Stories

John Farritor’s historic life - WWII Marine celebrates 100th birthday - Retired U.S. Marine 1st Sgt. John Farritor gives a speech during his 100th birthday celebration at the Pacifica Senior Living Center in Vista, California, July 9, 2019. Farritor not only fought in the battles of Iwo Jima, Inchon Landing and Chosin Reservoir as an artillery Marine, he was also a part of the 55-mile march from Camp Elliott to Camp Pendleton when the installation opened in 1942. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Drake Nickels)

Camp Pendleton offers critical terrain for confined area landing training - U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Alexander Cobzaru, a crew chief with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Training Squadron (HMLAT) 303, Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, observes the flight path from the gunner’s seat of a UH-1Y Venom helicopter during flight operations at Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton, California, Oct. 31, 2018. Marines with HMLAT-303 routinely conduct day and night training flights in order to maintain readiness among pilots and crew members. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Drake Nickels)

MCTSSA bridges technology and community - Junior high school-aged students from Marine Corps Base (MCB) Camp Pendleton and local area schools watch a 3D printing demonstration during the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, 2019 Science Week at the Marine Corps Tactical Systems Support Activity Command Center, MCB Camp Pendleton, California, June 17, 2019. The 2019 Science Week is geared towards introducing students to new areas of technology outside of their every day school curriculum. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Alison Dostie)

Faces of Pendleton: Cpl. Dillan Binegar - U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Dillan Binegar, a radio operator with Headquarters Company, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, poses for a photo with an AN/MRC-142 digital radio system at Camp Horno, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, June 11, 2019. Binegar, a Chillicoth, Ohio native, enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2015 as a radio operator, and after a long tour and a deployment with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, currently serves at the regiment headquarters where he provides training to new Marines to perform their duties in the Fleet Marine Force. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Dylan Chagnon)

WWII Marine Raider shares his stories with Marines from 1st Marine Raider Battalion - U.S. Marines from 1st Marine Raider Battalion visit Charles J. Kundert, Marine Corps veteran, at The Chateau at Harveston, Temecula, California, June 11, 2019. The visit was organized to recognize Kundert’s service as a Marine Raider during World War II. (U.S. Marine Corps photos by Lance Cpl. Melissa I. Ugalde)

Camp Pendleton Fire Department hosts Wildland Fire School - Firefighters from numerous Southern California firefighting agencies participate in the annual Wildland Fire School on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, June 3, 2019. The training is hosted by the Camp Pendleton Fire Department to strengthen partnerships with the surrounding agencies and to perform prescribed burns on the installation training areas in preparation for the upcoming fire season. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Gabino Perez)

Help make Marine officer MOS assignments better! - The Basic School (TBS) India Company Marines await the start of their swearing-in ceremony conducted at the National Museum of the Marine Corps, Triangle, Va., Feb. 6, 2014. The newly appointed Officer's will begin training at TBS in the month of February until May 2014. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Christina O'Neil/Released)

Not your average gas chamber training - U.S. Marines from various units participate in a five-day Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) reconnaissance surveillance decontamination course lead by Sgt. Bruce Luu, CBRN specialist, I Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) Support Battalion, I MEF Information Group, I MEF on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, May 13, 2019. The course certified any individual Marine outside of the CBRN occupational field to be qualified to handle a CBRN situation or environment.

Recon Challenge 2019: Team LOWLIFE proves bonds not broken by time - U.S. Marines with 3rd platoon, commonly known as “LOWLIFE,” Force Reconnaissance Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division (Forward), pose for a photo in Helmand province, Afghanistan, in June of 2010. Nine years later, team “LOWLIFE” is participating in the annual Recon Challenge, on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, May 16, 2019. The Recon Challenge is a 30-mile obstacle course held to honor fallen Reconnaissance Marines. The team will be carrying Jonathon Blank, who was medically retired after both of his legs were severed after stepping on an improvised explosive device, during a dismounted patrol in Helmand province, Afghanistan, on Oct. 26, 2010. (Courtesy photo by Jonathon Blank.)

Pendleton Complex fires burn more than 1,600 acres - Firefighters with the Camp Pendleton Fire Department combat a fire in the Santa Margarita/De Luz Housing area on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, July 6, 2018. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Dylan Chagnon)