Article from Marine Corps Times:

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/06/marine_corpspedia_060809w/

By Trista Talton - Staff writer

So long Wikipedia. Say hello to Corpspedia.

A new informational Web site about the Corps, specifically for Marines, will soon be tested by troops at the School of Infantry-West at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

“Right now, it’s focusing on infantry skills,” said Capt. Mike Regner, Corpspedia project officer at the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab in Quantico, Va.

When students at SOI-West tap into the new site in July, they’ll have access to more than 150 topics, including weapons systems, offensive and defensive tactics, heli-borne operations, close air support, crew-served weapons, Combat Hunter and land navigation.

The idea sprang out of Regner’s assignment to find out why Marines are having trouble with land navigation. The light bulb turned on as soon as he entered ‘land navigation’ into the Google search engine in November 2007.

“In the process of doing all that, I had that ‘ah-ha’ moment,” he said. “Wouldn’t it be nice if the Marine Corps had its own Google? Marines are already doing this, but they’re doing it out in Wikipedia. They’re doing it in other places. There’s finally an alternative.”

Corpspedia will be like a much smaller version of Wikipedia, which offers an encyclopedia of user-updated information in dozens of languages and via millions of links. The program can grow to thousands of topics, Regner said, and will include graphics and pictures.

“If you’re the instructor at the school, you already have the information together at that point,” Regner said. “You already have the pictures on your PowerPoints. You already have the references listed at the bottom. You just don’t have an arena. You don’t have a podium. It fills that gap.”

The bulk of Corpspedia’s content will likely consist of training materials, he said.

But the site’s content, accessed only through Navy-Marine Corps intranet accounts, will ultimately be left up to its users. Every topic site will have a five-star rating from “does not answer questions” to “answered all of my questions.”

“Corpspedia grows based on what the Marines are asking for,” Regner said.

For example, if the site does not contain information about the Corps’ latest tattoo regs, but there are a lot of requests on that topic, that information can be added.

Unlike Wikipedia, where the information on a topic may be altered by anyone who uses the site, Corpspedia topics will be managed by designated subject matter experts. Regner said he doesn’t want Marines throwing in their own “we did it this way” scenarios.

“That could get dangerous in the Marine Corps,” he said. “What we’re trying to do is put down vetted information in here. We don’t want this to become an alternative to the right way of doing things.”

MarineOfficer.com

If you are reading this in English, thank a veteran.

Our veterans need our support. Most of us express support in words... but then we take our ball and go home. We leave it to others to actually DO things in support of those who secure our freedom. I submit to you that if EVERYONE did this, NOTHING would get done. Be part of the solution. Who better to do something than you? You can't save the world but if you add your small contribution to those of others... and then others add theirs... and still others... think what could happen?

If you don't have money to spare, donate your time. If you don't have time to spare, take a few moments to pass on links or emails or web sites to inform others. No contribution is too small. There is nothing worse than apathy when it comes to our veterans. Their needs don't end with their service. What they've done for us is immeasurable. I submit to you that each and every one of us should do SOMETHING to be worthy of the gifts we've been given by others. And if those ideas don't hit home, consider this: What if we do such a poor job of responding to the needs of our veterans that serving in our armed forces becomes unattractive and undesirable? What if those who might serve decide that we aren't worth the effort? I can't imagine that would ever happen... but where would we be?? We know they don't do it for the money. They do it for US.

DO SOMETHING.  NOW.

There are many outstanding veterans organizations and advocacy groups. Here are just a few places one might start:

Rolling Thunder - Don't forget our service members who never made it home.

Disabled American Veterans - Not everyone comes home without trauma or injury.

Veterans of Foreign Wars

United Service Organizations

Gunners, range officers merge into single MOS - Marine Corps Times

The Corps will merge the military occupational specialties for Marine gunners and range officers, addressing a gunners shortage and putting nearly all weapons training under the control of a single MOS.

The merger of the two warrant officer communities was approved April 28 by Commandant Gen. James Conway and will be outlined during a June 20 meeting at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va., officials said. It means Marine gunners will take over management of rifle ranges, while existing range officers will be forced to either become gunners or find another MOS, said Chief Warrant Officer 5 Jeffrey Eby, a gunner at Marine Corps headquarters overseeing the merger. It also will streamline oversight of Marine marksmanship, which was handled in part by both MOSs.

“There is some emotion tied to this, but it’s specifically because you had two professional MOSs both performing the same job,” Eby said.

As of February, there were 70 gunners and 32 range officers in the Corps. About 12 current range officers who do not have an infantry background will not be eligible to become gunners, but officials will find other assignments for those Marines in billets held by their current ranks, Eby said.

While both MOSs have handled weapons training in the past, there are many differences between the two assignments. Range officers typically handle the initial instruction of marksmanship training programs for small arms and infantry crew-served weapons on Marine bases in the U.S., and develop training doctrine and techniques. Gunners advise infantry commanders on weapons tactics, oversee combat marksmanship and frequently deploy with infantry units.

“What you ended up with is two guys trying to do the same thing from different perspectives,” Eby said. “If you streamline that effort by having one guy oversee it from cradle to grave, you eliminate all conflicts.”

There are other benefits to the merger, Eby said. First, moving gunners back and forth from range assignments to combat will allow them to integrate lessons learned on deployment into range training, a struggle for some range officers who never deployed. It also will increase dwell time for gunners and allow them to ensure that range training on items ranging from optics to communications gear does not hamper combat performance.

My father (a USAF veteran) will be leading a group of 30 or so members of his Harley Owners Group (HOG) chapter from our home town in NC up to Washington DC on Memorial Day weekend to participate in Rolling Thunder XXII. As they state on their web site, this is not a parade but a demonstration. I'm very proud of my father for his participation and very happy to announce that I just made arrangements to be in attendance!

I have discussed this with some of you in conversation but it has come to my attention that there are many people who are not familiar with the Rolling Thunder organization and what it does. Because their mission is so important, I hope you'll take a few moments to read about them and their valuable efforts so that you can discuss them any time the issue of our American POW/MIA is raised. Rolling Thunder has made significant strides for these heroes... the least we can do is appreciate what they do and support them in words if not deeds or funds. The issue of our POW/MIA is one that is often overlooked and I submit to you that this is unacceptable. What if it was YOUR Marine who didn't come home?

From the Rolling Thunder Web Site- FACT SHEET:

Incorporated in 1995, Rolling Thunder, Inc. is a class 501(c)(4) non-profit organization with over 88 chartered chapters throughout the United States and members abroad. While many members of Rolling Thunder are veterans, and many ride motorcycles, neither qualification is a prerequisite. Rolling Thunder members are old and young, men and women, veterans and non-veterans. All are united in the cause to bring full accountability for POWs and MIAs of all wars, reminding the government, the media and the public by our watchwords: “We Will Not Forget.” The name Rolling Thunder is derived from the constant bombing of North Vietnam in 1965 and was given the name, "Operation Rolling Thunder." No officers or members of Rolling Thunder, Inc. receive compensation; we all donate our time.

Click here for more information about Rolling Thunder.

Wounded Warriors break ground on new barracks - Jacksonville Daily News

Marines and sailors broke ground Friday on a place where wounded warriors will be able to heal, mentally and physically.

The new Wounded Warriors barracks, which is scheduled to take about 18 months to build, will include 100 two-man rooms, living area and kitchenette, fitness, physical therapy and counseling space.

The rooms are designed to accommodate two wheelchair-bound Marines without collisions, said Lt. Col. Thomas Siebenthal, commander of Wounded Warriors Battalion-East.

Camp Lejeune's wounded warriors are currently housed in a 1940s-era building across base from the Naval Hospital. The new facility is just steps away from the hospital.

"It's convenient," said Cpl. Bobby Joseph, a Marine who was injured by a roadside bomb while on foot patrol in Iraq in November 2006. "It is a pain in the butt to get transportation (from the current location to the hospital)."

The barracks is definitely needed, Joseph said.

"This is the best idea I've ever seen," he said. "It's the best thing they've done."

The concept for the wounded warriors barracks came about after Lt. Col. Tim Maxwell and then-Gunnery Sgt. Ken Barnes were wounded in Iraq in 2004. The two, who were both with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, realized as they were recovering that part of the healing process involved interacting with and bonding with other injured Marines.

"How do you get that shared experience when you're all by yourself?" Gen. James Amos, assistant commandant of the Marine Corps said, explaining the concept behind the barracks.

Amos previously served as commander of II Marine Expeditionary Force, and created the Wounded Warrior Support Section in 2005 in a renovated barracks at Camp Lejeune.

"This is probably the greatest day I've had all year long," Amos said Friday. "It's not the culmination, it's just the beginning."

Col. Gregory Boyle, commander of the Wounded Warriors Regiment, said the barracks and other facilities being built on the site - including a Warrior Hope and Care Center and a Fisher House for families of the wounded - will help the Marines "get back to that ‘new normal.'"

"These Marines made a commitment to our country. We owe a commitment to them," he said.

Thank you, military spouses, for all you do!!

Thoughts and prayers going out to these Marines’ families.

AP: Marines helicopter crashes in Calif.; 2 killed

ALPINE, Calif. (AP) — Authorities in California say a Marine Corps helicopter has crashed in a remote area of San Diego County, killing both people on board.

California Forestry Department Captain Daryll Pina says the Cobra attack helicopter crashed late Tuesday in the Cleveland National Forest.

Pina said Defense Department investigators were at the scene Wednesday morning.

Officials at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar said it was a Super Cobra helicopter from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. The Marine Corps confirmed that both pilots were killed.

Pina said the crash started a one- to two-acre fire but the flames quickly burned out.

Pendleton, Miramar lose print newspapers - Marine Corps News, news from Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Pendleton, Miramar lose print newspapers

By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Monday May 4, 2009 5:40:56 EDT

SAN DIEGO — The recession has trickled down to the San Diego area’s three major base newspapers, forcing their publisher out of business and leaving the Marine Corps and Navy to publish local content only online for now.

The Scout, serving Camp Pendleton, Flight Jacket, serving Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, and The Compass, which covers Navy life in and around San Diego, all terminated their joint contract with publisher TFM Associates in April after it struggled to meet its contractual agreements, officials said. A handful of civilians employed by TFM to help produce the weekly papers were laid off in early April.

Marine Corps Installations-West and Navy Region-Southwest plan to find a new publisher, but it’s not clear when that will be.

The Scout, which has served Camp Pendleton since its inception in 1942, exists now online at http://scoutnewspaper.com. It had a weekly circulation of about 30,000 papers, which were distributed throughout the base and at several locations outside the gates, and over the years garnered several top awards from the Defense Department.

Pendleton officials intend to maintain the Scout’s online presence after the new contract is issued. “We are going to continue this, regardless, because it provides up-to-date news,” said Maj. Kristen Lasica-Khaner, a base spokeswoman. “That more mirrors what the local papers do.”

The base, which runs Pendleton’s main Web site, www.pendleton.usmc.mil, and The Scout’s, has linked with I Marine Expeditionary Force and other major commands to get more stories and photographs onto the newspaper’s site, she said.

The Flight Jacket, which distributed about 10,000 printed copies weekly, exists now in a digital format at Miramar’s Web site, www.miramar.usmc.mil. Officials opted to keep the same broadsheet format — The Flight Jacket is created as PDF files, without ads — so Marine combat correspondents who write, edit, take photographs and lay out the pages can continue to get the experience, said Maj. Jay Delarosa, Miramar’s spokesman. Marines “still need to keep up with the basic skills they need to learn,” he said.

The Compass, which distributed about 35,000 copies weekly, can be found now at http://navycompass.com. But it’s not just short news items being posted there. The paper’s staff of one chief petty officer and four mass communications specialists is still writing and reporting on happenings at commands and aboard ships throughout the San Diego area, said Brian O’Rourke, a spokesman for Navy Region-Southwest.

“Our folks are still covering new things that are going on,” he said. “We’re definitely still covering the waterfront.”

Like the Marine bases, Navy officials want to bolster The Compass’ online presence even after the newspaper returns to a printed edition.

Thank you to FlutieCutie for sharing this on YouTube.

Marines, soldiers, sailors, airmen........ we love you.

Please read and pass this on.  Good information for our service members and their families!

Freedom Calls Foundation

Working closely with corporate contributors, individuals, and the military the Foundation has deployed its first wireless VOIP telephone and video conferencing services in an Army Camp located in the Sunni Triangle. The Foundation's network offers 50 soft-phones and 20 hard-phones, 6 video conferencing stations, 10 video email stations, and 50 computers with email and internet access.  As a result the more than 10,000 soldiers in the camp will be able to communicate with their families and loved ones at home on a regular basis free of charge.
The Foundation's network offers soldiers more than 8,000 miles away the opportunity to participate in milestone family events such as births, birthdays, weddings and school graduations. The Foundation's network will soon include installations at military hospitals here in the United States, to enable soldiers to interact with their newborn children and loved ones who have become ill; And, installations at Family Readiness Centers, to enable families and loved ones (who do not have broadband connections at home) to video conference with soldiers. 

Future deployments overseas will encompass as many as 200 additional locations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other locations where our overseas troops lack regular communication with their families and loved ones at home.  With your support, we hope to deploy 1-2 camps per month in the coming months.

Marine at Twentynine Palms confirmed with swine flu [UPDATED] | L.A. Now | Los Angeles Times

Come on in!

1. Remember that while your Marine is happy to have you on his arm, this function is about the Marines.  It's their birthday.  Happy birthday to THEM. 
2. Try to keep your pre-flight to a minimum, if any, so that at best you will arrive smelling like perfume and at worst you won't smell like Jager bombs.
3. Try to follow the intended dress code.  Google it if necessary.
4. Remember that the laws about indecent exposure apply, even within the closed doors of your ball's venue. 
5. Attempt to wear shoes you can walk in.  There are any number of things which can require you to need them.
6. No corsages.  Refer to number 1 above.
7. Try not to be too judgmental of other ladies.  Some of us don't spend hundreds of dollars on our hair and nails.  We just may not care as much about the packaging.  But we're people, too.
8. Smile from time to time and say Hi to people.  They won't bite and they usually like it.
9. Do not attempt to teach your Marine (or his friends) the correct way to do the Electric Slide.  That ship has sailed.
10. If you are horrified by the tasteless dresses, shoes or accessories of other guests, attempt to refrain from commenting until you have left the function.  It will be both more polite and more fun.
11. Dresses with hoop skirts =  Fail.
12. Forego profanity during the dinner portion of the meal. 
13. Do not talk, whisper, cough, gag or chair dance during the ceremonial portions of the event. 
14. If the fit of your dress prohibits a dance move, you probably shouldn't attempt it.
15. No, the women Marines at the function are not jealous of your dress.  Refer to the latter portion of number 1 above.
16. It's likely you'll do some touching up of your makeup in the bathroom and this is perfectly acceptable.  Try, however, not to hold up the line for those who actually have to pee.  Their bladder issues trump your eyeliner dilemma from a humanitarian standpoint.
17. If you're going to spill your drink on someone, aim for a civilian. 
18. Don't be scared of the CO or his wife, but try to wait until your mouth isn't full before speaking to them.
19. No dancing on the bar until the after party.
20. Behave but don't take yourself too seriously.  Not one person is going to remember your dress, your shoes or your hairdo.  And if they do, you're doing it wrong.

I had the most refreshing phone conversation with an associate yesterday.  By "associate" I am referring to one I have never met who works for the same company but in a different state.  So although he was an associate I have never made his acquaintance.

To make a long story short, I was making a serious of phone calls to such associates for a specific fact finding purpose related to a project.  The project itself (not so much my calls or me in particular), suffice it to say, has not inspired joy in the participants. 

The conversation with the aforementioned gentleman was novel because during the conversation he very blatantly yet casually implemented swear words to communicate his disgust with another associate or supervisor (I'm not sure which term applies here).  Two prerequisites for my having been amused by this were:

1. I am not offended by curse words

2. The profanity in question was not directed at me.

What a breath of fresh air.  The very idea that someone was utterly unafraid of being tattled on to management or offending another by being socially, if not politically, incorrect?  The lack of restraint or care of consequence was delightful.  Was it necessarily his most strategic move?  Certainly not.  But I could hardly have come away from the conversation doubting his sincerity.  And I don't know if the associate he was referring to is, in fact, the son of a bleepin' bleep I was told he was... but I tend to think, probably so.

  Of course there are endless options for costumes.  Best to rule some out and narrow it down a bit.  I suggest that these be immediately removed from the list of contenders so that you can focus on more viable options:

Big Mac?      Cheesy.

  Amy Winehouse.  It's played out.  Let it go.

This one would rock... but one of the other kids would know who you were supposed to be. 

 Your peeps might not want to be seen with you wearing this.

 Slim Jim.  Step OUT of it.

Seriously?  No.  

 In the wrong hood, these colors could get you killed.

   Wonder Woman:  You're doing it wrong.

Good luck with your choice!