Stories

Lance Cpl. Joeli O. Noareyes, a military policeman with MP Detachment, Combat Logistics Company 19, 1st Marine Logistics Group maintains a watchful eye over his particular section of Camp Sinjar’s perimeter Nov. 6. Noareyes, 23, Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico, and the other MPs with the detachment are responsible for base security, entry control point security and patrols through neighboring towns. Base security here consists of Military Police posted up in armored vehicles with mounted machineguns. MPs positioned the vehicles at strategic locations around the perimeter, based on fields of fire and weapons’ capabilities. If the machineguns and the occasional patrols don’t dissuade insurgents from causing problems, then the MP Quick Reaction Force provides another tool for thwarting enemy goals. A small, platoon-sized QRF element can react to anything from rapidly approaching vehicles to squad sized attacks and base infiltrations. The QRF can also call upon close-air support and the sizable ground combat element to help shore up any larger-scale problems. The MPs here operate in support of Operation Defeat Al Qaeda North II, an operation designed to help Coalition forces restore stability to the restive city of Mosul. - Lance Cpl. Joeli O. Noareyes, a military policeman with MP Detachment, Combat Logistics Company 19, 1st Marine Logistics Group maintains a watchful eye over his particular section of Camp Sinjar’s perimeter Nov. 6. Noareyes, 23, Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico, and the other MPs with the detachment are responsible for base security, entry control point security and patrols through neighboring towns. Base security here consists of Military Police posted up in armored vehicles with mounted machineguns. MPs positioned the vehicles at strategic locations around the perimeter, based on fields of fire and weapons’ capabilities. If the machineguns and the occasional patrols don’t dissuade insurgents from causing problems, then the MP Quick Reaction Force provides another tool for thwarting enemy goals. A small, platoon-sized QRF element can react to anything from rapidly approaching vehicles to squad sized attacks and base infiltrations. The QRF can also call upon close-air support and the sizable ground combat element to help shore up any larger-scale problems. The MPs here operate in support of Operation Defeat Al Qaeda North II, an operation designed to help Coalition forces restore stability to the restive city of Mosul.

Cpl. Jose N. Parra, 25, Loredo, Texas, and other advisers with Border Transition Team 4222 spent the day giving aid to small remote villages here Oct. 24. Their mission is to train, mentor and advise, but the Marines of BTT 4222 don’t forget to provide help to western Anbar’s civilian population. The transition team headed up a small civil affairs engagement to provide local Iraqis with medical, dental and logistical aid. Though it’s not part of their primary mission, team members here have learned that reaching out to the Iraqi people will make the people more likely to reach out to Marines. Intelligence gathering and improved security is just a byproduct of good relations. The real purpose here was to see some smiles. Marines handed out toothbrushes, toothpaste and teddy bears to each patient finished with the check up. The corpsman spoke to parents about how to treat with the medicine Marines supplied to them. Kids also received a class on proper tooth brushing techniques. - Cpl. Jose N. Parra, 25, Loredo, Texas, and other advisers with Border Transition Team 4222 spent the day giving aid to small remote villages here Oct. 24. Their mission is to train, mentor and advise, but the Marines of BTT 4222 don’t forget to provide help to western Anbar’s civilian population. The transition team headed up a small civil affairs engagement to provide local Iraqis with medical, dental and logistical aid. Though it’s not part of their primary mission, team members here have learned that reaching out to the Iraqi people will make the people more likely to reach out to Marines. Intelligence gathering and improved security is just a byproduct of good relations. The real purpose here was to see some smiles. Marines handed out toothbrushes, toothpaste and teddy bears to each patient finished with the check up. The corpsman spoke to parents about how to treat with the medicine Marines supplied to them. Kids also received a class on proper tooth brushing techniques.

He’s a pillar of health, literally. At 6’3” and 210 pounds, armed with six years of college and eight years of military experience, Petty Officer 2nd Class John H. Holscher is a veritable tower of care and comfort for the people here, regardless of nationality. Not that any of them have a choice, because the next nearest medic is more than 100 kilometers away. 'The biggest challenge to being out here is being the only doc. (Iraqi) medics depend on me to train them, Iraqis patients depend on me, taking care of the Marines, going on every patrol, and then the villagers, I can’t take care of them all,' said Holscher, corpsman, Border Transition Team 4222. - He’s a pillar of health, literally. At 6’3” and 210 pounds, armed with six years of college and eight years of military experience, Petty Officer 2nd Class John H. Holscher is a veritable tower of care and comfort for the people here, regardless of nationality. Not that any of them have a choice, because the next nearest medic is more than 100 kilometers away. 'The biggest challenge to being out here is being the only doc. (Iraqi) medics depend on me to train them, Iraqis patients depend on me, taking care of the Marines, going on every patrol, and then the villagers, I can’t take care of them all,' said Holscher, corpsman, Border Transition Team 4222.

Cpl. Sherman W. Smith, infantry adviser, Border Transition Team 4222, teaches a class on combat marksmanship to a squad of the “Desert Wolves” 2nd Iraqi Border Police Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd Division’s newly formed Quick Reaction Force Oct. 23. Smugglers don’t waste time when they cross from Syria into Iraq. Marines identified the problem, and a group of Iraqi policemen answered the call. An elite platoon of Iraqis began training to be the border’s first Quick Reaction Force Oct. 22. The main activity the QRF will respond to is illegal drug and arms smuggling, said Smith, 23, Cooper Landing, Alaska. The QRF will also be a provisional infantry force for any immediate insurgent threat along the border towns and neighborhoods, to include improvised explosive device attacks and small arms skirmishes. Classes start with basics. Hand-to-hand combat and detainee ethics provide another less harmful option than the trigger finger. Marines don’t ignore the possibility of deadly engagements, so the QRF’s marksmanship and weapons familiarization improve with exercises from the Corps’ Combat Marksmanship Program. The CMP is a short-distance marksmanship exercise that incorporates firing on the move, target acquisition and accurate round placement. The course is more for the officers’ personal protection, and Marines always reinforce proper escalation of force procedures. - Cpl. Sherman W. Smith, infantry adviser, Border Transition Team 4222, teaches a class on combat marksmanship to a squad of the “Desert Wolves” 2nd Iraqi Border Police Battalion, 5th Brigade, 2nd Division’s newly formed Quick Reaction Force Oct. 23. Smugglers don’t waste time when they cross from Syria into Iraq. Marines identified the problem, and a group of Iraqi policemen answered the call. An elite platoon of Iraqis began training to be the border’s first Quick Reaction Force Oct. 22. The main activity the QRF will respond to is illegal drug and arms smuggling, said Smith, 23, Cooper Landing, Alaska. The QRF will also be a provisional infantry force for any immediate insurgent threat along the border towns and neighborhoods, to include improvised explosive device attacks and small arms skirmishes. Classes start with basics. Hand-to-hand combat and detainee ethics provide another less harmful option than the trigger finger. Marines don’t ignore the possibility of deadly engagements, so the QRF’s marksmanship and weapons familiarization improve with exercises from the Corps’ Combat Marksmanship Program. The CMP is a short-distance marksmanship exercise that incorporates firing on the move, target acquisition and accurate round placement. The course is more for the officers’ personal protection, and Marines always reinforce proper escalation of force procedures.

Master Sgt. William 'Spanky' Gibson, force fires chief, Multi National Force - West, waits to get on the aircraft that will begin his trip home. Gibson, from Pryor, Okla., accepted an invitation as one of the first three staff non-commissioned officers to become Marine Corps Congressional Fellows. - Master Sgt. William 'Spanky' Gibson, force fires chief, Multi National Force - West, waits to get on the aircraft that will begin his trip home. Gibson, from Pryor, Okla., accepted an invitation as one of the first three staff non-commissioned officers to become Marine Corps Congressional Fellows.

Staff Sgt. Bryan Spencer, Combat Logistics Battalion 5 Engineer Company operations platoon sergeant, briefs heavy equipment operators and combat engineers on the day’s mission to level approximately 1,000 meters of berm along Wolverine Way, a road stretching from Camp Baharia to the outskirts of Fallujah, Iraq, Oct. 18. Spencer, for Texarkana, Texas, and other Marines demolished five miles of berm along the road during about a week as part of a larger project to demilitarize Fallujah and turn control of the Fallujah area to Iraqi government control. - Staff Sgt. Bryan Spencer, Combat Logistics Battalion 5 Engineer Company operations platoon sergeant, briefs heavy equipment operators and combat engineers on the day’s mission to level approximately 1,000 meters of berm along Wolverine Way, a road stretching from Camp Baharia to the outskirts of Fallujah, Iraq, Oct. 18. Spencer, for Texarkana, Texas, and other Marines demolished five miles of berm along the road during about a week as part of a larger project to demilitarize Fallujah and turn control of the Fallujah area to Iraqi government control.

SHADOW RANGE, Iraq – While Seabees work on the new Command Operations Center, Marines from the Advanced Infantry Training Center put the finishing touches on a few of the ranges here Oct. 12. Shadow Range is a combined-arms range capable of supporting company-level training operations. Shadow is only initially capable right now, but plans are for the range to be fully operational this upcoming December or January. The courses offered here include a 14-day Tactical Small Unit Leaders Course, a seven-day Female Search Team certification course, a five-day Combined Arms Training Program for team to platoon sized training and a ten-day Combined Arms Training Program for team to company sized training. The range also supports mechanized assault training, aviation, artillery and mortar training. (Marine photo by Cpl. GP Ingersoll) - SHADOW RANGE, Iraq – While Seabees work on the new Command Operations Center, Marines from the Advanced Infantry Training Center put the finishing touches on a few of the ranges here Oct. 12. Shadow Range is a combined-arms range capable of supporting company-level training operations. Shadow is only initially capable right now, but plans are for the range to be fully operational this upcoming December or January. The courses offered here include a 14-day Tactical Small Unit Leaders Course, a seven-day Female Search Team certification course, a five-day Combined Arms Training Program for team to platoon sized training and a ten-day Combined Arms Training Program for team to company sized training. The range also supports mechanized assault training, aviation, artillery and mortar training. (Marine photo by Cpl. GP Ingersoll)

Lance Cpl. Tim D. Dueker, motor transport operator, Truck Company, Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group, I MEF (Forward), keeps a calm face during the ammunition-can press portion of the Combat Fitness Test here Oct. 9, 2008. Dueker and the other Marines in the company were the first group in the forward deployed MHG element to take the test for an official score during the CFT's initial phase-in period. The CFT events combine muscle, agility and endurance to measure anaerobic fitness. Anaerobic exercise reflects conditions in combat, where there are brief moments of high-intensity output, and aerobic is more about a sustained steady pace. - Lance Cpl. Tim D. Dueker, motor transport operator, Truck Company, Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group, I MEF (Forward), keeps a calm face during the ammunition-can press portion of the Combat Fitness Test here Oct. 9, 2008. Dueker and the other Marines in the company were the first group in the forward deployed MHG element to take the test for an official score during the CFT's initial phase-in period. The CFT events combine muscle, agility and endurance to measure anaerobic fitness. Anaerobic exercise reflects conditions in combat, where there are brief moments of high-intensity output, and aerobic is more about a sustained steady pace.

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq -- The graduating class of I Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group (Forward)'s martial arts instructor course poses together Oct. 3 after the graduation ceremony inside Camp Fallujah's Chapel of Hope. This martial arts instructor course had the most graduates of any Marine Corps Martial Art Program's MAI classes. (Photo by Cpl. Sean P. McGinty) - CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq -- The graduating class of I Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group (Forward)'s martial arts instructor course poses together Oct. 3 after the graduation ceremony inside Camp Fallujah's Chapel of Hope. This martial arts instructor course had the most graduates of any Marine Corps Martial Art Program's MAI classes. (Photo by Cpl. Sean P. McGinty)