Marines set to use new HUEY helicopter

Soon, Marines will be flying in newly engineered Huey helicopters. 

It is called the UH-1Y and it can fly faster, farther and bring more troops and gear than prior models.  It is a quick and secure way to place troops in hostile territory. 

It will be able to carry eight combat troops with 250 pounds of gear each plus a crew of four, a full load of gas and suppressive weapons. 

The new huey is built by  Bell Helicopter-Textron. 

The new Marine attack helicopter: the AH-1Z, also known as the Super Cobra was designed alongside the new huey. 

They were designed so that many of the main parts and components can be swapped between the two aircraft, which is a huge cost saver. 

There are currently 12 new Hueys being tested, trained on or preparing for deployment. A contingent is in Southern California preparing for a January deployment with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the amphibious assault ship Boxer.

The Corps is expected to acquire 123 Huey helicopters over the next eight years.

Anbar province handover is scheduled

Finally.  The handover of security in the Anbar province of Iraq is scheduled for next week. 

Iraqi officials signed a memorandum of understanding yesterday that permitted the handover of security next week.

This is announced just after Commandant Gen. James Conway’s trip to Afghanistan and then Iraq.  In Afghanistan he was faced with Marines fighting the Taliban on a daily basis and in Iraq it was much calmer. 

The security handover was originally scheduled for late June, but was postponed twice due to weather and then a governing conflict between governments. 

The 28,000-strong Iraqi police force in Anbar has been extremely successful in securing the province.

“PIC doesn’t mean that forces come home,” a top Marine official said.  “It just changes the relationship between the forces.”

The number of troops in Anbar has drooped from 37,000 at the beginning of the year to about 25,000 yesterday.

Son of VP pick deploying to Iraq

The Associated Press

WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware Army National Guard unit whose members include the son of Democratic vice presidential hopeful Sen. Joe Biden will report for deployment to Iraq in October, officials said Wednesday.

Beau Biden, 39, the attorney general for the state of Delaware, serves with the brigade as a captain and a military lawyer in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps.

An Oct. 3 departure ceremony is scheduled for the 261st Signal Brigade. The brigade will travel to Fort Bliss, Texas, for training before being deployed to Iraq, where it is expected to remain for about a year, said Delaware National Guard spokesman Col. Len Gratteri.

The brigade will provide command, control and communications support for troops in Iraq.

Sen. Joe Biden was named Saturday as the running mate for presumptive presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

Silver Star Awarded to Fallen Marine

When Lance Cpl. William Spencer tried to save his squad leader after he was shot in an Iraq fire fight. 

Spencer was  hit by enemy fire on Dec. 28, 2006, in Al Anbar province and died because of his injuries.  Last Sunday, Spencer was awarded the Silver Star in a ceremony at Nashville State Community College.

Spencer was born in Cincinnati but grew up in Paris, Tennessee.  After graduating in 2004, Billy Spencer trained with the Nashville-based I Company reserve unit of the 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment. In 2006, Spencer and 75 Nashville-based members of the 3rd Battalion went to Iraq with the 1st Battalion, 24th Regiment.

Spencer was a rifleman and was only three months into his Iraq tour when his squad went out on a mission to investigate a suspected enemy sniper. When his squad leader was shot, Spencer was shot trying to get him to safety.

Both Marines died of their injuries. 

David Spencer plans to place the award in the Ohio museum he’s starting to commemorate fallen military heroes.

Deal calls for pullout of troops in June

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Iraq Foreign Minister, Hoshyar Zebari both agree that a timetable for troop withdrawal is important, but difficult. 

“We have agreed that some goals, some aspirational timetables for how that might unfold, are well worth having in such an agreement,” Rice told reporters.  Rice even made an unannounced visit to Baghdad to urge officials there to complete the agreement. 

An integral part of the U.S.-Iraqi draft agreement states the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq’s cities by June 30, 2009. 

Rice said the military surge has worked and “we are making progress together in the defeat of Iraq’s enemies of all stripes.”

The foreign minister said the pact that U.S. and Iraqi officials are trying to finish will be presented to Iraq’s Executive Council for review.

Iraqi and American officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday that negotiators had completed a draft agreement that extends the legal basis for U.S. troops to remain in Iraq beyond the end of this year, while calling for them to move out of Iraqi cities as soon as June 30.

Besides approval from President Bush, the deal requires approval by Iraqi leaders, and some members of Iraq’s Cabinet oppose some provisions.

In addition to spelling out that U.S. troops would move out of Iraqi cities by next summer, the Iraqi government has pushed for a specific date — most likely the end of 2011 — by which all U.S. forces would depart the country. In the meantime, the U.S. troops would be positioned on bases in other parts of the country to make them less visible while still being able to assist Iraqi forces as needed.

There are now about 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

Story from AP- marinecorpstimes.com

Devil Dog Care Package Drive

September 14, 2008

10-3

Townsend Massachusetts Town Common

Please come down and donate items, postage funds, or letters to help us send packages to Marines deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Our goal is to send 100 boxes from this drive. 

For more information contact Jayne at jayne@devildogadvocates.org

If you would like to donate, please go to www.devildogadvocates.org.

Thank you for your support in advance!

Semper Fi

Marine killed in Afghanistan

A 22-year-old enlisted Marine with ties to the Chicago area died Thursday in Afghanistan. 

Lance Cpl. Tony Mihalo grew up in Naperville, Ill. The Defense Department has not confirmed his death and no unit information was immediately available.

Before his most recent assignment in Afghanistan, Mihalo had deployed twice to Iraq, according to a report in the Daily Herald. He was the recipient of three Purple Hearts, including one for an injury sustained last month.

Mihalo was a 2004 graduate of Naperville High School, where he was a member of the football team, the Herald reported. He was expected home from Afghanistan in November.

info from marinecorpstimes.com

American Airlines waives fee for servicemembers

Now whether the service members is on OR off duty, they will not have to pay to check a third bag IF they fly with American Airlines.  Most other airlines already waived their fees for the first and second bag for troops traveling on orders, but American Airlines went even further and waived the fees regardless of whether you were on or off duty. 

This was announced after the VFW called for the Air Transport Association to negotiate an agreement with airlines to waive the frees for the third checked bag.

2 Marines killed in Anbar province

Two Marines based at Camp Pendleton in California were killed in Iraq, Defense Department officials said. 

Cpl. Adam T. McKiski, 21, of Cherry Valley, Ill., and Cpl. Stewart S. Trejo, 25, of Whitefish, Mont., died in Anbar province.  Both Marines were assigned to 1st Maintenance Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group.

Marine officials released a statement in Iraq on Friday that two Marines were killed in Anbar province in a non-combat-related incident.

Marine Corps to find new test pilot

The  Marine Corps is currently searching for a pilot to join other test pilots preparing the Corps’ variant of the Joint Strike Fighter.

The F-35B is modified for short takeoff/vertical landing and will be flown by the Corps and the British Royal Air Force.

The STOVL variant made its first successful conventional test flight and is expected to fly in the STOVL mode early next year.

The pilot selected is expected to serve at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., and then Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in fiscal year 2012.

According to Marine administrative message 416/08, a board will select a pilot to attend a Navy test pilot school in January 2009.

Applicants must be an active-duty captain or major with an academic degree in engineering, physical science, computer science or a related mathematics field. Applicants should have at least 1,500 flight hours.

The deadline to apply is Aug. 21, 2008.