voyage back to Camp Lejeune in the early fall when the Marines and sailors here won’t need a video screen to see the expressions on their loved-one’s faces.

As a combat wounded veteran of the Vietnam War, I believe that we have a moral obligation to all veterans past and present to voice our opposition to an illegal, unjust and immoral war. For veterans to stay silent on this war with Iraq, would be to give tacit approval and support to those who would rush to war without contemplation of the disasterous affects that it will have on us and the world.
--Jaime Vazquez, USMC, 1966-1969

United States Marine Corps
Press Release
Public Affairs Office
2nd Marine Division; Camp Blue Diamond, Ar Ramadi, Iraq; 2nd Marine Division, Camp Blue Diamond, Ar Ramadi, Iraq


cepaowo@cemnf-wiraq.usmc.mil
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Release # 0711-05-0923

Operation Qmtia update
July 10, 2005

CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, Ar Ramadi, Iraq -- Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition Forces are continuing Operation Qmtia