News - Page 8

Emergency Response Drill prepares Camp Lejeune to respond to an active threat - U.S. Marines with the Provost Marshal’s Office (PMO), and firefighters with Fire and Emergency Services Division (FESD), both with Headquarters and Support Battalion, conduct a breaching and clearing technique during an emergency response drill on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Aug. 27, 2024. The drill effectively demonstrated a joint interoperability capability between first responders, emergency managers and support personnel in the event of an emergency. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Yasmine De La Rosa)

Emergency Response Drill prepares Camp Lejeune to respond to an active threat

Marines and civilians assigned to Headquarters and Support (H&S) Battalion, Marine Corps Base (MCB) Camp Lejeune, tested their response capabilities through a series of drills focused on an active threat to the installation. During the multi-faceted drill, H&S Battalion, along with the Provost Marshal’s Office (PMO) and Fire and Emergency Services Division (FESD), worked with Marine Corps Installations East G-3 Operations, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Team, Communication Strategy and Operations (COMMSTRAT), and Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune (NMCCL).

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Environmental photo of the land at Gregorie Neck. - Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Beaufort, the Department of the Navy, The Nature Conservancy, and the Beaufort County Open Land Trust, sign an easement to protect 4,409-acre Gregorie Neck tract, Jasper County, South Carolina, August 15, 2024. The easement provides ecological benefits as well as maintains MCAS Beaufort’s air space for F/A-18 Hornet and F-35B Lightning II operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Kyle Baskin)

Gregorie Neck: Victory for Conservation and Military Readiness

Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Beaufort, the Department of the Navy (DoN), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and the Open Land Trust (OLT), announce the permanent protection of the 4,409-acre Gregorie Neck tract located in Jasper County, S.C.The conservation easement was finalized on July 25, 2024, and is a momentous achievement in the continuing

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Anderton recently won a 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW) cowbell award, which recognizes and encourages members of 2nd MAW to actively seek out and implement innovations, improvements, and best practices that enhance collective performance and readiness. The cowbell award helps 2nd MAW foster a culture of continuous improvement driven by individual and shared excellence. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff. Sgt. Theodore Bergan) - U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Parker Anderton, from Maine, a heavy equipment mechanic with Marine Wing Support Squadron (MWSS) 271, poses for a photo at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina Aug. 22, 2024. Anderton recently won a 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW) cowbell award, which recognizes and encourages members of 2nd MAW to actively seek out and implement innovations, improvements, and best practices that enhance collective performance and readiness. The cowbell award helps 2nd MAW foster a culture of continuous improvement driven by individual and shared excellence. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff. Sgt. Theodore Bergan)

Lance Cpl. Parker Anderton wins 2nd MAW Cowbell Award

Recognizing inefficiencies in existing processes, Lance Cpl. Parker Anderton, from Maine, a 1341 Heavy Equipment Mechanic with Marine Wing Support Squadron (MWSS) 271, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW), took it upon himself to develop a more effective troubleshooting system to mitigate those inefficiencies in MWSS-271’s maintenance and repair process.

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Refurbished Camp Davis airfield now open to fixed, tilt rotor, and rotary wing aircraft

A recent $28 million overhaul of a WW II Army Air Corps airfield at Camp Davis will enable the base to provide another world-class training capability for Marine Corps aviators.Located just north of Holly Ridge in the Greater Sandy Run Training Area, the resurfaced Davis South runway will serve as a multipurpose outlying landing field (OLF) that

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Servicemembers with 1st Battalion, 2d Marine Regiment, 2d MARDIV were awarded a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for rendering aid to a Marine during a live fire exercise, ultimately saving his life. - A U.S. Marine and Sailors with 1st Battalion, 2d Marine Regiment, 2d Marine Division, stand-by to be awarded a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal on Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California, Aug. 11, 2024. Servicemembers were awarded for rendering aid to a Marine during a live fire exercise, ultimately saving his life. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Weston Lindstrom)

Marine and Sailors Awarded for Saving Marine's Life

MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, CA. – One Marine and three Sailors were awarded Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals for their meritorious achievements during a ceremony aboard Camp Wilson, California, on August 11, 2024.The Marine and Sailors acted swiftly when an incident occurred on a live-fire range during Service

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II Marine Expeditionary Force: Ready for a New Challenge as a Joint Task Force Headquarters

A key transformational step in the Marine Corps’ journey of Force Design occurred in early July at the II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF) headquarters in Camp Lejeune. During a visit by the Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Eric M. Smith, II MEF was officially validated as a Joint Task Force – Capable (JTF-C) headquarters on June 10, 2024.

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New laundry machines, QR maintenance codes signal start of $18 million barracks furniture upgrades - New washers and dryers are delivered and installed in laundry rooms of the bachelor enlisted quarters at Building 1140 on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Aug. 6, 2024. A $17.8 million investment of furniture, including new mattresses, drapes, linens, secretaries, beds, chairs, nightstands and laundry machines has been made to improve quality of life for Marines and Sailors across 19 BEQs on MCB Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station New River. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Andrew Skiver)

New laundry machines, QR maintenance codes signal start of $18 million barracks furniture upgrades

It was sunny and humid day last June when Dakota Wrenn, a supply technician with Supply Management Division, G-4, Marine Corps Installations East-Marine Corps Base (MCIEAST-MCB) Camp Lejeune, learned 12 washing machines and 24 dryers at Wounded Warrior Battalion-East needed to be replaced as soon as possible.By June 13, the maintenance work tickets

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Captain Jason Kellam's three Marine Corps lives: Service as an enlisted Marine, warrant officer and limited duty officer

U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Jason Kellam serves in the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW) as the assistant operations officer in the G-6 communications section. Throughout his twenty-year career he served first as an enlisted Marine, earning the rank of staff sergeant, then commissioned into the warrant officer program, earning the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 3. He now serves as a limited duty officer (LDO) at the rank of Captain. For Kellam, leading within each rank structure came not only with different expectations, but also provided different opportunities. Kellam initially considered joining the Marine Corps during his senior year in high school. Unsure of which jobs were available, at first he decided against joining. Later, faced with a growing family, he decided to enlist with a signing bonus into the 2841 military occupational specialty (MOS), ground radio repairer, now called ground electronics transmission systems maintainer. His early enlisted years included a deployment to Iraq as a member of a provisional rifle company, which in part inspired him to reenlist. "Other reasons that helped [me] to make the decision was that it was 2008, the housing market and economy had crashed, unemployment was high, and the Marine Corps was offering me a sizeable bonus, a decent duty station, and four years of employment," said Kellum. After achieving the rank of staff sergeant during his second enlistment and deploying twice to Okinawa with 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment as an electronics maintenance chief, Kellam began considering the Marine Corps warrant officer program. “These were the people in my MOS community that were able to make things happen,” Kellam said. “I enjoy solving complex problems and projects and that’s what warrant officers in my community do.” The warrant officer program is designed to provide the Marine Corps with technical specialists who perform duties that require extensive knowledge of a particular military occupational specialty, and can be assigned successive tours of duty in their primary MOS. After his appointment to Warrant Officer, Kellam was assigned to Communications Company, 4th Marine Division, and served as site support staff. After seeing the positive impacts made on the local community by the Marine Corps, Kellam then decided to request a commission as a limited duty officer (LDO). “Senior chief warrant officers in my MOS tend to stay more technically engaged with equipment specifics,” said Kellam. “LDOs tend to become more engaged with policies and procedures and also have opportunities to be company commanders.” Kellam decided to go the LDO route because he enjoyed working on large scale projects and leading Marines. The Marine Corps LDO program is designed to provide technically oriented officers to perform duties that are limited to specific occupational specialties, require authority and responsibility greater than that normally expected of a warrant officer, require strong managerial skills, and are outside the normal development pattern for unrestricted officers or for which no unrestricted officers are available. “It was rewarding to help young Marines develop new skills and mentor them in as many areas as I could,” Kellam said. “I realized that the scope of impact would be much larger as a limited duty officer and it is one of the things I’ve tremendously enjoyed, influencing Marines and having an impact on what we do and how we do it.” Since becoming an LDO and serving as a Captain, Kellam has been able to provide an even wider influence both within 2nd MAW and across his occupational field. Twice each year, Kellam participates in the ground electronics maintenance advisory group, a Marine Corps-wide event in which senior leaders and available ranks from the community gather to deliver updates, discuss issues, and work on projects regarding topics of interest to the community. Through this venue, Kellam is able to collaborate with representatives from 1st and 3rd MAWs on topics that affect communication systems maintenance across the Marine Corps. After twenty years of service, each day Capt. Kellam uses the lessons learned and skillsets he gained within three unique rank communities to support 2nd MAW's mission.

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Lance Cpl. Sean Fang - U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Sean Fang, a Marine with Fox Company, 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, and native of Columbia, Kentucky, poses for a photo at the Iwo Jima Monument on Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C., Aug. 2, 2024. Fang graduated as the company honor graduate following a battle with cancer in his childhood. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Ava Alegria)

Lance Cpl. Sean Fang

For one Marine, boot camp graduation was more than just a ceremony, it was the realization of a lifelong dream.“Seeing my father serve and his graduation pictures from over 30 years ago, that’s what I wanted. That was my dream,” said Lance Cpl. Sean Fang.The dream seemed unreachable due to Fang’s difficult childhood, he said. At age 3, Fang was

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OICC Florence completes final topping out ceremony for fire station construction - U.S. Navy Captain David Jayne, commanding officer for Officer in Charge of Construction Florence provides the open remarks for a topping out ceremony for Military Construction Project 142B on Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point on July 8, 2024. Members of MCAS Cherry Point's Emergency and Fire Services, staff from OICC Florence and crews from the contractor of record, Whiting and Turner Contracting Company were in attendance for the ceremony.

OICC Florence completes final topping out ceremony for fire station construction

Team members from Officer in Charge of Construction (OICC) Florence and leaders and guest from Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point attended a topping out ceremony for Military Construction Project 142B; one of six fire Stations being built or renovated on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and MCAS Cherry Point. Military Construction Project 142B was

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