Training, Discipline prepares Leathernecks for Deployments and Recruiting

[thedrifter]

Training, Discipline prepares Leathernecks for Deployments and Recruiting
Submitted by: 8th Marine Corps District
Story Identification Number: 200425113049
Story by Sgt. Kimberly Wilkie



Marine Corps Recruiting Station Dallas(February 05, 2004) -- How does a lance corporal on recruiting duty rate to wear a Combat Action
Ribbon and a Presidential Unit Citation?

Some Marines might want to know, "?Come here, lance corporal."

Lance Cpl. James A. Thomas of Red Oak, Texas, was born in Biloxi, Miss. A
self-proclaimed Army "brat" whose family moved according to the needs of his father's
career, he signed up for active duty, June '01, with a guaranteed Infantry occupation.

Thomas stayed in the Delayed Entry Program for one year and went to Marine Corps
Recruit Depot San Diego, graduating from 1st Battalion, Delta Company, Platoon 1090.

After boot camp, he went on to the School of Infantry, Infantry Training
Battalion, Camp Pendleton, Calif., and then went to learn his primary job as a Light
Armored Vehicle operator. With his training complete, he was assigned to 4th Land
Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Headquarters and Headquarters Support Company as an LAV operator.

Soon after completing his training, Thomas found himself putting everything he
learned to the test in Middle East to support the ongoing efforts of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Thomas said everything he experienced in training helped prepare him for the mental and physical aspects of being in combat in the desert.

"The discipline that you need on a moment's notice while you are over there," is
critical to successfully carrying out the mission, he said. "You can be napping and
relaxing over there and then in the middle of the night you have to 'get up and go.' At times your heart jumps up into your throat when something goes off a little too close to you. But everything that you were trained to do just becomes second nature."

The months of intense training prior to his deployment also prepared him to withstand the long hours of heat and to function under duress when confronted with the unexpected.

His unit was sent to Al Kut, Iraq, and though a big fight was expected, all Thomas
saw of the opposing forces were abandoned uniforms on the side of the road.

"We spent about two weeks there. Our next mission was to secure and set up
checkpoint security for a portion of the Iran-Iraq boarder. Once that was up and running we handed it over to allied forces to maintain," he said.

The unit then traveled to the ancient city of Babylon where they would remain for
the next three months.

The unit quickly assumed its role in this new environment as on-site guard duty
for Blue Diamond, 1st Marine Division Headquarters, located inside one of the captured president's palaces. They were also used as a quick reaction force for the command element.

Next, their mission focus shifted to protecting Army supply convoys headed for
Baghdad.

The 1st Marine Division used their in-country motto "No better friend, no worse
enemy," to win the hearts, minds and trust of the people in whose country they were there to liberate.

"[The Iraqis] were really big on Improvised Explosive Devices. They figured
they couldn't get us with rifles, we could obviously engage them and get them after they fired on us, so they started setting up these IED's on the sides of the roads were someone could sit far off, detonate it and then get away."

While the attacks continued for a while, they did eventually stop, once the
Marines began gathering intelligence on groups and individuals who were perpetrating
these attacks, according to Thomas. For the three months they were there, they would
conduct night raids, arresting and interrogating individuals suspected of these attacks.

The promise of fierceness to enemies was only half of the 1st Marine Division's
in-country motto, "No better friend," was also demonstrated with no less intensity.
Soccer games between locals and the Marines were organized and embraced with
great enthusiasm by both sides.

These kinds of interactions made more personal contact possible with people who
were only beginning to know Americans in a non-threatening environment.

Thomas said most everyone spoke at least some broken English.

"It wasn't real strong, but they knew more than I expected and some times we
would have conversations. They would ask questions about me: 'Do you have a wife?'
And I would show them pictures from my wallet and they would very impressed, because they never see blond-haired blue-eyed women who aren't all covered up. They think American women are beautiful."

Wherever the Marines were, whatever they did, they made their presence known.
"The locals had deep respect for us and called us 'no flags,' which means we
aren't in the Army."

More than just restoring order and being approachable, the Marines left tangible
manifestations of their goodwill toward their new friends wherever they were. When
tasked to set up a village Command Operations Center, the Marines selected an old school that had been closed down by the previous Iraqi government.

"We promised to rebuild the school and we did. We put lights in, repainted it,
rebuilt the floors and gave them new desks. And before we left, we gave it right back to
them. [We did everything we could] to let them know that we weren't there to occupy
their country, just to help them get back on their feet and turn it over to them."

"When we first got there, there weren't any lights at night. All you saw were
stars. [The longer] we stayed you could see little lights around the villages, more and
more until it looked like little cities at night. Because of that, we knew we were doing what we said we were going to do."

Soon after, Thomas and his unit rotated back to the states. Though he received
his National Defense Ribbon after graduating boot camp, it was his work with the 1st
Marine Expeditionary Force that earned him both his Combat Action Ribbon and his
Presidential Unit Citation, the first time the citation has been awarded since Vietnam.

"Lance Corporal Thomas has proven to be a true warrior, both on the battlefield
of Iraq and the streets of Dallas," said Master Sgt. Dwain R. Kester, Staff
Noncommissioned Officer In Charge of Recruiting Substation Dallas South. "He has no fear when is comes to talking to applicants, he is very aggressive at getting appointments for recruiters and has a strong desire to succeed. Being on the battlefield in Iraq has matured him beyond his years - a level you don't see from the average 20-year-old American, and that is the truth."


http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2...7F?opendocument


Sempers,

Roger