30 Marines return to Okinawa from Iraq deployment

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The 30-Marine truck detachment, pulled from five units within 3rd Marine Division, deployed to Ramadi, Iraq, April 20 and returned Nov. 24. The Marines are now attending a week-long Warrior Transition program to resettle into garrison life.



30 Marines return to Okinawa from Iraq deployment
By Cindy Fisher, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, December 5, 2007

CAMP COURTNEY, Okinawa — By the end of their deployment to Ramadi, the Marines could see a positive change in the local populace — a change they helped bring about, they said.

“We were still getting shot at in April and went to having a parade down the streets in October — a huge step,” said Capt. Terry Harper, 32, from South Bend, Ind., the commander of a 3rd Marine Division truck detachment that returned Nov. 30 from a seven-month deployment to Iraq.

The 30 Marines, drawn from five units within the division, were attached to 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, which is based in Twentynine Palms, Calif.

Their missions included counterinsurgency, humanitarian relief, stabilization and security operations within the local populace, civil affairs projects and force protection, Harper said.

But the main task was providing logistics for the battalion, coalition forces and the people of Ramadi, Harper said.

The detachment delivered:

* 1.9 million gallons of JP8 fuel.
* 900,000 gallons of DF2 fuel.
* 1 million cases of bottled water.
* 700,000 cases of Meals, Ready To Eat.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50716