Category: Marine Corps

The Marine Corps Times reports that the A-10 Warthog was employed by Marine Corps advisors in Afghanistan for the first time since the aircraft was pulled out of that war in 2014 by the previous administration;

The Marine task force commander called in for approval of the strike, while a U.S. Army drone marked the target. It was a “joint effort in support of our ANDSF ground force partners,” the air officer said.

The return of the A-10 is a part of plan by Gen. John Nicholson, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, to bolster air and strike assets in theater to support U.S. advisers as they begin to embed with partner forces close to the front lines of combat.

The new rotation of Marines with Task Force Southwest and the pending deployment of the Army’s 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade, will be the first units authorized to advise at the Kandak, or battalion level.

The Warthogs were freed up from operations in Syria and Iraq with the collapse of ISIS and then sent to Afghanistan.

According to Pinal Central, a Marine died in a parachute accident in Arizona during training;

The incident occurred about 7:45 a.m. when first responders received a call from a resident reporting that a parachutist in military uniform had fallen just outside her driveway.

According to a U.S. Marine Corps Training Command press release, the Marine was participating in a double-bag static line course when the accident took place.

The Marine was in training with the U.S. Marine Corps School of Infantry West.

Officials said his name will not be released until his family is notified.

Chief Tango sends us the sad news that Marine Master Sergeant Catherine G. Murray, the first enlisted female Marine to retire from active duty, has passed at the age of 100 years.

Murray enlisted in the Marine Corps reserve in 1943 and was assigned to motor transport duties until 1946 where she drove both sedans and five-ton trucks for the Marine Corps during her service in World War II.

When the armed forces demobilized their ‘Force of Women’ at the end of the war, Murray was retained on active duty with the Marine Corps. In 1948, she was authorized to integrate into the regular service.

She retired from active duty in 1962. DVIDS did this interview with her last year on the occasion of her 100th birthday.

HMC Ret sends a link to the news that former Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Joe Chamblin who lost his job as a sniper when someone posted a video of his team urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters has won another court battle;

The United States Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals decided today it would not reconsider its November decision in the case of former Staff Sgt. Joe Chamblin, according to documents reviewed by Military.com.

Chamblin was one of a handful of Marine Corps scout snipers filmed urinating on Taliban corpses during a 2011 deployment to Afghanistan. The video spurred outrage when it was uploaded to YouTube in early 2012.

In total, eight Marines would face punishment in the fallout. Chamblin was sentenced in December 2012 to 30 days’ confinement and demoted to sergeant for his participation, a sentence that would ultimately spell the end of his Marine Corps career.

But in November, five years after the initial sentence, NMCCA found that then-Commandant Gen. James Amos had taken a number of steps that would erode the public’s trust in the fairness of Chamblin’s trial.

General Amos was found to have used his influence to “crush” Marines involved in the incident.

According to sworn testimony from then-Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, who was initially appointed to oversee the sniper prosecutions, Amos met with him and told him the defendants needed to be “crushed” for their actions.

Waldhauser said he did not plan to send all of the Marines to general court-martial, and Amos allegedly told Waldhauser he could have him removed from his oversight role. Shortly thereafter, Waldhauser was replaced by another general.

According to Waldhauser, Amos said at the time that he had “crossed the line” in his previous conversation and was removing Waldhauser as a remedy.

According to the article, the Government has two months to decide whether or not to appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces.

According to Military.com, the paperwork has been sent to President Trump to upgrade the Navy Cross for US Marine Corps Sergeant Major John Canley to a Medal of Honor for his actions during the battle for Hue, Vietnam from January 31st, 1968 to February 6th, 1968;

With backing from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, paperwork to upgrade the Navy Cross awarded to then-Marine Gunnery Sgt. John Canley to the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Battle of Hue City in 1968 was forwarded to President Donald Trump on Friday.

“After giving careful consideration to the nomination, I agree that then-Gunnery Sergeant Canley’s actions merit the award of the Medal of Honor,” Mattis said last month in a letter to Rep. Julia Brownley, D-California, Canley’s chief sponsor in Congress.

Mattis noted that Congress would first have to waive the five-year limit for recommending the Medal of Honor, but once that happened, “I will provide my endorsement to the president.”

In a statement Friday, Brownley said the House waived the time limit on Dec. 21 and the Senate took similar action Thursday.

Sergeant Major Canley’s Navy Cross citation reads;

The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Gunnery Sergeant James L. Canley (MCSN: 1455946), United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism while serving as Company Gunnery Sergeant of Company A, First Battalion, First Marines, FIRST Marine Division (Reinforced), Fleet Marine Force, during operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam from 31 January to 6 February 1968. On 31 January, when his company came under a heavy volume of enemy fire near the city of Hue, Gunnery Sergeant Canley rushed across the fire-swept terrain and carried several wounded Marines to safety. Later, with the company commander seriously wounded, Gunnery Sergeant Canley assumed command and immediately reorganized his scattered Marines, moving from one group to another to advise and encourage his men. Although sustaining shrapnel wounds during this period, he nonetheless established a base of fire which subsequently allowed the company to break through the enemy strongpoint. Retaining command of the company for the following three days, Gunnery Sergeant Canley on 4 February led his men into an enemy-occupied building in Hue. Despite fierce enemy resistance, he succeeded in gaining a position immediately above the enemy strongpoint and dropped a large satchel charge into the position, personally accounting for numerous enemy killed, and forcing the others to vacate the building. On 6 February, when his unit sustained numerous casualties while attempting to capture a government building, Gunnery Sergeant Canley lent words of encouragement to his men and exhorted them to greater efforts as they drove the enemy from its fortified emplacement. Although wounded once again during this action, on two occasions he leaped a wall in full view of the enemy, picked up casualties, and carried them to covered positions. By his dynamic leadership, courage, and selfless dedication, Gunnery Sergeant Canley contributed greatly to the accomplishment of his company’s mission and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.

Thanks to HMC Ret for the tip.

According to Stars & Stripes, Marine 1st Lieutenant Aaron Cranford, of Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion in Okinawa was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his rescue of three divers on April 23, 2017 while the group was diving near Mermaid Grotto in Manzo-Mo, Okinawa.

“I owe him my life man,” [Justin] Kinjo said after Maj. Gen. Craig Timberlake, 3rd Marine Division commander, pinned the medal on Cranford’s chest. “If it wasn’t for him, all of us would be dead. My kids wouldn’t have been able to enjoy Christmas as a family.”

[…]

Cranford said he was honored by the award but shrugged off the praise. He credits the emergency rescue diver course he took at Texas A&M with preparing him to make the rescue and God for placing him in the right place at the right time.

“It’s just a gut reaction,” he said. “You know what to do and you go do it. I didn’t really ever take into consideration whether it was a threat to myself or not … receiving the award really comes down to honoring those who trained me and are still investing in the lives of others.”

Kinjo sees it differently. Both he and his sons see Cranford as a hero, and they plan to return to Camp Schwab to thank him again.

We discussed Marine Master Sergeant Hector Trujillo who stopped on his way to work to rescue a local from his burning car. The Master Sergeant was subsequently struck by a passing military truck and needed rescuing himself. That’s when Marine Sergeant Justin Erler and Corporal Matthew Dungan arrived on the scene and, thanks to their Marine Corps training, they were able to save Truillo’s life.

The Marine Corp was quick to reward the pair with Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals, according to Stars & Stripes;

Trujillo “is alive today, absolutely, 100 percent because of the actions of these two individuals [Erler and Dungan],” III MEF commander Lt. Gen. Lawrence Nicholson said during the ceremony. “That is the only reason he is alive … these are two great young Marines that stood up and made a difference when it counted.”

Though Trujillo’s condition has slowly improved and he is now breathing on his own and responding to his wife, Maria, the fact that he is still recovering from grievous injuries hardly left his rescuers in the mood for celebrating.