August 4, 2006.Indd
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III Marine Expeditionary Force and Marine Corps Bases Japan August 4, 2006 www.okinawa.usmc.mil Marines prepare to storm a building July 27 during military operations on urbanized terrain training in Central Training Area’s Combat Town. Fifty- two Marines with Combat Assault Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, participated in the training which covered tactics such as room clearing and communication between multiple fire teams. Photo by Sgt. C. Nuntavong GOING TO TOWN Lance Cpl. Eric D. Arndt Area’s Combat Town. to display where a target was hit. 1st CAB Marines Okinawa Marine Staff The training consisted of instruction on The intent of the training was to ex- MOUT tactics, followed by live-fire combat pose the Marines to close quarters combat CENTRAL TRAINING AREA — Fifty- scenarios with SESAMS, or special-effect techniques used in urban environments. target urbanized two Marines with Combat Assault Battal- small arms marking system rounds. The The Marines practiced room-clearing ion, 3rd Marine Division, participated in rounds, fired out of a special receiver for and emphasized team communication, military operations on urbanized terrain M-16 rifles and the M-4 carbine, leave a according to Gunnery Sgt. Chad E. Love, terrain tactics training July 26-27 at Central Training bright, washable liquid on the impact area See COMBAT PG. 6 Mobile ‘fi re team’ trains MAW Marines Lance Cpl. Terence L. Yancey to units rather than vice versa, according to Chief Okinawa Marine Staff Petty Officer Wayne Morgan, one of the fire team instructors. KADENA AIR BASE — Nine Navy instructors from “It’s a lot less expensive for the Department of the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Defense to fly nine of us out to give training than it is Unit in Whidbey Island, Wash., taught shipboard for them to fly an entire unit to us,” Morgan said. firefighting techniques to more than 100 1st Marine The instructors broke the training down into two Aircraft Wing members on Okinawa July 24-29. phases for the Marines from Marine Aircraft Group The trip to Okinawa is only the second time the 36. The first portion was classroom instruction at Ma- NATTU instructors have traveled to another unit’s rine Corps Air Station Futenma, and the second phase Maj. Jason Latchaw calls commands to his hose team base to train them. The mobile “fire team” saves was a practical application at Kadena Air Base. during firefighting training at Kadena Air Base. Photo the Department of Defense money by traveling SEE FIRE PG. 6 by Lance Cpl. Terence L. Yancey TAKING AIM CHAIRMEN OF THE BOARD Marines with 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Competitors showcase skater skill Regiment conduct their fi rst mortar live- with 360s, ollies, grabs and grinds fi re exercise on Okinawa since arriving while squaring off in the Open King of from Camp Pendleton to serve as the the Ring skate competition at Camp 31st MEU’s Battalion Landing Team. Courtney’s Skater’s Way park. INSIDE pg. 7 pg. 9 2 OKINAWA MARINE | NEWS | AUGUST 4, 2006 MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. | Lance Cpl. Arvel Rose holds his 3-year-old son, Isaac, July 11 before he and the rest of 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment deploys to Iraq. Photo by Lance Cpl. Ray Lewis Around the For more Marine Corps stories and photos, Cvisit http://www.usmcorp.mil S CAMP AL ASAD, Iraq | Iraqi soldiers practice combat firing techniques at a small arms range July 23. Iraqi Army officers serving alongside Marines learned how to plan their own missions. Iraqi leadership within the 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division – one of two Iraqi brigades based in the province – also learned how to evaluate intelligence, organize information and conduct mission- planning briefs. Photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Goodwin FORT A.P. HILL, VA. | Cpl. John E. Long engages targets with an M-240G medium machine gun during a live- fire exercise. Marines with the 4th Civil Affairs Group completed a 15-day training July 20 in preparation for an upcoming deployment to Iraq. The unit completed several exercises, improvised-explosive device detection and reaction, and prepared for military operations in MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. | Sgt. Joe Alvarez backstrokes across a pool urban terrain. Photo by Pfc. Chokechai Vayavananda July 21 during a water aerobics class. Alvarez attends the class to stay in shape while recovering from a lower back injury. Photo by Lance Cpl. Adam Johnston OKINAWA MARINE | OPINION & EDITORIAL | AUGUST 4, 2006 3 Embed provides raw view of Marines in war Lance Cpl. Eric D. Arndt the broad doctrines and strategic plans involved, helping to ons and grenades instead of bayonets, swords or arrows. illustrate more clearly who these “boots on the ground” are. It is not the location of the battles, but the descriptions eneration Kill,” written by Evan Wright, tells the He documents the war from the eyes of the Marines of the men that makes this story unique. Young, physical story of 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Ma- who demonstrate in equal proportions the desire to kill, the and possessing more than their fair share of anger with the rine Division’s blitzkrieg toward Baghdad at the desire to maintain their sense of humanity, disgust with world, the men of 1st Recon torture their bodies doing what “Gonset of the Iraq war in March 2003. Testing the relatively perceived leadership failures, and the pride of being the best. they have been trained to do – kill the new strategy of maneuver warfare, the Marines of 1st Recon The story begins in Camp Mathilda, Kuwait, a staging enemy. Around the drove north, purposefully attracting ambush after ambush area south of the Iraqi border. The Marines of 1st Recon pass “Generation Kill” successfully bal- in order to clear out the enemy for the American behemoth the time training, wondering about the coming conflict ances an irreverent look at war with a pushing up behind them. and anxiously awaiting the chance to begin the invasion. reverent view of the men who accept the Wright, a journalist who was embedded with 1st Recon Six weeks of waiting finally pays off and the Marines begin daunting task of fighting it. during the early weeks of the war, provides a gritty, fly- their progression into hostile territory. Better than any cookie-cutter, mo- on-the-wall account of the As the Marines press forward through Nasiriyah, tivational war story, more informative BOOK REVIEW intense, but often misrepre- Kut and other Iraqi towns, they encounter the chaos and than encyclopedia entries on battles or sented, familial bond between destruction that will become commonplace in the opening tactics, and more controversial than the comrades-in-arms who weeks and months of the war. They come under fire from a hundreds of Web sites and movies arguing for and against desperately want to “get some.” His unfiltered first-hand friendly unit. Ambushes become a part of everyday life. the Iraq war, “Generation Kill” paints the picture of men account strips away the romantic notions and glamorized The story is not new. Men have found new, ingenious being men, violent and humorous, caring and evil, heroic For more Marine Corps stories and photos, stories that often find their way into historical studies. ways to kill each other for millennia; only the locales and and full of despair. visit http://www.usmc.mil Wright lets the character of the American warrior and methods change. Instead of beaches there are buildings, Lance Cpl. Eric D. Arndt is a combat correspon- CorpS the chaotic nature of battle tell the story. He also touches on dust replaces jungle rain, and warriors use automatic weap- dent with the Okinawa Marine newspaper. True freedom lies in the Lord’s Spirit Cmdr. Mil A. Yi bols into words and then into a sentence. modeled and attempted to emulate it. the foundation and bulwark of freedom. At last, the first message from the world’s The French were encouraged by our In fact, James Madison, the father of the group of most pampered, most patiently trained success. What was the difference? American Constitution, said, “We have scientists were chimpanzee was about to come forth. The French Revolution produced the staked the whole future of America’s Aattempting The scientists could hardly contain them- following: the Reign of Terror presided civilization, not upon the power of gov- to teach written selves as they pressed around the cage to over by Robespierre and the guillotine. ernment, far from it. We have staked the communication to read the history-making sentence. It was a time of fear and terror – anar- future ... upon the capacity of each and a chimpanzee. For Said the chimpanzee, “Let me out!” chy that led to tyranny and the reign of all of us to govern ourselves, to sustain 14 years, project Freedom is something we take for Napoleon. What went wrong? ourselves, according to the Ten Com- directors labored granted. It is like the air we breathe: Alexis de Tocqueville, the French mandments of God.” diligently with the until it is taken away, we are often not philosopher, visited America and The apostle Paul says, “Now the Lord chimpanzee, providing items in its cage conscious of it. described the critical difference: The is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the to enable it to form certain syllables. As we think about freedom, I’ll point American Revolution was religious; the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians Finally, it seemed the chimpanzee was to the contrast between the American French Revolution was anti-religious. The 3:17). True freedom is where the Spirit of actually going to construct a sentence and French Revolutions.