Stories

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Trailblazer's mission: boost military recruiting;

It's no secret - recruiting numbers are low right now. Recruiters are hoping a locally produced documentary featuring a Camp Pendleton Marine will help reverse the downward trend.Capt. Vernice G. Armour, the Corps' first black female combat pilot, stars in the piece, produced by Joint Advertising Marketing Research and Studies, a Department of

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Lance Cpl. Josh P. Laine, 19, an assistant gunner with 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, gives the preparatory warning, "hanging on one," before dropping a round into the mortar tube. The command lets the team know the round will be launched shortly. Each mortar is operated by three Marines. - Lance Cpl. Josh P. Laine, 19, an assistant gunner with 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, gives the preparatory warning, "hanging on one," before dropping a round into the mortar tube. The command lets the team know the round will be launched shortly. Each mortar is operated by three Marines.

Business still booming for Weapons Co.;

The gunner barks, "hanging on one!" In mere seconds, a round sails through the air before hammering the earth, creating a fiery blast that sends tremors several hundred yards away. The leftover crater is the thumbprint of the 60 mm mortar - an infantry mainstay for taking out pockets of fighters or other enemy assets. "Ground-pounders" from Weapons

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Autopilot for jumpers looming;

If Master Sgt. Michael S. Thurmond has his way, jumping out of a perfectly good airplane may one day be safer than walking to your mailbox. For now, the Marine Corps is making strides in that direction, Thurmond says, thanks to new gadgets and systems -- including one that literally guides a jumper to the drop zone of his choice, even amid poor

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Hugs, hellos abound at Pendleton;

Lance Cpl. Lorenzo M. Borquez could not have received a better birthday present June 5 than to return to Camp Pendleton to the arms of his 2-year-old son after six months afloat. But Borquez - a field radio operator for the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), who spent half a year fighting fires around the world as a member

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William Bonnie, a retired master sergeant who served as the 1st Marine Division family readiness officer during Operation Iraqi Freedom, reflects on the ultimate sacrifice made by 420 Marines, sailors, soldiers and British soldiers in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom during the 1st Marine Division memorial here May 26. - William Bonnie, a retired master sergeant who served as the 1st Marine Division family readiness officer during Operation Iraqi Freedom, reflects on the ultimate sacrifice made by 420 Marines, sailors, soldiers and British soldiers in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom during the 1st Marine Division memorial here May 26.

Division renders one final salute;

Emily Dieruf gazed through tear-filled eyes at 18 helmets mounted on rifles. Dog tags dangled from each monument, representing servicemembers who served and died with the 1st Marine Division in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II. "I have been looking forward to this memorial. This has brought a sense of closure for me," said Dieruf, widow of

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Col. John Richard Bates, Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations and Training aboard MCB Camp Pendleton, and a veteran of three combat tours in Vietnam, parachuted into his retirement ceremony May 26 at the Area 11 Football Field. During the ceremony, he promoted his son, Capt. Joshua Rustin Bates, a student at the Amphibiuos Warfare School aboard MCB Quantico, Va., to his current rank. Col. Bates wife, Stephanie, was there to promote her son to his current rank as well. - Col. John Richard Bates, Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations and Training aboard MCB Camp Pendleton, and a veteran of three combat tours in Vietnam, parachuted into his retirement ceremony May 26 at the Area 11 Football Field. During the ceremony, he promoted his son, Capt. Joshua Rustin Bates, a student at the Amphibiuos Warfare School aboard MCB Quantico, Va., to his current rank. Col. Bates wife, Stephanie, was there to promote her son to his current rank as well.

Vietnam stalwart wafts into retirement

The year was 1966. America was engaged in a bloody war with Vietnam. The Beatles were still a group and Woodstock was nothing more than a quiet farm in New York. That-s when Col. John Bates did something that was almost unheard of -- and widely frowned upon in an emerging peacenik culture: He voluntarily dropped out of college to join the Marine

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Lance Cpl. Trenton Lewis, an Marine air Group - 39 armorer, reflects on the mission ahead as the sun rises from behind Pendleton's mountains. - Lance Cpl. Trenton Lewis, an Marine air Group - 39 armorer, reflects on the mission ahead as the sun rises from behind Pendleton's mountains.