Face of Defense: Marine, Seabee Reunite After Decade

By Marine Corps Cpl. Timothy Lenzo

Regional Command Southwest

FORWARD OPERATING BASE JACKSON, Afghanistan, Oct. 1, 2012 – The sound of power tools and commands come from the battalion aid station here, startling a few Marines walking by. Two corpsmen stand out from the crowd of sailors inside the building as they work on a remodeling project.

More than a decade after their paths first crossed in Operation Iraqi Freedom, the former Marine and Seabee are united as corpsmen with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment. The two service members started their military careers in different fields. One trained to be a Marine, the other a Navy Seabee, but now they work together here.

“When I joined the Navy, I had a degree in construction, so that’s what the Navy wanted me to do,” said Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class David Cergol. “At the time, the Seabees were undermanned, so it was more important for me to help them.”

Cergol, from Pittsburg, started working construction when he was 14. After 10 years in the civilian world, he decided he wanted a change, but found himself again working construction for the Navy.

“The Seabees are a great group of people, but I ultimately joined because I wanted to be on the front lines and be with the Marines,” he said.

Unlike Cergol, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Jordan Fitzgerald started his military career with the Marines. He served with 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, and was part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The corpsmen’s paths first crossed during the initial push into Iraq. Fitzgerald served in the infantry and fought on the front lines. Meanwhile Cergol, working as a builder with the Seabees, followed behind the infantry, helping with security.

“We were both able to talk about the towns we went through, and the forward operating bases being set up,” Cergol said. “He was more the tip of the spear, and I was more behind, doing logistics.”

After their first enlistment, the two service members decided to sever ties with their old units. Fitzgerald, from Yucca Valley, Calif., considered joining the Navy SEALs before deciding on a different future.

“Being a grunt, I had a pretty good idea of what corpsmen did,” he said. “I knew corpsmen went with Marines, and I’m not the guy who likes ship life. Also I enjoy helping people, and knew I’d be helping Marines.”

While Fitzgerald looked at other jobs first, Cergol knew from the start he wanted to be a corpsman. He helped as a Seabee because that’s where the Navy needed him, but he jumped at the chance to start his career in the medical field.

“I enjoy the medical side,” he said. “I wanted to be with the Marines, and I wanted to make more of a difference and ultimately save lives.”

The two use their prior jobs as tools for their current jobs. Cergol became certified to operate the heavy equipment around the forward operating base. He regularly helps by driving forklifts and constructing new fixtures. “I’m able to draw on my experience with the Seabees to strengthen security and improve overall living conditions,” he said. “When I was in Iraq, one of the bases we stayed at had little to no security. We were able to get together and build up the walls and better secure our buildings.”

During that deployment, a suicide bomber attacked the base. “The additional walls definitely paid off,” Cergol said. “The walls ended up protecting us.”

Cergol and Fitzgerald recently took on a construction job inside the battalion aid station here.

“Being a prior Seabee makes him more versatile,” Fitzgerald said of Cergol. “Right now we are remodeling the BAS to better suit our needs, and his experience as a builder definitely helps.”

Cergol said his experience as a Seabee helps him in tangible ways, while Fitzgerald’s experience as a Marine is more abstract. “He’s very disciplined,” he said. “You can tell he used to be a Marine. He still has that rigid discipline about him.”

Fitzgerald’s past also gives him an immediate connection with the Marines he cares for. “I think it gives me instant credibility,” he said. “After all, I’ve done more deployments than the majority of them.”

He also has learned a great deal of leadership from the Marines, he added, and this skill helps him teach the corpsmen under him.

“I think the Marine Corps teaches small-unit leadership better than the other branches,” he said. “The Marine Corps taught me how to manage situations really well.”

Though their focus is the health of the Marines and sailors, service members might see Cergol operating a forklift or Fitzgerald correcting his corpsmen on the proper wear of the uniform. The two moved on from the early part of their military careers, but have found they use their original military skills every day.

Face of Defense: Sailor Serves Country, Saves Lives

By Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Mark Garcia

Regimental Combat Team 6

FORWARD OPERATING BASE JACKSON, Afghanistan, June 11, 2012 – To serve his country, Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Lamar Jackson decided to follow in his father’s footsteps.

Growing up, Jackson said, he saw the camaraderie his father shared with his fellow Marines, and he wanted to be a part of that experience.

“Seeing that brotherhood that they had was something I always admired,” said Jackson, a corpsman at the battalion aid station for 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 6.

Jackson said he enlisted as a Navy corpsman because of his admiration for Marines and the desire to do something with his life.

“I also wanted to start getting into the medical field,” the Atlanta native added. “It was the one job that allowed me to do both. I just didn’t want to be in the same place my whole life. I wanted to get out and see different things and experience different things in the world.”

Jackson has been a corpsman for three and a half years. Before enlisting in October 2008, he played college football and worked full-time at a retirement home kitchen.

“When I was in college and I played sports, my teammates and I had close relationships, but it was nothing like the bonds I have with people in Afghanistan,” he said. “You have to trust them with your life, so you grow close to people.”

Jackson has been stationed at Camp Pendleton and Twentynine Palms, both in California, and said he enjoys the high-pressure situations he often faces.

“You’re the guy once everything starts to go south,” Jackson said. “You’re the person everyone’s looking for. I like being in the situation where everyone is counting on you. There was one time some Afghan locals were injured by an improvised explosive device, so we had to provide them with aid and ensure they were stabilized before they were moved anywhere.”

Jackson is on his first deployment, and said it has been a life-changing experience. He recalled experiencing significant culture shock when he arrived in Afghanistan.

“It’s jarring just to see how a piece of candy changes kids’ whole day,” he said. “In America, that’s something we take for granted.”

Jackson said he plans to continue his education once he completes his enlistment. “I plan on going to the University of Southern California once I’m out and [taking] their physician assistant program,” he said. “After that, I’ll get a job in a hospital. Eventually though, I would like to move into the health care administration side of things. It won’t be as much hands-on work. Instead, I’ll be more focused on looking after the doctors and what they’re doing.”

While he misses his friends and family, Jackson said he misses his wife the most, and he focuses on his job to cope with being away.

His daily tasks include ensuring Marines and sailors are physically and mentally healthy, and he also helps Afghans, some of whom have been injured by IED blasts.

“He’s one of the most motivated and dedicated corpsmen,” said Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Alexander Burkhart, the assistant leading petty officer at the battalion aid station. “He loves the Navy. He gets the job done. His Marines like him a lot. He’s able to figure out what needs to be done and gets it done without any supervision. I have a lot of trust in him and his abilities.”

Face of Defense: Marines Feed Battalion, Fuel Mission

By Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Timothy Lenzo

Regimental Combat Team 6, 1st Marine Division

FORWARD OPERATING BASE JACKSON, Afghanistan  – The tent looks like all the others around here: tan canvas, zipper doors and Velcro all around. Marines pass by without giving it a second glance, heading to work, the gym or guard duty.

Inside the tent, it’s hotter than the blazing Afghan sun. The strong aroma of grilled chicken and seasonings fills the room. The Marines work furiously, moving from tables to sinks to shelves and back again.

It’s noon, five hours before dinner, but these Marines know it takes hours of preparation to feed more than 400 hungry Marines.

“In the hours beforehand, we are taking portion counts and making a complete menu,” said Marine Corps Cpl. Peter Espinoza, food service chief, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment.

Espinoza, from Chicago, said it’s especially important for Marines to get a balanced meal while in a deployed environment. Marines are patrolling and standing guard in Afghan heat. If they don’t get the right nutrients they can go down from heat exhaustion and fatigue, he explained.

“They are working so hard out here, so I make sure they have a starch, a protein, vegetables and plenty of fluids,” Espinoza said.

Tonight, the Marines are eating steak and chicken fajitas, with onions, peppers, rice and pita bread. Espinoza said the hot food is great for Marines who normally eat packaged, shelf-stable meals in the field.

“They come into the [mess] hall and see a vat full of hot food and their eyes light up,” said Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Thomas Nichols, food service specialist. Nichols, from Williamsburg, Va., said he takes pride in knowing he’s helping the morale of the troops. He knows they are hungry after a day of patrolling, he said, and is happy to help.

The adverse conditions here pose a challenge for food service specialists in keeping food sanitary.

“There is a lot of dust everywhere, and with the hot weather, you really have to keep hot things hot and cold things cold,” Espinoza said.

Espinoza keeps his workstation organized to help sanitation. He keeps food separate and designates certain work areas inside the tent for specific tasks. He and Nichols improvise at times, using a makeshift grill or experimenting with desserts.

“We don’t have the things we normally have back in [the States],” said Espinoza, whose family owns several restaurants in Chicago. “We have to work with what we have.”

Nichols said that while the tools may be different in a deployment, the mission is not: to feed and fuel Marines.

After everyone eats and the mess hall quiets down, two Marines are left. Espinoza and Nichols stay after serving the other Marines to clean up and prepare for breakfast. They’ll wake up early to have a hot breakfast ready for the Marines to start their day. They know they’re contributing to the mission by providing the fuel behind the battalion.

Face of Defense: Marine Reaches Out to Afghan Women

By Marine Corps Cpl. Katherine Keleher

2nd Marine Expeditionary Force

FORWARD OPERATING BASE JACKSON, Afghanistan, July 28, 2011 – More than 6,500 miles from the Pacific Northwest, the arid heat near the front lines in Afghanistan is almost the complete opposite of the damp, cool weather of Monroe, Wash.

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Chandra Francisco left the comforts of Monroe in 2009 to serve her country, and is now deployed as part of the Marine Corps female engagement team in the Sangin district in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.

Francisco, a supply administration Marine by trade, graduated from Monroe High School in 2007. After working full-time immediately after high school, she decided she needed a change.

“I needed to get out and start my life,” said Francisco, 22. “I needed money for school, so I decided to join the military. I looked around at other branches, and I just felt like the Marine Corps was more for me.”

Drawn to the challenge of being one of “the few and the proud,” Francisco said, she enlisted for four years of what she thought would be accounting for and ordering supplies for her fellow Marines.

She thought wrong. Last fall, the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group placed Francisco on the female engagement team.

“At first I really had no idea what I was getting into,” she said. “Once I started training, I loved it. This is, by far, one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had.”

After four months of training at her home station at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., Francisco and the rest of her engagement team deployed to Afghanistan in late spring. The women were split into teams of two. Francisco and Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Amanda Richeal were assigned to support 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, in the Sangin district.

The concept of the all-women engagement teams originated in 2010 as a way for coalition forces to show their respect to the cultural norms of Afghanistan, Francisco said. The teams work to build relationships with the Afghan people, especially women and children, who otherwise would be unreachable due to local and religious customs, which frown upon contact between unmarried men and women.

Afghan children typically attend the team’s all-women meetings, and the team members usually ask what they or their battalion can do to help improve the quality of life for local youths. Female engagement teams have helped to arrange projects such as building schools, bringing in medical care and providing access to clean water.

The children provide common ground with which to begin relationships, Francisco said, noting she has a sincere passion for the children she meets.

“[Francisco is] really good with the children,” said Richeal, a Le Claire, Iowa, native. “None of these women or children are educated, and there is a language barrier a lot of the time, which makes it really hard to understand each other. But Francisco’s patience is really good with them. She goes out of her way to make everyone comfortable.”

To help ease tensions during her meetings, Francisco carries things such as candy and toys while on patrol.

“Whenever there is an awkward situation and tensions are rising, [Francisco] says ‘When in doubt, bubble out,’ and she pulls out these bubbles to play with,” Richeal said. “The kids go crazy. It makes them happy and eases the situation.”

Bringing smiles to the children’s faces is a natural instinct, Francisco said.

“You can’t help but to love on these kids -- they’re going through so much more than a child should have to,” she said. “I’m just grateful my sister, Kaylen, doesn’t have to deal with this type of stuff. The poverty, lack of education, lack of hygiene and food -- it’s so sad. You only want the best for the people who are closest to you, and I would never want a child to have to go through a lifestyle like this.”

The engagement teams help local women learn trades they can use to make money, and they help locate teachers for local schools.

“I’ve never been so grateful for the people in my life and the things I have until I came out here,” Francisco said. “I think a lot of people take for granted what they have. Give them a month out here, and they’ll see how good they have it.”

Gates Visits Marines in Eastern Afghanistan

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SABIT QADAM, Afghanistan, March 8, 2011 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today visited with Marines fighting here in what the secretary said was one of the most dangerous places in the world before they arrived.

On the second day of his 13th trip to Afghanistan as defense secretary, Gates flew to Sangin district in eastern Helmand province for his visit here at a base formerly known as Forward Operating Base Jackson.

The base and its surrounding outposts are home to Marines of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, whose unit symbol and call sign is “Dark Horse.”

“It’s an honor to be here in Dark Horse country and to see for myself the dramatic turnaround that you all have brought about here in Sangin,” Gates said. “Before you arrived here, the Taliban were dug in deep, and as the British before you can attest, this district was one of the most dangerous –- not just in Afghanistan, but maybe in the whole world.”

The secretary said in the five months since the Marines arrived, they’ve killed, captured or driven away most of the Taliban who used to call Sangin home.

“In doing so, you’ve linked northern Helmand, Uruzgan and Kandahar provinces, a major strategic breakthrough,” he said.

Their success has come at a heavy price, Gates said.

“Since October, the 3/5 has suffered the heaviest losses of any battalion in this 10-year-long war,” he said. “Every day I monitor how you’re doing, and every day you return to your [base] without a loss, I say a little prayer. I say a prayer on the other days, as well.”

Defense officials say 29 Marines in the battalion have been killed, and 150 others have been wounded.

The battalion and its partnered Afghan forces have written, in sweat and blood, a new chapter in the Marine Corps’ roll of honor, the secretary said.

“I visit your wounded brothers at Bethesda,” the secretary said, referring to the National Naval Medical Center in Maryland. “I write the condolence letters to the families of your fallen.”

Gates said he feels their hardship and their sacrifice, and those of their families.

“I also relish your victories, take pride in your achievements, and take satisfaction as you strike fear into the heart of the Taliban,” he added.

During the question-and-answer period the secretary conducts during troop visits, a Marine captain stepped forward to thank Gates for increasing the use of surveillance balloons and other intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment at the battalion’s outposts.

The surveillance capability allows him to track his troops on mission, to observe patterns of behavior among the local population, and to identify insurgent activity, the captain said.

“That balloon up above my forward operating base has been a game-changer for me,” the captain told the secretary.

“We’ve gone from about a dozen of those aerostats five or six months ago to … 60 or 65 throughout the country,” Gates replied. “I want to put a bunch more in. I’m just waiting on the Congress to reprogram the money so I can do it.”

Gates, dressed in khaki pants, a blue and white striped shirt and a baseball cap emblazoned, “Maneuver Center, Fort Benning,” gave a commemorative coin and had a photo taken with every troop who’d gathered to see him.

Marines paced toward him one by one, many in muddy boots and all carrying what appeared to be well-broken-in weapons.

The secretary shook each one’s hand, passing a coin with the handshake, then placed his other hand on each one’s shoulder as they turned to face the camera. All got a pat on the shoulder from the secretary as they stepped away.

Gates ended his visit with a request to the troops.

“You couldn’t be here if it weren’t for the support of your families back home,” he said. “So I hope that the next time you’re in contact with them, that you will tell them how much I, personally, thank them for the contribution they make to the contribution you make.

“You couldn’t do this without them, and we couldn’t do this without you,” Gates said.