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1st Marine Division

I Marine Expeditionary Force

Marines laugh it up with Iraq comedy tour

Sounds of laughter and clapping filled the room as the crowd sat listening to the performer on stage. Marines from 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5, were able to relax and be entertained during a show put on by a group of comedians. “Laughter is a stress reliever,” said Sgt. David T. Rowland, the battalion armory chief.

Iraqi soldiers on track for independent operations

Four months into a yearlong deployment in this poverty stricken city of 30,000, U.S. soldiers say they’ve gotten a hold of this insurgent-heavy region and are confident the Iraqi Army will spearhead operations by year’s end. Iraqi soldiers are leading daily patrols through the town, interacting with the local populace, and even catching a few bad

Marines help Iraqi soldiers prepare to drive

Don’t expect to see Iraqi soldiers tearing up mud bogs anytime soon, but they’re proving to be a quick study with their new uparmored humvees. Nearly 20 Iraqi Army soldiers from across Fallujah wrapped up a four-day humvee licensing course here, recently. It’s the same course given to Marines, minus driving under night vision goggles. The Iraqi

Recon Marines memorialize one of their fallen

Marines from 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion gathered at Camp Fallujah’s Chapel of Hope June 16 to honor on of their fallen in a memorial service. Sgt. Mark T. Smykowski, assigned to B Company, was killed in action June 6. He was 23 years old. “Sgt. Ski sacrificed his life to provide a nation, whose people have lived under tyranny and now the

Darkhorse Marines engage enemy in Habbaniyah

Marines of I Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment engaged insurgents in direct firefights twice in three days at Observation Post Bears along a main route through the city. The battalion recently built new observation posts along the highway connecting Fallujah and Ramadi, an area near the Euphrates River with no distinct city lines or

Leader reluctant to leave

Maj. Bennet W. Walsh is leaving the fight of his life as a Marine to literally fight to save his life. Walsh relinquished command of Weapons Company June 15 after learning he was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma – skin cancer. Walsh, assigned to 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5, was three months into his second tour

Marines begin transition of responsibility to Iraqi forces

Marines with C Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment are starting to turn over battle space to soldiers from 1st Battalion, 4th Brigade, 1st Iraqi Army Division. The Iraqi soldiers participated in a combined patrol with Marines in a village north of Fallujah. It’s part of a relief-in-place where Iraqi soldiers will take up the posts and

Marines near Iraqi-Syrian border mourn loss of three of their own

Marines and sailors gathered at a small headquarters outpost near the Euphrates River to pay respects to three fallen brothers. Two Marines and one sailor lost their lives while conducting security operations in a village near the Iraqi-Syrian border. Their vehicle struck a mine on one of the region’s dangerous roadways June 9, 2006. The three

Major scores big win in hometown election from Fallujah

Maj. Michael F. McNamara had better get good at juggling. He’s going to need it as Grand Forks’ newest councilman from Ward 2 – serving while deployed. McNamara, a senior watch officer for Regimental Combat Team 5 here, was elected this week as a city councilman for his hometown. Never mind that he was busy helping win the Global War on Terrorism

Engineers continue weapons searches

Hours in the hot desert sun didn’t turn up a load of weapons, but it did let combat engineers know they are doing their job. The combat engineers attached to 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment continued weapons cache searches in the stretches of desert north of Fallujah, June 14. “Even though we didn’t find a ton of weapons out here we know that

1st Marine Division