1st FSSG's MPs prepare for worst when escorting convoys

1st FSSG's MPs prepare for worst when escorting convoys
Submitted by: 1st Force Service Support Group
Story Identification Number: 20043262014
Story by Lance Cpl. Samuel Bard Valliere

CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq(March 26, 2004) -- Marines convoying through Iraq delve into a risky business, where potential danger lurks along the roads beset on halting the lifelines of support and slowing the progress of coalition forces.

The guardian angels who strive provide a halo of protection for convoys of the 1st Force Service Support Group, and who push out supplies and other support to Marines in Iraq, carry a badge, somewhere, underneath their Kevlar.

Military police from Headquarters and Service Battalion's Military Police Company at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, as well as several companies from 2nd FSSG's MP Battalion from Camp Lejeune, N.C., now spread throughout Iraq, shoulder the burden of protecting the numerous convoys, which truck Marines everything from their ammo to letters from home.

In the case of an enemy attack, whether it is an improvised explosive device or small-arms fire, the field MPs escorting the procession are trained to spring into action to eliminate any threat.

"(The convoys) are told to push through," said Staff Sgt. Don J. Sugden, 32, a platoon sergeant with the company. "It's our job to aggress the target."

Since arriving here March 9, 2004, the company has provided security for more then 15 convoys and in the process, encountered at least two homemade bombs and two mortar attacks.

"Our biggest threat right now are (improvised explosives)," said Cpl. Scott L. Patton, 24, one of the company's squad leaders.

One recent run-in that required immediate action involved a local motorist who was trying to split-up the convoy with his vehicle.

According to Patton, the MPs had to "kill the engine" by opening fire to disable the vehicle. The driver was left, unharmed, on the side of the road.

The MPs are a part of the 25,000 Marines under the command of I Marine Expeditionary Force deployed to western Iraq in support of ongoing security and stability operations safeguarding the country's peace process.

In addition to protecting convoys, the MP Company here also supports the reserve infantry Marines of 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, who defend the base.

At their home base of Camp Pendleton, Calif., the company has split duties, said Patton. Half of the company trains and acts as full-time field MPs. The other half of the company works for the base's Provost Marshal Office, where they serve as policemen who patrol the area and guard the gates.

The MPs' knowledge is critical for the infantrymen, who have to "shift gears" for their camp security role, which includes patrolling the perimeter and searching anyone who attempts to enter the camp, including civilian workers who hold jobs on base, said Maj. William C. Maples, the Group's force protection officer.

Prior to departing for the Middle East, the MPs received training in land navigation, patrolling, convoy operations and prisoner-of-war handling.

The training, said Sugden, leaves the MPs primed for the worst.

"We come out prepared to be aggressive and for them to lay an attack," the Elk Grove, Calif., native said. "And if they don't ... they don't."

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Photos included with story:

Marines with the 1st Force Service Support Group's Military Police Company relax before rolling out to provide security for one of the Group's convoys March 18, 2004. The protection of supply convoys, one of the tasks MPs are responsible for, is essential to the safe delivery of gear to all I Marine Expeditionary Force units. The MPs are part of 25,000 Marines and sailors with the I MEF who deployed to Iraq in support of ongoing security and stability operations. Photo by: Lance Cpl. Samuel Bard Valliere

Low altitude air defense unit, reserve infantry company provides security for 3rd MAW
Submitted by: 3d Marine Aircraft Wing
Story Identification Number: 2004327105356
Story by Sgt. J.L. Zimmer III

AL ASAD, Iraq(March 27, 2004) -- Every Marine is a rifleman. These words are drilled into the minds of recruits by drill instructors and are sealed when they enter into the operating forces of the Marine Corps.

In Iraq, being a rifleman is what Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 24th Marines, a reserve infantry company from Johnson City, Tenn., and 3rd Low Altitude Air Defense are doing in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II as a security element in charge of perimeter security for the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.

"We have been tasked with convoy and external base security," said Capt. Allen C. Laughlin, 2nd platoon commander, L. Co. "Our job is to get the Marines from 3rd MAW where they need to go so they can accomplish their missions from their operating bases."

Laughlin, a 36-year-old Durham, N.C., native, is an activated reservist in support of OIF II. He has enjoyed the non-traditional role of assisting the air wing instead of the air wing supporting the infantry.

"It's been a great working relationship with the wing," he said. "We have been mutually supporting each other because we have a job to do."

The executive officer of L. Co. 3/24, Capt. Chuck McGregor, a 33-year-old Charlotte, N.C., native is in charge of ensuring the Marines in his company accomplish their mission.

"Some of our Marines are instructing the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps," he said. Prior to the Marines arriving, ICDC training was put to the side. "When we arrived, we made sure they had uniforms, hot chow and some of the friction went away."

"We are showing the people of this country the right way, but it is a challenge to get them trained," he added.

Lance Cpl. Tim R. Whisenhunt, a 20-year-old Lebanon, Va., native and rifleman with 1st Platoon, L. Co. 3/24, has been in country more than one month and sees a bright future for the mission at hand.

"I think in the overall scheme of things, we are keeping terrorists at bay and out of America and other countries," he said. "I am glad that I am part of this mission."

Another element of the security battalion is made up of Marines from the 3rd LAAD, a Camp Pendleton-based unit used as internal and external security.

One Marine with 3rd LAAD, Sgt. Jeramy D. Szymanski, team leader, Alpha Company, is here to lead and instruct his Marines in their newfound duty.

"We have been doing an entirely different job than our (military occupational specialty)," said the 24-year-old Fort Smith, Ark., native. "We have been trained in convoy security, entry and control points and various other infantry tactics not normally performed by Marines in this unit. Once we became familiar with this job, our MOS' coincided with each other and it became second nature."

Another Marine, a radio operator with 3rd LAAD, is in Iraq for the second time in the past 14 months.

"This time is different for most of us because the type of battle we are now fighting," said Lance Cpl. Juan J. Rosales, a 20-year-old Dallas native. "We cannot see our enemy so it is our job to go out and find him before he attacks us."

Laughlin received training at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., prior to departing for Iraq and received a speech that gave him a different view of the mission at hand.

"A lieutenant colonel told me we are going to look back on this 20 years from now and it is going to be a turning point in civilization," he said. "If we succeed, democracy will spread throughout the middle east over the next 100 years. But if we fail, we will be put back another 100 years and terrorism will win.

"We cannot let terrorism win because then we failed our mission," Rosales concluded.

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Photos included with story:

	Lance Cpl. Juan J. Rosales (left), a 20-year-old Dallas native, and Sgt. Jeramy D. Szymanski, a 24-year-old Fort Smith, Ark., native, both from Alpha Company, 3rd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion, remove the ammunition from a .50 caliber machine gun after a nighttime observation post patrol March 25. The .50 caliber machine gun is used to 'mark' a target before the anti-aircraft missile is fired from the Avenger vehicle. Marines from 3rd LAAD and Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment are attached to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing as a security battalion and patrol throughout the 3rd MAW area of responsibility. Photo by: Sgt. J.L. Zimmer III

	A Marine from Alpha Company, 3rd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion, removes the ammunition from a .50 caliber machine gun at a nighttime observation post March 25. The .50 caliber machine gun is used to 'mark' a target before the anti-aircraft missile is fired from the Avenger vehicle. Marines from 3rd LAAD and Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment are attached to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing as a security battalion and patrol throughout the 3rd MAW area of responsibility. Photo by: Sgt. J.L. Zimmer III

	A truckload of Marines from Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, a reserve infantry company based out of Johnson City, Tenn., leaves their living area to go on a patrol in the Al Anbar Province of western Iraq March 25. The unit was activated to support Operation Iraqi Freedom II and is part of the security battalion for 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. Photo by: Sgt. J.L. Zimmer III

3rd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment

3RD LOW ALTITUDE AIR DEFENSE BATTALION

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Marine Engineers Bolster Defenses at Iraqi Base
Submitted by: 1st Force Service Support Group
Story Identification Number: 200432615835
Story by Lance Cpl. Samuel Bard Valliere

FORWARD OPERATING BASE ST. MERE, Iraq (March 26, 2004) -- As the 1st Force Service Support Group settles into Iraq, its combat engineers here wasted no time fortifying the base from regular mortar attacks.

Arriving in Iraq March 14, 2004, a company from the 7th Engineer Support Battalion quickly noticed several safety concerns and no time taking steps to fix the problems that they found.

As the I Marine Expeditionary Force slowly began taking the reigns from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq, issues of tattered walls and insufficient ammunition drop-off points prompted the battalion to begin work as soon as they arrived.

According to Chief Warrant Officer-2 Wayne D. Duree, 30, who commands Operations Platoon, A Company, 7th ESB, walls that existed prior to the Marine Corps' arrival in country provided inadequate protection against explosives such as mortars.

The concrete walls, which dated back to a time when St. Mere was an Iraqi military base, were missing entire sections. The crumbling maze of walls that remained surrounded various I Marine Expeditionary Force work and living spaces, and acted as little more than an eyesore to the Marines here.

Fulfilling one of the 1st FSSG's missions to provide engineering support to the I MEF, the company was tasked with patching the holes. Using sand-filled pillars designed to withstand the blast of a small explosion, the morning filled in the gaps before the conclusion of their fifth day in Iraq ended, said Duree.

In the near future, added Duree, the company plans to reinforce more than the gaps by adding protection to the walls themselves. Strengthening the walls should increase the likeliness that they could withstand the force of possible explosions.

In addition to bolstering the strength of the walls, A Company is working on constructing various other force protection enhancements.

Amnesty boxes, small containers located throughout the base intended as drop-off points for ammunition, were designated as being sub-par by the battalion's 1st Explosive Ordinance Disposal platoon.

According to Capt. Peter J. Mahoney, 31, assistant operations officer for Combat Service Support Group 11, when commands the battalion, the EOD specialists thought the boxes didn't offer sufficient protection against possible explosions.

To counter these problems, A Company surrounded them with the same barriers they used to repair the walls. The new design will force any explosives into detonating vertically rather than horizontally, reducing the risk of injury to surrounding people, said Duree.

The construction work doesn't come without the dangers of combat. While receiving some enemy mortar fire, the company also recently completed work on a large berm that will surround and provide protection to a yet-to-be leveled dirt lot intended to house tanks,

Lance Cpl. Paul G. Adams, 27, is one of the three heavy equipment operators who built the berm. A veteran of the I MEF's deployment to Iraq last year, he says the danger motivates him to work harder.

"If anything," he said of a mortar that exploded about 100 yards from him, "it helps because I want to get the job done faster."

The battalion doesn't plan to refurbish the buildings here, citing a lack of construction capabilities. But, they plan on escorting and monitoring the civilian contractors who are brought in to complete that task.

CSSG-11 oversees the operations of Combat Service Support Battalions 1 and 7 who will directly support the 1st Marine Division's Regimental Combat Teams 1 and 7.

The 1st FSSG will make up approximately a fifth of the 25,000 Marines and sailors under the command of I MEF deployed to western Iraq to conduct security and stability operations in order to facilitate the strengthening of the new Iraqi government.

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