The Consolidated Issue Facility here is making an effort to supply Marines with faster customer service.
The CIF will receive help in handling the approximately 300 Marines and Sailors they assist on a daily basis.
“We currently have eight terminals at Camp Pendleton and have been approved to increase them by five,” said Jewel R. Buckles, a 27-year-old quality assurance specialist from Gallup, N.M.
The civilian contractors that run the CIF hope that the increased manpower will help alleviate some of the complaints from Marines.
“I think it will decrease our lines, decrease the wait and make life a lot easier for Marines,” Buckles said.
The CIF wants to help Marines expedite the checking in and out process but can’t do it on their own. They need Marines and Sailors to make an individual effort to have everything ready when the time comes.
Marines should print out a gear receipt on-line and print out any missing gear statements before they go to the CIF, said Ken Holt, a 50-year-old regional manager from St. Louis.
The better prepared Marines are, the faster the process. The CIF’s website, www.usmccif.com provides Marines the basic things they need to be prepared.
On the website, Marines can get a list of the gear they had issued to them. They can also print out missing gear statements.
“They must have a check out sheet to return equipment,” Buckles said. “The gear they turn in should be clean. Equipment with unknown substances needs to be taken to (hazardous material).”
If Marines have everything ready to go, the process is quick and painless. The workers in the shop do all they can to make that possible.
“I haven’t had any problems with the CIF,” said Sgt. Ryan P. Schmit, a 35-year old Marine from St. Paul Park, Minn. “People complain about how long it takes, but there are only so many people and they can only go as fast as the computers.”
Due to the long lines, Holt has always ensured Marines are treated with respect when they reach a counter.
“If a Marine is not happy with the service, he shouldn’t hesitate to ask for a manager to make it right,” Holt said. “We’re here for the Marines. We want to make sure they get good customer service.”
Friday, June 29, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
SOTG Marines helps scouts earn boating merit badges
SOTG Marines help scouts earn boating merit badgesLance Cpl. Richard BlumensteinCAMP SCHWAB, Okinawa (June 29, 2007) -- Traditionally, Boy Scout summer camp programs involve hiking, camp fires and an assortment of activities meant to develop the young scouts' character while helping them earn merit badges.
But for scouts on Okinawa who participated June 17-23 in Camp Okinawa 2007, it also meant cruising the waters of Oura Wan Beach in combat rubber reconnaissance rafts, or Zodiacs.
For the third consecutive year, Marines with Special Operations Training Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force, volunteered their time to provide a unique way for the scouts to earn their Motorboating Merit Badges, according to Roddie McKain, the district commissioner of the Boys Scouts of America Great Okinawa District.
"Most (Boy Scouts) don't get to use Zodiacs to earn their Motorboating Merit Badge," said 14-year-old scout Andrew E. Freeman. "This is awesome."
The Marines taught the scouts, ranging from ages 11-17, basic boating knowledge such as the nautical rules of the road, boat handling, knots and aids to navigation.
"Basically we're teaching them to be good boaters," said Sgt. Bart P. Dellinger, the senior amphibious raid instructor with SOTG.
The scouts trained to drive the Zodiac in a straight line for a quarter of a mile, tie off to another boat and maneuver the craft in a figure eight, while following the Marines' instructions.
"It was a great experience," said 17-year-old Colton Potter. "The Zodiacs really have power. I'm glad the Marines let us earn are Merit Badges with them."
Dellinger said mentoring the scouts provided a great change of pace for the Marines and all of them enjoyed their part in the camp.
"It's so different from teaching Marines," Dellinger said. "It's their expressions; they always look like they're having a great time."
Because both organizations have similar characteristics such as physical fitness, honesty, honor and patriotism, the Marines provide perfect mentors for the scouts, said Stanley Potts, a scout master with Troop 109 on Kadena Air Base. He added that the camp also helped develop the scouts' character and leadership traits.
"The Marines are being nothing less than ideal role models for the children," Potts said.
But for scouts on Okinawa who participated June 17-23 in Camp Okinawa 2007, it also meant cruising the waters of Oura Wan Beach in combat rubber reconnaissance rafts, or Zodiacs.
For the third consecutive year, Marines with Special Operations Training Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force, volunteered their time to provide a unique way for the scouts to earn their Motorboating Merit Badges, according to Roddie McKain, the district commissioner of the Boys Scouts of America Great Okinawa District.
"Most (Boy Scouts) don't get to use Zodiacs to earn their Motorboating Merit Badge," said 14-year-old scout Andrew E. Freeman. "This is awesome."
The Marines taught the scouts, ranging from ages 11-17, basic boating knowledge such as the nautical rules of the road, boat handling, knots and aids to navigation.
"Basically we're teaching them to be good boaters," said Sgt. Bart P. Dellinger, the senior amphibious raid instructor with SOTG.
The scouts trained to drive the Zodiac in a straight line for a quarter of a mile, tie off to another boat and maneuver the craft in a figure eight, while following the Marines' instructions.
"It was a great experience," said 17-year-old Colton Potter. "The Zodiacs really have power. I'm glad the Marines let us earn are Merit Badges with them."
Dellinger said mentoring the scouts provided a great change of pace for the Marines and all of them enjoyed their part in the camp.
"It's so different from teaching Marines," Dellinger said. "It's their expressions; they always look like they're having a great time."
Because both organizations have similar characteristics such as physical fitness, honesty, honor and patriotism, the Marines provide perfect mentors for the scouts, said Stanley Potts, a scout master with Troop 109 on Kadena Air Base. He added that the camp also helped develop the scouts' character and leadership traits.
"The Marines are being nothing less than ideal role models for the children," Potts said.
Marines should dump canyon attack plan
It's taken a bit of rumination, but I think I understand the strategic importance of the Battle of Gregory Canyon.
When I first heard intelligence chatter of a late-July attack on a dairy within the 1,770-acre footprint of the long-planned landfill, I shook my head in utter disbelief.
As sometimes happens when I'm dazzled by breaking news, Humphrey Bogart materialized in a cloud of smoke.
Bogie, expelling a world-weary drag from his unfiltered cigarette, offered this “Casablanca” chestnut: “Of all the trash dumps in all the towns in all the world, the Leathernecks walk into mine.”
What, I marveled, had the Pendleton Marines been toking when they decided to conduct anti-terrorist training on North County's most bitterly disputed land, the source of more than 15 years of legal, economic, environmental, aesthetic and religious conflicts?
What had happened to their political GPS?
To Marines scouting the countryside near Camp Pendleton, the abandoned Verboom dairy, just off state Route 76, might have suited their theatrical purposes to a T.
To a critical mass of civilians, however, Gregory Canyon is North County's killing field of screams – terra infirma, so to speak.
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Nothing, and I mean nothing, happens in that fractious neck of Fallbrook's hinterland without knee-jerk reactions from anti-landfill insurgents, an attorney-rich coalition that includes the Pala Band of Mission Indians, local NIMBYs and diehard enviros.
Think about it.
Gregory Canyon Ltd. has spent upward of $40 million trying to pave the legal way for a modern dump beside the San Luis Rey River and, despite the confident projections of spokespersons Richard and Nancy Chase, it's anyone's guess when – or even if – trash will be buried there.
Gregory Canyon.
It's a bucolic no-man's land waiting – and waiting and waiting – for the regulatory gods to finally declare, “Gentlemen, start your dump trucks.”
Into this land-mined battlefield marches America's 911 Team, creating a new state of emergency.
As soon as the news of the mock attack broke, crazy conspiracy theories ran wild.
Could it be that Gregory Canyon, destined to crater as a dump, would turn into a location for special-ops training? Would Blackwater USA, the private security company, turn its back on Potrero and set up shop in Fallbrook?
What about the danger of fire? And who was paying off whom?
And why couldn't the Marines find anyplace to train on their 200-square-mile home?
The duly reported facts deflated many of the more feverish fears.
The Marines reportedly cased the dairy and called Gregory Canyon Ltd. Seeing no down side, the company agreed to let the Marines train at the dairy. Supposedly, no money will change hands. Firefighters will be near. The Marines sometimes require off-base training challenges to stay sharp.
In a June 18 letter to Richard Chase, Gary Erbeck, director of the county Environmental Health Department, made this unequivocal statement: “The training exercise is important to Homeland Security.”
The use of capitalization in this context is ambiguous.
Either “Homeland Security” is so important it needs to be dignified with capital letters, or the Department of Homeland Security believes the exercise is important.
Either way, Erbeck offered his patriotic seal of approval along with his assertion that risk to the land's health is nil:
“Sensitive habitat areas have been demarcated as out-of-bounds, and no operations will occur in these areas. The homestead is located in an area with suitable upland arroyo toad habitat, but toads have never been encountered in this area in numerous surveys. No impacts to toads are expected.”
The toads, if they do hop around there, will survive.
Now that's a relief.
Let's get serious for a moment.
This training exercise, during which actors posing as terrorists will be captured or killed, is destined to be, at least in part, a PR show designed to instill pride in the nation's military mission.
Given the recent – and future – publicity, the Marines will be performing on a public stage, especially on the third day when the live rounds are fired and the bombs go off. Boom!
To make the training more genuine, perhaps gawkers on hilltops could be invited to wear turbans or burkas. Now that's great footage at 11!
Meanwhile, Gregory Canyon Ltd. will be cashing in on its own patriotic PR coup. The message: The landfill site is not so fragile after all.
To local enviros, those are fighting words. That's why they're yelling “Fire!” long before there's smoke.
These battle-weary folks understand political symbolism. They want Gregory Canyon tied up in the courts for the next century. To achieve that end, they need the land to be valued as a delicate eco-system, an organic link to the river, not a movie set featuring explosions. They'll battle the Battle of Gregory Canyon with all their might.
On the whole, Marines are better off blowing up things on their own sprawling bases.
But if they must mock-invade civilian territory in the name of Homeland Security – or even plain old homeland security – they probably should pick locations where the collateral damage is not so predictable.
Logan Jenkins: (760) 737-7555; logan.jenkins@uniontrib.com.
When I first heard intelligence chatter of a late-July attack on a dairy within the 1,770-acre footprint of the long-planned landfill, I shook my head in utter disbelief.
As sometimes happens when I'm dazzled by breaking news, Humphrey Bogart materialized in a cloud of smoke.
Bogie, expelling a world-weary drag from his unfiltered cigarette, offered this “Casablanca” chestnut: “Of all the trash dumps in all the towns in all the world, the Leathernecks walk into mine.”
What, I marveled, had the Pendleton Marines been toking when they decided to conduct anti-terrorist training on North County's most bitterly disputed land, the source of more than 15 years of legal, economic, environmental, aesthetic and religious conflicts?
What had happened to their political GPS?
To Marines scouting the countryside near Camp Pendleton, the abandoned Verboom dairy, just off state Route 76, might have suited their theatrical purposes to a T.
To a critical mass of civilians, however, Gregory Canyon is North County's killing field of screams – terra infirma, so to speak.
Advertisement
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-->
on error resume next
MM_FlashCanPlay = ( IsObject(CreateObject("ShockwaveFlash.ShockwaveFlash." & MM_contentVersion)))
Nothing, and I mean nothing, happens in that fractious neck of Fallbrook's hinterland without knee-jerk reactions from anti-landfill insurgents, an attorney-rich coalition that includes the Pala Band of Mission Indians, local NIMBYs and diehard enviros.
Think about it.
Gregory Canyon Ltd. has spent upward of $40 million trying to pave the legal way for a modern dump beside the San Luis Rey River and, despite the confident projections of spokespersons Richard and Nancy Chase, it's anyone's guess when – or even if – trash will be buried there.
Gregory Canyon.
It's a bucolic no-man's land waiting – and waiting and waiting – for the regulatory gods to finally declare, “Gentlemen, start your dump trucks.”
Into this land-mined battlefield marches America's 911 Team, creating a new state of emergency.
As soon as the news of the mock attack broke, crazy conspiracy theories ran wild.
Could it be that Gregory Canyon, destined to crater as a dump, would turn into a location for special-ops training? Would Blackwater USA, the private security company, turn its back on Potrero and set up shop in Fallbrook?
What about the danger of fire? And who was paying off whom?
And why couldn't the Marines find anyplace to train on their 200-square-mile home?
The duly reported facts deflated many of the more feverish fears.
The Marines reportedly cased the dairy and called Gregory Canyon Ltd. Seeing no down side, the company agreed to let the Marines train at the dairy. Supposedly, no money will change hands. Firefighters will be near. The Marines sometimes require off-base training challenges to stay sharp.
In a June 18 letter to Richard Chase, Gary Erbeck, director of the county Environmental Health Department, made this unequivocal statement: “The training exercise is important to Homeland Security.”
The use of capitalization in this context is ambiguous.
Either “Homeland Security” is so important it needs to be dignified with capital letters, or the Department of Homeland Security believes the exercise is important.
Either way, Erbeck offered his patriotic seal of approval along with his assertion that risk to the land's health is nil:
“Sensitive habitat areas have been demarcated as out-of-bounds, and no operations will occur in these areas. The homestead is located in an area with suitable upland arroyo toad habitat, but toads have never been encountered in this area in numerous surveys. No impacts to toads are expected.”
The toads, if they do hop around there, will survive.
Now that's a relief.
Let's get serious for a moment.
This training exercise, during which actors posing as terrorists will be captured or killed, is destined to be, at least in part, a PR show designed to instill pride in the nation's military mission.
Given the recent – and future – publicity, the Marines will be performing on a public stage, especially on the third day when the live rounds are fired and the bombs go off. Boom!
To make the training more genuine, perhaps gawkers on hilltops could be invited to wear turbans or burkas. Now that's great footage at 11!
Meanwhile, Gregory Canyon Ltd. will be cashing in on its own patriotic PR coup. The message: The landfill site is not so fragile after all.
To local enviros, those are fighting words. That's why they're yelling “Fire!” long before there's smoke.
These battle-weary folks understand political symbolism. They want Gregory Canyon tied up in the courts for the next century. To achieve that end, they need the land to be valued as a delicate eco-system, an organic link to the river, not a movie set featuring explosions. They'll battle the Battle of Gregory Canyon with all their might.
On the whole, Marines are better off blowing up things on their own sprawling bases.
But if they must mock-invade civilian territory in the name of Homeland Security – or even plain old homeland security – they probably should pick locations where the collateral damage is not so predictable.
Logan Jenkins: (760) 737-7555; logan.jenkins@uniontrib.com.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Native Americans In Iraq
AL ASAD, Iraq (June 26, 2007) -- It is estimated that more than 12,000 Native Americans served in the United States military in World War I. There are more than 190,000 Native American military veterans; as the years continue to compile, so do the numbers of Native Americans in the military. One of those Native Americans is Lance Cpl. Molly Sixkiller, an EA-6B Prowler electrician for Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 1.“I’m proud to be who I am, I’m proud to be a Sixkiller,” said the Phoenix, Ariz., native. “My mother is from Arizona and is all Navaho. My father is from Chicago, (Ill.) and is Pima, Papka and Cherokee, so I am all mixed up.”Sixkiller began her journey with the Marine Corps when she enrolled in the delayed entry program Sept. 29, 2005.“I wanted to be one of the first in my immediate family to join one of the services,” said Sixkiller. “I picked the Marine Corps because I had to join the best.”Sometimes a decision like joining the military is not supported by family members, but that does not hold true for the Sixkillers.“(My parents) are proud that I am in the Marine Corps and are very supportive,” said Sixkiller. “My little brother looks up to me and wants to join the Marine Corps as well. He should join very soon.”Although she joined the Corps and is now many miles from her family, Sixkiller continues to participate in her family’s rich traditions.“We do keep some traditions alive, it has dwindled down to very few things nowadays, but we have powwows,” explained Sixkiller. “They are basically get-togethers for family and friends that we know. We have our traditional moments, basically a big ceremony.”Sixkiller’s pride in her heritage carries into everything that she does. Competing against the best in her squadron, Sixkiller proved to her command that she is an outstanding Marine by taking the VMAQ-1 Marine of the Quarter Board. “It was a good feeling (to win), I get to go up on another board for meritorious corporal,” said Sixkiller. “I’m happy about getting the chance. There is a lot more responsibility and I’m ready to take it.”For Sixkiller being an aircraft electrician is more than just a job, it is a career choice. “I enjoy my job very much and plan on pursuing it as a career after,” said Sixkiller. “We do a lot of exterior and interior lighting and a lot of systems. Basically we deal with all the wires in the jet. I picked my job when I joined the Marine Corps, because I wanted to pursue this field.” Sixkiller’s high level of motivation and dedication is something that is recognized by her peers and superiors throughout the squadron. “She constantly displays excellent initiative,” said Staff Sgt. Shawn E. Tate, electronics shop staff noncommissioned officer-in-charge for VMAQ-1. “She is always the go-to person, if a plane lands she is out and on it. Any job that comes up, she is the first one on it.” Not only is Sixkiller a hard-working Marine, she also interacts professionally and proficiently with her fellow Banshees.She gets along with everyone very well, she is great at exchanging information,” said Tate, an Augusta, Ga., native. “She is like a sponge, learns everything really quick.” Although her career is uncertain, Sixkiller is certain about plans for her immediate future.“Right now it’s a little to soon to tell if I am staying in or not,” explained Sixkiller. “After (preparing for the boards) I plan to study more and get (more qualifications). I also plan to help the junior Marines, achieve some of the same goals.”Although her name is uncommon and may draw more attention than Smith or Johnson, Sixkiller is proud of her heritage and willing to share her story with anyone.“Sometimes I will be walking to chow or something and someone will walk by and look at my name twice, ‘Your name is Sixkiller? What’s your background?’ and I’ll tell them a little about myself,” explained Sixkiller. “I am proud, this is who I am.”
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Lance Cpl. Molly Sixkiller, an EA-6B Prowler electrician for Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 1, is part Navaho, Pima, Papka and Cherokee. Photo by: Sgt. Anthony Guas
Lance Cpl. Molly Sixkiller, an EA-6B Prowler electrician for Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 1, communicates with a fellow electrician as she conducts a turnaround inspection on one of the squadron’s aircraft after its return from a flight, June 5. Photo by: Sgt. Anthony Guas
Lance Cpl. Molly Sixkiller, an EA-6B Prowler electrician for Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 1, climbs up on one of the squadron’s aircraft to conduct a turnaround inspection after it returned from a flight, June 5. Photo by: Sgt. Anthony Guas
Lance Cpl. Molly Sixkiller, an EA-6B Prowler electrician for Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 1, watches the tail end of on one of the squadron’s aircraft as it is taxied to the hangar after a flight, June 5. Photo by: Sgt. Anthony
-30-
Lance Cpl. Molly Sixkiller, an EA-6B Prowler electrician for Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 1, is part Navaho, Pima, Papka and Cherokee. Photo by: Sgt. Anthony Guas
Lance Cpl. Molly Sixkiller, an EA-6B Prowler electrician for Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 1, communicates with a fellow electrician as she conducts a turnaround inspection on one of the squadron’s aircraft after its return from a flight, June 5. Photo by: Sgt. Anthony Guas
Lance Cpl. Molly Sixkiller, an EA-6B Prowler electrician for Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 1, climbs up on one of the squadron’s aircraft to conduct a turnaround inspection after it returned from a flight, June 5. Photo by: Sgt. Anthony Guas
Lance Cpl. Molly Sixkiller, an EA-6B Prowler electrician for Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 1, watches the tail end of on one of the squadron’s aircraft as it is taxied to the hangar after a flight, June 5. Photo by: Sgt. Anthony
Marine News
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (June 27, 2007) -- They return from a day of walking countless, exhausting miles in the blistering heat of the desert, wearing full combat gear that often weighs more than themselves desiring only a good meal and a roof to sleep under.Instead, they return to cooled rooms, warm showers, hot meals and even video games and shopping outlets.When Operation Iraqi Freedom first kicked-off, a good meal and a roof to sleep under were all some Marines could expect. Through hard work and dedication, the utilities Marines of 2nd Marine Logistics Group helped change all that, said Detroit native Sgt. Anthony W. Foster, the utilities operations chief with Utilities Platoon, Engineer Support Company, 8th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd MLG. If a Marine was lucky, he slept in a two-man tent with another Marine, Foster said. If a Marine was like everyone else, he didn’t have tents. He had to brave the elements and make the best of it.According to Foster, living conditions were like that due to the mission at hand. Marine forces immediately moved from Kuwait to Baghdad, Iraq leaving little time to stop at each checkpoint. “In the beginning, our mission was different,” Foster explained. “There was not enough time for us to worry about living conditions. As Marines, it didn’t bother us. We were just doing what we had to do.”As the war progressed, Marines began to occupy forward operating bases instead of just defending them. It was around this time that conditions began to change for the better, added Foster.“Living conditions had to get better because Marines would end up becoming complacent if everyday they just stood watch, went to sleep, and did it all over again,” he saidThen the first theater program, which Utilities Platoon, 8th ESB participated in, was created, marking the first major morale boost, Foster said. “Everyone’s mood was lifted when we first got the theater up and running,” Foster said. “It was one of the best things that could have happened.”Over time, (Utilities Platoon) worked more and the conditions became better and better, Foster said. Bases began to feature air conditioned barracks, multi-story post exchanges, cafes, fast food restaurants, phone centers all with power provided by the platoon.“Marines still go on patrols and provide security daily,” Foster said. “Only now, they return to cool barracks rooms and powered environments. It brings their morale up knowing that they have something to come back to.”From here, things can only get better, Foster concluded.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
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