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Marine Corps’ Women-In-Combat Experiment: #FAIL

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the-marine-corps-is-doing-everything-right-when-it-comes-to-women-in-combatOver the past nine months, the Marine Corps tested a gender-integrated task force in both Twentynine Palms, Calif. and Camp Lejeune, N.C. in an attempt to gauge what the Marine Corps might look like with women in combat roles.

According to a recent report in the Marine Corps Times, only a small number of women were left by the experiment’s conclusion — two of the roughly two dozen that started — mostly in part because of the physical and mental stress that comes with combat roles. Both the men and women in the task force also reported a breakdown in unit cohesion with some voicing a perceived unequal treatment from their peers.

The experiment comes as all branches of the military face a Jan. 1, 2016 deadline to open all combat positions to women — from basic infantry battalions to elite special operations units such as U.S. Navy SEALs. While branches like the Air Force and Navy have relatively small communities where women are currently barred from serving — namely special operations detachment s— the U.S. Army and Marine Corps have a host of units and jobs closed to woman. These jobs, known as combat arms, include infantry, artillery and armored divisions.

The gender-integrated Ground Combat Element Task Force served as a snapshot of sorts of what the Marine Corps might look like if women were a staple in combat positions. Each closed position was represented: infantry, artillery and mechanized units, such as tank platoons and light armored reconnaissance detachments, all operated in tandem with one another. The women were spread among them in ratios that would be expected in an integrated Marine Corps, with roughly 90 percent of the branch made up of men.

The nine-month exercise was broken down into two parts. Initially there was a four-month training period, or “work-up,” at Camp Lejeune, followed by a five month “deployment” to the Mojave Desert in Twentynine Palms. Certain elements of the task force also participated in training at Camp Pendleton, and mountain warfare in Bridgeport, Calif. This two semester cycle was common over the past 15 years. During the height of the Iraq War, it was common that Marine units would train for six to eight months and then deploy for a similar amount of time. (Read more from “Marine Corps’ Women-In-Combat Experiment Gets Mixed Results” HERE)

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Naval Officer Now Confirms He Fired on Chattanooga Gunman; Allen West Says Navy is Charging Him

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Navy officer confirms he shot at Abdulazeez with his personal weapon

By Shelly Bradbury. When Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez attacked the U.S. Naval and Marine Reserve Center on July 16 with a handgun and an assault rifle, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Tim White opened fire.

White used his personal weapon to try to fend off Abdulazeez, he confirmed to the Times Free Press on Thursday. Abdulazeez killed four Marines and a Navy specialist in the brazen daytime attack.

White, who has served in the Navy for 13 years, moved to Chattanooga in April with his wife and six kids — and a seventh on the way. As the commanding officer at the center, White is limited in what details he can release because of the ongoing investigation into the attack.

But his wife, Franicia White, said she supports her husband’s actions that day.

“He values human life enough to protect his sailors and others,” she said. “I am honored to be his wife and stand by him 100 percent.” (Read more from story about officer who fired on Chattanooga gunman HERE)

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Allen West, Jim Webb Say Navy is Going to Charge Naval Officer Who Defended his Men; Navy Facebook Post Says No

By Inquistr. Allen West claimed he received confirmation that the U.S. Navy was considering charging White.
“Ladies and gents, resulting from the text message I received yesterday, I can confirm that the United States Navy is bringing charges against Lt. Cmdr Timothy White for illegally discharging a firearm on federal property.”

Allen West is not the only person to make this allegation about the Chattanooga shooting suvivor. Jim Webb is a former Secretary of the U.S. Navy from the Ronald Reagan administration, and on August 2, 2015 he confirmed West’s report by speaking to an unidentified defense official.

“Navy charging LCDR Tim White with a crime for trying to defend our sailors and Marines in Chattanooga? He deserves a medal, not an indictment,” Webb wrote on Twitter. “Before tweeting last night, we confirmed with a defense official that the Navy was seriously considering charging LCDR Timothy White. The charge being considered is illegally discharging a firearm on federal property. No on the record comment was offered.”

These allegations by Allen West and Jim Webb have caused some people on Facebook to broach the topic on the official United States Navy Facebook page. While the U.S. Navy has not officially responded to these allegations with a press release, whoever is maintaining the Facebook page claims the allegations are false.

“Stories of Navy personnel being charged with an offense are not true. There is still a long way to go in reviewing the facts of this tragic incident, but at this time we can confirm no service member has been charged with an offense.” (Read more about whether the naval officer who fired on chattanooga gunman will be charged HERE)
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Navy Officer and Marine Fired Personal Weapons at Muslim Jihadist

By David Larter. A Navy officer and a Marine fired their sidearms hoping to kill or subdue the gunman who murdered five service members last week in Chattanooga, Tennessee, according to multiple military officials familiar with internal reporting on the tragedy.

It remains unclear whether either hit Muhammad Abdulazeez, who was shot and killed on July 16 after he gunned down four Marines and a sailor at the Navy Operational Support Center in Chattanooga. It’s also unclear why they were armed, as it is against Defense Department policy for anyone other than military police or law enforcement to carry weapons on federal property.

A report distributed among senior Navy leaders during the shooting’s aftermath said Lt. Cmdr. Timothy White, the support center’s commanding officer, used his personal firearm to engage Abdulazeez, Navy Times confirmed with four separate sources. A Navy official also confirmed a Washington Post report indicating one of the slain Marines may have been carrying a 9mm Glock and possibly returned fire on the gunman.

A source close to the investigation said details of the rampage’s last few minutes remain unclear, but no information has emerged to contradict the Navy’s internal findings.

Authorities will not know whether White or the Marine hit Abdulazeez until an autopsy and ballistics assessment are performed. (Read more from “Navy Officer, Marine Fought to Take out Chattanooga Gunman” HERE)

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Local Government Going After USMC Veteran for Living Off-Grid [+video]

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In January, the 27-year-old Marine Corps veteran [Tyler Truitt] planted a row of gleaming solar panels in his front yard, hauled in a 550-gallon plastic tank to catch rainwater and installed a composting toilet in the single-wide trailer that he shares with girlfriend Soraya Hamar.

It’s as close to an off-the-grid lifestyle as you can come while still living in the middle of Huntsville (the trailer sits on two wooded acres at the end of Hood Road, not far from Brahan Spring Park Natatorium).

Truitt said he and Hamar should be applauded for treading lightly on the environment, and attempting to live frugally. A Redstone Arsenal employee, he is considering returning to the University of Alabama in Huntsville to complete a physics degree that he started working on before joining the Marines in 2008.

“We’re not bothering anyone,” Truitt told AL.com. “I just wanted to have something that would be debt-free, so that if I chose to go to school full-time I wouldn’t have to worry about any bills.”

Instead of being celebrated as a clean-energy trailblazer, Truitt is being taken to court by the city. (“Local Government Going After USMC Veteran for Living Off-Grid”, originally posted HERE)

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Gay Activists Put up Version of Iwo Jima Photo; ‘Jennifer Aniston’ Posts a Bold Response

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The Battle of Iwo Jima was a pivotal battle in World War II when U.S. Marines won the weeks-long assault to capture the strategically key spot in the Pacific island archipelago. Almost 6,000 Marines and Navy corpsmen died and 17,000 were wounded.

The victory was sealed with the iconic raising of the American flag on Mt. Suribachi:

In recent years, there has been an image floating around the internet which was found on a Facebook page that claims to be actress Jennifer Aniston, but is not a verified account . . .

[The post reads:]

“Now… I have nothing against people who are into same sex partnerships. However what I do have a problem with is this F**KING picture. How dare you compare your political struggle to what the Marines & Navy Corpsman went through on Iwo Jima. I get the whole meaning of you winning the “Uphill Battle” but this is tasteless, offensive, and disrespectful to those who gave their lives on that hill. You should be ashamed of yourselves for being hypocritical of those you claim offend your flag.”

(Read more from “Gay Activists Put up Version of Iwo Jima Photo; ‘Jennifer Aniston’ Posts a Bold Response” HERE)

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Obama Turns His Back on Marine Veteran

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Photo Credit: FacebookBy Charles Benninghoff.

Make a wrong turn near the Mexico border and you may find yourself being arrested and thrown in a Mexican prison with little to no chance of getting out.

That is what happened on March 31, 2014 to 25-year old U.S. Marine veteran Andrew Tahmooressi.

While driving in Southern California, he unknowingly took a wrong turn and wound up at a Mexican Customs Checkpoint. He was denied the right to turn back and was arrested for carrying firearms into Mexico that are legally registered in the United States.

In desperation, he even called 911 for help. Now, he is in jail in Mexico, has been denied bail, and is now being represented by the third Mexican attorney after being shifted around the Mexican prison system three times.

Those who have been to the crossing point into Mexico that Sgt. Tahmooressi ran into know that it is no joke. If you blink your eyes just once, you will miss the only off ramp once you start going into the “funnel”. It is treacherous.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Mexican judge orders Marine sergeant to remain in custody on gun charges

By Fox News.

A Mexican federal judge ordered Andrew Tahmooressi back to prison after the U.S. Marine sergeant made his first official courtroom appearance since being locked up March 31 for accidentally crossing the border with guns in his pickup truck.

The 26-year-old veteran of two tours in Afghanistan was finally able to tell his story to a judge, after his case had been delayed by both Mexico’s unpredictable legal system and his own trouble settling on a lawyer. It was not immediately clear what Tahmooressi said at the evidentiary hearing, which was closed to the public. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for August 4.

Despite the judge’s ruling, Tahmooressi’s attorney, Fernando Benitez, told reporters that he was confident that the Marine’s case was on the right track. Benitez said that his client’s statement to the judge was “sound and made perfect sense,” and claimed that irregularities with Tahmooressi’s detention were grounds for dismissal of the case. The attorney said that his client was not provided with consular services for nearly eight hours after he was detained, nor did he have access to an adequate translator.

In addition, Benitez said that the order to search Tahmooressi’s vehicle was dated March 28, three days before the Marine crossed the border.

Benitez had earlier sought to dampen hopes that federal Judge Victor Octavio Luna Escobedo would free Tahmooressi, although supporters, including his mother, Jill Tahmooressi, had held out hope.

Read more from this story HERE.

TSA Agents ‘Humiliated’ Marine Who Lost Both Legs To An IED

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Photo Credit: Jim Urquhart

Transportation Security Administration officers “humiliated” a Marine who lost both legs to an Improvised Explosive Device by requiring the wheelchair-bound Marine to stand and walk. They also had him remove both his prosthetic legs, according to a letter from Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-California).

In his complaint to TSA Administrator John Pistole, Hunter described the Marine as being “humiliated” by the TSA’s actions, based on accounts of the incident last week in Phoenix, Arizona.

“The individual escorting this Marine asked the TSA officer which of the two checkpoints to enter and received the response, ‘either one,’ only to be told moments later they should have entered a different way. As a result, a TSA officer asked the Marine to stand and walk to an alternate area, despite the fact that he physically could not stand or walk on his own,” Hunter explained in his letter.

“With numerous TSA officers sitting and unwilling to assist, an officer then made him remove his legs, then put them back on,” Hunter continued, “only to advance to a secondary screening location where he was asked again to stand, with extraordinary difficulty, while his wheelchair was examined for explosives.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Hillary Clinton’s State Department Considered Sending Marines to Libya “Sometime in Next 5 Years”

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Photo Credit: Foreign and Commonwealth Office Creative Commons

Prior to the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, the State Department and the Marines Corps had been discussing deploying Marines to guard the U.S. Embassy in the Libyan capital Tripoli “sometime in the next five years,” according to the Marine Corps.

The issue of security at U.S. diplomatic outposts in Libya has been front and center as Congress and others begin to investigate whether or not those facilities were sufficiently protected before the attacks that killed Amb. Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

The State Department won’t discuss the specifics of its security posture in Libya before the attack, but the Marine Corps has briefed congressional staffers on the issue, for example in a Sept. 13 email obtained by The Cable.

“Typically, when a new embassy is established, it takes time to grow a new [Marine Corps Embassy Security Group] detachment,” wrote Col. Harold Van Opdorp, director of the Marine Senate Liaison office, in the e-mail. “[In conjunction with] the State Department, there is discussion about establishing a detachment in Tripoli sometime in the next five years.”

The State Department did not respond to questions about how high the discussion of deploying Marines to Libya reached, whether that discussion amounted to a recognition that Marines were needed there, or why it might take five years to set it up. A Marine Corps FAST team was deployed to protect the embassy on Sept. 12 after the attack and could stay there indefinitely.

Read more from this story HERE.

US Military Ends Four Army Officers’ Careers for Accidentally Sending Korans to Burn Pits

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Photo credit: Roel Wijnants

Army officials said that four Army officers and two enlisted soldiers received letters of reprimand for sending boxes of Korans from a prison library to a burn pit at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Although an Army investigation that was made public on Monday found that the soldiers did not act out of “malicious intent” to disrespect the Koran or defame Islam, investigators concluded that they did not follow proper procedures, were ignorant of the importance of the Koran to Afghans and got no clear guidance from their leaders in a chain of mistakes.

The Marine Corps said three non-commissioned officers involved in a video that shows four Marines urinating on the body of a dead Taliban fighter received “nonjudicial punishments,” which could include letters of reprimand, a reduction in rank, forfeit of some pay, physical restriction to a military base, extra duties or some combination of those measures.

The Marine Corps did not release the results of its investigation into the episode because, officials said, there were continuing inquiries about higher-ranking officers in the unit involved, which was part of the Third Battalion, Second Marine Regiment, based in Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Military officials said the punishments were not as light as they might seem to the public — letters of reprimand effectively end most military careers — but it was unclear how they would be viewed in Afghanistan, where the Koran burning touched off days of riots across the country and compelled Mr. Karzai to call for a public trial.

American military officials said they were hopeful that Afghans would take the news calmly. “We have conveyed our condolences to the government and the Afghan people,” said Col. Thomas W. Collins, a spokesman for the international military coalition in Afghanistan. “These were both terrible mistakes.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: Kandahar Marines’ parody of “Call Me Maybe” goes viral

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If you haven’t seen this video, you should take three minutes to watch it. The video was produced by US Marines at the Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan.  These servicemen and women show that they can keep a great sense of humor even while deployed far away from family and friends in an increasingly hostile environment.

Photo credit: AtlanticRebel