Free Republic

A detachment from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit has set up a secret firebase in northern Iraq to support operations of the US and coalition forces fighting ISIS.Yesterday, ISIS targeted the firebase, firing two rockets, one of which landed inside the base killing one Marine and wounding several others.Initially, the Pentagon claimed that the Marine, Staff Sgt. Louis F. Cardin, of Temecula, California was killed by "indirect fire" from ISIS. But it seems clear that ISIS saw the Marines moving into the firebase and fired directly into the base.The existence of a combat unit in Iraq that could be targeted...

IRBIL, Iraq — A U.S. Marine was killed near the front line with the Islamic State in northern Iraq on Saturday, becoming the second combat casualty of the war against the militants, according to the U.S. military and Iraqi officials. The Marine died when Islamic State militants fired rockets into a small U.S. base in Makhmour, a front-line town controlled by Kurdish peshmerga forces on the outskirts of the region of Kurdistan, U.S. officials said. “Several” other Marines also were injured in the rocket attack, according to a Pentagon statement. An earlier statement had not specified which branch of the...

The U.S. Marine Corps plans to spend $50 million moving some 1,100 turtles from its training base at Twentynine Palms, Calif., or about $45,454 each. The program includes a 30-year assessment of their efforts to monitor the desert tortoises that are listed as threatened under federal law.According to Marine Corps Times, the tortoises live on a section of the base that is to be used for training. The newspaper noted that the cost is half the price if an F-35B vertical takeoff jet.

A division of the Department of Veterans Affairs tasked with fixing up the VA's broken veteran suicide hotline has dropped roughly 1.4 million phone calls from veterans since fiscal year 2015, a VA whistleblower told the Washington Examiner. That high number of abandoned calls is raising questions about whether the VA is doing all it can to fix up the suicide hotline, which has been criticized as the latest part of the VA that is failing veterans. Scott Davis, a whistleblower and program specialist at the VA's Health Eligibility Center in Atlanta, noted that the VA's Health Resource Center is...

The long hours and grueling pace of the presidential campaign may be finally catching up with a rapidly aging Bill Clinton. During an appearance in Bluffton, South Carolina on Friday, a former Marine interrupted Clinton’s speech and asked him to address what Hillary was going to do about the VA. “What do you think should be done with the VA?” Clinton said in a raspy voice, turning the question back on him and yielding the floor. “The thing is, we had four lives in Benghazi killed and your wife tried to cover it up,” the Marine responded, eliciting boos and...

A second Marine was attacked and left for dead in DC, yet when I go to Google News, I only see 2 sources an both will not allow posting due to copyright issues. There I a near media blackout, and the two sources which are out there have copyright issues. So much for the ides of a free country.

A controversial plan to move a U.S. Marine Corps base within Okinawa in southern Japan has been pushed back by two years, America's top military official in the Pacific said. Adm. Harry Harris, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, said Tuesday that the shift of the Futenma air station to a less congested part of Okinawa island would not happen until 2025 because work on a new facility has been delayed. "It's slowed," he told a congressional committee in Washington. "It's a little over two years late. ... Now we're looking at 2025 before that's done." The project faces stiff...

A vicious racist attack took place in the Nation's Capital Friday night just blocks from the Obama White House. And I don't seem able to copy and paste from the article. It could be the website, or maybe it's my computer which, though upgraded to Windows 10, is still really old and low power. The kid who was attacked was captured in a photo carrying a wounded Marine out of the "Hell House" in Fallujah. The photo was the inspiration for two statues, oen of which is at Pendleton Marine base.

Marine Allegedly Assaulted Mid-Burger At McDonald's, As Gang Yelled 'Do You Believe Black Lives Matter?' Steve Birr 02/15/2016 A former Marine became the target of an alleged assault in a McDonald's Friday night, as a crowd of youths cornered him and demanded he answer the question, "do you believe black lives matter?" Before knocking him unconscious and robbing him. Christopher Marquez, a veteran of Iraq and recipient of the Bronze Star for valor, said he was dining at a McDonald's in northwest D.C. when a group of black teenagers came up to him and allegedly began harassing him about the...

A bipartisan group of four congressmen introduced a bill Thursday that would abolish the Selective Service System, more commonly known as the draft. "Maintaining the Selective Service simply makes no sense," Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), a former Marine, said in a written statement. "In 1973, the last draftee entered the Army and since then, despite the first Gulf War and subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon has never considered reinstituting the draft. Our all-volunteer military has given us the most elite fighting force in the history of this country." Coffman introduced the bill with Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.),...

One can't help but wonder if the drastic and yes, insane order to assign females to duties requiring the karma of men in bloody actions not for the gentle make-up of females, will be a fatal decision for our military. Barack Obama, no Catholic lover; or even, Christian liker, bent on eliminating any form of Christianity from the almost 240-year-old established United States of America, positioned himself to effectively take a full quiver of arrows of divisiveness when just days before the highly sacred Christian day of celebration of the Birth of Jesus Christ, had his Secretary of Defense announce...

WASHINGTON -- Two House Republicans introduced a bill Thursday requiring eligible women in the United States to sign up for the military draft, just days after it was recommended by the Marine Corps and Army. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., a Marine veteran, and Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Minn., a retired Navy SEAL, filed the Draft American's Daughters Act to stoke debate over the military's historic move to fully integrate female troops into all combat roles. If passed, women from 18-26 years old would for the first time have to join men in registering with the Selective Service program and potentially be...

PARIS, January 24, 2016 - The United States potentially will make recommendations to position U.S. troops with Iraqi security forces in northern Iraq to support the next phase of isolating the key city of Mosul, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., who met here with his French counterpart for talks focusing on the multinational effort against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, told reporters traveling with him that the U.S. troops would be placed where they can best support the Iraqi forces in the fight. "We're about winning....

Mountain biker Damian Hiley was hours into a Saturday ride on a West Sycamore Canyon trail in Scripps Ranch — one he’s been excited to try out for some time — when he and his cycling group came upon a man standing in the middle of the trail, a gun at his hip.

(CNN)The U.S. Coast Guard will stop actively searching for the 12 Marines who went missing when the two helicopters carrying them apparently crashed off the coast of Hawaii last week. The search suspension goes into effect at sunset Tuesday. No survivors have been found nor bodies reported recovered. "A decision to suspend searching without finding survivors is extremely difficult given the depth of its impact. ... Our thoughts and prayers are with Marine Corps helicopter squadron and particularly with families and loved ones of those missing," said Coast Guard Capt. Jim Jenkins in a written statement.

All four life rafts from the two choppers that collided off Oahu's North Shore have been recovered on Monday but with no sign of any survivors, according to an official with the U.S. Marines. In spite of this, rescuers on Tuesday will continue searching for the 12 Marines who were on board the two helicopters when they crashed late Thursday. This would be the fifth day of search-and-rescue operations.

HONOLULU (AP) — Authorities searching the area where two Marine helicopters crashed off Hawaii have found some life rafts that were carried aboard the aircraft, but still no sign of the 12 crew members who were on board. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Sara Mooers said Monday she believes three life rafts have been recovered so far. Some were inflated, but it was unclear how they came to be inflated, she said. The search for the Marines entered its fourth day Monday. Mooers said at this point, it is still a search for survivors. Rescuers from various agencies have been...

Families confirmed identities of some of the missing Marines involved in a helicopter collision over Hawaii on Thursday. The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for 12 Marines who were reportedly on board two CH-53 helicopters when the aircrafts collided at 3 a.m. Thursday. The families of seven Marines released statements providing identities of the supposed helicopter passengers. One was Captain Kevin Roche, whose family released a statement hoping for his return and offering thanks for the report they received following the news. "Captain Kevin Roche is a passionate Marine who loves his family and his country - and we love...

HALEIWA, Hawaii (AP) -- A retiree who lives across the street from a Hawaii beach said she heard two booms that were loud enough to shake her house on the night two Marine Corps helicopters crashed off the island of Oahu. "I threw my blanket off, put my slippers on and ran outside thinking it was a car accident," Elaray Navarro said. The Coast Guard was notified late Thursday of the crash by another civilian who saw the aircraft flying then disappear and a fireball. Someone else reported a flare in the sky, Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Scott Carr said.

The Air Force said it will conduct a review to determine whether the use of "airman" is appropriate given the military's push towards full gender equality. [...] This confirms that a review of job titles, like the one initiated by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, is soon coming. Mabus' review resulted in an order to the Marine Corps to purge the word "man" from job titles, with the exception that compound words can remain the same. In other words, "infantryman" is acceptable, but "reconnaissance man" is not. That order came as part of the broader initiative to open all combat roles...