Month by month, it increasingly looks like it could be a matter of time before the two-star Marine headquarters in southwestern Afghanistan ceases to exist. Regional Command-Southwest, as it is known, was established in 2010 as the U.S. rapidly expanded military operations in Afghanistan, surging thousands of troops there. The Marine Corps was among the first involved in that surge, seeing its footprint grow in Helmand province from about 11,000 in 2009 to 20,000 the following summer. Maj. Gen. Richard Mills took command that spring of the newly formed RC-Southwest, which split off from the neighboring two star-headquarters in Kandahar…
Browsing: I MEF
Members of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit from Camp Pendleton, Calif., joined Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces for this year’s “Iron Fist” exercise, held in Southern California. The three-week interoperability training exercise has the combined forces training on this side of the Pacific along the coast, in the desert, out at sea and back ashore as the Marines and soldiers hone their warfighting skills with patrolling, assaults, mechanized attacks and live-fire and maneuver drills. This is the eighth year for the bilateral training, which “promises to be bigger and better than in previous years,” Maj. Gen. Melvin G. Spiese, the I Marine Expeditionary Force deputy…
Marines are definitely getting back to their expeditionary roots. The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit just returned to Camp Lejeune, N.C., following a seven month deployment. But as Marine Corps Times’ Gidget Fuentes reported, when the 24th MEU was still in the Persian Gulf, there were more Marines on Navy ships than in the combat zone in Afghanistan in late-October. That’s a pretty interesting shift. Check out the map below to see what Marines are doing around the world. [HTML1]
The Marine Corps Times interactive map showing what Marines are doing around the world has been updated with new information provided by public affairs for the week ending Oct. 5. [HTML1]
No doubt a Friday afternoon ceremony, especially held outdoors on a beautiful sunny day, gets a crowd relaxed and eager for the weekend to begin. But make mention of “beer,” or any word hinting of a brew, and surely thoughts wander to the bar or six-pack at home. It’s good reason why reporters try to avoid any such mention in Friday interviews with Marines, at least not until the end. In his speech during a Sept. 7 change-of-command ceremony at Camp Pendleton, Calif., Lt. Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser praised the work and sacrifices of the Marines and sailors with Marine…
