Posted on 07/12/2004 7:59:57 PM PDT by LaDivaLoca
U.S. Army Sgt. James Stamper with the 369th Engineer Detachment greets his father, James Stamper, left, on his return to Yeager Airport in Charleston, W.Va., after a deployment to Iraq. Courtesy photo
U.S. Army Sgt. James Stamper with the 369th Engineer Detachment hugs his mother, Cindy Snyder, on his return home from Iraq. Courtesy photo
U.S. Army Sgt James Stamper, 369th Engineer Detachment, hugs his brother Robbie Stamper upon his arrival at Yeager Airport in Charleston, W. Va., after coming home from Baghdad. Courtesy photo.
Seen through a night vision device, parachutes holding supplies float to the ground after being dropped from a Marine KC-130R Hercules. The resupply drop was coordinated by the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), and delivered supplies to one of its rifle companies conducting combat operations in central Afghanistan. Photo by: Lance Cpl. Charles G. Poag
Combat drop keeps Alpha Company, BLT 1/6 in the fight
Submitted by: 22nd MEU
Story Identification #: 20047130752
Story by Sgt. Matt Preston
FORWARD OPERATING BASE RIPLEY, Afghanistan (July 13, 2004) -- Marines in combat still need supplies, so when a company from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) needed it most, help came from a rare place ... 450 feet above their heads.
Marine KC-130Rs supporting the 22nd MEU (SOC) recently air-delivered food and water to Alpha Co. Battalion Landing Team 1st Bn., 6th Marines in the mountainous area of central Afghanistan.
Because the MEU's other aviation assets were needed elsewhere, the MEU decided to perform a rarely done operation to keep the company in the fight - a night containerized delivery.
Flying at night has become second nature to the KC-130R detachment. Nearly every night they make fuel and supply runs to Forward Operating Base Ripley, home of the 22nd MEU.
In the drops supporting Alpha Co., the KC-130R team dropped a total of sixteen containers, each weighing about 1500 lbs. over two missions. Aerial drops into combat zones have been around since Vietnam.
"It's something that's been in our tactical manual for quite a long time," said Capt. Peter Munson, of Cleveland, Ohio. Munson is the MEU Command Element's KC-130R liaison officer.
However, doing it in the dark is a new twist that has only recently been done in Iraq. This is the first time it's been done in Afghanistan.
"We just recently started working with night vision goggles in the fleet," said Munson. Munson stressed that they must be able to fly using night vision devices, as sometimes the mission dictates night flying.
Marine pilots actively train for such missions, qualifying semi-annually. During an actual drop, the KC-130R descends to approximately 450 feet above the ground. The rear ramp is lowered and the crew chief and his team in the cargo hold release the locks holding the cargo in the bay. The pilots then raise the nose of the aircraft and increase power as the aircraft tilts upwards. This allows gravity to take over, and the cargo rolls out of the bay and eventually to the ground. Parachutes quickly deploy from the cargo, slowing the package down just enough to prevent damage as it hits the ground below. Once all the containers have been dropped, usually in one run, the aircraft levels off and is on to its next mission.
PLANNING THE FUTURE — U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. B.P Mccoy, Commanding Officer, 3rd Battalion 4th Marines, 1st Marine Division, listens to Sheiks from Anah talk about future plans at the police station in Anah, Iraq. 1st Marine Division, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II, is engaged in Security and Stabilization Operations in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Kevin C. Quihuis Jr.
BABYLON, New York, July 2--Coast Guard Boatswains mate 3rd Class Mike Shepard (l), 21 of Delran, N.J. and Boatswains mate 3rd Class Clayton Stout, 24 of Lewiston, Idaho assist recreational boaters from Stony Brook, N.Y. as they stand next to their boat after the driver went aground on the Oak Beach Inn Shoal near Babylon, N.Y. while operating in foggy conditions July 2, 2004. The Coast Guard boarded and warned the driver approximately ten minutes prior to the grounding to slow down until the foglifted. During this holiday weekend, the Coast Guard will board thousands of vessels nationwide in hopes to educate the boating public to avoid these kinds of dangers. USCG photo by PA2 Mike Hvozda
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IPW has started a new gallery featuring poster-style artwork by our artist, Linda Eddy As with our political cartoons, we'd like to see these used to promote conservative causes. [NOTE: a photo of this young Afghanistan girl is posted on a thread on Free Republic]
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Great pics there, Kathy ! Thanks.
Very good, minor. Off to email.
Freedom Matters!
Hi Meekie!
My goodness, USVet....that's a pretty handy way to relieve jelly fish sting pain; more handy for some than others. LOL!!
I will accept your offer to pass a message on to Ms. B!! Please tell her she is missed and we can't wait for her to come back!!
And please deliver a hug to her from the trussell family!!
Hi NNEWBURY,Thank you for caring about our troops,mend fast,fatima
http://www.bouldernews.com/bdc/state_news/article/0,1713,BDC_2419_3031662,00.html
Iraqi kitten reunites with Fort Carson soldier
By Associated Press
July 12, 2004
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A cat named Pvt. Hammer has rejoined one of the Fort Carson soldiers who adopted him in Iraq, thanks to an organization named Alley Cat Allies that raised $2,500 for shots, sterilization and a plane ride to the United States.
"Only my husband would go to this extreme for a cat," said Sheri Bousfield, wife of Staff Sgt. Rick Bousfield of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team.
The tabby cat was adopted by the brigade's Team Hammer after he was born last fall at a base in Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad.
The soldiers, who named Hammer after their team, would tuck him under their body armor during artillery attacks. Hammer would catch mice in the mess hall — that earned him a promotion to private first-class — and help soldiers beat the blues.
"He was a stress therapist," Rick Bousfield said. "The guys would come back in tired and stressed. Hammer would come back and bug the heck out of you. He wiped away some worries."
When Bousfield learned his unit was leaving Iraq in March, he decided he couldn't leave Hammer behind. He e-mailed Alley Cat Allies, a national clearinghouse on stray cats, for help.
(snipped - click link for full article)
Bousfield met the cat at the airport and took him to his Colorado Springs home. The Bousfields and their three children have four other cats, a dog, hamsters and two geckos.
This sentence interest me:
The history of ancient India is largely a history of Hindu culture and progress. Hindu culture has a distinct claim to a higher antiquity than Assyrian schools would claim for Sargon I and as much or even higher antiquity than Egyptian scholars would claim for the commencement of the first dynasty of Kings.
By "Sargon I" I assume they mean Sargon of Akkad (c. 2300 B.C.). What evidence is there that literate Indian culture existed at that time? And if a non-literate civilization is being cited, why compare it to the time of Sargon? Why not Ubaid culture or earlier? I don't get understand the comparison.
The Assyriologist I. Gelb proposed (and it has been generally accepted since) that the land called "Meluhha" in early cuneiform texts was the northern shore of the Arabian sea, perhaps as far as the Indus valley. The immediate descendants of Sargon claim to have defeated Meluhha repeatedly. Is there literary evidence from India about that time? And if so, do they address such military conflicts?
An American soldier and Iraqi police stop traffic as a U.S. military convoy passes through a busy intersection in Baghdad, Iraq Tuesday, July 13, 2004. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
A U.S. Army soldier with the 1st Cavalry secures the scene of an accident involving a military Humvee and a civilian automobile on a highway in southern Baghdad, July 13, 2004. Three U.S. soldiers were slightly injured in the accident, said an Iraqi police officer on the scene. REUTERS/Ali Jasim
sorry
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