Camp Pendleton

Camp Pendleton hosts 2012 CrossFit Games

By Bethany Crudele on July 16, 2012 Battle Rattle, Camp Pendleton, Fitness

Think you’re fit enough to beat your buddy in a round of dead lifts, rope climbs and endurance runs in the heat of summer? 91 of the world’s most elite athletes did just that over the weekend at the 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, hosted the first portion of the fitness test which began last Wednesday. The second phase of the challenge wrapped up on Saturday and Sunday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. The world famous games open to athletes from all over the globe, challenged individuals to push their fitness levels…

But will they be running (off) on Dunkin’?

By Gidget Fuentes on April 6, 2012 Camp Pendleton, Food, Pop culture

When officials mark the opening of the new and enlarged Marine Corps Exchange at Camp Pendleton, Calif., in early May, they might want to brace for an unusual crowd: Dunkin’ Donuts lovers. We’re talking coffee and donuts, and muffins and bagels, too. Dunkin’ Donuts, a Massachusetts-based company, has more than 7,000 restaurants across the country, in 36 states plus the District of Columbia, and there’s even seven overseas. But there’s not a single one in California, a huge state where Starbucks and McDonalds are a dime a dozen. But come May, the state’s first Dunkin’ Donuts eatery will open inside the…

Feminist calls Katy Perry’s Marines video “shameful”

By Gina Harkins on March 30, 2012 Battle Rattle, Camp Pendleton, Marines, Pop culture

Feminist Naomi Wolf, author of “The Beauty Myth,” is calling Katy Perry’s new video a propaganda piece for the Marine Corps and has suggested her fans boycott the singer. Perry recorded the video for her new song “Part of Me” at Camp Pendleton, Calif. with the help of 40 female Marines. The video debuted March 21. Wolf posted the following comment about the video on her Facebook page four days later: Some have come to Wolf’s defense, including people who identify themselves as Iraq and…

Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent says farewell at I MEF

By Dan Lamothe on April 27, 2011 Camp Pendleton, Leadership, The Sgt. Major of the Marine Corps

Cross another item off Sgt. Maj. Carlton Kent’s list. The Marine Corps’ senior enlisted Marine traveled to the West Coast this week for what could be the last time before he retires, speaking to Marines from I Marine Expeditionary Force and other commands. A brief Marine Corps account of the trip is posted here. As noted in this recent Marine Corps Times feature on Kent, it’s no surprise he’s making the rounds as the clock ticks down on his time in the Corps.

Larry the Cable Guy's TV show to feature Marines

By Dan Lamothe on April 7, 2011 Camp Pendleton, Pop culture

Git-R-Done! That simple saying evokes one of two reactions in most of the American public: a violent, disgusted shudder or amused glee. I’m in the gleeful category, which is why I was amused to hear everyman comedian Larry the Cable Guy has taken his new TV show, “Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy,” on the road to feature Marines at Camp Pendleton, Calif. The History Channel will air the show Tuesday, April 12, at 9 p.m., according to the Facebook page for the Marine Corps Motion Picture and Television Liaison Office. The show’s website doesn’t say much about it right…

Six years after son's death, Marine dad gets Gold Star license plate

By Dan Lamothe on December 14, 2010 Camp Pendleton, Iraq

Cpl. Mike Anderson was deeply entangled in one of the largest battle’s in Iraq when he died six years ago today. A 21-year-old squad leader with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., he was shot to death while raiding houses in Fallujah. He kicked open a door with eight insurgents behind it, and immediately faced a hail of gunfire. He died in the doorway, and a 35-minute firefight ensued, said his father, Mike Anderson Sr. One of Mike Jr.’s last letters home later lived on after it was published in Newsweek. All of this comes up today…

Get some — from the air

By Gidget Fuentes on November 26, 2010 Aviation, Camp Pendleton, Training

Let’s face it: There’s usually little to get excited about when it comes to practicing formations, that time consuming but traditional necessity of military life. But up in the air, formations can be, well, more thrilling and less tedious than those on the ground. Add some ammo, and there are few who’d pass up the chance to sling some lead from a helicopter. Like the “Purple Foxes” of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 364, who took to the air over Camp Pendleton, Calif., earlier this month to refresh their skills in aerial formation flights. Along with the requisite “parade” formations, helicopter…

Marine is best enlisted leader — at Army Ranger School

By Gina Cavallaro on October 29, 2010 Camp Pendleton

It seems the Army’s Fort Benning, Ga., agrees with Sgt. Grant Royal. Not only did he kick butt at last year’s Army Sniper Competition, taking first place by a mile with teammate Staff Sgt. Joshua Huskey, but he outshone the rest of the soldiers (and one other Marine) in his Ranger School class, too. Having successfully completed the notoriously grueling 61-day course in one shot, Royal, who is an instructor at the Scout Sniper School at Camp Pendleton, Calif., walked away with the Enlisted Leadership Award voted on by his student peers. He was presented the award by Command Sgt.…

High-tech flying – without leaving the ground

By Gidget Fuentes on July 16, 2010 Aviation, Camp Pendleton, Science & Technology, Training

A generation ago, helicopter pilots learned the intricacies of flight and the complexities of the cyclic and collective pretty much the old-fashioned way: They just flew, for real, taking to the air and clocking hours in the cockpit. For perhaps five or 10 percent of the time, they passed the time grounded in digital flight simulators, with simple graphics on flat two-dimensional images and primitive sets of controls. These days, thanks in part to meteoric advances in video-gaming technologies and high-fidelity computer graphics, Marine Corps pilots will spend 50 percent of their training time flying simulated missions seated in a…

He’s got some explaining to do

By on May 8, 2010 Battle Rattle, Camp Pendleton

Kenneth “The Machine” Alexander, a professional mixed martial arts fighter who headlined a free event for Marines Friday night at Camp Pendleton, Calif., has been less than sincere with the media about the details of his military background. Multiple reports documenting Alexander’s rise in the MMA world (here’s one and here’s another) have suggested the former Marine staff sergeant was a real stud when he served — a sniper with a Special Forces affiliation and multiple combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. Um … not exactly, he told Marine Corps Times this week. Acting on a tip from an alert reader, we…

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