Posted on 08/20/2006 4:08:42 PM PDT by Gucho
Stars and Stripes - Pacific edition
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Navy officials announced Thursday that Rear Adm. Scott R. Van Buskirk will assume command of Carrier Strike Group 9 based in Everett, Wash.
The group includes the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, as well as its supporting ships and Carrier Air Wing 2. The strike group routinely deploys to the western Pacific and this month completed a five-month cruise in the region.
Van Buskirk currently is deputy to the deputy chief of staff for political, military and economic business, Multi-National Forces, Iraq. He replaces Rear Adm. John W. Goodwin.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Dozens of Taleban fighters killed
Aug 20, 2006
Sun Aug 20, 8:07 AM ET - Nearly 90 Taliban rebels and five Afghan police and soldiers have been confirmed killed in a major clash in southern Afghanistan. (AFP/Shah Marai)
By Sgt. Leo A. Salinas - Marine Corps News
HEADQUARTERS MARINE CORPS, Washington (Aug. 18, 2006) -- Richard Litto does not like the term “weekend warrior.” In fact, he despises it, and the mere mention of the phrase triggers a standoffish response in a thick, South Boston accent.
“I don’t like it,” said Litto, a reserve Marine on active duty at Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass. “We’re all Marines regardless of what status we’re in.”
And Litto is a true Marine. The 46-year-old sergeant currently serves with Marine Air Support Squadron 6; however, when called up for active duty from the reserves, he wanted to be with the action. He wanted Iraq.
Litto adjourned his civilian duties as a Boston police officer and joined the 6th Civil Affairs Group, a unit that primarily focuses on promoting good community relations in Iraq.
“I made the choice. I volunteered. I wasn’t told I had to go to Iraq,” said the Boston native. “I owe the Marine Corps for everything the Marine Corps has done for me.”
Nowadays, a typical reserve Marine no longer goes by “weekend warrior,” a term derived from reservists who typically trained two days a month, and two weeks a year.
Litto, and thousands like him, have whirled into fast-paced lifestyles as a result of the Corps’ high operational tempo. And reserve Marines no longer dwell in the shadows of active duty but rather shine by augmenting active-duty units. They man the gates in the rear when active-duty Marines deploy, or they join fellow infantrymen in the thick of battle.
Reserve Marines can be found in some of the most dangerous hotspots in Iraq. When mobilized to active duty to the Al Anbar province in 2005, Marines from Ohio’s 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, took perhaps the heaviest toll of any unit: 48 Marines and sailors killed in action.
But a reserve warrior’s daily life on the home front can be much different from active duty, as some are everyday citizens living double lives as Marines. These citizens, however, must nevertheless maintain military standards – and oftentimes where workout facilities, uniforms, and training can be hard to find.
Just getting the basics
On any given Marine Corps base or station – and with little effort – one can usually find barbers, tailors and military clothing, and prices relatively fixed to suit a Marine’s wallet.
Reserve Marines typically do not have these conveniences. They must explore.
The barber Litto frequents does a very good job for Marine standards – probably the best, Litto said. Ironically, his barber is an Iraqi immigrant.
“He can do a high-and-tight – takes the straight razor right down to the skin,” said Litto.
Litto is lucky because most barbers around Westover are not familiar with the standards he requires, he said.
Minor predicaments add up for reserve Marines, like finding a barber who knows Marine Corps standards or a tailor who can ensure uniforms meet Marine Corps regulations.
Getting creative, Litto’s squadron site commander Maj. Dan Sprenkle said he has taken uniform regulations in writing to local shops so civilian-minded tailors can get it right.
“You have to find a tailor and hope they know what they’re doing,” said Litto. “Order clothing (online) and you don’t know what you’re getting.”
However, Marines are Marines, and Litto doesn’t allow excuses to interfere with upholding standards.
“There’s no excuse in not looking good,” he said.
The model look of a Marine is square-jawed and barrel-chested – an epitome of fitness. Not all Marines look this way, but with a gym in every main area of their installations, most are afforded the opportunity to try. And active-duty Marines can train daily with their units in all climes. Moreover, Marine Corps Community Services, an organization that sponsors recreational activities for Marines and families, offers on-base fitness services ranging from swimming pools to nutrition classes.
Reserve Marines, on the other hand, must adapt.
“We have to present ourselves professionally as Marines,” said Litto. “You want to be the best no matter what because we are the best.”
Marine Corps Community Services does, however, help reserve Marines more distant from the proverbial guard house, as some Marines have discovered.
When the gym shut down on his reserve base, leaving no immediate facility for his squadron to train, Sgt. Alvin Mclean, a Marine formerly attached to the unit, obtained off-base gym memberships so he and his unit, MASS-6, could exercise indoors through the winter. MCCS paid the bill.
A reserve Marine’s versatility abides.
Sgt. Luis Sepulveda works as the career retention specialist for MASS-6 and Marine Wing Support Squadron 472, both reserve units. He attests that in the same vein that every Marine is a rifleman, many reserve Marines fire wherever they can find a 500-yard shooting range. Sepulveda’s unit fires at an Army range at Fort Devin, Mass. To ensure they retain their amphibious ties, Sepulveda and his unit also conduct required swimming qualifications at a local college pool.
Inaccurate and outdated
The past five years have been a busy time for reserve Marines. Many have been taken out of their normal day-to-day lives and thrust into the Corps’ high op tempo.
Sepulveda’s job is to keep Marines in the reserve force and to reenlist Marines who want to transfer to active duty from the reserves. After leaving active duty, he noticed a big change in camaraderie and understands why most enlistments he oversees are reservists who want to join active duty, he said.
Both reserve and active-duty Marines attend the same recruit training, and both attend the same schools for their respective Marine Corps occupations. That is where the active-duty lifestyle ends for reserve Marines.
Those on active duty normally go to a Marine Corps installation.
Reserve Marines go back to their hometowns.
When Sepulveda talks to Marines wanting to reenlist on active duty, that lifestyle is the biggest selling point, he said.
“Usually right after deployments, it’s the most challenging,” said the Amarillo, Texas, native. “Now reservists are jumping to active duty because they enjoy the camaraderie.”
He sees reserve Marines bearing the same conviction as those on active duty.
“‘Weekend warrior’ is an old-fashioned statement,” he said. “I think it is an old term; it doesn’t apply anymore.”
Sprenkle said he is proud of his reserve unit but didn’t start with that attitude toward reservists when he was on active duty. He referred to them as “spare parts.” But that was the past.
“I’m a convert,” said the 37-year-old from Tucson, Ariz. “I used to give reservists a hard time all the time.”
Now he sees proficiency and professionalism, and he respects reserve Marines for fulfilling, in less time, the same training requirements as those on active duty.
“Every day they are balancing two lives: answering to Marine boss and civilian boss,” he said.
He doesn’t necessarily consider “weekend warrior” a derogative, but he said it is definitely inaccurate.
Just don’t let Litto in on that.
“If someone calls me a “weekend warrior,” I’ll call them to the gym and put the boxing gloves on.”
CHICOPEE, Mass. – High-operational tempo has made the balancing act that Reserve Marines keep with their military and civilian lives much more complicated. Cpl. Kevin Roscoe and his wife Portia are just one military family that is keeping up with the times. (Photo by: Sgt. Leo A. Salinas)
By Lance Cpl. James Green - Marine Corp Recruit Depot San Diego
MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO (Aug. 18, 2006) -- Since August 2005, almost every drill instructor who has graduated from Drill Instructor School here has attended the Instructors’ Course at the depot’s Marine Corps Martial Arts Program facility.
The course is designed to give drill instructors more knowledge and experience with the materials taught in MCMAP before they teach it to the recruits.
“Instructors’ courses are recommended for all drill instructors to make them more proficient in MCMAP to help the recruits out,” said Staff Sgt. Jeff J. Vandentop, course instructor on the depot.
A minimum of a gray belt, the second of five belts that can be earned in MCMAP, is required to attend the class. If a Marine does not yet have his gray belt prioir to the class, he will first go through a week-long gray belt course before starting the instructors’ class, said Vandentop.
The course is comprised of numerous fast-paced, but thorough, lessons. Instructors must ensure each Marine who leaves the class is proficient in the material he learns. Marines are tested on their knowledge of MCMAP before receiving their instructors’ tab, which allows them to teach other Marines martial arts so they can upgrade their belts as they excel through the belt system from tan through black.
However, an instructor is not able to advance a belt user past his own belt. For example, a green belt instructor cannot certify a belt user higher than a green belt.
Because of the amount of time spent with each Marine, the material is understood and enjoyed by the students who attend the course.
“It’s a good course,” said Staff Sgt. Jose M. Mariscal, Company C drill instructor, Platoon 1021. “It took away the comfort zone by pushing us beyond the limits that we mentally set.”
Although MCMAP is a martial arts-based program, a lot more is put into the making of a warrior than just physical training.
Aside from the physical discipline necessary in the Instructors’ Course, Marines who attend the class are taught two other MCMAP disciplines.
“We teach mental and character discipline as well,” said Vandentop. “The synergy of the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program is based on these three disciplines. They are the backbone of the program.”
Developed over years, MCMAP spawns from a variety of different martial arts styles and disciplines and remains available to Marines in the fleet who desire to upgrade their belts and become more knowledgeable and proficient in the unique fighting style.
“It’s our history,” said Mariscal. “MCMAP has helped Marines before me and will continue to serve them after me.”
The Instructors’ Course is offered to all noncommissioned officers and above.
Company C recruits stretch out their abdominal muscles before a martial arts session. (Photo by: Lance Cpl. James Green)
Company C recruits execute counters to rear chokes during a Marine Corps Martial Arts Program training session. (Photo by: Lance Cpl. James Green)
Pvt. Carlos Sagastizadofunes, Platoon 1025, Company C, performs a counter to a rear choke. (Photo by: Lance Cpl. James Green)
Last Update: Sunday, August 20, 2006 - 9:49pm (AEST)
Iran says it will not suspend uranium enrichment, ruling out the main demand in a nuclear package backed by six world powers.
The package aims to allay western fears Iran is seeking to build atomic bombs.
Iran says it will formally respond by Tuesday to proposals made by the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany.
Iran insists its nuclear aims are purely civilian.
"We are not going to suspend [enrichment]," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said.
"The issue was that everything should come out of negotiations but suspension of uranium enrichment is not on our agenda."
Western diplomats say Iran must halt the atomic work before talks can start.
Iran's case has already been sent back to the United Nations (UN) Security Council because Tehran did not reply quickly enough. Last month, the council passed a resolution demanding Iran suspend enrichment by August 31 or face possible sanctions.
The package offers Iran state-of-the-art nuclear technology, the easing of some trade restrictions and other incentives, such as support for a regional security dialogue.
The US has said it will join multilateral talks with Iran if it accepts, a move seen as a policy shift in Washington, which cut ties with Iran after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
But Washington has also warned of swift UN action if Iran refuses.
Work 'complicated'
Western diplomats who follow the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) say Iran has been "complicating" the UN watchdog's work in monitoring nuclear sites.
They say it has denied entry to a senior inspector and cut back on multiple-entry visas for IAEA staff.
"They have reduced cooperation to a minimum under treaty obligations," one European diplomat said.
Mr Asefi says one inspector has been "replaced on Iran's request".
He says Iran could continue to give routine access but has suggested this policy could change.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has threatened to quit the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if Iran feels undue pressure.
Analysts say Iran's defiance may be based on a calculation that divisions at the UN mean it will only face modest measures, such as travel restrictions on officials or asset freezes.
The world's fourth largest oil exporter, brimming with petrodollars, feels it can cope with such steps.
Permanent Security Council members US, Britain and France back sanctions but China and Russia, the two other members with veto powers, oppose such steps.
Some analysts say Iran may also feel its hand is stronger after Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas scored what they and Tehran called a victory against US ally Israel.
The US says it wants a diplomatic solution to the nuclear stand-off but has refused to rule out military action.
Under Iran's system of clerical rule, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the final say in matters of state, not the President.
- Reuters
By Kent Harris - Stars and Stripes Mideast edition
Saturday, August 19, 2006
VICENZA, Italy — Pete Corona has spent almost 30 years serving his adopted country.
That included a 21-year stint in the Air Force, where he served in Desert Storm. As a civilian employee of the Army Corps of Engineers, he volunteered to serve in Iraq. Twice.
He was wounded in a mortar attack on April 14, 2004, received medical treatment and served out the remainder of his 6-month tour. Friday, he was honored in a small ceremony at Caserma Ederle with the Defense of Freedom medal.
Maj. Gen. Frank Helmick, commander of the Southern European Task Force (Airborne) pinned the medal on.
“We are very blessed and proud to have this guy on our team,” he said of Corona, who is a construction representative for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Europe region.
Col. Margaret Burcham, who leads the Europe region, praised Corona for his efforts, saying he volunteered to take on tough jobs.
That included two stints in a task force that served alongside active-duty personnel in Iraq, offering expert engineering advice in a dangerous environment.
Burcham said there aren’t any personnel from Europe currently serving on similar teams in Iraq or Afghanistan. But she said at any one time, there are about a dozen members of her unit downrange, serving four- to 12-month tours. Corona is the fifth member of the Army Corps of Engineers to receive the medal.
For his part, Corona said he did “nothing special. I was just in the right place at the right time.”
Or the wrong place at the wrong time, depending on your perspective. While serving with a group of Marines on his second tour in Iraq, he was hit by shrapnel in the foot.
“It was never life-threatening,” he said, adding that he still had some pieces in his foot. He was given first aid by the Marines, treated at a military medical facility and then returned to work.
Corona said he was honored to receive the medal, designed to be the civilian version of the Purple Heart. It originated following the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon. But he said there are thousands of others who are more deserving of attention.
“Other people come back (from Iraq) with no legs. Others don’t come home at all. Those are the real heroes,” he said.
Corona was born in Mexico and moved to the United States in 1972. He joined the Air Force in 1975, became a U.S. citizen in 1983 and retired as a master sergeant.
“I’m proud of my service in the Air Force and Army Corps of Engineers and I would go back to Iraq in an instant,” he said. “Especially with the Marines or our soldiers.”
While in Iraq, he got a chance to visit his daughter, Marta, who was serving in Tallil Air Base. She’s an Air Force staff sergeant now stationed in Okinawa, Japan.
By Steven Donald Smith - American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Aug. 20, 2006 – Two engagements with Taliban extremists in Afghanistan yesterday demonstrate that the U.S. continues to take the fight to the enemy, a U.S. military spokesman said today.
In the first engagement, three U.S. soldiers died and three others were wounded when a coalition combat patrol engaged a group of Taliban extremists with small-arms and artillery fire after being struck by a makeshift bomb yesterday.
Elsewhere, U.S. forces engaged about 150 extremists in a firefight that lasted nearly four hours in Uruzgan province. A U.S. airman died in this fight. Early reports indicate that the enemy suffered significant losses, officials said.
“These two incidents point out a few things,” said Army Col. Thomas Collins, a Combined Forces Command Afghanistan spokesman. “First, it makes clear that the United States will continue to maintain forces throughout this country, working closely with the Afghan National Security Forces in maintaining a counter-terrorism mission.”
The second point is that the U.S. is seeing an increase in Taliban activity because coalition operations are taking the fight to the extremists and placing pressure on their sanctuaries and disrupting their movements, he said.
“The enemy, of course, will contest this, and they are fighting back,” he said. “In the end, we will continue to push them back and reduce their ability to carry out further attacks all with a purpose of enabling the security Afghanistan needs to rebuild into a society where terrorists can’t flourish.”
About 1,000 members of the coalition are serving with NATO in the southern Afghanistan, primarily out of Kandahar Air Base providing logistics and aviation support, Collins said.
NATO eventually will take over command and control responsibility for all of Afghanistan, and a significant part of the NATO force will be U.S. troops, he said.
“Separate and distinct from the NATO mission, the United States has three of what we call enduring missions conducted under the authority of Operation Enduring Freedom,” he said. “One is to conduct counterterrorism operations anywhere in the country.”
The second mission is to help train and support the Afghan National Army, and the third is to contribute to the overall reconstruction going on throughout Afghanistan, he said.
Collins said Taliban fighters use insurgent techniques because they are not capable of engaging coalition forces in direct military operations. “It’s not like they are mounting an offensive that’s sweeping through the south,” he said. “There are these very localized attacks that give the impression of an offensive.”
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WASHINGTON, Aug. 20, 2006 – Iraqi army forces captured three death squad leaders during raids in Baghdad Aug. 18. The captured leaders allegedly participated in a massacre of Iraqi families last month, U.S. military officials reported.
Coalition advisers provided support during the raids, and all three suspects were captured without incident. The men allegedly participated in a July 9 ambush of Iraqi families at a checkpoint in the al Jihad area, officials said.
One of the captured leaders is a senior-level insurgent believed to be the overall organizer of the massacre. Another is a senior-level insurgent leader whose cell allegedly established the al Jihad checkpoint. He and his cell also are believed to be responsible for kidnappings and murders in two Baghdad districts, burning and looting local businesses, and makeshift bomb attacks.
Elsewhere in Baghad, Iraqi army soldiers rescued a kidnap victim after receiving a tip from an Iraqi citizen Aug. 18. The Iraqi citizen led soldiers from 1st Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, to a Baghdad house where the victims and a weapons cache were located. Two suspected terrorists were detained in connection with the kidnapping.
Inside the building, the soldiers seized two rocket-propelled-grenade launchers, rocket-propelled-grenade rounds, rocket-propelled-grenade charges, a rifle, and hand grenades.
In a separate Aug. 18 incident, Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers rescued three kidnap victims after receiving a tip from an Iraqi citizen southeast of Baghdad.
A young Iraqi man informed a coalition interpreter attached to Company C, 1st Battalion, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, that there were kidnap victims inside a nearby house.
The soldiers found three victims tied up, blindfolded and lying on the floor with a kidnapper watching over them. They detained the kidnapper without incident, officials said.
(Compiled from Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)
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Troops fired on while building patrol base in enemy’s back yard
A soldier with the 40th Engineer Battalion gets down to business Tuesday at a newly established patrol base in downtown Ramadi. (Monte Morin / S&S)
Spc. Brian Beardsle, 21, of San Clemente, Calif., keeps an eye out for insurgents through a hole cut out of one of the seized buildings. (Monte Morin / S&S)
By Monte Morin - Stars and Stripes Mideast edition
Monday, August 21, 2006
RAMADI, Iraq — It had all the makings of a reality TV blockbuster — drama, violence and do-it-yourself home improvements.
Like some combat version of “This Old House” or “Trading Spaces Iraq,” U.S. soldiers, Marines and Navy SEALS seized two houses in Ramadi’s deadliest neighborhood Tuesday and converted them into a fortified patrol base.
Amid periodic attacks by insurgent mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and snipers, U.S. troops used heavy equipment and elbow grease to install electricity, erect sand-bagged gun positions and raise concrete barriers in a sprawl of city blocks that have, until recently, served as a safe haven for insurgents.
“This is like the enemy putting a little safe house next to our chow hall,” said Capt. Michael P. McCusker, commander of Warrior Company, 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment. “They don’t like this at all. Things will be getting very energetic here over the next few days.”
As Apache helicopters circled the dusty, bullet-pocked neighborhood and sniper teams dropped insurgent attackers with blasts from their .50-caliber rifles, the banging of hammers and the whine of electric saws echoed throughout the seized houses.
Troops attached to the Friedberg, Germany-based 1st Brigade, 1st Armor Division worked around the clock for roughly 36 hours to establish the patrol base, piling sandbags by the glow of chemical light sticks and scarfing down hasty meals of potato chips, cookies and MREs.
The base, dubbed Observation Post Grant, is one of seven such outposts troops have established in a recent campaign to neutralize insurgents in this violent, Sunni Arab city. Troops under the command of Col. Sean MacFarland have used the positions to launch daily patrols and operations in an area once given up to insurgents.
Commanders say the outposts have allowed them to reduce the number of insurgents and the frequency of their attacks as they “compress” the enemy into the city’s center, which some officers call Ramadi’s “heart of darkness.”
SEALs, infantrymen and tankers attached to the 1st or “Bandits” Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment, moved to seize the buildings before dawn. Engineers and support troops quickly followed with truckloads of heavy construction equipment, generators, concrete blast walls, wood and sandbags filled by soldiers outside Camp Ramadi’s chow hall.
Insurgents began lashing out at sunup, presumably once they realized U.S. troops were building an outpost in the middle of their turf. Among the buildings that OP Grant overlooks is a mosque that insurgents have used to store weapons, treat gunshot wounds and foment anti-American sentiment at Friday services.
Maj. Matthew Van Wagenen, the Bandits’ executive officer, was rolling toward OP Grant in a supply convoy just as the first rays of sunlight hit Ramadi’s streets. It wasn’t long before a powerful explosion launched a cloud of dust and black smoke into the air some 50 yards from his Humvee.
“We’ve got a possible mortar strike or an IED (improvised explosive device),” Van Wagenen said in a radio transmission. As the smoke began to clear, Van Wagenen spotted the remains of a Humvee that had been split in half. “We’ve got a vehicle hit,” he said.
The major and his driver jumped from their vehicle and ran to the shattered Humvee. The truck had struck a roadside bomb and the explosion hurled the vehicle’s turret gunner through the air and broke another soldier’s leg. Surprisingly, all of the vehicle’s crewmen survived the blast.
When Van Wagenen’s Humvee finally wheeled into OP Grant, troops from the Baumholder, Germany-based 40th Engineer Battalion were busy knocking out window frames with sledgehammers and preparing the openings for sandbags, air conditioners and gun ports. Other engineers pulled electrical wiring through the building, which was littered with broken glass, weapons, power tools, clothes, schoolbooks, and piles of brightly colored pillows and mattresses — traditional Iraqi living room furniture.
“We’re combat engineers, so we’re usually blowing things up,” said Spc. Evan Hutson. “We’re jacks-of-all-trades, though. We’ve done seven of these so far and we’ve got the routine down pat. We’re going to try to make this place as comfortable as we can for these guys.”
As the sun continued to rise, a rocket-propelled grenade streaked onto the compound and exploded beside a Bradley. Sporadic bursts of gunfire erupted in alleyways and streets surrounding the outpost.
By 9 a.m., roughly two hours after sunrise, U.S. snipers had killed seven insurgents.
Van Wagenen, who had returned to the destroyed Humveee to help recover it, sought cover as shots fired by yet another insurgent snapped over his head. “They’ve got a pretty good shot out there,” the major said.
Commanders had established OP Grant in the same general area where a Navy SEAL was shot and killed several weeks earlier during a running gun battle with insurgents. In recognition of the SEALs’ role in helping to tame Ramadi, commanders dubbed Tuesday’s action “Operation Vicksburg.” MacFarland said that the famous Civil War battle of the same name was a shining example of cooperation between the U.S. Army and the Navy.
“Vicksburg also cut the Confederacy in half,” MacFarland said. “And what we’re doing right now is cutting the enemy’s safe haven in half.”
By noontime, U.S. snipers had killed two more insurgents, although the enemy continued to lash out. By 3 p.m. they had managed to destroy a second U.S. vehicle, a mammoth Abrams tank.
The tank had struck a roadside bomb several blocks away from OP Grant, and the blast set the war machine ablaze. The crewmen managed to throw open their hatches and scramble to safety as flames swept over the turret and hull. For the next several hours, the neighborhood was rocked by the periodic blast of 120-millimeter tank rounds cooking off and exploding inside the vehicle.
Throughout the mayhem, the engineers kept working, cigarettes permanently attached to the lips of some of them.
“This is routine for us,” said First Sgt. Jerry Bailey, 42, of Athens, Ga. “We’ll take a break if we get attacked and then go back to work. We don’t stop till we’re through.”
The gunfire had died considerably by early evening, and by nightfall soldiers were busy unloading their first pallet of sandbags — the most tedious part of establishing an outpost.
“Sandbags,” said Spc. Miguel Rivas, 22, of San Jose, Calif., a Warrior Company medic. “The only thing I’m going to remember about this deployment is sandbags.”
By daybreak the following morning, much of the compound was surrounded by a line of imposing blast walls. A generator powered an assortment of fluorescent lamps and air conditioners.
The only thing left to do was to build rooftop gun positions.
As the engineers hammered away at the positions, however, a deafening explosion erupted in the street three stories below. Unsettled dust and the bitter scent of high explosives drifted up to the roof.
“That would be incoming, girls,” yelled Staff Sgt. Ray Brown, 36, of Cascade, Idaho. “Get flat on the ground, and I mean NOW.”
The men pressed themselves against the tar and shingle rooftop, keeping their heads well below a short parapet that formed the roofline. “Hug the walls. There’s gonna be more,” Brown yelled to the engineers.
When the second mortar landed even closer, the engineers decided to take a break.
“Get your gear, guys, and pull it in,” Brown yelled.
By early afternoon Wednesday, the engineers were packing up and preparing to leave. Bailey, their first sergeant, looked around him at the freshly swept and cleaned outpost and took stock of his soldier’s handiwork.
“It didn’t turn out that bad at all,” Bailey said. “Not bad at all.”
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By Jeff Schogol - Stars and Stripes European edition
Monday, August 21, 2006
Marines and sailors with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit have left the waters off Lebanon and returned to the Red Sea after helping evacuate Americans from Lebanon, said 24th MEU spokesman Capt. David Nevers.
A few hundred sailors and Marines with the 24th MEU remain in the Mediterranean, but they will be joining the rest of the MEU shortly, Nevers said in a Sunday e-mail to Stars and Stripes.
As of Sunday, the USS Cole and USS Whidbey Island were still in the Mediterranean, said a spokesman for the USS Iwo Jima.
In July, the 24th MEU and USS Iwo Jima Strike Group were dispatched from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean to take part in evacuation efforts after fighting broke out between Israel and the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
All told, more than 14,000 Americans were eventually taken out of Lebanon, including some who were evacuated to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, according to the Defense Department.
On Thursday, Marine Gen. James L. Jones Jr., supreme allied commander, Europe, announced the European Command would take charge of the mission in Lebanon at the end of the month.
The 24th MEU returned to the Red Sea on Sunday after clearing the Suez Canal, Nevers said.
“As for our future, barring orders elsewhere, we have a few exercises planned over the next couple of months,” he said. Scheduled stops include the Horn of Africa, Kuwait and Pakistan. As always, we remain on call to respond to any crisis or to support ongoing operations in Iraq or Afghanistan.”
The efforts marked the third trip to Lebanon for the 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, which was the Battalion Landing Team for the U.S. peacekeeping mission in 1983 when a Hezbollah suicide bomber blew up a Marine barracks, killing 241 servicemembers.
The unit was also sent to Lebanon in 1958 to quell unrest.
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