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I thought I would share this. I figured like me others might appreciate something pleasant and patriotic. My two oldest sons enlisted together two years ago. They went to basic and ITB together and are 0331 machine gunners. They always wanted to be Marines. They were homeschooled and are fine young Christian men. Needless to say they never shot less than expert in any qual and both were top of their companies in basic and SOI. They had both planed to try for 0317 once they became Lance Corporals however the older one recently was married and decided that he...

The Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) is now deployed after picking up Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) on Thursday, a defense official confirmed to USNI News. Made up of amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD-5), amphibious transport dock USS New York (LPD-21) and dock landing ship USS Oak Hill (LSD-51), the Bataan ARG took aboard the Marines from Camp Lejeune, N.C., ahead of the expected deployment six-month deployment. Ordinarily, ARG/MEU deployments are announced by the Navy and Marines. However, in this instance there was no public notification of the departure. A U.S. 2nd Fleet spokesperson told USNI...

Screen grab of video shows sailors and Marines at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida lined up in tribute as the parents of slain Ensign Joshua Kaleb Watson drove onto the base. (Benjamin and Sheila Watson via Facebook) Hundreds of sailors and Marines stood in long lines on both sides of a road at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, in a silent and moving tribute Sunday as the parents of slain Ensign Joshua Kaleb Watson drove onto the base. Benjamin and Sheila Watson posted a 10-minute Facebook video of their slow ride past the saluting service members. The only sounds...

“Marines can carry an all-black, plain, standard or collapsible umbrella at their option during inclement weather with the service and dress uniforms,” according to a new All Marine Corps message, the site reported. Previously, only female Marines were allowed to use umbrellas while in their service or dress uniforms. They are required to carry it in their left hand so they are free to salute with their right.

Heritage Index Rates Navy, Marines ‘Marginal’ In Ability to Counter Current Threats By: John Grady October 30, 2019 8:01 PM The Navy and the Marine Corps have been assessed as “marginal” in their ability to meet the challenges from rival powers in Beijing and Moscow, as well as regional threats coming from Tehran and Pyongyang, according to annual report on U.S. military strength from The Heritage Foundation. The rating for the Marine Corps was an improvement over last year’s assessment of “weak” as part of the 2020 Index of U.S. Military Strength. That rating and the sea services’ commitment to...

You may never have heard of the Hansen brothers, but twins Paul and Leslie own the distinction of being the only twins to earn the Navy Cross. In fact, they fought side-by-side when they accomplished the feat. On 26 December 1943 the First Marine Division poured onto the beaches of Cape Gloucester, New Britain. As the Marines worked their way into the jungle, the amtraks (amphibious tractors) of the 1st Amphibian Tractor Battalion ferried in their ammunition and equipment. One of the first amtraks ashore was commanded by 23-year-old Philadelphia native Sgt. Robert J. Oswald Jr., with Pfc. Paul Hansen...

Sailors, Marines Adjusting to ‘Brutal’ Reality of High-End Warfare By: Sam LaGrone October 21, 2019 9:21 PM ABOARD AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT SHIP USS BATAAN – The ongoing graduation exercise for the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) will not only get the 4,500 sailors and Marines ready to deploy later this year but also has started a conversation at the deck plate level about how the services will fight together in the future. ARG/MEU’s Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) is the first since the Marine Corps unveiled Commandant Gen. David Berger’s command guidance for the service...

[Truncated title: EXCLUSIVE! Trump Activates U.S. Marine Reserves For ‘Emergency Within The United States’ To Stop Illegal Coup] BREAKING NEWS UPDATE concerning a directive involving the United States Marine Corps reserve units via MARADMINS number 550/19, signed on Oct. 3, 2019, authorized by Brigadier General Daniel L. Shipley, Director, Manpower Plans and Policy. Notably, Brigadier General Daniel L. Shipley was nominated by President Trump for the rank of major general, according to a Jan. 16, 2019 Defense.gov press announcement. Before serving in his current role, Shipley served as the deputy director, Program Analysis and Evaluation, Department of Programs and Resources...

I wanted you all to see this & get your input. Is this just a normal routine notice being updated to 10/3/19? What is the significance of it, is it anything beyond or out of the ordinary given timing and current events? MANPOWER GUIDANCE FOR ACTIVATION AND DEACTIVATION OF RESERVE COMPONENT MARINES ORDERED TO ACTIVE DUTY ISO DEFENSE SUPPORT OF CIVIL AUTHORITIES To: All CONFIRMED: US MARINEShttps://www.marines.mil/News/Messages/Messages-Display/Article/1979422/manpower-guidance-for-activation-and-deactivation-of-reserve-component-rc-marin?fbclid=IwAR1n-hMYe6OG0-v5tBXo51Df0R1urqghRmv-SLDDSI3JgWXJlg-SIfezZ-0MANPOWER GUIDANCE FOR ACTIVATION AND DEACTIVATION OF RESERVE COMPONENT MARINES ORDERED TO ACTIVE DUTY ISO DEFENSE SUPPORT OF CIVIL AUTHORITIES Date Signed: 10/3/2019 | MARADMINS Number: 550/19R 031419Z OCT 19 MARADMIN 550/19 MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC WASHINGTON...

MARADMINS : 550/19 R 031419Z OCT 19 MARADMIN 550/19 MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC WASHINGTON DC MRA MP SUBJ/MANPOWER GUIDANCE FOR ACTIVATION AND DEACTIVATION OF RESERVE COMPONENT (RC) MARINES ORDERED TO ACTIVE DUTY ISO DEFENSE SUPPORT OF CIVIL AUTHORITIES REF/A/DOC/PPO/15MAY2019 REF/B/DOC/TITLE 10 USC/31DEC2011 REF/C/DOC/TITLE 42 USC/01APR2013 REF/D/DOC/SECDEF/07MAR2013 REF/E/DOC/SECNAV/17JUL2012 REF/F/DOC/PPO/20DEC2013 REF/G/MSG/PPO/07AUG2018 REF/H/DOC/DODI/07JUN2016 REF/I/DOC/MRA/02MAY2011 REF/J/JOINT TRAVEL REGULATIONS REF/K/DOC/MRA/27OCT2009 REF/L/DOC/DODI/31MAY2013 REF/M/DOC/SECNAV/11DEC2018 REF/N/DOC/MRA/19MAY2009 REF/O/DOC/MRA/01MAY2018 REF/P/DOC/MRA/14JUL2000 REF/Q/DOC/MRA/15MAR2018 NARR/REF A IS MCO 34407C MARINE CORPS ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES IN DEFENSE SUPPORT OF CIVIL AUTHORITIES (DSCA) REF B IS TITLE 10 U.S.C., §12304a, ARMY RESERVE, NAVY RESERVE, MARINE CORPS RESERVE, AND AIR FORCE RESERVE: ORDER TO ACTIVE DUTY TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE...

What a difference a year made for Joseph Alcoff. On Monday, the 37-year-old has a court date in connection with charges he’s facing in Philadelphia that include aggravated assault and ethnic intimidation for allegedly being part of an Antifa mob in November that attacked two Marines, Alejandro Godinez and Luis Torres, both Hispanic. Alcoff and two others charged in the attack have pleaded not guilty. ANTIFA FIGURE CHARGED IN MARINE ATTACK But while Democratic officials are distancing themselves from Alcoff now, until recently he was a well-connected, aspiring political player in Washington who may have even had a hand in...

At a time when taxpayer and foreign-government spending at Trump Organization properties is fueling political battles, a U.S. Marine Corps reserve unit stationed in South Florida hopes to hold an annual ball at a venue that could profit the commander-in-chief. The unit is planning a gala to celebrate the 244th anniversary of the Marines’ founding at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach on Nov. 16, according to a posting on the events website Evensi. “It’s a work in progress,” said a Marine who picked up the phone late Thursday at the drill center of the 4th Air Naval...

When I was a First Lieutenant of Marines in 1977, I was assigned to the 3rd FSSG in Okinawa and at the middle of my one-year deployment there, was given the job of embarking 225 Marines and huge amounts of equipment aboard an amphibious transport ship, the USS Mobile LKA-115. My mission was to take part in a large training exercise in the Philippines on the island of Mindoro, establishing a Landing Support Element (LSE) on the beach for a couple of weeks. Any of you have had experience with sort of thing know that it took many, many hours,...

Capt. James Lawrence "Don't Give Up the Ship!" & Captain Oliver Hazard Perry "We have met the enemy, and they are ours!" Among the many U.S. Navy and Marine heroes confronting Tripoli's Muslim Barbary pirates was Captain James Lawrence. In 1804, Captain Lawrence was second-in-command, under Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, of an expedition to destroy the captured 36-gun frigate USS Philadelphia held in Tripoli's harbor. It had run aground on an uncharted sandbar. Muslim pirates captured it and were preparing to use it for piracy. James Lawrence also commanded the USS Enterprise which fought battles with the Tripolitan Corsairs along the...

U.S. MarinesUS Marines Will ‘Have Problem Getting Out' of Venezuela Alive if They Enter, Key Maduro Ally Warns 17:36 28.07.2019(updated 17:47 28.07.2019) On Saturday, Venezuela’s armed forces reported that US aircraft had violated the country’s airspace, continuing a trend seen since January, when opposition figure Juan Guaido proclaimed himself ‘interim president.’ Earlier, the Pentagon said that a US Navy ship would be moving “very close” to Venezuela in the coming days, sparking invasion fears. Venezuela is prepared to wage “absolute war” with the US if Washington makes a decision to attack it, Diosdado Cabello, president of the Constituent Assembly and...

In June of 1775, citizens acting as merchant mariners captured the British schooner HMS Margaretta around Machias, Massachusetts (present-day Maine). That same month, General George Washington, with the help of merchant ship owner Colonel John Glover of Marblehead, Massachusetts, chartered and outfitted several ships to interrupt the British supplies. The marker at the base of John Glover's statue in Boston states: "John Glover of Marblehead - A Soldier of the Revolution. He commanded a regiment of one thousand men raised in that town known as the marine regiment, and enlisted to serve throughout the war. He joined the camp at...

The Commandant’s Planning Guidance (CPG) provides the 38th Commandant’s strategic direction for the Marine Corps and mirrors the function of the Secretary of Defense’s Defense Planning Guidance (DPG). It serves as the authoritative document for Service-level planning and provides a common direction to the Marine Corps Total Force. It also serves as a road map describing where the Marine Corps is going and why; what the Marine Corps force development priorities are and are not; and, in some instances, how and when prescribed actions will be implemented. This CPG serves as my Commandant’s Intent for the next four years. ......

Sixteen US Marines were arrested at Camp Pendleton in California on Thursday during battalion formation for alleged illegal activities ranging from human smuggling to drug-related offenses, according to the 1st Marine Division. “Information gained from a previous human smuggling investigation precipitated the arrests,” a statement said. “None of the Marines arrested or detained for questioning served in support of the Southwest Border Support mission,” it added. Two Marines — Byron Darnell Law II and David Javier Salazar-Quintero — were arrested July 3 for allegedly transporting unauthorized immigrants as part of a smuggling operation.

Two Marines were busted last week in California for allegedly smuggling a trio of illegal immigrants near the US-Mexico border. Marines Bryon Darnell Law II and David Javier Salazar-Quintero were caught about 10 a.m. last Wednesday by a US Border Patrol agent while driving three illegal immigrants on Interstate 8 in Jacumba Hot Springs — seven miles north of the border, according to court documents filed last Friday in the US District Court for the Southern District of California. The three passengers admitted to authorities that they were Mexican citizens in the country illegally — and had been picked up...

RANDOLPH, N.H. (CBS) – New Hampshire Deputy Attorney General Jane Young identified the seven motorcyclists who died Friday night after they were struck by a pickup truck towing a flatbed trailer. The crash happened Friday around 6:30 p.m. when the truck and trailer collided with the group of 10 motorcycles on Route 2. During a Sunday press conference authorities identified the victims, who were members of Marine JarHeads MC, a motorcycle club that includes Marines and their spouses. Joanne and Edward Corr, both 58 of Lakeville, died in the crash. Michael Ferazzi, 62, of Contoocook, N.H., Albert Mazza, 59, of...