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A new TV ad from the U.S. Marine Corps focuses on a woman in combat, the first commercial of its kind for the military branch. The woman starring in the new spot, Marine Capt. Erin Demchko, has served in Afghanistan and was a logistics officer on a Female Engagement Team, according to the Marine Corps website. “FETs build trust with local civilians to gather information and improve relations with the community,” says the website. “Capt. Demchko worked side by side with her fellow Marines to complete missions in the region.” The ad follows a young girl who stands up...

On May 13th, 1967, I was shot through my upper right thigh, shattering my femur and almost severing my leg. I celebrate this day every year because it was the day I almost died but through God’s grace, I have lived this half century more. I was a twenty-one year old Lance Corporal (E-3) in the Marines serving as an Artillery Scout (an enlisted Forward Observer) with Golf Company 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines (2/1) about 16 kilometers Southwest of Danang, Vietnam. Our company was on a local sweep a little north of Hill 55, following the edge of the Song...

The United State’s military may be about to undergo a radical change. The Marine Corps Times is reporting that there’s an initiative in the works that might see Marines branch out, away from the traditional model that trained every member of the Corps on the basics of physical combat. Some of the new Marines may even skip basic training. The idea gained momentum almost a year ago, when Former Defense Secretary Ash Carter suggested a military build up required soldiers with computer skills, and that these new recruits might be able to move into units with credit for their civilian...

In the latest incendiary comments from the Turkish government, a senior adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Wednesday of the possibility of future Turkish attacks on American forces operating in the region. “If they [Kurdish forces] go too far, our [forces won’t care] that American armored vehicles are there. … Unexpectedly, a number of rockets may also hit them by accident,” said Ilnur Cevik, in response to a radio interview question on the recent deployment of American soldiers with the Kurdish militias in Northern Syria. Following last week’s surprise Turkish airstrikes on Iraqi and Syrian Kurdish forces in...

CAMP PENDLETON, California — Maj. David Palka had seen combat before in Iraq and Afghanistan, but roughly 90% of the Marines under his command — tasked with setting up a remote fire base in northern Iraq in 2016 — had only heard the stories. Their trial by fire in March 2016 came just hours after they landed on Army CH-47 helicopters under cover of darkness in Makhmur, Iraq. Getting off the helicopters at around 2 a.m., the Marines were in what was essentially open farmland with a large protective berm of dirt around their small perimeter. “By 0900, we received...

Democrats in the Senate pounced on the story to attack then-President George W. Bush over Iraq. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, flanked by other Democratic leaders, went before news reporters the day the story came out waving the newspaper in front of cameras as proof the president was failing to take care of American troops in a war. Much of the information for the story came from a Marine Corps scientist, Franz Gayl, who had been put in touch with the article's authors by Erin Logan, a staff member for then-senator Joe Biden (D., Del.). Ten years later, documents and...

The 450-strong amphibious Maritime Operations Commando team will be sent on emergency missions amid fears jihadis will attack vessels and ports The Maritime Operations Commando will also be sent on global raids against enemy ships or terrorist vessels. Ports are also under threat, as jihadists may try to smuggle armed terrorists into the UK. And Somali pirates are a risk, with at least six attacks on ships off the Horn of Africa in the past month. Troops for the new unit will be formed from the Royal Marines ’ 42 Commando battalion in Plymouth.

Despite having the highest accident rate of any U.S. Marine Corps fixed-wing aircraft, the Marines will keep the AV-8B Harrier around longer than planned. The reason is simple: Marine F/A-18 Hornets are in far worse shape and need to be replaced sooner. In 2014, the Marines were committed to retiring the Harrier earlier than planned and extending the Hornet fleet, however, after an intensive review of the Harrier fleet and the rapid aging of Marine Hornets, the Harrier will be around longer than it was expected to be a few years ago. Quirky and complicated, the Harrier has had a...

China plans to increase the size of its marine corps from about 20,000 to 100,000 personnel to protect the nation’s maritime lifelines and its growing interests overseas, military insiders and experts have said. Some members would be stationed at ports China operates in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa and Gwadar in southwest Pakistan, they said. The expanded corps is part of a wider push to refocus the world’s largest army away from winning a land war based on sheer numbers and towards meeting a range of security scenarios using highly specialised units. Towards that end, Chinese President Xi Jinping...

What do you do if you're a woman in the Marines, and you make a sex video, and your fellow Marines see it? Claim you're being sexually harassed, of course! It seems that a number of female Marines are having sex with male Marines and filming it, and then, when they break up, the male Marines share the sex videos with their comrades. This is said to have provoked a major crisis in the Marines. Marine officials said the branch was looking into a number of Marines, as well as current and former service members, who shared naked and compromising...

For many young people, the outbreak of the greatest War this planet had ever seen would come just a little too early for them to get in on the action. But Jackyln Lucas was not just any young person. This is the story of the man, actually boy, who enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1942 at age 14. We could go on to call him a boy throughout his entire Marine Corps career, but when you are awarded the Medal of Honor as a minor, you get the benefit of the doubt to be called a man....

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The oldest surviving officer from the Battle of Iwo Jima has died. Lt. Gen. Larry Snowden died over the weekend at the age of 95 in the state Capitol. Those who knew him called him a Marine's Marine, and a general's general. Snowden was a 23-year-old captain, commanding 200 men at Iwo Jima. Snowden told News4Jax in 2013 that one of WWII’s most famous battles was far different than the romanticized version. “I've read many accounts that says when the flag went up, the troops all over the island stood up and cheered. No way," Snowden said....

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- As "a symbolic expression" of the U.S. commitment to Taiwan, U.S. Marines will be posted at the new American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) compound in Taipei once it is open for business this year, former AIT Director Stephen Young said on Wednesday. No Marines have been posted in Taiwan since Washington severed ties with Taipei and recognized Beijing instead in 1979. Numerous media reports over the past few years have previously said that U.S. Marines would be posted at the AIT, but Young is the first ex-AIT official to speak publicly on the matter. Having U.S. Marines...

James Erwin was browsing Reddit on his lunch break when a thread piqued his interest. A user called The_Quiet_Earth had posed the question: "Could I destroy the entire Roman Empire during the reign of Augustus if I traveled back in time with a modern U.S. Marine infantry battalion or MEU?" The question struck a chord with the 37-year-old Erwin, a technical writer from Des Moines, Iowa, who happened to be finishing a book called The Encyclopedia of U.S. Military Actions (Through Facts on File). Erwin tells PM that he wasn't impressed by other users' early attempts to answer this question,...

<p>CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) - There will be no Article 32 hearing for the Camp Lejeune Colonel accused of sexually assaulting a child.</p> <p>55 year old Colonel Daniel Wilson of Mason, Washington, reportedly waived his right to the hearing, which is the military version of a civilian grand jury which determines if there is probable cause of a crime involving the accused. That's according to the online website Headquarters Marine Corps.</p>

Retired Marine Gen. James Mattis was approved on Wednesday by the Senate Committee on Armed Services to serve as secretary of defense in Donald Trump’s administration. Mattis sailed through the committee, which voted 26-1 for him to lead the Pentagon. Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) was the only member of the Senate panel to vote against the retired four-star general, who enjoys bipartisan support to head the Defense Department under President-elect Trump. Gillibrand has previously said she would oppose confirming Mattis because he only retired from the Marine Corps in 2013, while federal law requires a seven-year break between military...

President-Elect Trump is a super patriot, a nationalist who has big plans to rebuild this nation and the US military after eight years of neglect and Marxist social engineering that have utterly destroyed its capability to wage war on sea, land and in the air. Certainly, Mr. Trump has great intentions, but he has never served a day on active duty, in the reserves or in the National Guard. Therefore, he will undoubtedly adhere to the recommendations and analysis provided by the nation’s new Secretary of Defense. Enter retired Marine Corps General James Mattis. Nicknamed ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis, the general,...

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) — For the first time, the Marine Corps has put three enlisted female Marines in a ground combat unit once open only to men, officials said Thursday. They will serve as a rifleman, machine gunner and mortar Marine, said 1st Lt. John McCombs, spokesman for the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejuene. They report Thursday to the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, which has had three female officers in its ranks for several months to help integrate the enlisted females into the unit, McCombs said. The women's names and ranks were not released. "This process...

CANTON, Ga. - Dusty Kirby is so ready for this next big step his life. "It's a long time coming,” Kirby says. "I would push a button right now and make it happen, if I could."

OK, my son is at Parris Island right now and as of today has one month to graduation. He is hanging tough. But he wrote me and asked for more letters, more news. My fingers are about worn out sending and writing stuff. He likes Marine jokes and I sent him a few but I am running out of ideas. I would like you guys to submit Marine positive humor that I can send him to encourage both him and the other men in his platoon. We need to encourage these guys. Jokes are welcome. Letters are welcome. Help me...