After years of damages caused by strife and neglect, a canal system built by USAID in the 1950’s is in desperate need of repair. USAID engineers, finally able to evaluate the irrigation system, identified 11 problem areas, including damage from ongoing conflicts and overgrowth of vegetation.

Garmsir is a rich, agricultural area with farming as the basis of the local economy. Shortly after securing the area, the citizens and District Governor Abdullah Jan came to the Marines and asked for help in getting the canals repaired.

[Read more →]

Marines with Regimental Combat Team 5 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion killed three insurgents Aug. 14 in southwestern Anbar province.

[Read more →]

Western al-Anbar province was one of the most dangerous areas in Iraq in recent years, and Marine units operating there have encountered threats ranging from improvised explosive devices to small-arms firefights.

Delta Company, 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance, 2nd LAR Bn., Regimental Combat Team 5, has come across a different threat, however: oil smuggling.

[Read more →]

Great story about a Fox News cameraman named Chris Jackson. His Marine unit was hit by and IED. He was injured but went back into the burning Humvee to help rescue a Marine. Video at the link, too.

[Read more →]

A Houston native recently participated in a mass reenlistment ceremony at Al-Faw Palace in Baghdad, July 4.

Marine Sgt. Patsy M. Lee, an imagery analyst with Marine Wing Headquarters Squadron 3, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, was one of more than 1,200 service members who reaffirmed their allegiance to their nation by raising their right hands and once again stating the Oath of Enlistment.

Led by Army Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of Multi-National Force – Iraq, the largest reenlistment ceremony in history took place in one of Saddam Hussein’s old palaces.

[Read more →]

Ramadi, a mostly Sunni city with about 500,000 residents, was considered to be one of the most violent cities in the world during the early part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Today, locals are out shopping at the city’s bustling marketplace, known as the souk. Children are playing soccer in fields, and students are walking mostly worry-free to and from the province’s local college, al Anbar University.

The signs of war have steadily declined as the city has embraced peace and the region is returning to normalcy, which is an unexpected but welcome change for Marines with 1st Battalion,9th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, returning to the region for consecutive tours.

[Read more →]

A native of America’s North Shore was killed by a suicide bomber while attending a meeting on June 26. Marine Captain Philip. J. Dykeman of Brockport and two other officers were killed when a suicide bomber attacked the tribal council meeting that they were attending. Nearly 20 others were also killed. Al Qaeda in Iraq has taken responsibility.

[Read more →]

A Marine who trained the females mentioned that one “sister” compared herself to a James Bond girl and how she was training like a Bond girl; learning about weapons and providing security for a city, while making money. It’s not a situation as glamorous as in the movies but the reference gave both women common ground to joke about.

[Read more →]

Chasing a lifelong dream for a career in professional baseball … It’s a story as distinctly American as apple pie.

Now add a dramatic twist: the pitching prospect is a U.S. Marine deployed to Iraq. He has his ball, glove and an intense desire to overcome a past elbow injury. Peers are cheering him on, pushing him to new levels in the gym and putting themselves on the receiving end of increasingly faster pitches.

[Read more →]

Step after step, combat boots hit the pavement. It’s been a few hours for the Marine squad walking the Ramadi streets. Fatigued yet steady, the young men push forward on their routine foot patrol despite the mid-day desert heat; each squad member maintaining a constant alertness with eyes scanning the environment in every direction.

The squad leader passes by a familiar face; a local vender who he sees almost every day. Instantly, the look of exhaustion washes away, and a smile is brought to his face. Lifting his hand, he warmly greets the vender with, “Al salaam a’alaykum.”

[Read more →]