For unit, third time in Fallujah is a charm

Marines buoyed by gains since 2004, 2006 tours
By Geoff Ziezulewicz, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Tuesday, February 12, 2008


FALLUJAH, Iraq — Marine Sgt. Matthew Keenan’s third trip to this city was unnerving at first. But it had nothing to do with enemy contact.

“We were coming into Fallujah, and there were lights,” said Keenan, 24. “That was crazy.”

You’ll have to excuse Keenan for being bowled over by such an innocuous circumstance. Keenan was in Fallujah before, when the only light came from fires and Marines in combat: He was here in 2004 during the Battle of Fallujah. And in 2006, when the enemy’s tactics had evolved.

Some men of 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines have seen the city at its lowest point and are witnesses now as Fallujah tentatively makes its way forward.

“I pretty much have a house here,” joked Sgt. Sergio Mucino, on his third deployment to Fallujah and fourth overall in Iraq.

Despite lingering issues involving electricity and water, Marines said the city’s peace outbreak is a vindication for those who have been here before.

Mucino said he’s not sure yet if the city’s progress was worth the lives of his lost comrades — a close personal friend in particular — and the sacrifices Marines have made.

“I want to say yes, but who knows where it’ll go from here,” he said. “From what I saw until now, it’s seriously progressing.”

‘There were insurgents everywhere’
Sgt. Leodir Santos, now on his third Fallujah deployment with 3-5, headed to the city in the late summer of 2004 knowing a fight was brewing.

“We knew something big was going to happen,” he said. “We didn’t know what.”

Stationed at Camp Baharia outside the city, Santos was not in Fallujah for the first part of that battle in November, but he knew it was close.

“Twenty-four seven, they had incoming inside the FOB, always,” he said. “Same thing for outgoing. You could hear planes blazing away inside the city.”

One night, a round struck right outside his tent.

He had always wanted frontline action, he said, “but not at 3 o’clock in the morning.”

Meanwhile, Mucino was pushing through the city with Lima Company.

The residents had been told to evacuate before Marines went in, and Mucino said he remembers that there would be streets with nothing at all, but insurgents would swarm on other thoroughfares.

Before the fight, Santos remembers the exodus of city residents clamoring to get out before the Marines invaded.

“It was like Godzilla,” he said, “people moving away and all the traffic backed up.”

“There were insurgents everywhere,” Keenan said. “And the mentality was to rid the city of them.”

On the tail end of the initial city fighting, Santos took part in a “mini-push” that targeted a stubborn area in the northeast of the city.

“Every room was either sprayed with M-16s or had a flash-bang or grenade thrown inside,” he said, adding that freezing nights were spent trying to sleep on rooftops. Guys were sleeping in the sweat-drenched clothes they had spent the day fighting in.

“Any time we’d find a house with any kind of weapons we’d burn the house down,” he said.

The city was empty for the rest of 2004. Santos said he remembers seeing huge packs of wild dogs and that’s about it.

Mucino, Keenan and Santos finished their deployment by the spring of 2005. But before they left, the people of Fallujah were allowed to return in January.

“I had never seen the city with the population in it,” Mucino said. “We thought, ‘Oh man, how are they going to react? Their houses are demolished.’”

Roads become perilous
In early 2006, the 3-5 Marines returned to the city. Their peril now lay in the roads they traveled.

“It was nothing but IEDs (improvised explosive devices),” Mucino said. “There was an IED pretty much every day. It was pretty much a faceless enemy.”

Regardless of where they were in and around Fallujah, Santos, Mucino and Keenan all said that roadside bombs plagued that second deployment.

“You’re not necessarily face to face with the bad guys,” said Keenan, who spent his deployment largely at a base just across from the city. “It was pretty monotonous the whole time. The same thing over and over and over again.”

The frustration of not being able to secure 800 meters of road between Camp Fallujah and Camp Taqqadum was infuriating during that second deployment, Santos said. He remembers between 25 and 30 vehicles being blown up.

“There was no way the IEDs should have been there,” he said.

In the fall of 2006, the men went home again.

Mucino is at a loss to remember exactly when he got back, only that he made it home in time for his birthday, around the end of September.

Talking to people
Now Keenan, Santos and Mucino are in Fallujah again, here with Lima Company until May. And again, things changed while they were gone.

“We still haven’t got shot at or hit by an IED,” Santos said. “It’s like there’s something missing. It’s not the same Iraq anymore.”

Before, training involved urban warfare. This time around, their training involved talking to people.

“I knew coming over here was going to be a little bit different,” Santos said. “We started picking up trash inside the city. We didn’t do any of that during our first deployment.”

Santos said he has no problem with the change in orders.

“First deployment, if you tell me to kill somebody, I’ll put two shots in the head,” he said. “Now if you tell me to give some kids candy, there you go.”

Keenan said he’s heartened to see Fallujah take steps forward.

“For the guys who were in the [2004] push, to see the city and how it’s changed, it’s awesome,” he said. “It shows us that what we did actually worked.”

Ever mindful of the past, Santos said Marines must keep making progress in Fallujah, to honor the fallen and to bring eventual closure to the mission here.

“If we don’t accomplish what we came to do, all those sacrifices will be wasted,” Santos said. “All that work, for what?”
Source

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

This is one of my favorite shows and it will be especially good this Sunday, February 10th at 8/7 central.

Daniel Gilyeat is a decorated U.S. marine and a loving father to his children, having served not one but two tours in Iraq. During the second tour he volunteered for, he was out on a mission when a bomb hit his truck. He suffered major injuries and lost his left leg above the knee. In addition, his marriage ended and he suddenly became a single father. As with many soldiers, deployment had put a huge stress on his marriage. But despite these setbacks and personal battles, 25 days after losing his leg, Daniel was up and walking with a prosthetic leg, and inspiring other wounded soldiers by visiting them in the hospital and speaking with their families. He tries to create a normal environment for his children and to take proper care of them, but household chores are difficult because the house is not handicapped accessible; it's nearly impossible for him to get around, as all the floors are uneven and the doors are very narrow -- he often has to rely on a wheelchair. What's more, the laundry is in the basement. Daniel's trying to rebuild his life, and one of the things he desperately needs is a safe home where he can raise his kids.

The guest star will be Miley Cyrus. Read more here.

First Female Engine Mechanic Retires

Marine Corps News Sgt. Michael T. Knight February 06, 2008

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, CA. - She walked in to the joint recruiting office intending to join the Army. Then she saw a Marine in dress blues. The rest is 30 years of Corps history.

Born in Pittsburgh, Maj. Lou Ann Rickley joined the Marine Corps in 1977 and blazed a trail of accomplishments, as the first female to contribute in many areas of the Corps.

She became an Aviation Mechanic and soon discovered this was her dream job when landing with a harrier unit; Marine Attack Squadron 513 Flying Nightmares. There she became qualified as the first female AV-8A Harrier Plane Captain, who is ultimately responsible for ensuring the aircrafts are ready for flight.

"I suspected that the Corps made a mistake by assigning me to this unit because it was a deployable unit and females were not yet allowed to deploy," Rickley said.

That issue was highlighted when then-Sgt. Rickley realized participation in work-ups for the unit's deployment was necessary for promotion in her field. The work-ups included sailing out aboard a ship which had no female living quarters.

"Eventually, I was allowed to sail out for one day to obtain the necessary qualifications, but had to be flown off ship the same night," Rickley said.

"I believe the obstacles Rickley faced as a female earlier in her career had a tremendous impact on creating her well known 'firm but fair' style of leadership," said Lt. Col. Vincent E. Clark, commanding officer for Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 39.

Her years on the drill field may have influenced her leadership style as well. In 1986, Rickley graduated Drill Instructor school and became a Senior Drill Instructor after one training cycle. In her tenure, she trained a total of nine platoons and all nine took home final drill trophies.

"It was a mental game," said Rickley.

"The recruits always aim to please the Senior DI. The day before final drill I would be extremely upset with their performance, whether it was good or not, and walk out. On final drill day it would all be 'snap and pop.' It worked every time," she said.
Before leaving Parris Island, she was meritoriously promoted to Gunnery Sergeant and was the first to fill the newly established position of Series Chief Drill Instructor, 4th Recruit Training Battalion.

Clearly identified as an outstanding Marine and beating every obstacle thrown her way, Rickley was just getting started.

While stationed at MALS-11, Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro, Calif., Rickley was selected to become one of only two female Warrant Officers in the Marine Corps.

"I probably would have been the first female Warrant Officer," said Rickley.

"After several unanswered submissions I gave up. It never occurred that there were no female WO's in the Corps. The year I gave up was the year they selected the first female," she said.

"I applied again and may have been selected as the second."

Rickley's first deployment came in 1996 with Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 2 to Aviano, Italy in support of Operation Decisive Endeavor, Bosnia.

As a Chief Warrant Officer, Rickley applied for the Limited Duty Officer program and was the only Aircraft Maintenance Officer selected and promoted to Captain in 1999.

That year, Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 364 demanded all her experience. The unit failed their maintenance inspection and Capt. Rickley was called in to fix it.

"She came in like the Tasmanian Devil," said Staff Sgt. Jessica Pfister, Maintenance Administrator, MALS 39, who was a Pfc. at the time.

"It took eight months for her to dismantle the unit and rebuild it the right way. We passed the next inspection with flying colors," she said.

Her final accomplishment as a Marine included her being promoted to Major and becoming the first female Aircraft Maintenance Limited Duty Officer in March 2005.

"Rickley has represented the epitome of all that is right in the Marine Corps and in the aircraft maintenance profession," said retired Lt. Col. Michael Nisley, Rickley's former Aircraft Maintenance Officer.

"She has strived and worked her whole career to be an equal regardless of gender, she is not a female Marine, she is a Marine who happens to be female."

Rickley's final tour as a Marine was with MALS 39 as their AMO. There is where she has made her mark not only as an outstanding Marine but an outstanding human being.

"Maj. Rickley is Mother Teresa in a Marine Corps uniform," Pfister said.

"She's very tough and accepts nothing but your best performance, but she's equally relentless at taking care of her Marines."

Rickley officially retires from of the Corps in December. But even after her retirement, she'll be first again, as a civilian contractor titled Program Management Air 226 West Coast CH-46 Helicopter Manager.

"She has earned the respect of every Marine she's touched, and the Marine Corps will benefit from her prodigious talents for years to come," Nisley concluded.

Wounded Warrior Inspires Giants

Army News Service | Elizabeth M. Lorge | February 05, 2008
WASHINGTON - When the New York Giants upset the New England Patriots' perfect season in the last two minutes of Sunday's Super Bowl, they did it with one of the Army's own as an honorary teammate.

Lt. Col. Greg Gadson, a field-artillery officer with two prosthetic legs, was on the sidelines Sunday after giving a pep talk to the Giants Saturday night.

When Gadson, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery, was hit with an improvised-explosive device in Baghdad last May, he almost died from blood loss. Doctors amputated one leg due to infection and he decided to give up the other to improve his quality of life; but believing he could still serve Soldiers, he decided to stay in the Army.

One of Gadson's old football teammates from West Point was Giants wide-receiver coach Mike Sullivan. He visited Gadson at Walter Reed bearing a Giants helmet and jersey with Gadson's old number, which had been signed by Giants' players. When he asked if he could do anything, Gadson had one simple request: he just wanted to go to a game when the Giants came to D.C.

They came to town after a two-game losing streak, and Sullivan wondered if Gadson would mind saying a few words to the team the night before their game against the Washington Redskins. He did and the Giants won after being down 14 points at half time.

"Inspiration is something that's internal and it's impossible for me to measure how I inspire someone or if they feel like I inspire them," Gadson said, reluctant to take credit for inspiring this or any of their wins, although the Giants and media have credited him with providing extra motivation for the team.

At the same time, he acknowledged that something he said must have made a difference: Sullivan would tell him how the Giants players continually asked about him and were eager for him to come to other games.

When they arrived for their first play-off game against Tampa, Gadson was waiting for them in the hotel lobby - standing on prosthetic legs.

"If you could have seen the look on their faces, I knew there was a special bond because I could see it in their face when they saw me standing there. They all either came up and shook my hand or gave me hugs. It was very personal and I really felt very special," he said.

"To see him taking a couple of steps was amazing," cornerback Corey Webster told ESPN.com.

"We were so happy for him."

Gadson had to miss the Giants' next play-off game against Dallas because he needed more surgery on his right leg and right arm, which was also injured during the blast. He credits the Giants with helping him get through eight rough days in the hospital.

"I was really struggling," he remembered.

"It was hard going back in the hospital because of the memories it brought back and it was pretty painful. And I have to admit, I drew some strength from being around the Giants. I thought about them and some of the things I talked to them about and fighting, and that kind of helped me get through the difficulties I was having in the hospital."

The Giants named Gadson an honorary captain for their final championship against Green Bay, and both Gadson and his 13-year-old son Jaelen were back on the sidelines.

"Everyone was concerned with me being in the weather and they had box seats for me, but I decided that the right place for me to be was on the sideline by my teammates," he said.

When the game went into overtime and Webster intercepted a pass from Brett Favre, he gave the ball to Gadson.

"He's a big motivating factor for me, personally, and the team," Webster told ESPN.

When the Giants invited Gadson and his family to the Super Bowl, they were inviting one of their own. He and his son were at the team practice and meetings, and he spoke to them again Saturday night.

Gadson has declined to say what he talked about that night, saying it's just too personal, but he said he was so proud of them for winning and that he has received far more from the Giants than he has given.

"Last year about this time, I was on my way to Iraq, leading my battalion into Iraq and a year later, I've lost my legs and I'm beginning to put my life back together," he said.

"And to be a part of this is absolutely mind-boggling in some respects. The Giants helped me too. They've been inspirational to me. I got a chance to be a part of a team. Being a part of a team is so important to me.

"That's why I enjoyed battalion command so much. It was an honor and privilege to be a battalion commander. I got taken out very suddenly and very quickly and I kind of didn't have a team.

"My focus has been on rehabbing myself, but I'm not a team by myself. The Giants let me be part of their team. I saw them (Monday) morning, they were going 'What's up Champ?' They were calling me a champion. It's hard to tell you how that makes me feel, but I got to be part of a team again. My first team was my battalion back in Iraq and I probably won't rest easy until they get back (in April), but this was a great opportunity and a great blessing."

Source

Last Marine in Original Iwo Photo Dies

Associated Press February 05, 2008

REDDING, Calif. - Raymond Jacobs, believed to be the last surviving member of the group of Marines photographed during the original U.S. flag-raising on Iwo Jima during World War II, has died at age 82.

Jacobs died Jan. 29 of natural causes at a Redding hospital, his daughter, Nancy Jacobs, told The Associated Press.

Jacobs had spent his later years working to prove that he was the radio operator photographed looking up at an American flag as it was being raised by other Marines on Mount Suribachi on Feb. 23, 1945.

Newspaper accounts from the time show he was on the mountain during the initial raising of a smaller American flag, though he had returned to his unit by the time the more famous AP photograph was taken of a second flag-raising later the same day.

The radioman's face isn't fully visible in the first photograph taken of the first flag-raising by Lou Lowery, a photographer for Leatherneck magazine, leading some veterans to question Jacobs' claim. However, other negatives from the same roll of film show the radioman is Jacobs, said retired Col. Walt Ford, editor of Leatherneck.

"It's clearly a front-on face shot of Ray Jacobs," Ford said.

Annette Amerman, a historian with the Marine Corps History Division, said in an e-mailed statement "there are many that believe" Jacobs was the radioman. "However, there are no official records produced at the time that can prove or refute Mr. Jacobs' location."

Jacobs was honorably discharged in 1946. He was called up during the Korean conflict in 1951 before retiring as a sergeant, his daughter said.

Jacobs retired in 1992 from KTVU-TV in Oakland, where he worked 34 years as a reporter, anchor and news director.

--Their watch is over. Their patriotism and sacrifice shall not be forgotten, for it lives on in the hearts, minds and footsteps of all those that follow. Rest in peace Marines.

Valentine's Care Packs

Thanks to all of you, we have 86 Valentine carepacks now headed to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I also want to share with you a "thank you" that we recieved from a soldier who got one of our Christmas care packages.

Hello from Iraq!
Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness and for sending the care packages for us. We are honored to know that there are so many people back home who support us and are willing to sacrifice their time and effort to make our lives better.
Thanks from all of us at Camp Delta!

A Boy’s Wish Made Real

Dontay Burton and Gunnery Sgt. William C. House watch Marines in a battalion formation run at Camp Lejeune in May 2007. During a Make-A-Wish Foundation visit in North Carolina, Burton toured Marine Corps Air Stations New River and Cherry Point, Camp Gieger, as well as Camp Lejeune.


Jan. 31, 2008; Submitted on: 01/31/2008 03:26:47 PM ; Story ID#: 2008131152647
By Capt. Paul L. Greenberg, Marine Forces Reserve


BROOKPARK, Ohio (Jan. 31, 2008) -- On Jan. 12, 2008, a warrior named Dontay Burton was laid to rest at the First Missionary Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio. He was eight years old.

Reserve Marines from Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve here attended the funeral to pay their respects.

“All he ever wanted to be was a Marine,” said Lt. Col. Minter B. Ralston, the battalion inspector-instructor, who attended the service with Sgt. Maj. Carl L. Chapman, the battalion sergeant major.

Burton, diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic Leukemia in November 2006, was inspired to be a Marine by his grandfather, retired Marine First Sgt. Freddie Crawford, according to Ralston.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation coordinated with the U.S. Marine Corps to make Burton’s dream come true during his short lifetime.

On May 2, 2007, with his cancer in full remission, Burton set off from his home in Maple Hills, Ohio for Camp Lejeune, N.C., where he met up with his sponsor, Gunnery Sgt. William C. House.

House, who was an intelligence chief for 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division at the time, told a Marine Corps reporter, “Dontay is an inspiration to me and all the Marines that got to meet him during his visit to Camp Lejeune. His fighting spirit to not only live but to succeed will stay with me for the rest of my life.”

During his stay in North Carolina, Burton toured Marine Corps Air Stations New River and Cherry Point, Camp Gieger, as well as Camp Lejeune. His experiences included a ride in an M1A1 Main Battle Tank, shooting at an indoor marksmanship trainer, and “flying” in an F/A-18D Hornet Simulator.

“We may grant the wishes, but we also appreciate the tremendous generosity and assistance of the Marines in giving the wish kids such a terrific experience. Everyone really goes all-out for the kids when they visit,” said Brent Goodrich, the media relations manager for Make-A-Wish Foundation of America, based in Phoenix, Ariz.

Although he fought his cancer into remission for about two years, Burton passed away on Jan. 6, 2008 in a Cleveland, Ohio hospital from complications resulting from a bacterial infection.

House, who stated that he saw Burton “as one of my kids,” drove to Ohio from his current duty assignment at Marine Forces Command in Norfolk, Va., to help comfort the family in their grief. He was not able to stay for the funeral, but dressed Burton in a small Marine Corps camouflage uniform for the burial.

Although their time together was short, it was clear that the impact made by Dontay Burton and the Make-A-Wish experience will be long lasting.

“He showed the young Marines at 8th Marine Regiment that no matter what the obstacle, it will be O.K.” explained House. “Dontay never complained. He was a grown man at heart. He taught me that adversity, no matter what form it comes in, does not have to stop or even slow us down.”
Source

City Calls Marines “Unwelcome Intruders”

The City of Berkeley, California has passed two resolutions attacking the United States Marine Corps, calling the Marines, “uninvited and unwelcome intruders in the city.”

Read more here

Contact the City of Berkeley elected officials here.

What's Life Like for a U.S. Marine? - With Bloopers

This is a really cute video made by a Marine stationed in Okinawa. He's included his bloopers in this one. I'll post the rest of his videos over the next few days.

Fresh feet land on yellow footprints: Receiving gives recruits first taste of Marine recruit training

Staff Sgt. Antonio Soto, a senior drill instructor for Receiving, shouts at Rct. Anabel Santos, a new recruit, for not following instructions Dec. 4 at Receiving. Receiving is the first time many recruits are ever yelled at and forced to follow orders.


Dec. 10, 2007; Submitted on: 01/28/2008 05:02:31 PM ; Story ID#: 200812817231
By Lance Cpl. Jon Holmes, MCRD Parris Island





MCRD/ERR PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. (Dec. 10, 2007) -- The clock strikes midnight. The evening silence is shattered by a drill instructor's welcome.

"You have arrived on Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island," a drill instructor shouts. "You have taken the first step in becoming a United States Marine."

The recruits quickly run to the legendary yellow footprints.

They don't look like Marines, they don't sound like Marines, but that will all change soon.

Sgt. Trinity Nelson, a senior drill instructor with Receiving, gives them their first taste of recruit training.

"Look forward, feet at a 45-degree angle, thumbs along your trouser seams," Nelson shouts to them. "This is the only position you will be in when addressing a Marine, sailor or civilian during your stay on Parris Island."

Nelson isn't joking, but one recruit makes the mistake of laughing.

"Shut up," she shouts. "You think this is a game?"

Nelson orders the recruits to line up and center on her silver doors, males on the right, females on the left.

The doors read, "Through these portals pass prospects for America's finest fighting force."

"You will only pass through these doors once," Nelson tells them. "Now get in and place your right hip against my desk."

The laughing recruit wasn't laughing anymore. She was shaking.

"Give me your last name, initials and the last four of your social," Nelson ordered.

Silence.

"Well," Nelson asked.

Rct. Anabel Santos, the laughing recruit, was still silent.

"Anytime," Nelson continued.

"Santos," she said in a barely audible voice.

"Someone said whisper to me, huh," Nelson asked. "Shout!"

"Aye ma'am," Santos answered.

The volume still wasn't there, and several other drill instructors made their way to the quiet recruit.

"Shout recruit," said Staff Sgt. Antonio Soto, a senior drill instructor for Receiving. "Shout."

She broke. Within 30 minutes of her arrival on Parris Island, Santos was crying.

The remaining recruits weren't doing much better. They were twitching, twiddling their thumbs and fighting back tears.

However, their initial encounter was not nearly as emotionally challenging as their short, to-the-point phone call home.

Several recruits were crying before they even picked up the phone.

"This is Recruit Keith Paley, I have arrived safely on Parris Island," Paley said. "I will notify you of my new address by mail in seven to nine days, thank you for your support and goodbye for now."

Although Receiving is a psychological and emotional roller coaster ride, its purpose is much simpler - prepare the incoming recruits for training.

"We take care of their initial processing," Soto explained. "They get their medical and dental appointments, clothing and paperwork completed here."

The recruits are also given lessons on drill and common courtesy.

"We try to teach them the basic skills of drill, customs and courtesies," Nelson said. "But our main goal is processing them into training."

One of those image-altering steps of processing is the male recruits haircut.

Everyone of them were given a grade-A recruit training haircut. No hair, no high and tight, no medium regulation, it was all skin.

The recruits were one step closer to uniformity. All they had left were their civilian clothes, and that would soon be dealt with.

A single-file line formed, and the recruits were given their initial issue.

Their initial transformation was complete, but it wasn't pleasant. However, there was a helping hand to support them.

Navy Lt. Jay Kersten, the chaplain for 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, was there to support the incoming recruits.

"I come here to give them advice on how to deal with the emotional and psychological transitions they have to go through," Kersten said. "I think the hardest part for many of them is the initial intensity of the drill instructors. It's like they hit a wall."

Santos was one of the recruits who needed that support and got it even though she wasn't in Kersten's Battalion.

"I know the first two weeks are the hardest," Kersten said. "If the advice I give them helps them make it through those first two weeks, then my time here is worth it."

Many of them, like Pfc. Dustin Johnson, a Dec. 7 graduate from 3rd Recruit Training Battalion's Lima Company, do graduate, but still remember the impact of their receiving experience.

It's difficult," Johnson said. "You have to learn fast and move fast or get blasted."

Thousands of Marines like Johnson have stood on the yellow footprints and earned the title of Marine. Their first step to earning the title of Marine is Receiving.
Source

On My Watch Tonight

U.S. Marine Video made by II MEF. Song by Marine Maj. Mike Corrado. Please visit www.mikecorrado.com

New Priority Flat Rate Box

Starting March 3rd, the USPS will offer a larger Priority Flat Rate box. It is 50% larger than the current boxes and will cost only $2.00 more when shipped to a military address.

The new Priority Mail Large Flat-Rate Box (12" x 12" x 5½") can be used for both domestic and international shipments. This extends the flat-rate price and ease-of-use benefits to international shippers. There is also a 5 percent online discount.

There will be a special version of the box for the military, with a $2 discount, if shipped to an Army Post Office or Fleet Post Office (APO/FPO) address.

Read more here.

Bill Would Clear Fallen Heroes' VA Debt

By Terry Howell / January 23, 2008

WASHINGTON -- A bill to block the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from collecting money from the families of fallen servicemembers was introduced by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) this week.

"This bill is about honoring our fallen heroes by treating the families they left behind with dignity and by showing them we mean it when we tell them our nation is truly grateful," said Sen. Hutchison in her January 22, 2008, press release.

Take Action: Tell your public officials how you feel about this issue.

The Senator was alerted to this issue by the VA, which according to current law is required to contact the family for collection if a member of our Armed Forces is killed and owes the VA any outstanding indebtedness. Once a servicemember in these cases is killed, the VA must contact the families of the deceased and ask that they be reimbursed from the estate for that GI bill education payment. To date, the VA has sought to collect over $56,000 from 22 deceased soldiers.

Although the current law does allow the VA Secretary some discretion for waiving certain cases, the bill, dubbed the "Combat Veterans Debt Elimination Act" would remove that discretion and forgive all debts that fall into this category.

The press release also points to cases in Wisconsin, North Carolina, Illinois, Iowa, Connecticut, Nebraska, Colorado, Michigan, Washington, California, New York, Kentucky, Georgia and South Carolina and sites the following three Texas cases:

- A Soldier on his third tour in Iraq was killed by a sniper's bullet and owed the government $389 for an education overpayment. The family paid this debt in full because they believed it was the right thing to do.

- An Army Sergeant who had served in the U.S. Marine Corps before enlisting in the Army attended two different colleges with VA education benefits. After serving one tour of duty in Afghanistan, he was serving his second tour in Iraq when he was killed by a bomb explosion. He owed the VA $2,282 and was survived by a wife and four children. The family paid the debt because they, too, felt it was the right thing to do.

- A Marine reservist who received education assistance to attend Texas A&M University was killed in an explosion in Iraq. The VA informed his mother of his death with a collection letter that said he owed the VA $845, which must be collected from his estate.

The Combat Veterans Debt Elimination Act would relieve grieving families and remove the requirement for the VA to seek collection of such debt. If passed, the law would be retroactive to September 11, 2001.

In an effort to fast track this legislation, Sen. Hutchison requested that the Senate Majority and Minority Leaders bypass the committee process and bring this legislation to the floor before another family suffers the indignity of the current law.

MV-22 ‘Osprey’ brings new capabilities to the sandbox

Mechanics from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 work on the rotor blades of the aircraft, Jan. 15. The Marines ensure the rotors are properly secured during a routine maintenance inspection. Since October 2007, the MV-22 has had an average readiness rate of 68%. The MV-22 has one of the highest rated comparative performance records for a new rotary wing/tilt-rotor aircraft in the history of Marine Corps aviation. The range and depth of aviation supply parts is the latent limitation for high availability rates.




Jan. 23, 2008; Submitted on: 01/23/2008 06:24:16 AM ; Story ID#: 200812362416
By - II MAW (FWD) PAO, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (FWD)



AL ASAD, Iraq (Jan. 23, 2008) -- The Marines of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 arrived at Al Asad to support air operations in the Al Anbar province on Oct. 4, 2007.

The ‘Thunder Chickens' took over the entire range of combat medium lift assault support missions in support of Multi-National Forces – West from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 363 to include battlefield circulation, raid and Aeroscout operations, helicopter/tiltrotor governance,Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel alert and casualty evacuation alert, flying everywhere within MNF-West throughout the battlefield from Baghdad to Al Qaim providing an operational capability over distance and time that has effectively collapsed the battlespace. The squadron has completed more than 2,000 ASRs in the first 3 months of the deployment, keeping approximately 8,000 personnel off dangerous roadways and accruing approximately 2,000 flight hours. They have accomplished every mission and met every schedule while maintaining an average mission capable availability rate of 68.1%.

The New River based MV-22 squadron has experienced a higher operational tempo while deployed, with the squadron completing missions and accumulating flight hours at a sustained rate well in excess of anything they've done before.

“The area of operations has, in a number of ways, highlighted the performance of the aircraft,” said Lt. Col. Paul Rock, VMM-263’s commanding officer. “Our area of operations is large and the aircraft's speed and range has been much-appreciated by many of the folks the squadron has supported. In addition, the precision navigation and situational awareness systems in the aircraft have enhanced our ability to perform such tasks as desert landings in brownout conditions.”

In brownout conditions, the MV-22’s unique hover coupled capability significantly increases the safety of troops in the execution of combat missions enabling the Ground Combat Element to be safely and precisely inserted on the desired combat coordinates. No other helicopter or aircraft in the inventory has this unique operational capability and safety enhancement. It reduces and mitigates risk while significantly increasing both Ground Combat Element and aircraft survivability.

Cpl. Bob Cowan, a crew chief with VMM-263, believes the aircraft has performed better than expected. The normal wear and tear of the desert hasn’t been as harsh on the bird as was originally expected.

“The aircraft has performed better than expected,” said Cpl. Daniel Stratman, a ‘263 crew chief. “We haven’t had to replace any major parts like prop boxes or anything; the main problem out here is getting the parts for this aircraft. We can fix just about anything, the only thing that slows us down is getting the parts.”

As a new aircraft, the supporting logistics system is new and this deployment provides valuable maintenance and logistics lessons learned that will enhance support of the aircraft in the future.

The squadron, which was the Marine Corps’ first Tiltrotor squadron, has been training for this deployment since they stood up in March of 2006. Aside from the normal pre-deployment and Desert Talon training, the unit has completed two deployment-for-training operations to practice landings in brown out conditions and they also completed training with infantry Marines practicing inserting troops during raids and other ground operations.

“We had some snags at the beginning, but we’ve learned from our mistakes,” said Cowan, a Cookeville, Tenn. native. “We’ve done the training back in the rear, but performing the missions out here is different, so we’ve ironed out the wrinkles.”

The Marines of the squadron have kept their heads held high throughout the deployment and have done well at keeping the ‘Osprey’ mission ready.

“Our Marines are doing great; it’s incredible to watch them work,” said Sgt. Maj. Robert VanOostrom, the unit’s sergeant major. “The weather is getting worse everyday … but they have to ensure a certain amount of aircraft are prepared to fly every day. The amount of time and energy they put in every day to make sure the aircraft fly, is incredible.”

Almost every service member has heard of the new aircraft, but most Marines haven’t even seen the aircraft fly, not to mention fly in it. Now, many service members are getting their first flight in the Corps’ faster, farther traveling and heavier lifting aircraft.

“In North Carolina you see the ‘Osprey’ flying every single day and it’s just another aviation platform. ,” said VanOostrom. “It’s ironic to see the individual Marine who gets on the airplane for the first time and sees what it can do and says ‘This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.’”

The ‘Thunder Chickens’ have transitioned from a trained squadron to an experienced combat squadron that has completed every tasking and succeeded in maintaining the deployed operations tempo. VMM-263 has flown 5 Aeroscout missions, 1 raid, more than 1400 combat sorties and maintained an average mission capable readiness rate of 68.1% during their current deployment to Operation Iraqi Freedom 06-08.
Source

Lap Blankets

As some of you may know, in addition to being involved with Lubbock Marine Parents I am also a Soldiers' Angel. The Houston area angels need our help.

The Houston Soldiers' Angels VA Team is collecting Lap Afghans. They are trying to collect 533 so that each bed in the Houston VA will have one. The blankets need to be 36 x 48, but they can be any color. They would appreciate it if you would attach a note or card to the blanket so the Veteran will know who made their wonderful afghans.

If you or your group would like to help them in this effort please contact the Kimberly Hightower, Soldiers' Angels Contact Angel for the Houston VA at vactltx03@gmail.com .

Please help us help our Veterans know they are appreciated.

Cross-posted at Soldiers' Angels Texas

Wounded Marines Focus on Film Careers

Chelsea J. Carter - Associated Press January 22, 2008

SAN DIEGO - Joshua Frey looked through the view finder of his camera in a studio production lot, focusing on a group of helmets atop wooden stakes.

They reminded the former U.S. Marine of the memorials to fallen comrades he had seen before he was shot and hit by shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq, which left him with partial use of his left arm, traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder that still haunts his nights.

Frey, like many disabled veterans, has struggled to find a career, to rebuild a life.

Now, more than two years after being wounded in Fallujah, Frey has enrolled in the Wounded Marine Career Foundation program, which aims to help wounded and disabled Marines and Navy corpsmen land jobs in the film industry.

The photos in the studio lot were part assignment, part therapy for Frey. Perhaps, he says, his attempt to use a camera is a new beginning, a path to a new career.

"There's so much riding on this, it has just got to work," Frey says.

With more than 29,000 troops wounded in combat since Sept. 11, 2001, job training for the disabled is a priority for the military.

But unlike many training centers, the foundation's new film boot camp aims to do more than provide skills that help the disabled find a career in film, video, sound design, graphics and photojournalism.

It also aims to let the wounded tell their own stories, says co-founder Kev Lombard, a documentary filmmaker and two-time Emmy-winning director of photography for the children's television show "Reading Rainbow."

Lombard came up with the idea for the foundation's Wounded Marine Training Center for Careers in Media program after being asked by a friend in the military nearly two years ago to document the stories of wounded veterans at military hospitals.

"It wasn't our story to tell. It was theirs," he said. "So I said how about we teach them to tell their own story."

In addition to veterans whose war injuries forced them to retire, the Marine Corps is allowing active duty wounded Marines to enroll.

Lombard and his wife, Judith Paixao, use private and corporate donations and federal grants to operate the program, which costs $2 million (euro1.36 million) for each 10-week session. They plan two sessions a year.

"This isn't about turning out the next Steven Spielberg," Lombard said. "It's about turning out a camera operator, a grip, a boom operator. These are good jobs with good pay."

Amy Lemisch of the California Film Commission says the boot camp appears to be offering nuts-and-bolts skills that are often missing from college film schools.

"It's almost like an apprenticeship," she said.

While jobs in the film industry are highly competitive, Lemisch said the students could find jobs if they develop the right skills.

The program's camouflage-painted building on a studio production lot in San Diego has a Marine Corps atmosphere. Posters from "The Sands of Iwo Jima" and "The Flying Leathernecks" adorn the walls, and the 20 students are broken up into five-member squads.

Paixao says Marines and Navy corpsmen are well-suited for film work because of their discipline and teamwork.

However, many of the wounded and disabled have been removed from military life for some time. As a result, the program emphasizes Marine Corps discipline, says photography student and former Gunnery Sgt. Nick Popaditch.

He has taken on the role of the program's gunnery sergeant, so to speak - briefing students on the day's events and helping new arrivals to San Diego navigate the city.

Popaditch gained widespread attention as the "Cigar Marine" during the fall of Baghdad when a photographer for The Associated Press captured him smiling and smoking a cigar. A year later, he was severely wounded in Fallujah by shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade that hit him in the face, damaging one eye and causing him to lose the other.

Many students have severe wounds that require modification of film equipment. Barry Green, an Emmy-award winning producer, worked with Popaditch to figure out how best to use video and still cameras with his injured eye.

"I'm feeling more comfortable with it," Popaditch said hours later, looking through the camera's eye piece.

Across the room, former Gunnery Sgt. Tai Cleveland, 42, worked on loading editing software onto his laptop computer.

It's the first step in what Cleveland hopes will be a new career. He uses a wheelchair since a 2003 training accident in Kuwait caused back and brain injuries, and supports his family on his disability check.

Cleveland dreams of one day building a production studio in his home in Manassas, Virginia, and he and his wife, Robin, have begun putting together a business plan.

"It's a way for me to take back as head of the household with a career that I can do from a wheelchair," he says during the lunch break.

Standing in the cluttered studio lot, instructor Levie Isaacks works with Frey, 31, to complete the day's assignment: shooting a series of five photos that set a scene.

Frey focuses on the helmets, which sit near a box of blank ammunition. For a moment he considers taking pictures. But then he decides against it, saying later that the scene didn't look real.

Isaacks knows a bit what Frey has faced in war, having suffered post-traumatic stress himself as a Vietnam War veteran.

Isaacks has taken the road from combat veteran to Emmy Award-winning directory of photography, whose credits include Fox's "Malcolm in the Middle" and the recent film "Grace," starring Elizabeth Shue.

"You look through that lens and the world is focused," Isaacks says.

http://www.woundedmarinecareers.org

Retired Air Force general brings fight to ALS

By Jill Coley - The (Charleston) Post and CourierPosted : Tuesday Jan 22, 2008 9:57:21 EST

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Four-and-a-half years have passed since Tom Mikolajcik was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Seventy percent of people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis die within five years. Time is not on his side.
Now, Mikolajcik must make decisions about how he will face the last stages of the disease before he loses the ability to do so.
The degenerative disease, which is known for killing New York Yankees first baseman Gehrig, strikes about 15 Americans daily, shutting down nerve cells responsible for movement. Limbs weaken and atrophy before paralysis spreads to the trunk of the body. Eventually, speaking, breathing and eating are affected.
Patients must decide if they want to go on a ventilator and feeding tube to hold off the inevitable a little longer.
“Today, my decision is, I will put in a feeding tube even before I need it,” Mikolajcik said. “Today, my feeling is, I want to go on a ventilator as long as I can communicate with family and friends.”
The retired Air Force general and former commander of Charleston Air Force Base is taking charge of these critical decisions by participating in a medical study testing diaphragm-pacing stimulators in ALS patients. Located below the lungs, the diaphragm is the large muscle used for respiration.
The pacing device stimulates the diaphragm with surgically implanted electrodes to maintain muscle mass. The stimulator, already used in people with spinal cord injuries, might delay the need for a ventilator by more than a year.
During the surgery, a feeding tube also will be inserted, although Mikolajcik does not yet need one. “The sooner you have the procedure, the better,” he said.
Dr. Raymond Onders, director of minimally invasive surgery at the Medical University Hospital’s Case Medical Center in Cleveland, pioneered the technology and the procedure. The late actor Christopher Reeve, who suffered from a spinal cord injury, was Onders’ second patient to receive a stimulator.
ALS is a fatal disease, but theoretically, people could live indefinitely with a tracheotomy and ventilator. But most don’t want to do that, Onders said.
Doctors can predict when ALS patients will die based on their rate of decline in respiratory function.
To measure the success of the stimulator, Onders looks for decreases in that rate.
“It’s not a cure,” he said.
Mikolajcik was successfully fitted with a stimulator last week in Cleveland. He is part of a 100-person trial in six U.S. sites. Onders previously completed a safety trial implanting the device in 16 ALS patients whose decline in breathing function slowed, delaying the need for a ventilator by more than a year.
“I want to be able to listen, watch and absorb my children and grandchildren as they grow and change,” Mikolajcik said. The mind and senses remain unaffected by the disease. But as time passes and the body shuts down, the ability to communicate diminishes.
Toward the end of the disease, some people use their eyes, looking right or left to signal “yes” or “no.” In preparation for the time he will become speechless, Mikolajcik recorded himself singing “A Bushel and A Peck” to be played when his grandchildren are placed in his lap.
In August 2003, the retired general went to the doctor with a minor complaint: He was feeling tired and not hitting his golf balls as far, he said. The doctor noticed a slight twitching in Mikolajcik’s chest called fasciculation.
The doctor told him the best-case scenario was a benign tic, and the worst case was ALS. Mikolajcik went home and Googled ALS.
“I almost fell out of my chair,” he said. The muscles in his arms shut down first, then his legs. He can move his left thumb and index finger, and if he concentrates and is well rested, he can move his left wrist and ankles. Little is known about ALS, which was discovered in 1869.
“In 70 years, there’s only one questionable drug that may extend life by three years,” Mikolajcik said. “In 70 years. Give me a break.”
For unknown reasons, veterans have a 60 percent higher chance of developing ALS. That high rate is why Mikolajcik said he feels strongly that the government has a higher responsibility to advance ALS research.
He has visited Congress three times to push for ALS research and testified before a congressional committee in July. Legislation to establish an ALS database that will warehouse information on the disease for scientists and patients has passed the House and is awaiting consideration by the Senate.
“I am blessed that I’m a Type-A personality,” Mikolajcik said. “What about those who take no for an answer?”
Source

Lawmaker Marine prepares for Iraq duty

SETH PERLMAN / ASSOCIATED PRESS Illinois Rep. Jim Watson, R-Jacksonville, admires a farewell greeting during a Republican County fundraising dinner in Jacksonville, Ill. Watson is going off to war. The 42-year-old spent his last week in Illinois by taking care of the last minute details before his deployment to Iraq.


By Nguyen Huy Vu - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jan 21, 2008 7:53:14 EST

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. — Jim Watson is going to war, and that means taking care of details familiar to any Marine: updating his will, packing his duffel bags, saying goodbye.

Then there are a few unusual chores, like figuring out how to raise campaign money while in Iraq and arranging for other lawmakers to watch over his legislative district while he’s away.

Watson is a staff sergeant in the Marine Reserves, but he’s also a Republican member of the state House, representing a swath of farmland and small towns in central Illinois.

He leaves Sunday to train in Camp Pendleton, Calif. When he arrives in Iraq a few weeks later, Watson will become one of just 23 state legislators deployed overseas by the military over the past four years, according to a survey done last summer for the National Network of Legislators in the Military.

The National Conference of State Legislatures estimates Watson will be one of five state legislators currently deployed in Iraq.

Watson, 42, expects to be shipped to Al-Anbar, Iraq, and spend nine months working with local leaders to strengthen their government.

He’ll miss his son’s 14th birthday and his youngest daughter’s tumbling meets. He’ll also miss the spring legislative session, leaving his district without a vote in the House, a situation that irritates some constituents.

“I hope that people in the district look at that and say, ‘That’s a sacrifice we can live with so that he can do what he’s doing,’” he said. “If that’s not the case, then I am not the right guy. This is important to me, and I hope that is important to them.”

Watson already has served overseas once.

He started his military career in 1985 with the Marine Corps. He returned to active duty in 1990 and served in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia for seven months with a combat engineering unit as part of Operation Desert Storm.

Watson started thinking about re-enlisting in 2005. His pangs to return to active duty grew as he watched his old unit being sent to Iraq three times. Two of them died.

“You get into this because you have a sense of duty, and just because you take the uniform off doesn’t mean that sense of duty is put in the closet with it. It’s still there,” Watson said. “And so when these things flare up you find yourself saying, ‘I should be there, I can help.”’

Last summer, he signed up for the reserves again, joining a civil affairs unit that could use his experience in government.

He got word around Christmas that he was being shipped to Iraq.

Watson spent the last few weeks raising money, voting on legislation and trying to make time for his family. “It’s complicated to put it all together, but it’s coming together,” he said.

More than 200 supporters packed a banquet room Monday night to wish Watson luck during an annual political fundraiser that doubled as a farewell party. They lined up to shake his hand and promise to take his son hunting or invite his youngest daughter to sleepovers.

The next day it was back to business. Watson wants to make sure his district isn’t forgotten by state officials while he’s gone. He plans to keep in touch through e-mail, and other representatives from both parties have promised to visit the district.

Watson caught heat from a few constituents and local papers because he can’t vote while serving in Iraq. He understands the concern, and it’s one reason he delayed re-enlisting. But he doesn’t consider it a crisis that the district will be without a vote for 270 days. If he served any longer, Pentagon policy would require him to give up his political office.

Watson sits with advisers over pork loin and cornbread as they try to tie up loose ends. Have they thought of everything? Are the office hours covered? Do we have the right reps? Is the right staff in place?

Next, they head over to his campaign headquarters a few yards away and discuss how to stay visible through blogging, e-mails and video teleconferencing. The group then tosses ideas around about moneymaking strategies.

Watson listens intently and struggles to swallow a few yawns.

An hour later he picks up his youngest daughter. Recently divorced, Watson usually gets the kids once a week but he has the entire week with them before he ships off.

The hardest part was telling the kids. Katie, 16, Jacob, 13, and Lexie, 9, gathered around at Watson’s Jacksonville duplex when he told them the news. Katie and Lexie had the toughest time. They couldn’t stop crying.

Jacob sat quietly. He began to ask questions. If you have to go, where will you be? How long are you going to be there? What kind of gun are going to carry?

Jacob said he is disappointed that his dad has to go.

“I really don’t have a choice, I have to accept it because he’s already going and you can’t turn back,” Jacob says.

His children were the main reason it took so long to commit to the service.

“There’s nobody that can replace your parents,” Watson says. “Missing some games, missing tumbling meets, missing a swim meet, not being able to help them on a test, not being there to help out their mother. She’s got to carry this load and that’s tough.”

While Watson helps Jacob study for a Spanish test, there is a knock at the door. It’s a stranger. The man introduces himself and, out of the blue, offers to help any way he can while Watson is away.

Watson thanks the man. Then he simply grins.
Source

Military: 75% of Baghdad areas now secure

By Jim Michaels - USA Today
Posted : Friday Jan 18, 2008 9:38:59 EST

About 75 percent of Baghdad's neighborhoods are now secure, a dramatic increase from 8 percent a year ago, when President Bush ordered more troops to the capital, U.S. military figures show.

The military classifies 356 of Baghdad's 474 neighborhoods in the "control" or "retain" category of its four-tier security rating system, meaning enemy activity in those areas has been mostly eliminated and normal economic activity is resuming.

The data given by the military to USA Today provide one of the clearest snapshots yet of how security has improved in Baghdad since roughly 30,000 additional American troops arrived in Iraq last year.

U.S. commanders caution that the gains are still fragile, but at the moment U.S. and Iraqi forces "basically own the streets," said Army Col. Ricky Gibbs, a brigade commander in southern Baghdad.

The fight to control Baghdad is the centerpiece of the counterinsurgency strategy launched a year ago by Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq. The plan, popularly known as the "surge," seeks to reduce sectarian and other violence by moving troops off large bases and into dangerous neighborhoods to protect civilians.

The 310 neighborhoods in the "control" category are secure but depend on U.S. and Iraqi military forces to maintain the peace. The 46 areas in the "retain" category have reached a level where Iraqi police and security forces can maintain order, a more permanent fix. The remaining areas have fewer security forces based there, though they are not necessarily violent.

In February 2007, when additional U.S. forces began arriving, only 37 Baghdad neighborhoods were in the "control" and "retain" categories.

The drop in violence in Baghdad and elsewhere helped avert a religious civil war, said retired Marine Col. Thomas Hammes, an author.

Risks remain. Iraq's government has been slow to restore basic services such as electricity and water in some areas.

"In areas that are in 'control' status, the complaint is not security," Gibbs said. "The complaint is essential services."

The military is wary of handing over security responsibility too quickly to Iraqi forces.

"There are concerns we'll pull out of here too fast just because we have such great gains," Gibbs said by phone from Iraq.

The Iraqi government has also failed to take full advantage of the improved security by passing major laws, such as a plan to share oil revenues, that could ease tensions between Sunnis and Shiites.

Meanwhile, U.S. troop levels are scheduled to start coming down again by the middle of this year. Although weakened and pushed out of Iraq's major cities, al-Qaida remains focused on trying to dominate the capital, said Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq.

"Their long-term sights are still set on Baghdad," he said.
Source

Meeting Tonight!

Please join us for our meeting tonight at 7:00PM at Daybreak Coffee on 19th and Quaker. You are all welcome to attend.

America's Marines

This is the extended version of the new Marine Corps ad that aired during last night's American Idol. It's beautiful!

Check out more videos and "why we serve" stories at our.marines.com

Report: Blue Angels pilot became disoriented

This is something I had been wondering about so I was glad to see this follow up story.

Davis died after failing to tense abs to counter G-forces
By Chris Amos - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jan 15, 2008 8:07:13 EST

A crash that killed a Blue Angels pilot during an air show April 21 was caused by a Navy pilot making a sharper-than-normal turn to catch up with his five squadron mates and then failing to take steps to prevent blood from rushing from his brain during the maneuver, according to a report released Monday.

Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Davis, flying in his seventh Blue Angels show, was attempting to rejoin a formation at the end of a Blue Angels performance when he crashed his F/A-18 into a wooded residential area about three miles west of Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, S.C.

Those forces caused by the maneuver — 6.7 Gs — were within the range expected for that maneuver, but their quick onset left Davis temporarily disoriented.

Navy officials say the squadron’s culture of perfection contributed to the crash.

“The culture of the Naval Flight Demonstration Squadron is that they constantly strive to perform a perfect show, every show,” the investigating officer, Lt. Col. Javier Ball, wrote in his report. “I believe that Lieutenant Commander Davis was simply trying to meet this standard, just as he would have at any other show.”

Investigators say Davis compounded his error by failing to flex his abdominal and leg muscles to keep blood from rushing away from his brain, as all tactical aviators are trained to do, investigators said. Failing to do so can lead to loss of consciousness, also known as blacking out, or loss of space and time perception, which they believe Davis experienced, known as a “grayout.”

Investigators say they believe Davis never lost consciousness because he maintained control of the Hornet’s control stick until impact, attempting to right the aircraft until it struck the ground at nearly 350 miles per hour.

Davis was found at the end of a debris field that extended several hundred feet. Rescue workers arrived within four minutes and attempted to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene minutes later.

Witnesses said metal and plastic wreckage — some of it on fire — hit homes in a residential area about 35 miles northwest of Hilton Head. Eight people on the ground suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Davis, 32, of Pittsfield, Mass., had been an F/A-18 pilot since 1999 and had logged more than 1,900 hours in the Hornet, including deployments aboard the carriers Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy and extended operations in the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He worked as a Navy adversary pilot before joining the Blue Angels in September 2005.

Capt. Jack Hanzlik, spokesman for the chief of navy personnel, said he had performed more than 100 training flights with the Blue Angels — including the exact maneuver that led to the crash.

The Blue Angels were grounded for nearly a month while investigators studied the crash.

Before Davis’ death, the most recent Blue Angels fatal crash was in 1999, when a pilot and crew member died while practicing for air shows at a base in Georgia. An investigation determined that the pilot likely developed tunnel vision because a recent rib injury kept him from flexing his abdominal muscles.

After the 1999 crash, the Navy’s air training chief ordered the Blue Angels to consider wearing G-suits, which automatically inflate around a pilot’s legs and lower torso to prevent blackouts during tight maneuvering. Most tactical pilots wear them, but the Blue Angels do not because their sudden inflation could cause a pilot to accidentally bump the control stick — a potentially deadly move when flying inches from other planes during training and performances.

Since the 1999 crash, the Blue Angels pilots have received a series of waivers that allow them to fly without G-suits. Those waivers, investigators recommend, should continue.

Hanzlik said investigators recommended a number of steps be taken to prevent a similar accident in the future.

Those recommendations included ordering Blue Angels pilots to complete mandatory weight training — after studies found that 10 to 12 weeks of training focused on muscles used during “anti-G straining maneuvers” can lead to a 50 percent decrease in blackouts — and yearly centrifuge training geared to the unique stresses Blue Angels pilots endure. They also proposed developing a G-suit that could inflate without risk of bumping the control stick and looked at relaxing time standards for certain parts of the show to take some pressure off pilots.

But the best way to prevent these accidents, Hanzlik said, is to properly use the straining maneuvers.

“If you don’t properly perform this procedure, it can lead to a fatal impact,” he said.

Source

Angry Woman

Letter from one "Angry Woman" I don't know who wrote it but they should have signed it. Some powerful words. This woman should run for president.

Written by a housewife from New Jersey and sounds like it! This is one ticked off lady.

"Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001?

We re people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan , across the Potomac from our nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania ?

Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they?

And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was "desecrated" when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet?..Well, I don't. I don't care at all.

I'l l start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.

I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia

I'll care when these thugs tell the world they are sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling slashed throat.

I'll care when the cowardly so-called "insurgents" in Iraq come outand fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques.

I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.

I'll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law instead of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights.

In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don't care.

When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college-hazing incident, rest assured: I don't care.

When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank: I don't care.

When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and fed"special" food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being "mishandled," you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts: I don't care.

And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled "Koran" and other times "Quran." Well, Jimmy Crack Corn and-you guessed it-Idon't care !!

If you agree with this viewpoint, pass this on to all your E-mail friends. Sooner or later, it'll get to the people responsible for this ridiculous behavior!

If you don't agree, then by all means hit the delete button. Should you choose the latter, then please don't complain when more atrocities committed by radical Muslims happen here in our great Country! And may I add:

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem" -- Ronald Reagan

I have another quote that I would like to add AND......I hope you forward all this.

"If we ever forget that we're One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under." Also by.. Ronald Reagan

One last thought for the day:

In case we find ourselves starting to believe all the Anti-American sentiment and negativity, we should remember England's Prime Minister Tony Blair's words during a recent interview. When asked byone of his Parliament members why he believes so much in America , he said: "A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in.. And how many want out."

Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you: 1. Jesus Christ 2. The American G. I.

One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.

YOUMIGHT WANT TO PASS THIS ON, AS MANY SEEM TO FORGET BOTH OF THEM. AMEN!

Title It!

Be sure to head over to Gunz Up and play the Title It! game. This time it's a picture that I submitted that my oldest son took in Iraq.

Everyone is invited, encouraged and ramrod-ed into playing if at all possible.

Deadline is Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2008 at 8:00 PM CST

ONE Title submission only.

The Toughest Fight in Anbar Province

Military.com | By Christian Lowe | January 11, 2008

KARMAH, Iraq - It's a new kind of fight these Marines weren't exactly counting on. And it might be the toughest one they've had to endure in this war-ravaged country.
After preparing to confront one of the most deadly insurgencies America has ever faced, and steeped in the legend of Marine aggressiveness in the counterterrorist fight, the leathernecks of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines are fighting a pitched battle against boredom.

With violence across the province dropping precipitously over most of the past year, Marines who were girding for a brawl on this latest rotation have had to dial back their warrior ways for a softer approach.

Though their thoughts are tinged with disappointment, many are nevertheless practical about the new reality.

"There's not much going on this time around," said Cpl. Ken Dickerson, 1st squad leader with Lima Company, 3/3's 3rd Platoon. "But at least we're not losing anybody."

The two years preceding this Hawaii-based battalion's August deployment were some of the most violent for U.S. forces in its nearly five year occupation of Iraq. But since the surge of 30,000 troops launched in early 2007, violent incidents in Anbar have dropped to levels unthinkable just a year ago.

According to officials with II Marine Expeditionary Force, there were about 170 "significant events" in Fallujah, about five miles from here, during the first week of January 2007. That includes firefights, IED attacks, mine explosions and roadside bombs that were discovered, but that did not detonate.

By the last week of December, the number of "sigevents," as they're called here, in Fallujah dropped to less than 20.

In Ramadi, the capitol of the Sunni-dominated Anbar province and a troubled hot spot for years, incidents dropped from 198 in one week of February 2007, to three by the last week of the year.

II MEF officials attribute this massive shift to a population fed up with al Qaeda in Iraq's terrorist tactics and rejuvenated tribal governance that cast its lot with American efforts to bolster the national government.

Whatever the reason for the reduction in violence, Marines in the field have switched from rifles to paint brushes and from bullets to handshakes.

For some of leathernecks here on their first deployment, it's a bit of a let-down. One Marine in 3rd platoon who's a veteran of the fierce Fallujah fight in November of 2004 said it's been tough to keep his Marines motivated after regaling them with stories of that epic battle. They came here to fight, he said, and instead they're patrolling streets teeming with people, devoid of enemy activity.

In fact, Lima Company hasn't fired a single shot in anger since early October, its commander, Capt. Quintin Jones, said.

And that's just fine with him. As local police take greater control of their towns and local citizens help keep al Qaeda malcontents from detonating bombs in their markets, the Marines here are left with little to do but reconstruction and institution building - an overall mission that has one every Marine can appreciate.

"It might be a little boring here now," said Lance Cpl. Parker Winnett, a radio operator with 3rd Platoon's 1st squad. "But at least I'll come home alive."

America's Marines at the Grand Canyon

Protecting troops in ‘bonus limbo’

By Tom Philpott, Special to Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, January 12, 2008



Pentagon officials and congressional staffs are working together to try to ensure that thousands of bonus-qualified recruits, and thousands of careerists ready to re-enlist, aren’t harmed financially by the current suspension of bonuses and incentive pays.

Bonuses and many special pays stopped Jan. 1 because President Bush vetoed the fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill. He refused to sign HR 1585 because of a provision that could expose assets of the fledgling Iraqi government to U.S. lawsuits from victims of Saddam Hussein’s regime.

Until the $696 billion defense policy bill is revised, passed and signed, or Congress clears separate legislation restoring bonus and pay authorities, the services must operate without key force-management tools, including all enlistment, re-enlistment and retention bonuses being paid to fill critical skills.

Capitol Hill staffers and Defense officials have been brainstorming how to rewrite the delayed Defense bill to be certain it fully protects recruits and servicemembers from unintended consequences of the bonus limbo. They want to make sure, for example, that suspended bonuses and special pays are made retroactive to Jan. 1 for everyone, whether infantrymen and health care professionals or aviators and nuclear-trained officers.

Defense officials also are pressing Congress to protect tax breaks for servicemembers who might be unable to re-enlist before returning this month from Iraq and Afghanistan. Special language could be necessary to allow war-zone tax exemptions to apply to bonus contracts whose signing must be delayed.

This will be a concern, for example, for re-enlistment-eligible soldiers in two Army Brigade Combat Teams — the 1st and 2nd Brigades of the 1st Cavalry Division.

“The language we’re working on with the Congress would protect those situations so there would be no disadvantage accruing to anyone,” said Bill Carr, deputy undersecretary of Defense for military personnel policy.

With no authorization bill, the military’s pay raise appearing in mid-January checks will be 3 percent, not 3.5 percent as passed by Congress. Standing law allows raises to match wage growth in the private sector, which is the lower figure. Congress had for a 3.5 percent hike to continue to close a perceived pay gap.

When revising the Defense bill, lawmakers are expected to make the larger raise retroactive to Jan. 1. But for it to show up in end-of-month paychecks, the revised bill would have to be signed by January 22.

For most members facing re-enlistment decisions, suspension of bonus authority isn’t a big deal. The services are offering service extensions of a month or two until bonuses are available again. The Army, which in wartime is paying bonuses to 82 percent of soldiers who re-enlist, intends to keep all bonus levels unchanged for several months.

The services were alerted to the veto two days after Christmas. For the Army at least, that was enough in time to advise soldiers with expiring contracts to re-enlist before Jan. 1 to ensure a bonus. This led to a surge of 1,500 re-enlistments in the last days of December.

The effect of bonus suspensions on recruiting is a bigger worry, Carr said. The Army gives bonuses to 68 percent of its recruits. But this month, any bonus agreement that a recruit signs includes an addendum warning that a bonus will only paid if Congress authorizes payment retroactive to Jan. 1. The same document also advises recruits that their own contractual obligation to serve is “valid and enforceable” regardless of whether a bonus is paid.

“It’s legally necessary to say that,” Carr said. “But we all believe the Congress will ultimately give us those authorities and, if they follow history, will give them in a way that the person is not affected by the delay.”

Army officials said using the addendum had not discouraged recruits from enlisting through the first week of January. Carr worries that it could happen. Unlike current servicemembers who have seen these delayed budget drills before, he said, recruits have no basis in experience to be confident Congress will restore promised bonuses back to January.

“Therefore it might cause them to be reluctant to [enlist on] a soft guarantee about a future incentive,” Carr said.

He noted that January is the biggest month for recruiting outside of summer with the Army alone hoping to ship roughly 7,500 recruits. The Navy and Air Force also will need to offer recruit bonuses on certain critical skills, and therefore are selectively attaching the addendum to some contracts.

The Marine Corps doesn’t need the addendum. Its contract, said Carr, already gives recruits some options if the bonus they are signing up for isn’t authorized. A recruit at that point can choose to stay in without a bonus, reduce the length of their contract or simply end their tour in the Corps.

If the other services begin to see a chilling effect on recruiting from the conditional bonus language being used, Carr said, the department is preparing a more reassuring contract addendum that, like the Marine contract, would offer recruits options if Congress fails to approve their bonus.

To comment, e-mail milupdate@aol.com, write to Military Update, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, VA 20120-1111 or visit: www.militaryupdate.com
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3,000 Marines could be headed to Afghanistan

By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jan 10, 2008 8:10:52 EST

The Pentagon has received a U.S. Central Command request to send roughly 3,000 Marines to Afghanistan to bolster the combat troop-strapped NATO force and counter a possible spring offensive by Taliban insurgents.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who has expressed concern that six years of progress in Afghanistan could be reversed if NATO efforts falter, is expected to begin considering the request beginning Friday. He is not, however, expected to make a snap decision, according to press secretary Geoff Morrell.

“It is highly unlikely that he will approve this on the spot,” Morrell said Wednesday evening. “He has more thinking to do on this matter. It’s a serious commitment of additional troops. And he wants to discuss it with some additional people.”

The NATO International Security Assistance Force, now roughly 41,700 troops — 14,000 of them U.S. — bolsters efforts by the Afghan army and police forces to provide security and stability in war-torn country so its young government can rebuild and become more economically secure. A parallel effort by the U.S.-led Combined Joint Task Force 82 — 12,000 U.S. and 1,200 other coalition troops — focuses on defeating anti-government extremists.

If Gates decides to approve the new request, the troops — a Marine Air-Ground Task Force and a battalion that would focus on the training of Afghan army and police units — would be in place by April and spend seven months operating in southern Afghanistan, the area most vexed by Taliban attacks. It would be a “one-time-only” deployment and the troops, who would be assigned to Regional Command South, would not be replaced by additional U.S. forces, Morrell said.

RC South, headquartered in Kandahar, is currently commanded by the United Kingdom.

Sources said the Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit — scheduled to deploy in mid-February — went into high gear this week, laying plans for an accelerated deployment schedule that could have the unit departing for Afghanistan on Feb. 1 and staying out past its traditional 180-day rotation. However, unit officials would not confirm that the group is planning to leave early.

“We do not have a deployment order,” or a warning order, said Capt. Kelly Frushour, spokeswoman for the Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based unit.

The 24th MEU is planning to deploy with the Nassau Expeditionary Strike Group. Cmdr. Herman Phillips, 2nd Fleet public affairs officer, said he knew of no changes to the Nassau ESG deployment schedule.

“There’s nothing planned right now,” he said.

Morrell said no units have been identified, but that they would not be drawn from neighboring Iraq. Late last year, Gates rejected a Marine Corps proposal to move Marine units from Iraq’s Anbar province to Afghanistan. The security situation in Anbar, while much improved over the past year, “remains tenuous,” Morrell said.

Gates has repeatedly complained that other NATO countries have not contributed enough combat forces and other capabilities, particularly helicopters capable of high-altitude operations, to the coalition effort. Gates has said ISAF is short about 3,500 trainers and to meet every command requirement, a total of 7,500 additional troops would be needed.

But Gates softened his tone during his December meetings with NATO defense ministers in Scotland, saying the U.S., recognizing “political realities” faced by some European governments regarding involvement in Afghanistan, would stop “hammering” its allies to contribute more and instead take a more creative approach toward resolving the shortfalls — such getting allies to contribute more funds for items such as helicopter overhaul.

“As a result, we will likely have to bear more of the combat shortfall,” Morrell said.

Violence increased markedly over the past 18 months in Afghanistan, particularly in the south — the result, U.S. officials say, of renewed Taliban assaults. But the new proposal is not a reaction to that increase but rather, Morrell said, “more a move in anticipation of what we expect to be another attempt at a Taliban spring offensive.” The idea is to get the Marines in place “to prevent, as we did last spring, another attempt by the Taliban to come back.”

The Taliban controlled Afghanistan from 1996 until late-2001, when a coalition of U.S. and Afghan warlord-led forces drove them from power. Pockets of Taliban insurgents have remained in Afghanistan ever since, some crossing into eastern Afghanistan from tribal areas in neighboring Pakistan to spring attacks on civilians and coalition forces.

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Staff writers Andrew Scutro and Trista Talton contributed to this report.
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Presidential candidates take a stand on military issues

By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, January 5, 2008

Stars and Stripes surveyed the 2008 presidential candidates about their positions on issues important to members of the U.S. Armed Forces. Click here to compare their answers side by side.

WASHINGTON — If elected president, Barack Obama would boost foreign language and nation-building training for all troops, John Edwards would create a deployable reserve corps of civilian experts, and Fred Thompson would boost the Army to 775,000 soldiers.

Those ideas are just a few presidential candidates shared with Stars and Stripes on how to improve military readiness and servicemembers’ quality of life.

In a questionnaire sent to the major campaigns last month, five candidates responded to issues of military operations in Iraq, homosexuals in the military, postcombat health care and ways to better help families of deployed troops.

While all expressed an admiration for servicemembers and their efforts, Democratic and Republican candidates offered drastically different views of how to proceed with operations overseas, and how best to prepare the services for the future.

Republicans Thompson and John McCain both echoed President Bush’s assertions that great strides have been made in Iraq in recent months, and opposed any plans calling for withdrawal timelines or a hasty pullout from the country.

But Democrats Obama, Edwards and Bill Richardson all called for the immediate withdrawal of significant U.S. forces from the country, with Richardson proposing all troops be removed as soon as possible because “there can be no political solution while our military remains there.”

All of the respondents except Thompson believe more resources need to be committed to Afghanistan. McCain said he believes NATO should send more troops there, while Edwards would boost U.S. Special Forces in the country.

Obama said he would send “at least an additional two brigades of rested American troops” there, while Richardson proposed deploying 20,000 more troops for border patrol and securing the country’s southern provinces.

Both Thompson and McCain oppose moves which would allow homosexuals to serve openly in the military and allowing overseas military facilities to perform abortions. Richardson, Obama, and Edwards all oppose the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy and would make abortions available to overseas troops and dependents.

The candidates all agreed on the importance of military family quality of life in recruiting.

McCain said competitive pay and benefits packages are the best tool to help those families, while Richardson singled out proposals to give deployed parents more legal protections in custody cases and increased funds for marriage counseling.
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