Creature comforts: Shane (right) and Jennifer Ruple carry their two cats from their storm-damaged Little Rock, Ark., apartment. Thunderstorms and high winds left Marly (right) and Tyler wet and frightened.
Posted on 08/20/2003 2:13:41 AM PDT by Radix
Creature comforts: Shane (right) and Jennifer Ruple carry their two cats from their storm-damaged Little Rock, Ark., apartment. Thunderstorms and high winds left Marly (right) and Tyler wet and frightened.
U.S. Marine Corps Maj. A. Che Bolden and Capt. Matthew C. Shortal
'TOPGUNs' bring lethal tactics to Miramar
By U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Paul Leicht
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif., Aug. 8, 2003 — Real-world combat experiences and advanced training can hammer home the importance of specialized, high-level instruction and flight leadership excellence.
Two F/A-18D Hornet crews here with Marine All-Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 225 (VMFA(AW)-225) recently completed six weeks of advanced Naval aviation training with TOPGUN, the Naval Fighter Weapons School at the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nev.
Now graduates of the prestigious school, Capt. Matthew C. Shortal, 31, pilot and training officer, VMFA(AW)-225, and Maj. A. Che Bolden, 32, Weapons and Sensors Officer, VMFA(AW)-225, are ready and eager to pass on lessons learned to their peers, ensuring that excellence in training leads to further victory in battle.
"TOPGUN is the pinnacle of Marine aviation," said Shortal, whose father flew A-4s and F-4s for the Marines during Vietnam. "For an F/A-18 pilot it's what everyone is trying to achieve. As far as the quality of instructors, assets and ranges at Fallon, it's the Mecca of training and what you get there is unparalleled. We were very excited to go."
Shortal, a native of Chicago and an accomplished triathlete, said he and Bolden were originally scheduled to go to TOPGUN in January 2003, but due to being deployed to the Persian Gulf during Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) they expected to go when they returned. When OIF ended and the Vikings of VMFA(AW)-225 came home, Shortal and Bolden soon flew out to NAS Fallon for the next course, taking their combat experiences from Iraq with them.
Confiscated weapons are found in a house search by the 115th Military Police Company, Rhode Island National Guard. This raid in the town of Fallujah, Iraq is part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Robert Liddy
Soldiers of the 115th Military Police Company, Rhode Island National Guard, prepare to search an Iraqi home believed to be the site of bomb making and weapon storage on July 31, 2003. This raid in the town of Fallujah, Iraq is part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Robert Liddy
YO, RADIX! Where are those pancakes? My pets are starving. LOL!
Fire fighters from Karbala, Iraq battle a fire along the crude oil pipeline West of the city from the late afternoon on into the night Aug. 1, 2003. The fire was begun by terrorists who shot two rocket-propelled grenades at the pipeline. Photo by: Lance Cpl. Nathan Alan Heusdens
Lance Cpl. Joshua Andrew Hanson, from Duluth, Minn., a heavy equipment operator assigned to 1st Naval Mobile Construction Battalion, C Company, uses his bulldozer to create birms to contain the burning oil, and pushes sand into the flames in an attempt to combat the fire outside Karbala, Iraq, Aug. 1, 2003. The fire was begun by terrorists who shot two rocket propelled grenades at the pipeline, and Hanson was rewarded with a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and a necklace from the city in recognition for his heroic five-hour battle with the towering inferno. Photo by: Lance Cpl. Nathan Alan Heusdens
Americans, Iraqis defeat blaze
Submitted by: I Marine Expeditionary Force
Story Identification Number: 200382023041
Story by Army Spc. Benjamin R. Kibbey
KARBALA, Iraq(Aug. 6, 2003) -- As impenetrable black smoke and scorching flames towered over the barren desert outside the city, local firemen, Marines and sailors prevented a potential environmental catastrophe after a calculated attack set a fuel pipeline on fire.
According to witnesses, a group of men pulled up in a vehicle Aug. 1 and fired two rocket-propelled grenades at an exposed valve in the crude oil pipeline that runs west of Karbala, Iraq.
The saboteurs accomplished at least part of their goal when the valve, which had been leaking for several days, exploded into flames, spewing unrefined oil onto the ground and creating a giant fire.
The first to arrive on the scene were Karbala firefighters, who were later assisted by firefighters from the nearby cities of Al Hilla and An Najaf. They began to make progress with a foam and water mixture, but oil continued to spread out onto the ground behind the firefighters.
Hoses had to be redirected from time to time to put out fires that sprung from the bubbling river of oil.
By the time coalition forces arrived - by following the black pall of smoke pouring from the western edge of the city -- the Iraqi firemen were low on water, fuel and flame retardant.
Army Sgt. Eric Urian, from Smyrna, Del., a member of the 304th Civil Affairs Brigade of Philadelphia, Pa. and the governate support team liaison to the fire department for 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, took charge of the situation. Urian called up military and civilian resources from around the city assist against the resilient force of the blaze.
Water trucks from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 4 and the city were soon refilling the fire engines as radio messages went out looking for any available pieces of earthmoving equipment.
As quickly as the Seabees could load up and truck out to the fire, they answered the call with a bulldozer driven by Lance Cpl. Joshua Andrew Hanson, from Duluth, Minn., a heavy equipment operator with the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, First Marine Division, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Hanson dove into the flames and smoke, pushing sand and earth into the heart of the blaze in an attempt to smother and control it.
THESE GUYS ARE HEROES!! THIS IS NOT EASY WORK!!!
YES,ISRAEL!!! SMOKE THOSE b#@$#%& OUT!!! Prayers for the people of Israel.
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