9 March 2009

Daily Media ReportIs compiled and distributed by the Media Branch at Headquarters Marine Corps and is For Official Use Only. The DMR contains material copyrighted by original media sources and copying or dissemination for private use is prohibited without permission of the copyright owners.March 9, 2009Early Bird: http://ebird.osd.mil/Complete Stories:Pioneer Press/Washington Post7 Mar 09Marines' new ride finally gets rolling as the jeeplike Growler takes the fieldVehicle illustrates procurement problemsBy Walter PincusWASHINGTON — The Marine Corps is starting to deploy a jeeplike vehicle called the Growler — 10 years after conception and at twice the contract price — after delays caused by problems in contracting, development and testing, according to two reports.Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, sought investigations by the Government Accountability Office and the Defense Department inspector general in light of complaints by an unsuccessful bidder on the project.But a spokesman for Levin said the inspector general's report, released in January, showed that cost increases and delays are so normal in defense contracting, particularly in contracts involving hundreds of millions of dollars, that they don't raise great concerns.Defense Secretary Robert Gates, however, stressed the importance of reforming procurement in remarks before the Senate committee, saying that all services are feeling the effects of weapons programs that have "had repeated — and unacceptable — problems with requirements, schedule, cost and performance."The idea for such a vehicle was developed in 1999 by the Marines, who wanted a vehicle that could be carried in the V-22 Osprey aircraft and tow a 120 mm mortar and an ammunition trailer.Instead of one vehicle to serve both functions, there now are two — one for reconnaissance and a shorter version that tows the mortar and ammunition trailer — built by the same company.The first Growlers in the mortar program — officially called internally transportable vehicles, or ITVs — have been deployed to Marine units, but with limited combat capabilities. Because of light armor and ammunition safety problems, "You can't run it up the highway in an urban area such as Iraq," said John Garner, the program manager for the Marines. "But it could accompany foot-mobile Marine infantry in a not-built-up area such as Afghanistan," he added.The inspector general report said the average cost of a single Growler has risen 120 percent, from about $94,000 when the contract was awarded in 2004 to $209,000 in 2008. The unit cost for the vehicle with mortar and ammunition trailer has grown 86 percent, from $579,000 to $1,078,000.The first six mortar and ammunition systems have been sent to Marine units, as have about 20 ITVs. "It is up to unit commanders who receive them as to whether they will take them when deployed abroad," Garner said.The Army has 81 ITVs under contract and is awaiting bids on 70 more. A dozen mortar and ammunition trailer systems are under contract and 20 more are out for bids, according to Garner.Trouble started in 2004 during the final competition between two bidders for the contract.One bidder was a team of the giant defense contractor General Dynamics Corp. and a small company called American Growler, of Ocala, Fla., known primarily for building a successful dune buggy using surplus, customized Army M151A2s, a popular version of the military jeep.The other was a contractor in Michigan called Rae-Beck Automotive LLC, which built a popular neighborhood electric car.By choosing General Dynamics and American Growler, the Marines were able to procure an existing vehicle that was equipped with components that could be purchased "off the shelf," avoiding costs of research and developing an entirely new vehicle. Although the Rae-Beck entry was found to be superior in some tests, the Growler, according to Garner, was better "in the most important ones."But after the contract was awarded, Garner said, "there were significant additions made for capability." For example, an air suspension had to be added to allow the Growler to get on and off the Osprey.The makers added a new cooling system, power steering and power brakes, along with a beefed-up General Motors engine similar to the one used in the GMC Yukon. Altogether,Garner said, about $50,000 of the cost growth was in additional off-the-shelf items that now permit the Growler to travel up to 45 mph on a highway.Testing from 2005 to 2007 continued to find problems, and it was not until 2008 that the Growler met all requirements. Because the Osprey itself had developmental problems, delays did not harm Marine operational plans, according to the GAO report.The Pentagon inspector general's report said that awarding the contract in November 2004 to American Growler was not "in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation." At issue, however, were technical details about what the important criteria were.The history of the Growler problems are public because Rae-Beck complained to Levin, prompting the investigations. Another investigation, by the Marine Corps inspector general in 2005, looked into an anonymous complaint of a conflict of interest in the contract award because one of the principals in American Growler, Curtis "Terry" Crews, was a retired Marine Corps colonel. The investigation concluded there was no evidence that anything improper occurred.Aviation Week6 Mar 09EFV redesign makes tracksBy Bettina H. ChavanneThe U.S. Marine Corps’ Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) negotiated its latest hurdle, a Critical Design Review (CDR), in December with relative ease, clearing the way for the first hull to roll off the assembly line as a prototype in May 2010.The CDR was what EFV Program Manager Col. Keith Moore calls “the last off-ramp” since the program emerged from its Nunn-McCurdy law violation and subsequent recertification in 2007. An Overarching Integrated Product Team gave its blessing for the program to move forward without another review of the CDR results.Nevertheless, the Marines (and prime contractor General Dynamics) face plenty of critics.The EFV failed its first System Design and Development evaluation, requiring a redesign and an eight-year program delay. A December Congressional Research Service report, moreover, cites stunning figures: What started out as 1,025 EFVs for $8.5 billion could wind up as $13.2 billion for a little more than half as many vehicles.A critique from Dakota Wood of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) suggests the Marines dump the EFV in favor of two separate platforms. “It seems that the investment in producing a vehicle that solved the ship-to-shore closure challengehas been overcome by advances in land- and sea-based weapons development,” he writes.“People are raising their eyebrows on EFV,” says Andrew F. Krepinevich, Jr., president of the CSBA. “Because of the growing threat, the fleet is moving farther from shore, [so the EFV] has to swim farther.” And, he adds, “It’s relatively vulnerable to improvised explosive devices (IEDs).”The biggest issue facing the Marines in the last round of reviews was whether the vehicle could satisfy the reliability key performance parameter. The EFV prototypes, built in 2003-04, have the equivalent of 25 years of use on them, but were useful for testing component-level reliability issues. “We backfit [new designs] on the old vehicles so we could get an indication of whether the fixes and redesigns were going to do what they were intended to do,” Moore says.General Dynamics and the Marines also addressed the laundry list of problems revealed in the 2006 operational assessment, including criticism that the vehicle won’t withstand an IED blast.“The thing we have going for us is we’re pretty heavy,” Moore says. “The heavier you are, the easier it is to deal with IEDs.”Engineering studies uncovered that for the level of V-hull that could be retrofitted on the EFV, “you could get as good or better protection by doing a material-thickness change.”The Marines propose an add-on kit that could be used during sustained combat operations. The kit would add “substantially higher protection with just a few inches of armored plate to the bottom of the vehicle,” Moore says. But IEDs are not a big concern during the initial stages of an operation. “They don’t lend themselves as weapons of mobile offensive warfare.”Another issue is vehicle noise, which is due to the tracks and suspension, not the engine, Moore says. “We were able to clean up the design of the track envelope, changing materials in the external drive and road wheels. The projection is that we’re just below the threshold of single hearing protection.”Managing weight is an issue the Marines are tackling with the Army’s help. The Army has been researching a lighter-weight linked track that, if it fits on the EFV, could provide 800 lb. of weight savings. The Marines want a prototype set of the tracks in the next 12-18 months, says Moore. The requirement for the current track on the EFV is 3,000 mi., but General Dynamics may offer a track that, while it only lasts 2,000-2,500 mi., costs far less, even with replacements.The first EFV is slated to begin testing in May 2010. As prototypes are delivered at about one a month, the Marines will run performance verification tests and a 500-hr. reliability test. “That will give us our first demonstrated new reliability numbers on a redesignedsystem,” Moore says. The Marines are hoping the numbers will be where they need to be. Demand for the vehicle is too high for more missteps.Wall Street Journal6 Mar 09A Tragedy of Errors, and an AccountingAfter a crash, the Marines set an example.By Peggy NoonanIt is late in the morning one day last December.A plane is in distress, it's lost one engine and now two and it's going down, and people on the ground hear the sound, look up, say, "That's going awful low," and whip out their cellphones. You could see the pictures they took later on the news.It sounds like Chesley Sullenburger and US Airways Flight 1549, but that was five weeks later. This was the military jet that went down in San Diego; this was the story that ended badly.Then this week it took a turn. And looked at a certain way, the San Diego story is every bit as big, and elements of it just as deserving of emulation, as Sully saving all souls when he put down in the Hudson.It's Dec. 8, 2008, 11:11 a.m., and a young Marine pilot takes off from an aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, on a routine training flight. The carrier is maybe 90 miles southwest of San Diego. Lt. Dan Neubauer is flying an F/A-18 Hornet. Minutes into the flight, he notices low oil pressure in one of the two engines. He shuts it down. Then the light shows low fuel for the other engine. He's talking to air traffic control and given options and suggestions on where to make an emergency landing. He can go to the naval air station at North Island, the route to which takes him over San Diego Bay, or he can go to the Marine air station at Miramar, with which he is more familiar, but which takes him over heavily populated land. He goes for Miramar. The second engine flames out. About three miles from the runway, the electrical system dies. Lt. Neubauer tries to aim the jet toward a canyon, and ejects at what all seem to agree is the last possible moment.Dong Yun Yoon arrives with his minister the Rev. Daniel Shin at the crash site where his wife, two daughters and mother-in-law were killed.The jet crashed nose down in the University City neighborhood of San Diego, hitting two homes and damaging three. Four people, all members of a Korean immigrant family, were killed—36-year-old Youngmi Lee; her daughters, Grace, 15 months, and Rachel, 2 months, and her 60-year-old mother, Seokim Kim.Lee's husband, a grocer named Dong Yun Yoon, was at work. The day after he'd lost his family, he humbled and awed San Diego by publicly forgiving the pilot—"I know he did everything he could"—and speaking of his faith—"I know God is taking care of my family."His grace and generosity were staggering, but there was growing local anger at the military. Why was the disabled plane over land? The Marines launched an investigation—of themselves. This Wednesday the results were announced.They could not have been tougher, or more damning. The crash, said Maj. Gen. Randolph Alles, the assistant wing commander for the Third Marine Aircraft Wing, was "clearly avoidable," the result of "a chain of wrong decisions." Mechanics had known since July of a glitch in the jet's fuel-transfer system; the Hornet should have been removed from service and fixed, and was not. The young pilot failed to read the safety checklist. He relied on guidance from Marines at Miramar who did not have complete knowledge or understanding of his situation. He should have been ordered to land at North Island. He took an unusual approach to Miramar, taking a long left loop instead of a shorter turn to the right, which ate up time and fuel.Twelve Marines were disciplined; four senior officers, including the squadron commander, were removed from duty. Their military careers are, essentially, over. The pilot is grounded while a board reviews his future.Residents told the San Diego Union-Tribune that they were taken aback by the report. Bob Johnson, who lived behind the Yoons and barely escaped the crash, said, "The Marines aren't trying to hide from it or duck it. They took it on the chin." A retired Navy pilot who lives less than a block from the crash and had formed, with neighbors, a group to push the Marines for an investigation, and for limiting flights over University City, said after the briefing, "I think we're out of business." In a later story the paper quoted a retired general, Bob Butcher, chairman of a society of former Marine aviators, calling the report "as open and frank a discussion of an accident as I've seen." "It was a lot more candid than many people expected."This wasn't damage control, it was taking honest responsibility. And as such, in any modern American institution, it was stunning.The day after the report I heard from a young Naval aviator in predeployment training north of San Diego. He flies a Super Hornet, sister ship to the plane that went down. He said the Marine investigation "kept me up last night" because of how it contrasted with "the buck-passing we see" in the government and on Wall Street. He and his squadron were in range of San Diego television stations when they carried the report's conclusions live. He'd never seen "our entire wardroom crowded around a television" before. They watched "with bated breath." At the end they were impressed with the public nature of the criticism, and its candor: "There are still elements within the government that takepersonal responsibility seriously." He found himself wondering if the Marines had been "too hard on themselves." "But they are, after all, Marines."By contrast, he says, when the economy came crashing down, "nowhere did we see a board come out and say: 'This is what happened, these are the decisions these particular people made, and this was the result. They are no longer a part of our organization.' There was no timeline of events or laymen's explanation of how a credit derivative was actually derived. We did not see congressmen get on television with charts and eviscerate their organization and say, 'These were the men who in 2003 allowed Freddie and Fannie unlimited rein over mortgage securities.' Instead we saw . . . everybody against everybody else with no one stepping forth and saying, 'We screwed up…'" There is no one in national leadership who could convincingly "assign blame," and no one "who could or would accept it."This of course is true, but somehow more stinging when said by a serviceman.The White House this week was consumed by extreme interest in a celebrated radio critic, reportedly coordinating an attack line with antic Clinton-era political operatives who don't know what time it is. For them it's always the bouncy '90s and anything goes, it's all just a game. President Obama himself contributes to an atmosphere of fear grown to panic as he takes a historic crisis and turns it into what he imagines is a grand opportunity for sweeping change. What we need is stabilization—an undergirding, a restrengthening so things can settle and then rise. What we're given is multiple schemes, and the beginning of a reordering of financial realities between the individual and the state.The Obama people think they are playing big ball, not small ball, and they no doubt like the feeling of it: "We're making history." But that, ironically, was precisely the preoccupation of the last administration—doing it big, being "consequential," showing history. Watch: Within six months, the Obama administration will be starting to breathe the word "legacy."What they're up to will win and hold support, at least for a while, until the reaction.But is it responsible? Or is it only vain?Anyway, all honor this week to the Marines, who were very much the former, not the latter.Navy Times6 Mar 09Wounded Marines: School didn’t deliverBy Gidget FuentesSAN DIEGO — A film-training and job-placement program created for wounded Marines and corpsmen by a foundation with Hollywood connections looked like a sweet deal whenthe first class graduated last year.But some participants say Wounded Marine Careers Foundation Inc. fell short on its promise of a free, 10-week training program with guaranteed employment and membership in a key Hollywood union.Instead, some claim the private, nonprofit foundation charged the Department of Veterans Affairs for $88,000 in vocational rehabilitation benefits for some students, but didn’t deliver on a variety of promises.Now, one former Marine has filed a nearly $300,000 civil suit against the group, and some graduates are weighing their options.GIVING SOMETHING BACKWounded Marine Careers Foundation was established in 2007 by Emmy award-winning filmmaker Kevin Lombard and his wife, Judith Paixao, to teach filmmaking skills — including photography, editing and audio — to disabled veterans, with costs expected to be covered by donations and other fundraising. The goal “was to do a seamless transition for them into the work force,” Paixao said.The group signed up a blue-chip roster of trustees, including two former commandants, retired Generals P.X. Kelley and James L. Jones, the latter now national security adviser to the Obama administration. The foundation transformed a studio warehouse building in San Diego into a well-equipped school and graduated 19 students in the first class.“I wanted to give back to these guys,” said Lombard, whose father was a Marine and who has spent 38 years as a cinematographer, director and producer.In a Feb. 19 interview, Lombard and Paixao said they initially believed donations would be enough to cover the training costs for the students.“We didn’t think that a wounded veteran would have to pay for a wounded warrior program,” Lombard said. “I thought, being in the motion picture industry for 30 years ... once people found out about this, we’d be funded. To me, it seemed like making a small-budget independent film.”But they didn’t realize how tough it would be to get $2 million in donations, the amount Lombard estimates is needed annually to run the training center for the three-year “pilot” program.“The equipment is expensive, and the personnel who teach you to learn on the equipment is expensive,” Lombard said. “The technology is changing so quickly, you’ve got to be able to keep up with them.”Lombard said he didn’t know about the VA program until one of the students in the firstclass mentioned it. The Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Service covers tuition, fees, books, supplies and equipment for eligible service-disabled veterans and provides a monthly stipend for temporary housing. Benefit amounts vary case by case, and the VA pays the approved school or training program directly.The foundation applied to become a certified training center, and the VA reviewed and approved the course curriculum, budget, programs, faculty and the facility.SUSPICIONS AND QUESTIONSFormer Lance Cpl. Brent Callender was sold on the program when he first heard about it from Paixao and Lombard, who visited him as he recuperated at Camp Pendleton.“They pitched this idea to us as a gift to us, that they would be using private funding,” said Callender, 23, a former combat engineer who suffered extensive injuries in Iraq from a roadside bomb. “I was like, ‘OK, that sounds like a good idea.’ I just wanted to work in TV and film.”When the course began, an employee asked students if they would use vocational rehabilitation benefits, and distributed forms “just in case we needed it,” Callender said. He signed the form as part of the larger enrollment process, but believed donations would cover the costs, he said.Program brochures said semesters cost $10,000 for each student. Several people associated with the foundation questioned the use of VA benefits, including cinematographer Levie Isaacks, a former Army infantry platoon commander and Vietnam veteran, who helped teach the first class.“To watch these guys learn the creative process, they just come alive. These guys were living in hospitals, they were isolated,” Isaacks said. “It’s just a question of the money.”Isaacks, who received $27,500 for teaching the first class, was furious that students had “signed over all their rehab benefits.” He said he’s taught courses that cost $1,500 a week, but “$88,000, I’ll tell you, is just outrageous.”Isaacks said he complained in a letter to the VA but has not received any response.VA BENEFITS ADD UPIn 2007, the VA approved the foundation and later recertified the school for the current class that began in January, said Tristan Heaton, a VA spokesman in San Diego.According to VA records, the foundation has received $1,223,808 in benefits so far. The VA paid the foundation $88,550 for tuition costs for each of eight students among the 19 in the first class and $64,426 for each of eight students in the current class, Heaton said.Neither the VA nor the foundation has explained how that figure was determined, or whatchanged to drive the price down by $24,000 per student.It remains unclear whether this represents the only VA rehab benefits available to the students. Each case is tailored to the veteran, Heaton said, but he did not elaborate on whether available benefits are capped at a certain amount.Paixao said a VA counselor visits each Friday and meets with beneficiaries. She said veterans are not forced into using their VA benefits.“Many of them do use their own benefits for the program,” she said. “It’s completely elective.”Donations cover other students’ tuition, as was the case for the first group, where about half of participants did not apply for VA benefits.Lombard said the couple put up most of their own money to help start the San Diego center. Paixao said they just received their first paychecks in mid-February, but would not disclose the amount.The foundation received some healthy donations — the couple would not specify those amounts, either — but most donors have given a few hundred dollars at most, Paixao said. Times have seemed “tremendously bleak,” she said.But former Cpl. Joshua Frey, a graduate of the inaugural class, isn’t feeling sorry for the foundation. Eager to begin a new career after suffering devastating injuries in Fallujah in 2004 as a member of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, Frey signed up after program brochures indicated donations would cover expenses.“I wasn’t expecting that I had to pay it,” said Frey, 32.He used his VA training benefits but today fears he wasted it. “We’ve got nothing to show for it.”Former Lance Cpl. Mike Passmore said he “didn’t know too much about Voc-Rehab, other than it did pay for school. It turned out it was $88,000. You pay that for a four-year college degree.”Passmore, wounded in Iraq with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, is bitter. A VA rep told him his benefit “is a one-time deal,” he said.“In the end, we didn’t get what we were promised,” he said. For instance, students didn’t get a video camera package he believed they’d get at graduation, and several complained the union cards they received were only good for work as a film loader, an entry-level job in the industry.Passmore took a job last April with Fox Sports in Los Angeles, but found he had to learna different editing system, so he quit.The couple defends the course. Paixao said students got to keep a digital camera, an editing system and software, and donated laptops, but the foundation didn’t give them the $5,000 Panasonic video cameras used in the course. Membership with the International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees, Lombard said, is valued and key to getting different types of work.Defending the curriculum, Lombard said some systems taught in the class might be different than what a student has to use on a job at a television station or on a film set.Passmore, now an apprentice at a tattoo shop, remains angry.“They took advantage of Marines who were wounded,” he said.LAWSUIT PENDINGThe second class began in early January, with a dozen students in a revamped 14-week course that will graduate students “qualified to work at higher than entry-level, union-qualified jobs,” according to a recent program brochure.“It’s much more than just the basics,” Paixao said. Older students make up the newest class — it includes two soldiers, a Navy officer, a corpsman and an airman.Paixao said “the mission is still pure: Train in media skills and help them find jobs.”She said it’s been a tough road. The couple hears accusations that they’re only in it for the money. Some relationships with people once associated with the center have soured.Their friends wonder why they moved from Connecticut to devote time to the center.“It’s taking its toll, physically and emotionally, with the two of us,” Lombard said.They have transformed the course for the second class, adding an extra month of instruction and more hands-on training, while driving down the price.Lombard said they’re talking with a university about giving graduates college credits. The foundation has strengthened its ties with the 50,000-member IATSE union, which recently reiterated its support to waive the $3,500 initiation fees for each graduate and help them find jobs, he said.“We’re even more impassioned now. ... But there’s a lot of heartache with the growing process,” Lombard said.Others are feeling heartache too, including those who feel betrayed by Lombard and Paixao.Cpl. Philip Levine, 34, was a mortarman with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, and joined the foundation in early 2007 as a co-founder and representative for wounded warriors on its board of directors.“I thought it would be a great thing, so I gave 100 percent,” he said. He planned to attend the first class.Levine, wounded in Fallujah in 2004, recalled that donations were supposed to cover tuition.“We’re a foundation,” he said. “Why should a recipient have to use his benefits?”His questions led to growing “friction” with Lombard and Paixao by year’s end, he said, and he was voted off the board and barred from taking the course. Levine sued the couple and the foundation in San Diego Superior Court and is seeking nearly $3,000 of unreimbursed expenses plus damages of $290,000 over the failed partnership. The trial begins in April.The couple declined to answer questions about the lawsuit.“He’s never been paid a dime, and they’ve never even paid his expenses,” said Levine’s attorney, Dick Lynn of San Diego. Levine met once with Commandant Gen. James Conway and helped draw attention and encourage donations for the foundation, Lynn said.“He worked day and night on this thing for a year.”Ultimately, Levine said his case isn’t just about the money.“I’m looking for answers. ... I gave so much,” he said. “I trusted them.”Jacksonville Daily News8 Mar 09Lejeune Marines see progress in IraqBy Jennifer HladAs the war in Iraq nears its sixth anniversary this month, the commander of Regimental Combat Team 6 said he has seen impressive improvements over the course of the conflict."I'm absolutely amazed at how peaceful it is, and how much progress has been made over the past six years," Col. Matthew Lopez, told The Daily News in a phone call from Camp Ramadi, Iraq. "I'm a little bit surprised at how fast things are improving."In a speech at Camp Lejeune last month, President Barack Obama announced his plans to withdraw all combat troops from Iraq by August 31, 2010."By any measure, this has already been a long war," he told Marines and sailors at Goettge Memorial Field House. "Thanks in great measure to your service, the situation in Iraq has improved."Obama also mentioned plans to raise military pay."Much like the reaction of the crowd at Camp Lejeune, the Marines were very happy to hear we're getting a pay raise," Lopez said.But the plans for withdrawal do not impact the Marines' mission, he said."The Marines here understand our mission here, and the duration of our mission. We don't see any major changes in what we've been asked to do. ... We're just here to serve for as long as they tell us to stay here and serve."Lopez and the rest of RCT-6 arrived in eastern Anbar province Iraq in January for a yearlong deployment. It is Lopez's fourth tour in Iraq.One of the unit's missions is to provide security for the local population, with Iraqi security forces in the lead, Lopez said.The marines also provide security and support the civilian provincial reconstruction teams and civilian embedded reconstruction teams, working "hand in hand to attempt to improve the (living) conditions for the Iraqi people."The unit also assists the police, Lopez said, though "the local police forces provide security for the local population with very little support from the coalition forces."Now, instead of working with the individual police officer on the street, the Marines can help on a city or province level, Lopez said.The unit would also provide a quick reaction force or mass casualty support, but neither has been necessary in the past six months, he said."The Marines are very proud of the changes that have been made, the improvements that have been made," he said. "For those on their second or third tour, it is a validation of the sacrifices (they made) on previous deployments. ... Now we have the opportunity to see (what they worked for) come true before our very eyes."Jacksonville Daily News8 Mar 09'Accomplishing the mission' in AfghanistanBy Jennifer HladAs 8,000 Marines and sailors prepare to deploy to southern Afghanistan as part of 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, the commander of the Camp Lejeune-based infantry unit that has been serving in southern Afghanistan since November says they have made important gains even while suffering difficult losses."Counterinsurgency is a sustained commitment that will take time here in Afghanistan; however, we feel we are accomplishing our mission daily and ‘moving the ball' down the field here," 3 rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment commander Lt. Col. David Odom told The Daily News via e-mail.The 3rd Battalion deployed to Afghanistan as the ground combat element of a special purpose Marine air-ground task force. The task force will be joined in southern Afghanistan later this spring by another 8,000 troops to form the 10,000-strong 2nd MEB.The assumption of command ceremony for that brigade - and the announcement of the subordinate units that will make up the MEB - is scheduled for this morning at Camp Lejeune. Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson will command the brigade.Odom said the Marines of 3/8 know that the additional troops will "sustain and advance the successes" made by Marines, Afghan National Security Forces and NATO troops in the area.3/8's primary mission has been counterinsurgency operations, with a focus on training and mentoring Afghan National Security Forces, Odom said.They have been able to expand into areas where there was no previous security presence, facilitate better freedom of movement for the local people and prevent movement in those areas by insurgents, he said."We do have a viable and capable insurgency that we are fighting against, and there is still much to do; however, we know that with sustained presence and continued efforts alongside the Afghan National Security Forces and Afghan people, we are making a difference," he said.The unit operates from several bases in various district centers, he said, working with the Afghan people to establish good relations and holding frequent meetings, called "shuras.""Through seeking to conduct all operations and actions ‘by, with and through' the Afghans, we know we are making a difference that builds steadily over time," Odom said.The Marines of 3/8 have built on the successes of the 29 Palms-based 2nd Battalion, 7thMarine Regiment before them, Odom said. But like 2/7, 3/8 has suffered numerous casualties.Lance Cpl. Alberto Francesconi, Lance Cpl. Jessie Cassada, Lance Cpl. Julian Brennan, Sgt. David Wallace III, Sgt. Trevor Johnson and Lance Cpl. Kevin Preach all died supporting combat operations, according to the Department of Defense. Lance Cpl. Daniel Bennett died in what the DoD called a "non-hostile" incident."Unfortunately, our success here has come with great sacrifice at the loss of some of our brothers," Odom said. "We honor and remember our fallen angels and their families daily here by accomplishing our mission here in Afghanistan."Japan Today8 Mar 09Aso eyes early solution to Futenma relocation planNAHA —Prime Minister Taro Aso expressed his willingness Saturday to achieve an ‘‘early solution’’ to a stalled plan to relocate the U.S. Marines’ Futenma Air Station in Ginowan to the shores of Camp Schwab in Nago, both in Okinawa Prefecture, during talks with Okinawa Gov Hirokazu Nakaima. In his first visit to the southernmost island prefecture since taking office in September, Aso did not respond to Nakaima’s request about the location of an envisioned airfield that takes over the key functions of the Futenma base, according to Nakaima.Nakaima told reporters after the talks that he requested that the airfield be built ‘‘a little more offshore’’ than the area agreed by Japan and the United States in a 2006 accord ‘‘for the sake of the environment.’’ The airfield features two 1,600-meter runways in a V-shape formation that will use part of the coastline of Camp Schwab.Aso told reporters the key is ‘‘how to balance the voices of local people and arrangements as set by a roadmap’’ on the bilateral agreement to complete the relocation by 2014.Nakaima said he asked Aso that the central government take measures to reduce noise around the U.S. Air Force’s Kadena Air Base. The governor also called for Tokyo’s support for construction of a new runway at Naha airport and for the planned launch of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology by 2012.Marine Corps Times8 Mar 092/14 touts advanced artillery systemThe reservists with Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 14th Marines, had been at Camp Barber only three weeks in February when they conducted a successful field test of their High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, a first for any Marine unit operating in Afghanistan and a sign of what’s in store for the insurgency there, officials said in a news release.HiMARS is more advanced than a traditional howitzer, Maj. Frankie P. Delgado, battery commander, said in the release. With its three-man crew, the system cradles six 200-pound rockets. Its range can exceed 40 miles, and the rockets, guided by a Global Positioning System, are accurate to within 26 feet.“It’s like a scalpel versus a butcher knife,” Delgado said.One of HiMARS’ six rocket tubes can inflict the same damage as one artillery cannon, and it’s a more subtle alternative to airstrikes, he said. The enemy won’t ever see the rocket until it’s too late.The battery, whose members are based in El Paso, Texas, deployed to Helmand province in support of Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force — Afghanistan. The unit is tasked with targeting “higher value” targets, Delgado said.Navy Times8 Mar 09New policy bars sex offenders from Navy housingBut guidance not yet given to installationsBy Gidget FuentesSAN DIEGO — Registered sex offenders are prohibited from living in base housing and barred from Navy Department facilities, according to an October memo from the Navy secretary. But five months after the order, the Navy has not yet put it in place.The Marine Corps, meanwhile, already has begun screening all its base housing residents for registered sex offenders, who will be forced to move out as part of a massive servicewide crackdown.On Oct. 7, Navy Secretary Donald Winter issued a far-reaching policy prohibiting convicted sex offenders from accessing Navy and Marine Corps installations, living in military or private-public venture housing, and enlisting or being commissioned into theNavy or Marine Corps.“To the maximum extent permitted by law or otherwise waived by competent authority, sex offenders are to be identified and prohibited from access to [Navy Department] facilities,” Winter wrote in a memo to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead and Commandant Gen. James Conway.So far, implementation of the policy is mixed, as officials sort out the details. The Navy has not yet issued specific guidance to its installations.“We’re kind of standing by for further guidance on how to implement it,” said Doug Sayers, a Navy Region-Southwest spokesman. That guidance is expected to come from the Washington-based Navy Installations Command, which oversees naval installations and housing offices, he said.Rachelle Logan, a NIC spokeswoman, said the issue is under review by the Navy Judge Advocate General’s Office and she could not respond to questions.The Corps issued its follow-on policy in a memo signed Dec. 31 by its top installations official, said Capt. Amy Malugani, a Marine spokeswoman at the Pentagon.Corps installations’ officials issued additional guidance Feb. 3 to housing offices and have asked base commanders to review and screen all housing residents by April 15 and report the results, along with the status of their local implementation of the policy, by April 22. More guidance is in the works, including policies for overseas housing and base access.The Corps’ policy, signed by Maj. Gen. Edward Usher, requires that Marines applying for government or leased housing must complete sex offender disclosure forms for themselves and anyone who would reside with them. All housing residents would be screened, and any registered sex offenders living in base or public-private venture housing must move out.Any waivers must be approved by Usher, deputy commandant for installations and logistics in Washington. Residents in bachelor’s quarters also are being screened.“While it is possible that sex offenders may be identified in bachelor quarters, it is highly unlikely, and each such case is best handled by the identified sex offender’s chain of command,” officials wrote in the Feb. 3 guidance.Winter’s policy follows a July 11 memo that allowed both services to bar registered sex offenders from accessing any Navy or Marine Corps installation. Winter’s directive leans on federal guidelines — the 101-page “National Guidelines for Sex Offender Registry and Notification,” also known as the Adam Walsh Act — the Justice Department issued in June, following the law enacted by Congress in 2006.Installation commanders must rely on multiple sources of information to determine whether someone is a convicted registered sex offender.The federal database uses states’ individual collections, but it isn’t a complete listing of all convicted sex offenders, said Steve Roddel, a former Marine computer programmer who runs Family Watchdog, a private database of registered sex offenders that compiles information from daily checks of state registries.Marine Corps Times8 Mar 09Corps adding languages to proficiency programBy Dan LamotheThe Corps is showing Marines the money, expanding an incentive program that encourages leathernecks to learn foreign languages.Eligibility for the Marine Corps Foreign Language Proficiency Pay Program has been bolstered to include new languages, officials said, giving Marines more options to collect bonuses of between $500 and $1,000 per month.The Corps declined to identify which languages are eligible, saying only that Commandant Gen. James Conway and other top Marine officials developed the list based on the service’s needs. When the Defense Department increased language bonuses for service members in 2006, it counted Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Farsi and Pashtu among its “investment languages.”“Mission accomplishment and efficiency can be greatly enhanced if Marines attain and maintain a proficiency in the necessary languages, even at the lowest levels,” said 2nd Lt. Josh Diddams, a Marine spokesman.Although the eligible languages have now changed, the Corps’ requirements for earning FLPP have not. Marines must score at least a “1/1” on the Interagency Language Roundtable scale, which sets federal guidelines for measuring language proficiency.The Pentagon’s guidelines are more rigid. They say FLPP should be made available to service members who score at least a “2/2,” showing “limited working proficiency” in two of the three categories: listening, reading and speaking.To receive a “1/1,” a Marine must show “elementary” proficiency in two of those categories. The Corps lowered its requirements because “evolving missions have highlighted a need for foreign language proficiency at levels below what was formerly required,” according to a partial copy of Marine administrative message 064/09 obtained by Marine Corps Times. The message was classified “for official use only,” with Marinesencouraged to seek more details from their commands.Capt. Carrie Kauffman, the Corps’ foreign language program manager, said in an e-mail that scoring a “1” on the Interagency Language Roundtable scale takes “simple” understanding and communication ability.“With a speaking score of ILR 1, you are able to satisfy minimum courtesy requirements and maintain very simple face-to-face conversation on familiar topics,” Kauffman said. “A native speaker will often use slowed speech, repetition, [paraphrasing] or a combination of these to be understood by this individual.”According to an order signed by the commandant in 2006, Marines can receive up to $500 per month for proficiency in one foreign language or $1,000 per month for multiple languages. Annual payments may not exceed $12,000 per year. Details on how much the Corps spends per year on the program could not be obtained.North County Times8 Mar 09Job story provides glimpse of unemployment woesBy Mark WalkerCalls and e-mails flooded the North County Times and a local military office last week after a profile of civilian job openings at area Marine Corps bases was published Tuesday.Some callers sounded desperate. Others hoped for a telephone number to call. Some were parents trying to help their out-of-work adult children or spouses find jobs.Others stumbled on a Web site address that begins with a "security alert" and wanted their fears allayed that proceeding further into the site wouldn't damage their computer.It won't.The article detailed what Judi Ramiro, human resources director for Marine Corps bases throughout the West, says are hundreds of permanent civil service job openings.Many are of the managerial variety, but Ramiro also said she has numerous openings for skilled tradesmen.With the nation's employers having shed nearly 2 million jobs since Dec. 1, and the jobless rate pegged at 8.6 percent in San Diego County and nearly 12 percent in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, the article was clearly welcomed by many.One was Daniel Sroufe, a 29-year-old Oceanside construction worker with a wife and two kids who lost his job last month."The jobs are few and far between and I'll take anything I can get," Sroufe said Friday.He said he's making ends meet with odd jobs that include providing physical training to kids with dreams of becoming elite athletes.Sroufe said that even though he hasn't yet received his first unemployment check, he considers himself "more fortunate than most" because his wife still has her job.The newspaper wasn't alone in a getting a deluge of calls.Job hunters tracked down the number for Ramiro even though it was not published.She wasn't in her office on Friday, but a spokesman for Marine Corps Installation West said Ramiro came to work a couple of days after the article appeared and found her voice mailbox full for the first time.Ramiro's phone showed that an additional 22 calls had come in that the overflowing mailbox was unable to record, the spokesman said.Bruce Pine was one of those who wrote an e-mail.An aerospace industry project manager, the San Marcos resident said he "got the ax" on Feb. 18.At 56, he worries his age may make it difficult finding work. Daily reports of even more stock market losses and job cuts also worry him."I try to live in the moment and don't like to think beyond today," he said. "A lot of folks in my age group and older are having a heck of a time finding a job, and it doesn't help when you hear hour after hour how bad the economy is."Pine said he fears that the aerospace industry may be headed the way of the U.S. auto industry. He's thankful that his wife, a consultant, continues to find work.He says they can hang on for about six months.Pine did have a telephone interview lined up for Saturday, but it wasn't with a prospective employer. It was an interview with the state Employment Development Department to get his unemployment checks started.Escondido's Robert Wylie, a commercial construction superintendent, has seen has pay and hours cut in half in recent weeks."It's a sign of the times," he said. "I've been in this industry all of my working life and I'm seeing all my friends losing their jobs."Wylie said he wants to land one of the numerous project manager job openings Ramiro mentioned in the story."I hadn't really considered government work until now," he said.While Pine may be worried about his age and relatively high pay history preventing him from landing the kind of work and salary he's used to, consider the case of Fallbrook's Jack Griffiths.He's 79 and looking for work."I'm going to last too long," quipped Griffiths, a member of the Rainbow Municipal Water District board.He's better off than most job hunters as a retired contractor and engineer, but he is concerned some of his money market investments are going to leave him a little short."I'm going to have to replace that somehow," he said.Bluefield Daily Telegraph8 Mar 09Former Princeton resident Gunnery Sgt. Rodney Vest is one fast Marine on two wheelsBy Bill ArcherPRINCETON — When he was a teenager riding his motorcycle on the country roads of southern West Virginia, E-7 Gunnery Sgt. Rodney Vest, of the United States Marine Corps could only dream of racing in one of the premier motorcycle racing events in the nation, the American Motorcycle Association’s Daytona 200. But Vest, 33, a 1995 graduate of Princeton Senior High School made history Friday night in the first AMA race held under the lights at the historic Daytona International Speedway.“This is my second time competing in the Daytona 200,” Vest said in a telephone interview on Saturday afternoon. “I don’t have any major sponsors, but I work at the Marine Recruiting Command Depot at Parris Island, Beaufort, S.C. The Marine Corps helps me out a little and gives me the opportunity to compete at this level. The Marine Corps has been very good to me and my family, and I’m proud to represent them this way.“I told someone last year that competing in the AMA Pro Racing Circuit is about the same thing as me playing basketball against Michael Jordan,” he said. “You know he’s going to dunk on you, but at least you get to touch the ball after he does.”Just to qualify for the AMA Pro Season opener, Vest had to push his GSXR 600 Suzuki motorcycle to the limits of its endurance. He participated in four days of qualifying and practice before knowing that he would get the opportunity to race on Friday night. He qualified at a speed of 168.88 miles-per-hour.“Even the factory teams have to do it all with the same bike, so it’s a tough test,” Vest said. “I was excited that I qualified and got in the (starting) grid.Unfortunately for me, I was drafting with a group of bikes that could go a lot faster than mine, and I blew my engine in the seventh lap.” The group he was drafting with was hitting speeds of 169-170 mph.”Safety is a major issue on the pro racing circuit,” Vest said. “I don’t even ride on the street anymore. This is not a full-time job for me. I just help out the Marine Corps with recruiting, and this is part of it.”Vest’s crew chief and mechanic are not Marines, but he recruited three of his fellow Marines at Parris Island to come with him to serve as crew members. “It’s kind of like if you’re a NASCAR fan, getting full access to the pits at the Daytona 500,” Vest said. “The guys who came with me to Bike Week here in Daytona got to see AMA pro racing from an insider’s perspective.”Vest’s parents, Diane and Terry Kelley still live in Princeton, but after he joined the Marines in 1996, he hasn’t had much time to return home to visit with his friends. Vest made headlines on May 17, 1993 when he and another PSHS student tackled and disarmed a 15-year-old student who was holding 17 students in a biology class hostage. Two teenage students carried two pistols and a sawed-off shotgun with them to school that Monday, and the younger student fired on (then) PSHS Principal George Keatley at about 2:40 p.m., that day.“When I tell my friends here about it, they don’t believe it,” Vest said. “I have to pull out the newspaper clippings to prove it.” He doesn’t think about that incident very much. Instead, he tries to be a good husband to his wife, Rebecca, father to their daughter, Abigail, and to be a good Marine recruiter.“I talk to a lot of West Virginians everywhere I go,” Vest said. “If we see someone with a West Virginia plate on their car, we ask them where they’re from and I tell them I am from Princeton. I see a lot of West Virginians in Daytona during Bike Week, especially retired military,” he said. “I have my bike painted digital camouflage. They’ll stop, say: ‘OohRaw,’ and ask me where I’m from. It’s good to see people from West Virginia.”Vest served one tour in Iraq in 2004, and was racing competitively before he left. He returned from his tour and resumed his competitive racing, although he considers it a sideline to his primary work as a Marine recruiter. He has finished as high as 24th in one AMA pro race last year and will head to Atlanta in the first week of April for his next race. Although he finished 71st Friday night, this year’s Daytona 200 was special to Vest because it was the first AMA pro race under the lights.Video Clips:(Note: Windows Media Player Needed To View Clips)KVUE9 Mar 09Civilian Plan Crash At Camp PendletomKVUE_03-09-2009_CivilianPlaneCrashAtCampP.wmvWITN9 Mar 092MEB DeploymentWITN_03-09-2009_2MEBStandUp.wmvWLS9 Mar 09Reserve Facility Bomb ScareWLS_03-09-2009_ReserveFacilityBombScare.wmvMarine Corps casualty numbers (deceased only) as of 8 Mar 2009 1600.Changes are denoted with **.OIF (March 2003-Current)Hostile: 848Non-Hostile: 163Total: 1011OEF (Jan 2002-Current)Hostile: 42Non-Hostile: 32Total: 74END