USMC

United States Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command

MARSOC is the newest addition to the arsenal of Special Operations Forces. They were formally activated on February 24, 2006. The initial operators assigned to the newly formed MARSOC were taken from the then deactivated Force Recon Companies.

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Afghanistan

Basic Training Will Be A Breeze by Following Some Simple Steps

A friend is leaving in a matter of days for basic training, followed by Airborne School and then on to one of our Special Operations Units where, hopefully, after he navigates the Selection and Assessment courses, will get qualified and serve as a member of one of our very best units in the force.

But first comes basic training followed by advanced individual training, i.e. infantry school where they teach the basics of being part of the Queen of Battle. When all is said and done, the vast majority of us who’ve served in Special Operations units look back on the time in basic training as a piece of cake.

But it comes with challenges, mainly, this is all new. These young men and women are leaving home, most for the first time in their lives and are entering a realm that is totally alien to what they’ve been accustomed to. It is a culture shock, something the military plays upon to help integrate the boots into military life. It is an eye-opener for some when you first get off of the bus. “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.”

So, for my friend, and the rest of those young people heading to basic training soon, here a few tips that will make navigating the first gate of your military career an easy walk in the park.

Tip #1 – Embrace the Suck: Trust me, the suck factor in basic is nothing compared to what you’ll experience when you begin your Special Operations journey. It will register about 0.2 on the Richter scale of suck factors. But this is all new and people will be screaming at you from every conceivable direction. Your head will be spinning at first.

For many of our readers, you’ll see that we always say that the breakdown of mental to physical factors for Selection is mental for the vast majority. In basic training, it is even more so. The Drill Sergeants will play a constant mind f**k with the boots. Don’t worry about it, don’t stress about it. It is going to happen regardless. Learn early on to roll with the flow and embrace what they’re throwing at you. It will just make you stronger and better prepare you for what ultimately lies ahead.

Tip #2 – Be a Team Player Now: It is imperative to begin building your military self from Day 1. And in basic, it is all about the unit, the whole, being successful. Another thing we always say is, “you’re always being evaluated.” And that is also true in boot camp. The Drill Sergeants will always look for the lone wolf that is only interested in himself. Don’t be that person.

While you’re all in the same boat, be the guy who helps along his fellow grunts when they need a hand up. They’ll do the same for you. The more your unit shows that they’re looking out for one another and are sticking together, the less mind games BS they’ll throw at you collectively.

The more you use the term “we” instead of “I” in basic, the better life will be. Some of the troops you serve with in basic may indeed become the guy that will sweat, bleed and share his last drop of water with you once you get to your unit.

Tip #3 – Remember, We Defend Democracy, Not Practice It: This above all else will save you untold heartache and massive amounts of pushups in basic training if you remember this one small fact. Much of what you will experience will seem grossly unfair. It may well be just that. But that just follows right along with Tip #1.

Never, ever talk back to a Drill Sergeant or any other member of the cadre. It is a losing proposition and you will lose every single time. A good rule of thumb is to never talk to a Drill Sergeant unless spoken to.

Remember the scene from “Full Metal Jacket”, Pvt Joker tells the Sr. Drill Instructor (The Gunny), “Sir, the private believes any answer he gives will be wrong and the Senior Drill Instructor will only beat him harder if he reverses himself, SIR!”

Of course, there are exceptions to this. If he’s teaching something and he asks for questions or you don’t understand what is going on, then ask. But always do so in a respectful manner and don’t try to sharpshoot the DIs. That won’t end well either.

Tip # 4 – Lead By Example: Now is the time (as stated above) to forging your own military identity. If you desire to become part of the Special Operations community, then you’ll already be familiar with or should be the term, “Quiet Professional.”

Do your absolute best at everything and give 110 percent with everything you do. But don’t beat your chest over every single thing you do correctly. Show the Drill Sergeants that you are a serious-minded individual that they and more importantly your unit can count on.

It could mean that you become a squad leader or platoon guide which puts more on your own plate. Because then you’ll be responsible for not only your own success but the rest of the unit as well. It doesn’t seem like much of a daunting task until the first time you’re put in charge of the group. Don’t run from it, embrace the leadership challenge and learn from it. You’ll be better off in the long run.

Tip #5 – Never Quit or Lose Focus: This is the first of several gut checks you will experience in the military but by the easiest. It may not seem like it at the time, but this is a relatively easy task to excel in. They get progressively harder down the road.

Remember to stay focused on your tasks in the short term. Airborne School? Nope. Selection? No way Jose. Worry about you are doing right this very minute and don’t deviate from that. What seems like a million light years away will be on you much faster than you’d have thought possible.

Everything you do or say is evaluated. Never quit or give in. A drill instructor today may be a leader of a Special Operations team in the future and they will remember the good troops and the poor ones.

Photo: Wikipedia

Marine Recon and MARSOC

Before Special Operations was even a term, the Marine Corps tried to cultivate the capability. The Marine Raider Battalions and Amphibious Reconnaissance Companies of WWII formed the basis of all of the Marine Corps’ capabilities in the field of SOF ever since.

Today, the Marine Corps Special Operations Capable forces are divided between the Recon Battalions, the Force Recon Companies, and the Marine Special Operations Battalions. The Recon Battalions are the eyes and ears of the three Marine Divisions, while the Force Companies, generally composed of more experienced Recon Marines, work for the Marine Expeditionary Forces, at a higher strategic tier. The Marine Special Operations Battalions, originally stood up in 2006 from the deactivated Force Recon Companies, work directly for SOCOM. In 2008, due to the fact that the MSOBs get their orders from SOCOM and not from the Marine Corps, it was decided to reactivate the Force Recon Companies, though they are presently administratively controlled by the Recon Battalions.

Marine Recon Battalion 101

Recon Battalion Overview

The Marine Recon Battalions are the eyes and ears of the Marine Divisions. Over the years they have consisted of anywhere from one to five companies, according to the perceived needs of the Division and the size of the Marine Corps at the time.

There are three active duty Recon Battalions and one Reserve. In keeping with the three Marine Divisions they support, 1st Recon Battalion is based on Camp Pendleton in California, 2nd Recon at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and 3rd on Okinawa. Elements of 4th Recon Bn are based throughout the continental US.

Recon Battalion also provides each Marine Expeditionary Unit with a Recon platoon. Each Battalion usually has a company dedicated to MEU support. At 1st Recon Bn, it was Alpha Company.

Recon Battalion is where Recon Marines get their start after the Basic Reconnaissance Course. On average, you have to serve three years or two deployments at Recon Battalion before moving on to Force or MARSOC. Team leaders tend to be Corporals or Sergeants.

Recon Battalion Missions

The primary mission of the Recon Battalion is Reconnaissance and Surveillance in support of Division operations. Starting in 2005, limited Direct Action was added to the Battalion mission, in response to the operational demands being placed on Marine Recon in Iraq.

Reconnaissance takes multiple forms, especially as the ultimate specialty of Marine Reconnaissance is Amphibious Reconnaissance. In recent years, the amphibious nature of Marine Recon has been largely handled by the MEU platoons, as the other companies have been deploying to Iraq or Afghanistan to conduct combat operations.

Amphibious Reconnaissance is primarily connected with MEU operations, as it is geared toward, first of all, finding beach landing sites suitable for MEU assets to come ashore. The Amphibious Recon team has to know what to look for to make a beach suitable for the intended purpose.

Recon teams have to be able to identify multiple routes, obstacles, and landing zones for conventional forces, and communicate the details to higher, along with any other pertinent information, to include local patterns of life, any enemy movements, etc.

Under conventional models, where there is actually a Forward Edge of the Battle Area, or FEBA, the Recon Battalions’ areas of responsibility lies out to ten kilometers past the FEBA. Under the current unconventional reality, it lies anywhere in the Area of Operations that an operational commander wants to see, without necessarily exposing his interest.

Recon Battalion History and Heritage

Marine Reconnaissance as a whole can trace its heritage back to two separate units—the Marine Raider Battalions, formed in January 1942 to fill an operational role similar to the British Royal Marine Commandos, and the 1st Marine Division’s “Observation Group,” which at the time consisted of about two officers and twenty enlisted men. In 1943, the Observation Group was expanded to 98 enlisted men, and renamed the 1st Amphibious Reconnaissance Company. After their first operational experience on Apamama Island, the company was expanded again, to 20 officers and 270 enlisted men. They continued to serve in all the major landings in the Pacific for the rest of the war.

In Korea, the Amphibious Recon Company continued to fulfill its mission, landing ahead of the Inchon landing to report on the beaches, as well as raiding tunnels and railroad lines, often as far as 40 miles inside enemy lines. Following the war, in 1953, the unit was deactivated, but reactivated as 1st Recon Battalion in 1958.

Vietnam saw the Recon Battalions continuing to search for the enemy, call fire, and conduct raids, usually heliborne. Elements of 3rd Recon Battalion were among the first US Marines to land in Vietnam, coming ashore at Da Nang. Some other notable actions were Hill 488, Operation Washington, and Operation Scott Orchard.

Recon Marines from 1st Recon Bn participated in the Battle of Khafji during Operation Desert Storm. Following Desert Storm, most of the Battalion was turned over to 1st Recon Bn (Light Armored), and the remainder was redesignated 1st Recon Company.

In 2000, 1st Recon Company was again designated 1st Recon Bn. Following 9/11, 1st Recon Bn was instrumental in the initial invasion of Iraq, returning in the spring of 2004, just as the uprising in Fallujah began to gain steam. Over the next four years, the three Recon Battalions traded off, one after the other, in Iraq. 2nd Recon Bn took by far the highest casualties, particularly in 2006.

Starting in 2008, the focus shifted to Afghanistan. 2nd Recon Bn was the first to deploy as a Battalion, followed by 3rd, then 1st in 2010. The last rotation of Recon Marines to Afghanistan was cut short in the spring of 2012, as the drawdown commenced.

Recon is now sorting itself out following the end of involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. With the MEUs taking center stage for employment, the Battalions are beginning to draw down, and are expected to remove at least a company each in the near future.

Recon Battalion Training

Recon training begins even before the Basic Reconnaissance Course. In previous years, each Recon Bn had its own Training Platoon, and its own Pre-BRC course, ranging from 2 to 4 weeks. Pre-BRC was essentially a very abbreviated rundown of what would be covered in BRC, with some of the physical challenges actually increased, on the logic that if you passed pre-BRC, they wouldn’t have to worry about you failing BRC and wasting everyone’s time.

Recon Battalion Organization

While the structure of Division level Recon units has changed over time, waxing and waning due to operational and organizational necessities, the present structure is of a Headquarters and Support Company, Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie Companies, and, at present, the Force Recon Company. Force is administratively still attached to the Recon Bns since being stood back up, largely because of personnel shortages in the support/enabler areas.
Each Company generally consists of three platoons (except for the Force Company, which is supposed to have up to four.) of about 25 men a piece. The platoons consist of three to four teams of five to six men, depending on operational concerns at the time, along with a command team of the Platoon Commander (a Captain), the Platoon Sergeant (a Gunnery Sergeant), the platoon corpsman, and the platoon comm chief.

The Recon Platoon is capable of working alone or with the rest of the Company or Battalion. Recon Platoons are regularly tasked to the MEU(SOC)s by themselves, and perform as the eyes and ears of the Battalion Landing Team commander for the six months at sea. Recon platoons have also been tasked out solo in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Looking For a Binge-Watching Series on Memorial Day? Look No Further

Memorial Day preparations and programs are all going non-stop this weekend. In our small bucolic town in Central Massachusetts, our schools have all put together very nice programs to honor those members of our country who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. Our high school put together a nice program where the students researched town members who had been killed in World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Global War on Terror. They then read a brief bio on each to hit home the high cost of our freedoms.

Our vets from the local Veterans Council, VFW, American Legion, the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Cub Scouts, as well as local citizens, went into our local cemeteries, placed flags on all of the military graves recently. Then we placed wreaths on all of the monuments around town.

Our local Memorial Day ceremonies will kick off at 8:20 today. Once that is over, we’ll partake in the traditional Memorial Day activities by grilling some food outside while giving thanks to those who made this all possible.

One of the other traditional fares on Memorial Day is the War Film marathons that are always on television. We’ve compiled a list of our favorites in the past, however, this year, we’re going to recommend a mini-series to binge watch and if you can last thru the entire thing, it will take some time.

Ken Burns produced some outstanding mini-series on PBS, his one of the Civil War back in 1990 was a classic. He later did one on Baseball in 1994 that was another must watch. But the one we’re recommending everyone dust off on Netflix is his marathon documentary on World War II, simply called ‘The War’.

Burns made this one in 2007 and it took six years of research to put together. Critics panned it because they said he tried to make it sound like the United States won the war alone. That is hogwash, Burns just eschewed the big picture and focused on the regular small town people of four communities and how the war was seen and felt down in Waterbury, Connecticut, Mobile, Alabama, Luverne, Minnesota, and Sacramento, California.

I was out of the country when it first aired and I missed it. It was put on my list of things to see but I never got around to watching it. Recently we saw it on Netflix and binge-watched the entire 15 or so hours over one weekend. And we were glad we did.

At the end of World War II, Eric Sevareid had reported to the people of the United States what he saw during the war years but after the war was over, he felt like he …and others like him failed to bring the true cost of it home. He wrote:

“Only the soldier really lives the war. The journalist does not — war happens inside a man — and that is why, in a certain sense, you and your sons from the war will be forever strangers. If, by the miracles of art and genius, in later years two or three among them can open their hearts and the right words come, then perhaps we shall all know a little of what it was like — and we shall know then that all the present speakers and writers hardly touched the story.”

What Burns showed in this masterpiece of filmmaking was while we all get to know several small-town Americans during the seven episodes, there is nothing ordinary about any of them. This isn’t a glossed over, sanitized version of World War II but a true first-hand look at the ugliness and cost of sending an entire generation off to war.

Burns often shows the brutality and the gruesome nature of how the war was conducted. With some never seen before footage. Troops being starved and beaten on the Bataan Death March, Japanese troops being burned alive by flamethrowers, the awful scope, and brutality of the Nazi death camps.

The remembrances of Quinten Aanonsen, a farmer’s son from Luverne are particularly poignant. He wanted to learn to fly to escape the family farm. He became a pilot of a P-47 Thunderbolt and as a close ground support squadron member, he saw up close what the awesome firepower of “the Jug” could bring on the enemy. He also watched many of his friends die. The girl he met while in flight school and their letters back and forth kept his sanity.

Two of the people who appear in the film have written books and they give a great look at the war in Europe and the Pacific. Paul Fussell was in the infantry fighting the Germans in France and Germany and his book “Doing Battle” was a definite page-turner. E.B Sledge from Mobile wrote the fantastic book, “With the Old Breed.”

“Something in me died at Peleliu,” Sledge wrote. “Possibly I lost faith that politicians in high places who do not have to endure war’s savagery will ever stop blundering and sending others to endure it.”

The film also shares the plight of Japanese-Americans who were uprooted from their homes and ordered to internment camps. Then asked to serve the very country that treated them and their families as the enemy.

The treatment of the blacks both in the war factories and in the military gets spared nothing either. One of the more telling moments was that of a black Marine who was wounded and transported to a hospital ship, the only black man on board. And the ship’s barber refused to cut his hair.

“The War” is marvelously filmed with some outstanding action shots, the personal stories are both riveting and at times both funny and sad. And the narration by Keith David, who did the older Navy recruiting films, is first rate.

Take the time to watch “The War” which Burns brilliantly put together and when you see one of those bent-over WWII vets today, shake his hand and wish him well. After all, “The War” is their story.

Photo of US Pilot Quinten Aanonsen: PBS

FN Unveils New 6.5mm Creedmoor Machinegun at SOFIC 2019

About a year ago, SOCOM announced that the Special Operations Forces would be upgrading their range capabilities by switching to the 6.5 mm Creedmoor caliber. This decision, the command stated, came after extensive testing.

SOCOM adopted a Barrett Sniper system that would replace their 7.62 mm sniper rifles with the 6.5 mm Creedmoor. The 6.5mm Creedmoor according to SOCOM, will double the hit probability at1,000-meters range, increases the effective range by half, reduces wind drift and has less recoil than the standard 7.62 mm.

Now at SOFIC (Special Operations Forces Industry Conference) in Tampa this week, FN America is unveiling their latest prototype machinegun to also increase their effective range as well.

According to a release by the company, the prototype FN MK 48 Mod 2 6.5CM features the latest upgrades for FN’s series of light and medium machine guns:

A new, improved saddle for mounting lasers and lights
An adjustable stock for length of pull and cheek height
Improved, locking charging handle
Improved, double-notched sear
Improved handguard with 3-, 6- and 9-o’clock positions with an improved bipod
A more robust feed tray latch, ensuring the feed tray cover locks into place during reloads.

The company released a statement that said once the development is complete, existing MK 48 Mod 1 models, chambered for 7.62mm can be configured at the armorer level to the Mod 2 variant or newest caliber with the addition of the upgrade kit and barrel conversion.

The 7.62mm version has been in use by SOCOM since 2003 and the new 6.5mm Creedmoor version has about the same recoil as a 5.56mm. However, the 7.62mm version had some drawbacks including:

Losing accuracy after prolonged firing
Overheating
Carbon build-up which led to misfires unless cleaned frequently

If you are in Tampastan this week and would like to see the newest MK 48 Mod 2 6.5CM or FN’s other military firearms, conference attendees can drop in for a visit at booth 804 at the 2019 SOFIC Conference or visit fnamerica.com.

But it looks like that Special Operations Forces are getting upgrades to their machineguns and capabilities when using both them and their sniper systems. And this is with having to carry less weight and without sustaining any more recoil. A win-win for the operators.

Photo: FN America

Remembering Marines Charles McMahon, Darwin Judge Last American KIAs in Vietnam, April 29, 1975

On this day 44 years ago, America’s involvement came to a close when North Vietnamese soldiers completed their invasion of the south and stormed the capital of Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City.

Those iconic images of Soviet-made tanks crashing thru the gates of the Presidential Palace and U.S. sailors pushing helicopters off the sides of American aircraft carriers to make room for others airlifting the “at-risk” South Vietnamese civilians to safety will burn forever in those of us who lived then.

That final day, 20 years after the United States got firmly embroiled in that war was when the reality and finality of our involvement there hit home. The last two Americans killed in Vietnam were U.S. Marines Charles McMahon and Darwin Judge, they were Embassy Guards assigned to Tan Son Nhut Air Base and were killed in a rocket attack as the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) shelled the base as the U.S. was airlifting the last of the aircraft and Vietnamese government and civilians out of harms way.

LCPL Judge was just 19 and from Marshalltown, Iowa. He was a baby-faced, blonde-haired, blue-eyed Eagle Scout. The All-American boy from the Mid-West.

CPL McMahon, then and forever 21, however, was from my hometown of Woburn, Massachusetts, and one of us locals. How in the world could this happen? We all wondered. The Paris Peace Accords had been signed in 1973, more than two years before these events played out. The United States was supposedly out of Vietnam.

After the U.S. pulled out in 1973, the only American personnel left were in the U.S. Embassy. During the airlift, the Marine guards were stationed at the airbase, which was considered a safe spot. But just 11 days after arriving in the country, the post that the two Marines were guarding was blasted by a direct hit of a rocket. Both Judge and McMahon were killed instantly.

Growing up in the blue-collar town of Woburn, the war in Vietnam could have been on the dark side of the moon. We watched it every night on the news and many of our townspeople served there, including several family members. But it seemed very remote as if it could never touch us. Despite that, several town members of Woburn fought in Vietnam and a few died there but those happened earlier in the war and those were before our recollection.

It was a strange time. Our town had a slew of proud World War II and Korean War vets and the feelings toward them was always a huge positive. But the anti-war sentiment that began in the mid-to-late 1960s grew and the Vietnam veterans were unfairly judged as the easy targets for the wrath of the people, who just wanted the war to end. Even in the patriotic suburb of Woburn, Vietnam vets were ignored and no one wanted to hear what they had to say.

McMahon’s death came as a shock. Prior to enlisting in the Marine Corps, McMahon was a fixture at the Woburn Boys Club. He and his boyhood friend George Holland were two of the older guys there and they taught swimming, served as lifeguards and served as mentors for the younger kids in town.

McMahon was the kind of older kid who could get anyone to do anything and always seemed to have a flock of kids around him. Growing up, I can remember seeing him jumping off the bridge in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire as traffic was backed up waiting to get over the bridge there. It was a good-sized drop down to the ocean below. His father and mother both worked at the General Foods Jello factory in town were some of our school bus drivers.

Holland was a natural all-around athlete and was a huge mentor to the younger kids. He looked like he was tailor-made for a Marine recruiting poster before he even joined. When the two enlisted in the Marines, it surprised no one. The man who ran our local Boys Club in town was named Charlie Gardner and he was a Marine thru and thru. He looked like a Marine even long after his wartime service in Korea. But he’d regale the older kids with stories of the Corps.

Holland remembers Gardner as being the Marine recruiter’s best friend. “There was a Gunny (Gunnery Sergeant) recruiter in Medford,” he said. “He’d come down to the Boys Club to see Charlie Gardner and ask,’ how many kids you got for me?’” Gardner was such an influence, that even during the anti-war days of the early ‘70s, Gardner convinced many young Woburnites to join the Marine Corps.

For the daredevil-turned-Devil Dog McMahon, the Marines which were supposed to be a stepping stone to the Massachusetts State Police became a calling. Holland remembers, “he loved the Marines as much as anybody I ever saw in the service,” said Holland. ” I think he would have stayed in the Marines a long time.”

The two touched base when Holland was awaiting a clearance to go to a nuclear submarine facility and McMahon was finishing up Embassy Guard School. This was at Henderson Hall in Washington D.C. “Charlie was a Lance Corporal and I was a “Lance Coolie” assigned to the Mess Hall,” Holland said with a laugh. “Oh, how he loved busin’ my chops during that time.”

McMahon (left) and George Holland (center) skiing just days before McMahon shipped out to Saigon.

The two got away for a weekend skiing just before McMahon was reassigned to Saigon. And posed for a picture with friends, not knowing it would be the last time, they’d be photographed together.

They discussed McMahon’s upcoming Saigon assignment. “We didn’t think he’d even leave,” Holland recalls. “Everything was falling apart in South Vietnam, the North had invaded and we thought before he’d even ship out the country would fall.”

But he did go and was only in Saigon for a few days before being killed on a fluke missile strike. Holland spoke with Marines who had survived the final days and they remembered that with the huge influx of Vietnamese civilians trying to get into the US Embassy, the Gunny in charge of the Embassy Guards assigned McMahon and Judge to Tan Son Nhut as it was deemed “safer” for the new guards on the watch.

In their assault on the city, the NVA unleashed a flurry of rockets for South Vietnamese positions. One rocket fell well short of its target and unintentionally landed on the two Marines’ position. They were killed instantly.

The Marines moved their two killed comrades to a local hospital where they were placed in the morgue. During the frenzied pullout of the final American personnel only hours later, the Americans thought they’d airlifted McMahon and Judge’s bodies offshore. But in the final chaos, they’d been inadvertently left behind.

The move was devastating to the Marines’ parents back in the states. “Charlie’s parents were really upset about this,” Holland said. No one could blame them. It took nearly a year but Sen. Ted Kennedy approached the North Vietnamese thru channels and arranged for their bodies to be flown to Thailand and finally home to the states.

“I was stationed at the sub base in Connecticut when my C.O. called me into his office,” Holland said. “You have to get up to Boston and meet CPL McMahon’s casket with his parents.”

The funeral was one of the biggest in Woburn’s history. “It was like a huge parade going thru town,” Holland said. “It seemed like everyone in town was there.”

The survivors formed the Fall of Saigon Marines Association to keep McMahon and Judge’s memories alive. This association, with 65 surviving members, awards $1,000 scholarships each spring to an Eagle Scout in Marshalltown and to the “Top Boy” and “Top Girl” at the Boys and Girls Club of Woburn.

Coincidentally, the first Marine killed in Vietnam was an Air Force Airman Richard Fitzgibbon from Stoneham, Mass. Fitzgibbon and McMahon grew up just three miles apart. Fitzgibbon was killed in 1955, twenty years later, McMahon and Judge were the last. Fitzgibbon’s son was killed in Vietnam as well.

With the enduring conflict in Afghanistan where both fathers and sons are both serving in combat zones, it is fitting that we today honor the first and last from Vietnam. They aren’t forgotten.

“Thanks for remembering Charlie today,” Holland said. “We’ll never forget him.”

Photos: McMahon family, Wikipedia

Marine Raider Killed in Predeployment Training Accident Identified

Marine Raiders undergoing pre-deployment were in a training accident when a tactical vehicle rolled over. One Marine was killed and two others injured in an accident on Saturday at Camp Pendleton, CA. One Marine, identified by the Marine Special Operations Command as Staff Sgt. Joshua Braica, 29 of Sacramento, CA was fatally injured in the accident.

Braica had been in the Marine Corps in July 2010. He was injured when the tactical vehicle he was driving, a Polaris MRZR off-road tactical vehicle experienced a rollover on Saturday. Briaca was seriously injured and after initial treatment at the base, was then transferred to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla where he died on Sunday evening.

“Staff Sgt. Joshua Braica, 29, a critical skills operator with 1st Marine Raider Battalion, suffered critical injuries when the MRZR tactical vehicle he was driving experienced a rollover,” was the official statement from MARSOC. “He was medically evacuated to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla. He did not survive his injuries, passing away the evening of April 14.”

Two other Marine Raiders were injured in the accident. The Marine Corps is investigating into what led to the crash of their vehicle.

The Polaris MRZR is a Special Operations vehicle is small (holds 4-6 passengers), diesel or gas-powered and extremely mobile. It has a 900 cc 4-stroke engine and can do upwards of 60 mph across country. It carries up to 1500 pounds and is easily air-transportable.

Major Nick Manwweiler, a spokesman with U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command said that the vehicle Braica was driving has been used by the Marine Raiders for a few years.

“It can go long distances at high speeds,” he said.

After joining the Marines in 2010, Briaca, originally an intelligence specialist, deployed to the Indo-Pacific region as part of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, at Camp Pendleton in 2011. Briaca volunteered for and passed the course to become a Critical Skills Operator in 2015. At the time of his death, he was a member of the 1st Marine Raider Battalion stationed at Camp Pendleton and deployed a second time in late 2017.

His unit was in training for another deployment scheduled in late May, Manweller said. “Marine Raiders are tasked with dealing with some of the most sensitive national security challenges that our country faces,” Mannweiler added.

Braica was a graduate of the Marine Corps Intelligence Training Center, Marksmanship Instructor Course, MARSOC’s Individual Training Course, MARSOC’s Basic Language Course, the MARSOF Technical Surveillance Course, the MARSOF Network Operators Course, the Basic Airborne Course, and Military Freefall School.

His personal decorations include the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with Gold Star; two Good Conduct Medals; the National Defense Service Medal; the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal; the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; and three Sea Service Deployment Ribbons.

“Our thoughts are with the family and teammates of Staff Sgt. Braica during this difficult time. MARSOC is providing care and support to them and we urge respect for their privacy as they grieve this loss,” MARSOC said in the statement. “He is survived by his wife and son.”

Photos: USMC/Polaris

MARSOC Needs To Stay, Says Next Marine Corps Commandant

Just a couple of months ago, the Marine Corps’ Special Operations Command (MARSOC) celebrated its 13th anniversary. Then a think tank pushed an idea that the Marines would be better off, disestablishing the Marine SOF and return to their roots which is their forced amphibious capability. But now the next commandant of the Marine Corps says not-so-fast.

Lt. Gen. David H. Berger, the current deputy commandant for Marine Combat Development and Integration and on tap for being the next commandant, was grilled by Congress on whether it is cost effective for the Marines to stay in SOCOM.

Saying their services were vital to the overall effort, Berger answered a direct question by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-NY if the Marine Raiders should be disestablished with a strongly worded statement.

“At this stage, they have developed farther, faster than most thought possible,” Berger said. “I think they’re vital. I think the (MARSOC) and the command are better with them there.”

That has to come as a relief from the Raiders since the article calling for their disbandment has grown legs.

In March, former Marine officer Dakota Wood, who is a senior fellow of research on the Heritage think tank foundation, wrote that the Marine Corps had strayed too far from their amphibious mission.

Wood’s comments which will ring very familiar to U.S. Army Special Forces veterans stated that the drain of outstanding NCOs and Officers from the Marine Corps was pulling the service away from its primary mission. In his “Rebuilding America’s Military: The United States Marine Corps.” Woods wrote the following:

“MARSOC, while a boon to U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM or SOCOM) and doing good work for the country, is an opportunity cost for the Corps. The Marines consistently resisted creating a special operations component until directed to do so in 2006, driven by a shortage of special operations teams needed to prosecute the global war on terrorism following the attacks of September 11, 2001. That national emergency has long been over, and the Corps should redirect its efforts to its primary role,” Wood said in his report.

“Facing relentless operational tempo and ongoing budget woes, the Marine Corps should reevaluate where it’s spending resources,” Wood wrote. As part of that effort, he said service leaders should “strongly consider disestablishing [MARSOC].”

Wood doubled down on those feelings, and in an interview with Military.com, he said, “It’s a great outfit and they’re doing great things, so this is not to disparage MARSOC,” Wood stated. “It’s stepping back and saying, ‘OK, Marine Corps, what are you supposed to be doing? And how are you using the resources that you have?'”

Wood’s report was on the heels of the Marine Corps’ budget request for FY2020. The Marines currently have 2742 Special Operations Forces, or “Critical Skills Operators”. They plan on expanding that number to 3110 by creating 368 more billets in MARSOC.

This set off a storm among the Marine SOF community.

Elliot Ackerman, a MARSOC Operator who was awarded a Silver Star and Purple Heart and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan five times, totally disagreed with the feeling that SOF will play a back role to the “Big Armies” conflict with Russia or China.

“If there’s a major theater war with China or Iran, it’s not going to look like the Second World War,” Ackerman said. “… “To say these 2,700 guys will be better suited in [another] Marine regiment belies a lack of understanding of what Marine Raiders have contributed in the last 10 years.”

Nick Koumalatsos, a 12-year veteran of MARSOC, would be a huge blow. “This would set us back two decades, if not more,” he said. “It’s not the world we live in anymore. We’re not lining up tanks and we’re not lining up in trenches to fight a conventional battle.”

Koumalatsos added, that the entire military draws great advantage from MARSOC’s relationship with SOCOM and the other branches. “We can’t just go over here and color with our own coloring books and not have any friends,” he said.

However, outgoing Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller said that despite the talk of large conventional conflicts, the next opponent that Marines face “will not be against a near-peer adversary. It’s going to be against someone else,” he said.

But MARSOC has a proponent with the selection of Berger as the next commandant. A career infantry officer, Berger was also a company commander and a battalion operations officer for the 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion. He is a graduate of the Corps’ tough Amphibious Reconnaissance School, Army Ranger School and is a qualified parachutist and combat diver.

His nomination flies in the face of the former Marine Corps mantra that Recon was a career killer. Now some of his officers have their own MOS. The Critical Skills Operator MOS was adopted for NCOs in 2011 and for officers in 2014.

Photo: Marine Corps

Three U.S. Marines Killed in IED Suicide Bombing Identified

On Monday, a suicide bomber set off an IED that killed three U.S. Marines and wounded several others. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Those Marines killed in the attack have now been identified.

The Taliban suicide bombing of the U.S. convoy just outside of Bagram airbase killed Staff Sgt. Christopher Slutman, 43, of Newark, Delaware, Cpl. Robert A. Hendriks, 25, of Locust Valley, NY Sgt. Benjamin S. Hines, 31, of York Pennsylvania. These were the first Marine Corps deaths in the theater since 2016 when a Marine SSG was killed in a rocket attack by the Islamic State in Iraq.

The three men were from the 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division (Reserve) from Ft. Devens, MA. There was also an Afghan contractor with the Marines who was initially reported as being killed but he was later found wounded and was taken to the hospital and is expected to recover. Bagram airbase is part of the Bagram district is located in northern Parwan province and serves as the main U.S. air base in the country.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and that one of their suicide bombers detonated his explosives-laden vehicle near the NATO base. Five Afghan civilians were also wounded in the attack.

Slutman was a 15-year veteran of the New York City Fire Department as well as a member of the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department in Maryland. He leaves behind a wife and three daughters.

“Through this trying time, we will remember Chris for the father, husband, brother, son, and friend that he was, the moral character he displayed daily, and the courage and conviction to serve his fellow Americans, both at home and abroad,” the Kentland Volunteer Fire Department wrote on Facebook said on Facebook.

“We ask for your thoughts and prayers for his firehouse brothers, his fellow Marines, his friends – but most of all, his family.”

“Firefighter Slutman bravely wore two uniforms and committed his life to public service both as a New York City Firefighter and as a member of the United States Marine Corps,” said New York Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro. “The hearts and prayers of the entire Department are with his loved ones and with the families of his fellow service members who lost their lives in service to our nation.”

“We feel and mourn the loss of these Americans with their families and loved ones. They volunteered to protect their country. We will continue our mission,” said Gen. Scott Miller, Commanding General of Resolute Support and U.S. Forces Afghanistan.

There are about 14,000 U.S. forces in Afghanistan, supporting Afghan forces as they struggle on two fronts — facing a resurgent Taliban who now controls over almost half the country as well as the Islamic State affiliate, which has been trying to expand its influence in Afghanistan, most especially since its self-proclaimed “caliphate” has crumbled in Syria and Iraq.

Prior to Monday’s IED attack, four U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan in 2019. Last year, 13 U.S. troops were killed.

The Taliban and US-led coalition have continued to try to get the upper hand in the fighting which has last for over 17 years. This is despite holding several rounds of peace talks with the United States U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Amb. Zalmay Khalilzad in recent months. The Taliban, however, has refused to meet with representatives of the Afghan government, who they view as a U.S. puppet.

The Taliban has stated that they will take part in an all-Afghan meeting in Qatar, where they have a political office. However, the Taliban have stated that any government official attending will not be recognized as a legitimate government official but only as an Afghan participant.

Photo: Facebook

LTG Masaharu Homma Executed on This Day 1946, For Bataan Death March

Masaharu Homma was a Lieutenant General of the Imperial Japanese Army and during in the early days of World War II, his command, the 14th Army was tasked with routing the American and Filipino forces from Bataan. And after the surrender of 76,000 American and Filipino troops there, Japanese troops under Homma’s command forced them to march up to 65 miles to a POW camp. At least 5500 either died or were killed during the “Bataan Death March” in April of 1942.

Japanese soldiers guard American and Filipino prisoners during the Bataan Death March.

Homma was later charged with war crimes after the war was over, becoming known as the “Beast of Bataan”, and was convicted in the Philippines as a war criminal and executed by a firing squad on April 3, 1946.

While the heinous crimes of the Japanese soldiers were well documented and as the commander of the Japanese troops there, he was ultimately responsible (and executed for), was Homma really in fact, “the Beast of Bataan” or just a convenient target for a biased General MacArthur to exact his pound of flesh? Americans and especially Filipinos hated the Japanese for their brutal tactics and atrocities carried out during the war.

Early Life and Military Career:

Homma was born on Sado Island in January 1888. As a child and a young man, he wanted to be a writer. By the time he was in high school, he had poems and short stories published in Tokyo magazines.

His dreams of being a writer would be dashed forever with the Ruso-Japanese War of 1905 when he was just 17. As he wrote later, “with the pitch of patriotism raised to the highest degree”, he joined the military and in 1907 graduated at the top of his class from the Tokyo Military Academy.

Just two years later, Homma attended the Imperial Army Staff College, graduating with highest honors. One of his classmates there was Hideki Tojo, the ambitious, ruthless, and hawkish future prime minister who would lead Japan into war with the West. Homma hated him. “His dogmatic character was deeply repugnant to me, and his pro-German idea was widely in variance with my liberal views.”

In 1917 while assigned to the Imperial General Staff, Homma was sent to study English and be an attache to Great Britain. Back then, Britain and Japan were allies. He saw the Western Front firsthand attached to the East Lancashire Regiment part of the British Expeditionary Force. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1918.

Thus began a period in his life when he was thrust into the European continent and developed a deep understanding of and an affinity for the West. Homma met Winston Churchill, Gandhi, Adolf Hitler, Mussolini, attended the coronation of King George VI. He lived for a few years in New Delhi and was fascinated by the Indian people and their culture. He also spent time with British units in Afghanistan and Palestine.

Among Japanese circles, he was known as the “Poet General” for his affinity for writing verse during battle. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Homma served as a division commander in China from 1938 to 1940 and directed the blockade of the foreign concessions in Tientsin, where he led the negotiations with the British. He was relieved of front line duty when he stated publicly that for Japan, “unless peace is achieved immediately it will be disastrous”.

However, despite this, due to his exemplary career, he continued to rise and was promoted to Lieutenant General.

World War II, the Philippines:

At the start of the war, Homma was given command of the 14 IJA (Imperial Japanese Army). He immediately earned the ire of his superior General Hisaichi Terauchi by ordering his troops not to treat Filipinos as enemies but as friends, and to respect their customs and religions.

The poor reports written by Terauchi on Homma were not lost on his own subordinates. Many in the Japanese military believed Homma too “Westernized” that he cared too much about his own soldiers’ welfare. Army Chief of Staff Hajime Sugiyama frequently cabled Homma to press home his attacks on the Bataan peninsula regardless of Japanese casualties. One of his own staff officers, Colonel Masanobu Tsuji countermanded Homma’s orders and in the general’s name ordered the execution of a Supreme Court Justice and the attempted execution of former Speaker of the House of Representatives, which Homma was able to stop.

Reprisals against the Filipino people were carried out mercilessly. Homma was locked into a war he didn’t believe in, fighting for a totalitarian regime he hated but in the end, his oath as a Japanese officer would cost him his life. After the war he wrote in his journal that he didn’t want war against the U.S. and the West:

“War against the USA would be a disaster, I knew, but I could not show any feeling in it, as … I would have been called a traitor,” he wrote. “Tojo did not understand Anglo-Saxon temperament and its potential strength… Japan was already exhausted from its prolonged war in China and was not in a position to wage another against the U.S. and Great Britain. It was sheer madness.”

But once the Americans and Filipino troops, starving, sick with malaria and dysentery surrendered, the mid-level Japanese forces mistreated the POWs horribly despite Homma’s orders that they were to be treated fairly.

Initially thought to be 25,000, the Japanese were shocked to discover that there were in fact 76,000 POWs. They had no facilities, nor any plan on how to deal with that many POWs. The Japanese also considered the allies as having disgraced themselves rather than surrender.

During the Bataan Death March, 5500 Allied soldiers died, many were shot, bayonetted or beheaded if they fell out of the ranks during the march. Others died of disease or malnutrition. However, the Japanese furious at Homma for the delay at Bataan and the lenient treatment that he was advocating for the treatment of the Filipinos, was relieved of his command and forced to retire. He spent the rest of the war in near seclusion in Japan.

But after Japan’s eventual defeat and surrender, the Americans had Homma arrested and charged with war crimes. It wasn’t until his trial in December 1945, that Homma found out about the charges against him for the first time.

Trial And Execution:

General MacArthur wasn’t leaving anything to chance. He hand-picked the judges, prosecutors, and the defense counsel. Homma’s lawyers were fresh out of school and had never tried a case before. The prosecution was given a great amount of leeway into entering into evidence hearsay and circumstantial evidence.

Homma with his lawyers during his trial.

As witness after witness described in awful detail about the atrocities committed by the Japanese soldiers, Homma was shocked, learning that they went against everything that he had so ordered. He wrote, “I am horrified to learn these things happened under my command,” he added, “I am ashamed of our troops.”

The most damning testimony was from a U.S. Master Sergeant Jimmy Baldassarre, who not only spoke about witnessing the atrocities but apparently seeing Homma himself on the road that the Death March was held. It was damaging for the defense since Homma claimed he knew nothing about the acts of his soldiers.

He claimed that he was working on the advance on Corregidor and paid the march no mind. It was interesting that Baldassarre could identify him since at that time, few Americans knew Homma was in command and fewer even knew what he looked like.

Moriya Wada, a major with logistics under Homma testified for the defense. He said Homma had indeed ordered his subordinates to treat prisoners in accordance with the Geneva Conventions. And that the conditions in the camp after the Death March were so horrible he reported to Homma. The general ordered the removal of the POW camp commander and then told his replacement to clean up the conditions that the prisoners were subjected to.

Wada said Homma set out to get the POWs more food, improve sanitation in the camp, provide for a decent burial of the dead, and putting in water pipes. Homma made 10 different requests to Tokyo for food for the POWs, requesting 100,000 tons of rice. But the Japanese sent him just 1/30th of his request. He also released thousands of Filipino prisoners. Tokyo, not interested in treating the Filipinos and Americans in any civilized manner, then fired Homma.

The court-martial convicted Homma, as it was ordained from the beginning arguing, that if he did not know the atrocities that his troops carried out, SHOULD have known. He was ordered to face death by a firing squad. He was executed early on April 3, 1946.

General MacArthur, having stacked the deck was going to get his pound of flesh. He wrote:

“If this defendant does not deserve his judicial fate, none in jurisdictional history ever did. There can be no greater, more heinous or more dangerous crime than the mass destruction, under guise of military authority or military necessity, of helpless men incapable of further contribution to war effort. A failure of law process to punish such acts of criminal enormity would threaten the very fabric of world society.”

However, a U.S. Supreme Court justice Frank Murphy lambasted the show trial.

“Either we conduct such a trial as this in the noble spirit and atmosphere of our Constitution or we abandon all pretense to justice, let the ages slip away and descend to the level of revengeful blood purges.”

The fact that the Japanese committed horrible war crimes in the Philippines both during and after the Battle of Bataan has never been in question. However, what responsibility did Homma have in this? He ordered his troops to treat the prisoners fairly which they did not. While the troops’ conduct reflects directly upon their commander, how high does this responsibility go?

There is no doubt American troops committed war crimes in plenty of places, My Lai during the Vietnam War immediately comes to mind. Should General Westmoreland have been tried for war crimes related to this? Judging from MacArthur’s remarks, the answer would be yes. And one can make that same argument for what is transpiring in trials for U.S. troops for war crimes in Afghanistan as well.

Many of the Japanese soldiers who committed horrible acts during the war escaped prosecution in the aftermath of WWII due to a lack of evidence or witnesses. But this trial was preordained from the start. Unlike what transpired in Nuremberg, this was not a fair trial and there is enough evidence to suggest at least reasonable doubt. But that was never going to happen.

Photos: Wikipedia