[MARINES]- United States Marine Corps News 06/23/97 [1/3]

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Subject: [MARINES]- United States Marine Corps News 06/23/97 [1/3]
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Division of Public Affairs, Headquarters, United States Marine Corps,
Washington, DC 20380-1775 Commercial: (703) 614-1492/4/5 DSN:
224-1492/4/5 FAX: (703) 697-5362

06/23/97
2ND FIELD MEDICAL BATTALION PERFORMS FIELD SURGERY
BOSNIAN REFUGEE COMPLETES BOOT CAMP, LOOKS TO LONG FUTURE IN
CORPS
COMMANDANT: WARFIGHTING LAB STANDS ON ITS OWN MERIT
COURAGE IN THE KOREAN WAR
ENGINEERS MAKE FORTRESS OUT OF BEACH
FEMALE ENLISTED INSTRUCTOR WRAPS UP TOUR AT ACADEMY
GEORGIA GOVERNOR'S "FALL TO THE TOP" VIA THE MARINE CORPS
HEALTHWATCH: FOOD PYRAMID BALANCES DIET
MARINE CORPS PRESENTS HEROISM MEDALS TO TWO CIVILIANS
MARINE RANKED #1 AT MILITARY BODYBUILDING CHAMPIONSHIPS
MILITARY CAREER LEADS TO COLLEGE ALUMNI AWARD FOR FEMALE
BANDSMAN
NEW GUNNERY SYSTEM KEEPS 1ST LAR ON TARGET
SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE' SEMINAR HELPS MARINES
ACHIEVE GOALS AND REDUCE STRESS
TRICARE QUESTION AND ANSWER
WORLD'S OLDEST COMBAT FORM TEACHES DISCIPLINE, WARRIOR SPIRIT

Date: 06/23/97 Release #: 418 Byline: Sgt. J. J. Rodriguez, MCB Camp
Lejeune

Headline: 2ND FIELD MEDICAL BATTALION PERFORMS FIELD SURGERY

MARINE CORPS BASE, Camp Lejeune, N.C. -- Among the trees covered by
camouflage netting, the tent camp looked like a Marine unit's bivouac
area. However, this camp did not house Marines resting before a fight,
but Navy surgeons training to save lives.

Sailors from Charlie Company, 2nd Field Medical Battalion, showcased
their medical facilities in the field recently during the seven-day
Battalion Surgical Operation 1-97. Two surgeons, over a two-day period,
performed 14 surgeries -- varying from vasectomy operations to hernia
repairs.

The field medical setup is designed to handle medical situations at the
echelon two level. This level is not the same as Naval Hospital's echelon
five facilities, but it is one step above the level at which first aid is
performed. The higher the echelon, the more in-depth the care, according
to Chief Petty Officer Michael Reynolds.

The facility is not designed to be permanent like those found in the Army
or Air Force. This six-tent camp is highly mobile in order to meet the
demands of the Marine Corps' mission. It can be up and ready to receive
patients in 24 hours, Reynolds said.

"We're here to support the Marines when they're putting lead down range,"
he said. "Anything the hospital can do (at level two echelon), we can do
here."

Each tent in the camp housed a section like those found inside a surgical
ward, but on a lower scale. Corpsmen manned a small pharmacy with
sufficient medications to meet the operation's mission. They were even
capable of mixing "piggy back" intravenous solutions for patients, to
implement the contents on an existing IV.

"You will not see us carry what the (hospital) pharmacy has," Reynolds
said. "We're looking to meet the mission for combat. We carry the basic
antibiotics."

Next to the pharmacy, corpsmen were busy at work in the Central Sterile
Supply Room, sterilizing surgery tools and other equipment. By using two
275-pound sterilizing machines that run on gas or electricity they were
able to clean and have tools and surgery equipment ready within minutes.

White tape outside the tent warned everyone to keep their distance as a
safety precaution. The X-ray machine inside, though powerful enough to
produce hospital quality prints, was not potent enough to cause any
serious damage. Still, technicians in the radiology tent kept at least
six feet away and behind a small lead wall.

"You could get more radiation from the sun," said Petty Officer 3rd Class
Fikret Sarisen, X-ray technician.

Close to the X-ray technician tent, Petty Officer 2nd Class Eddie Leeks,
a lab technician, examined tissue from a vasectomy through a microscope.
The room contained an array of machines to assist in determining the
nature of a patient's ailments. Everything was "high-tech," according to
Reynolds. No other country's service carries anything of the sort in the
field. The laboratory also contained a refrigeration unit with its own
power backup.

Next in the medical section line stood the administration room. There,
corpsmen read the patient's medical record books to determine the nature
of their visit. In the front corner of this tent, a Marine also monitored
a radio, keeping in constant communication with the rear. He was part of
a small detachment of Marines assigned to provide the company
communication and transportation support.

In the distance, the camp's Command Service Support Operations Center
regulates the surgical and medical operations. In addition to keeping
track of each patient and his treatment, CSSOC kept the commander
informed of everything that took place within the tent's confines.

All of the tents served one purpose -- to support what goes on at the
surgery tent, where the real action took place. Two surgeons, aided by
their staff, performed elective surgery on 14 patients.

"They went by the book. Before I knew it, I was walking out," said Staff
Sgt. Rodney Mauck, Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron-26.

Everything inside was set up as it would be at a hospital surgery room,
but on a smaller scale. All the patients, to include Navy Capt. Carl J.
Hooton, battalion commander, volunteered to have surgery in the field.
They put their trust and their lives in the hands of their fellow
servicemembers.

"I'm familiar with the field hospital," said Staff Sgt. James T.
Bumgarner, Military Police Co., 2nd Force Service Support Group. "I know
it's sanitary. They have to train so they can do their job in combat."
(Sgt. J. J. Rodriguez, MCB Camp Lejeune) -USMC-

Date: 06/23/97 Release #: 409 Byline: Lance Cpl. Amos Kelso, MCRD Parris
Island

Headline: BOSNIAN REFUGEE COMPLETES BOOT CAMP, LOOKS TO LONG
FUTURE IN CORPS

IMAGE CAPTION -- 25BOSMAR.JPG -- Private Adisa Dubica is inspected by the
senior drill instructor of Platoon 4018, Staff Sgt. Pamela Dunson, in the
4th Recruit Training Battalion gymnasium before beginning family day
liberty June 5. (Photo by Lance Cpl. Amos Kelso)

MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT, Parris Island, S.C. -- Every Marine has his
or her reasons for joining the Corps. Some join because of family
tradition. Others join for the extreme challenge or for the sense of
pride that they feel from being a Marine.

Although there are many motives for signing the contract, few have better
reasons for becoming a Marine than Pvt. Adisa Dubica, a Bosnian refugee
who graduated June 6 from Platoon 4018, Papa Company, 4th Recruit
Training Battalion. Her reasons -- thankfulness for her life and the life
of her mother.

Dubica was still a teenager when fighting broke out in the former
Yugoslavia and Bosnian Serbs began their policy of "ethnic cleansing."
She soon learned the high price paid by civilians trapped in the
crossfire.

"The war started in 1991 when I was 18 years old," said Dubica. "I didn't
realize what war means. Then one night me and my mom lost everything."
Dubica and her mother, both Roman Catholics, lived in the city of Banja
Luka in the northern region of Bosnia-Herzegovina when Serbian forces
took over the area.

"We had a house, two cars, an apartment, and I owned my own bar," Dubica
stated.

The Serbs took all of it.

"Then the real war started with grenades and gunfire. It was very hard in
the beginning. You don't really realize what's happening. When you do
realize what's happening, then you realize you could lose your life every
second."

Dubica's life changed into an everyday challenge to survive. She
explained that the line between life and death began to blur as the war
continued.

"You just keep going with it and a year later you don't care anymore. You
don't care if you're going to stay alive or if they're going to kill
you."

Dubica and her mother moved in with an aunt after their house was taken.
She said that during the next several years Catholics and Muslims in the
town were treated much the same as Jews in Germany during World War II.

"We were not allowed to lock our doors or have anything. They just came
in and took whatever they wanted to take, like it was their own
property."

She added that the Muslims and Catholics had to wear yellow bands to
identify them as non-Serbs. Over the next three years she faced death
five times at the hands of Serbian soldiers.

"Twice they put a pistol in my mouth and they also held a gun to my head.
Two other times they put a knife to my throat. I was very lucky because
they tried five times, but they didn't kill me. The main reason why was
that they thought I was 14 and they let me go. There's no words that I
can use to explain that kind of feeling."

The Serbs attempted to execute Dubica a sixth time, but some much overdue
good luck enabled them to escape to safety and that escape became her
first encounter with Marines.

One night Dubica and her mother joined a group of 50 people in an attempt
to flee to safety. While hiding in the woods, a group of 15 Serbian
soldiers captured the escapees.

"They were putting us in a line to kill us. They had a hole dug and
everything ready. At that time I saw my death. I knew it, there was no
way that somebody was going to come and save my life. Then these
(Marines) showed up."

The Serbian soldiers were caught by surprise when an American voice
coming from the woods announced that they were surrounded and ordered
them to drop their weapons. After surrendering, the Serbs were again
surprised, this time by the number of their captors.

"It was only two Marines," said Dubica, a bit of astonishment still in
her voice. "They hardly had anything and we thought (the Serbian
soldiers) were going to grab their guns and kill them and kill us, but
they just stood there like they were frozen or something. The thing is,
they were afraid of Marines and American soldiers."

The Marines delivered the Serbian soldiers to their command and then
escorted the refugees back to Banja Luka. Since Dubica could speak
English, the Marines were able to talk to the group through her.

"They said everything was going to be okay and they gave us food to eat
and something to be covered with, too, because about 10 girls had been
raped. They actually saved our lives." The two Marines explained to
Dubica that they happened to have been driving nearby when they heard the
shouts and cries of the escapees pleading with the soldiers and went to
investigate.

The Marines informed the International Red Cross of the situation, and
the next day Dubica and her mother were taken to a refugee camp in
neutral territory.

"I don't remember who those Marines were, but deep down in my heart I
thought if I could be a United States Marine, I will so I can save
somebody's life like that. I always thought that Marines are strong, and
when you look at them you can see that they are mean and they can do
whatever they want to, but that night they proved to me they really can
do it and they will do it."

Dubica and her mother spent a month at their first refugee camp before
being allowed to become temporary refugees in the neighboring state of
Croatia while awaiting transfer to a third country. After an entire year
in the Croatian camp, the United Nations arranged for them to be sent to
the United States.

The two arrived in Louisville, Ky., on April 11, 1995. Their sponsors, a
Catholic charity organization, provided them with food and a place to
live while finding them jobs and an apartment of their own. Dubica held
jobs at a dry cleaners, a department store, and a bakery during the next
two years. The 24-year-old, who had taught English, biology, and art in
Bosnia, said that adjustment to life in America wasn't hard because of
cultural differences. In fact, she said that Bosnia, before the war, had
been much like America. The difficulty came from many Americans'
perceptions of the refugees.

"That was the hardest part," said Dubica, "to prove to people that you're
worth something and you are the same as they are. I wanted to be somebody
to show Americans that I know something, and that I'm intelligent like
they are."

Dubica got her chance when she met her recruiter, Staff Sgt. Matthew
Jensen from Marine Corps Recruiting Station, Louisville. Dubica's mother,
Pasha, occasionally babysat for Jensen and his wife. One night, Dubica
was keeping her mother company when Jensen returned home. Eventually,
their conversation turned toward the Marine Corps.

Before signing the contract, Dubica made a deal with Jensen. For the
three months that Dubica was in boot camp, Jensen helped take care of
Pasha, who didn't drive or speak English. He also promised to bring her
to the graduation.

Dubica arrived at Parris Island March 10. She said that the physical
aspects of boot camp were not that difficult for her, but that being away
from her mother and dealing entirely in her second language posed some
difficulty.

"The hardest thing for me was the separation from my mother because I was
never separated from her. That was what really put me down in the first
two weeks. I also had to speak English all the time and think in English
even if I wanted to speak my own language. That put some pressure on me."

She added that she had trouble trying not to be nervous during
inspections. She constantly feared making a mistake before the company or
battalion commander and failing the inspection. "I didn't have enough
confidence in myself," said Dubica. "That's what I lost by the time that
I came to America. Now, at the end of boot camp, I have it back. I think
there is nothing that I can't do."

All of Dubica's inspections were above average or excellent.

"She was a very good recruit," stated Staff Sgt. Pamela Dunson, senior
drill instructor of Platoon 4018. "She always did what she was told, when
she was told, and she never complained. Every time we told her to do
something, she always gave 100 percent."

"She took training a little more seriously because of the situation in
Bosnia," Dunson added. "She knew that it was no joke and she also told me
she wanted to give back to the United States Armed Forces for helping her
out in Bosnia."

"I love her like a sister," Jensen said, expressing the pride he felt in
Dubica when the three reunited during family day. "She's a part of my
life.

"I've never had a recruit before that signed over everything to me. I
have her power of attorney because I've been supporting her mother for
three months. I write their rent checks. It's just good to see somebody
succeed to their potential. You don't see that very often."

Dubica will go on to school for military occupational skill training in
financing and accounting after completing Marine Combat Training at Camp
Geiger, N.C., and says that she plans to make a long career of the Corps.

"I plan to stay in the Marine Corps as long as I can. It feels great
because now I can do something for this country.

"I always wanted to come to America. When I really made it to be one of
the few and the proud, I was like -- yea! I made my dream come true. Not
everybody can be a Marine.

"I just want to say to (the Marines who rescued me), thank you for saving
my mother's and my life and I want to thank them for opening my eyes to
my future."

"There are no words to say to somebody who saved your life except that
you are thankful for it, but that's not good enough. Maybe someday I'm
going to be in some situation like they were in combat so that I can save
somebody's life. At that time, I can pay them back. They saved mine, I'm
going to save somebody else's." (Lance Cpl. Amos Kelso, MCRD Parris
Island) -USMC-

Date: 06/23/97 Release #: 412 Byline: HQMC

Headline: COMMANDANT: WARFIGHTING LAB STANDS ON ITS OWN MERIT

WASHINGTON (June 18) -- Now firmly on its feet as the focal point of
developing new ideas and technologies for Marine Corps operations in the
21st century, the Commandant's Warfighting Laboratory will, according to
Gen. Charles C. Krulak, "assume its rightful place among the permanent
institutions of our Corps."

With that pronouncement, the 31st commandant directed the Quantico,
Va.-based command to be immediately renamed the Marine Corps Warfighting
Laboratory. "I lent the commandant's name to give the lab emphasis, to
get it off the ground," he said. "Now it's time for the laboratory to
stand apart from the person of the commandant ... ."

Established in November 1995, the laboratory continues the Marine Corps'
front-line role in military innovations which have included: close-air
support, amphibious vehicles, vertical assault, vertical/short take-off
and landing aircraft, tilt-rotor aircraft, less-than-lethal technologies,
and unmanned aerial vehicles. All of these, said the commandant, allow
the Marine Corps, as the nation's force in readiness, to be ready to
fight anywhere at anytime.

The rule of the day in military operations is "adapt or die," he said.
"This is exactly the reason we called for the establishment of the
Commandant's Warfighting Laboratory. It gives us the means to adapt."

The recent conclusion of "Hunter Warrior," the first in a three-part
series of advanced warfighting experiments conducted by the laboratory,
illustrates what the commandant calls "the innovative spirit resident in
every Marine." During the experiment, many ideas developed by individual
Marines were put to the test in the deserts of Southern California,
including a hybrid variant of the unmanned aerial vehicle and a computer
bank powered by solar/wind-charged batteries.

"While the warfighting laboratory is the conduit for operational reform
in the Corps, the fleet Marine is the centerpiece for testing and
implementing reforms," Krulak stated. "A warfighting organization cannot
institutionalize innovation without the support and the input of the
warfighters. Therefore, the most important innovating mechanism in the
Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory is the individual Marine.

"The Marine Corps needs everyone's ideas on innovation," the commandant
continued. "The laboratory needs them, I need them. As it has always
been, the fleet Marine walks the point in the innovation process. As
such, I expect each and every Marine to embrace and contribute to the
experimentation. It's your laboratory." (from ALMAR 190/97)

Marines can submit their ideas by writing to:

Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory

2042 Broadway Street

Marine Corps Combat Development Command

Quantico, VA 22134-5060. (HQMC)
-USMC-

Date: 06/23/97 Release #: 419 Byline: Sgt. J. J. Rodriguez, MCB Camp
Lejeune

Headline: COURAGE IN THE KOREAN WAR

IMAGE CAPTION -- 25CHOSIN.JPG -- Retired Gunnery Sgt. Garrison Gigg,
president of the Coastal Carolina Chosin Few Chapter, spent part of his
65th birthday talking to Marines from 2nd CEB about events that took
place 47 years ago. (Photo by Sgt. J. J. Rodriguez)

MARINE CORPS BASE, Camp Lejeune, N.C. -- It was difficult for former Cpl.
Garrison Gigg, president of the Coastal Carolina Chapter of the Chosin
Few, to hold back tears as he praised and blessed Marines from 2nd Combat
Engineer Battalion June 5.

It was his 65th birthday and a hard day to hold back emotions he's
carried since he saw his comrades and best friends die from below
freezing temperatures and enemy fire at Chosin Reservoir, Korea, in
November and December 1950.

Members of the Chosin Few frequently speak to Marines about the cold
misery they endured 47 years ago at the Chosin. Forty-seven years is a
long time to remember events that took place, but listening to Gigg and
Chosin Few members Lt. Col. Pete Stapleton (ret.) and CWO4 Donald P.
Ivers (ret.), it is as if the war happened yesterday.

Gigg, an engineer himself, found a special bond with the Marines of 2nd
CEB. During the war, just as the 1st Marine Division seemed to have faced
every imaginable obstacle, they faced yet another challenge. The Chinese
9th Army blew a concrete bridge at a hydroelectric plant near Koto-ri.
This put Marines in the Chinese line of sight, perfect for an ambush.
They had succeeded during insurmountable odds, but this time it seemed
all was doomed.

The moment didn't last long, however. Dog Company set forth to rebuild
the bridge as enemy rounds showered their efforts. The company's safety
was put aside giving way for a greater cause. Without the bridge the
Marine's movement would be halted, making them an easy target for
quickly-arriving Chinese soldiers.

They had to start from scratch and move quickly to ensure their brothers'
safety. The answer to their prayers came in the form of a 24-ton Bailey
Bridge, air dropped from Air Force C-119s. As work on the 150-foot
stretch began, Marines from the 5th and 7th regiments were enveloped in a
massive firefight.

The engineers improvised, and in what seemed like an eternity, built the
bridge that took them and their equipment to freedom.

"Marines here today may have to do what I did," Gigg said. "But I hope
they don't"

Lessons about what Marines might encounter in similar situations were
woven into the diverse "sea stories" told by the Chosin Few. Comical,
intense, sad and dramatic stories captured the engineers' attention.

The veterans glorified the Corps and what they did to uphold its
tradition. They were more concerned with not being the first to discredit
the battle-winning tradition by surrender or retreat, than with their own
safety, Stapleton said. Honor, pride and esprit de corps are what kept
them charging through 10 Chinese divisions, sub-zero temperatures, hunger
and sleeplessness.

Old maps of the reservoir were used to point out the Marines' movement
through snow covered hills. The pain and suffering was still apparent on
Stapleton's face as he spoke.

He told how discipline and leadership by example was important, and how
leaders couldn't afford to sound negative, even when the situation was
most dim. The young Marines listened to the retired Marine colonel, who
at the time was a private first class, and absorbed the lesson taught.

"These guys epitomize the commandant's core values," said Capt. Joseph
Klosek, Support Company commander, 2nd CEB. "These are the guys who made
the title 'Marine' and I hope my Marines got something out of it. It
reaffirmed the reason why I joined -- we don't do it because of the money
or because it's fun all the time."

Stapleton, who was an administration clerk before attaching to an
infantry unit, spoke of the importance of Marines thinking of themselves
as a rifleman, and how he became a rifleman when the unit's strength
dwindled and he was handed a rifle.

Moments like Stapleton's first confirmed kill in combat still seem to
bring a sense of pride in him. Other moments were more serene. However,
memories of his fallen brothers still open deep wounds in his heart.

Talking to the Marines on his birthday seemed to further deepen the
wounds in Gigg's heart. His fallen friends and comrades did not live to
see their 65th birthday. On their behalf, he stressed the war's
importance, the sacrifice of those who fought, and the place it holds in
Marine Corps history. A place that shouldn't be forgotten.

"There won't be many of us around soon," he said. "We don't learn much
about the Revolutionary War today. The same thing could happen to us.
I've never left the Marine Corps. It's still in my heart." (Sgt. J. J.
Rodriguez, MCB Camp Lejeune) -USMC-

Date: 06/23/97 Release #: 414 Byline: Lance Cpl. Matt Hagerman, I MEF

Headline: ENGINEERS MAKE FORTRESS OUT OF BEACH

MARINE CORPS BASE, Camp Pendleton, Calif. -- What was once a strip of
beach, much like any other on the Pacific, is now a fortress, ready to
repel the hordes of mechanized infantry preparing to assault it during
Exercise Kernel Blitz.

Second Platoon, Bravo Company, lst Combat Engineer Battalion has turned
Red Beach into a nearly impenetrable fortress using a variety of
obstacles. At the water's edge are hedgehogs and tetrahedrons, large
metal constructions designed to block Assault Amphibian Vehicles and
tanks coming from the water.

The next layer of defense is triple-strand concertina wire, followed by a
minefield. "Even if the armor gets past the hedgehogs, they still have to
deal with concertina wire getting in their tracks," said Staff Sgt.
Joseph Baskerville, platoon sergeant.

More defenses follow the minefield, including Dragonstooth spikes, Jersey
Barriers and other blockades for the impending onslaught of aggressors.
"We just have to slow them down enough so the grunts in the machinegun
nests can finish them off," said 2nd Lt. Anthony Robinson, platoon
commander.

Preparations for the fortification of the beach have been going on since
the beginning of May. "We were constructing the hedgehogs three weeks
prior to actually setting them up," said Lance Cpl. William Findley.

Construction moved quickly, with nearly half the beach completely
finished after the first day. "Even though we're missing a whole squad we
expect to be done before the June 7 deadline," Baskerville said.

There were problems getting the construction started. When 2nd Plt. began
staging their gear near the beach they ran into some unexpected obstacles
of their own. "When we brought the gear down over Memorial Day weekend,
the beach we were preparing to block was covered in RVs and campers,"
Baskerville said.

Despite having to wait out the weekend for the vacationers to leave, the
engineers have made up lost time and managed to learn some additional
skills. "We're cross-training with heavy equipment operators and
utilities construction specialists. It helps us become more self-reliant,
so we can still get the job done if they're not here to help," Robinson
said.

As the 300 yards of beachhead become more cluttered with barriers, it
seemed as though the exercise might have ended in the water. "We've left
openings on the beach for the AAVs to get through to simulate the line
charges they'd use to get through," Baskerville said.

In a combat situation, what is on the beach would only be a part of what
could stop an assault. "We'd have mines in the water that the enemy
couldn't even see, not to mention artillery fire coming at them. If we
pulled out all the stops, they'd never even hit the sand," Robinson said.

After the barricades are complete, 2nd Plt. will join up with one of the
units taking the beach they helped defend. They will then push through
Red Beach and provide engineering support to the infantry in the
exercise. (Lance Cpl. Matt Hagerman, I MEF) -USMC-

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