Gina Harkins

Quantico trails named for OEF/OIF battles

By Gina Harkins on November 9, 2012 Afghanistan, Battle Rattle, Ganjgal, Iraq, Marines, Sangin

MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. – Officer candidates will now be training and running on trails named for some of the hardest battles fought by Marines during the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Col. Kris Stillings, commanding officer at Officer Candidates School, led a ceremony today here at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va. He stood with officer candidates lined up in formation at the newly named intersection of Fallujah and Kunar trails. Sangin Trail, the third to be named, runs slightly to the north. “These trails, just like the other trails we have here … these names mean something,”…

Staten Island residents desperate for Marines’ help

By Gina Harkins on November 5, 2012 Battle Rattle, Blue-Green operations, Life at sea, Marines, MEU operations

NEW YORK – Mounds of garbage and debris are piled along the streets in Staten Island, pick-up being just one of the many services residents haven’t had access to in Hurricane Sandy’s aftermath. Evidence of people living normal lives just a week ago now lines the curbsides of the New York borough devastated by last week’s superstorm. Appliances, furniture, children’s toys and other everyday items are just dumped at the edge of the streets, since residents ran out of garbage bags to pack them into days ago. The smell of rotting trash lingers in the air. Power lines hang down…

Jersey residents thank Marines for help

By Gina Harkins on November 4, 2012 Battle Rattle, Boat operations, Life at sea, MEU operations

HOBOKEN, N.J. — Residents of a community ravaged by this week’s super storm had some unexpected guests landing in one of their parks today in Sea Dragon-style. About 20 Marines and sailors left the amphibious assault ship WASP this morning and traveled to a city hit hard by Hurricane Sandy to help restore a ferry terminal that hasn’t been functional since the storm hit. The Marines were with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., which deployed Thursday in support of disaster relief efforts. After completing the work they needed to do in the harbor, the Marines and…

Marine Corps Times deployment map as of Oct. 31

By Gina Harkins on October 31, 2012 Afghanistan, Africa, Battle Rattle, Camp Lejeune, I MEF, Japan, Life at sea, Marines, MEU operations, Pacific issues, The Pacific

Marines are definitely getting back to their expeditionary roots. The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit just returned to Camp Lejeune, N.C., following a seven month deployment. But as Marine Corps Times’ Gidget Fuentes reported, when the 24th MEU was still in the Persian Gulf, there were more Marines on Navy ships than in the combat zone in Afghanistan in late-October. That’s a pretty interesting shift. Check out the map below to see what Marines are doing around the world. [HTML1]

Tell us: Who would you invite to the Marine Corps Birthday Ball?

By Gina Harkins on October 22, 2012 Battle Rattle

Marine Corps Times wants to hear from you. If you could bring anyone to the Marine Corps Birthday Ball, who would it be and why? Help us test out a new reporting tool to interact directly with you. It’s called Intervue.Me and it was recently acquired by Apple. It allows us to ask all of you a question that you can answer directly by turning on your webcam and hitting record. To kick it off, we want to know this: If there is anyone that you could ask to accompany you to the 237th annual birthday ball, who would it…

Marine Corps Times deployment map as of Oct. 12

By Gina Harkins on October 16, 2012 Battle Rattle

Marines are in some interesting places this week. New deployments and training exercises on the map include: Alaska for Red Flag 13-1; Republic of Maldives for Coconut Grove; and Timor-Leste where Marines with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit participate in jungle warfare training during Exercise Crododilo. Check out the interactive Marine Corps Times deployment map below for more details on what Marines are up to around the world. [HTML1]

Behind the Cover: Speak the language

By Gina Harkins on October 15, 2012 Behind the Cover, Marines, Training

Newly promoted sergeants, get ready for new education requirements to make it to staff sergeant — or any rank beyond. The Corps is rolling out a new professional education requirement for enlisted Marines that will need to be completed before making it to any new rank, all the way up to master gunnery sergeant. The program is called Regional, Culture and Language Familiarization, or RCLF for short. It takes the globe, carves it up into 17 different sections, and assigns to Marines the cultures and languages associated with each. New lieutenants have been doing this since 2008 and new warrant officers since 2010. The…

Marine Corps Times map as of Oct. 5

By Gina Harkins on October 5, 2012 Afghanistan, Africa, Deployments, Events, I MEF, III MEF, Infantry, Japan, Life at Sea, Life at sea, Marines, MEU operations, Status of forces map, Training

The Marine Corps Times interactive map showing what Marines are doing around the world has been updated with new information provided by public affairs for the week ending Oct. 5. [HTML1]

“Cribs” — Marine Corps-style

By Gina Harkins on September 27, 2012 Battle Rattle, Commandant, Marines

If you’ve always wanted to see how the commandant lives, here’s your chance. The Commandant’s House was opened to the public this past weekend as part of the Fall Festival at Marine Barracks Washington, D.C. After passing through a metal detector, guests could spend about an hour wandering the three floors of Gen. and Mrs. Jim Amos’ home. Two rooms were off limits — the commandant’s office and bedroom. But the doors were still open for a peek, the rooms were just roped off so no one could enter. The Marine leading the tour said it was because people have…

The Marine gunny behind the football GIF

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By Gina Harkins on September 25, 2012 Boot camp, Pop culture

A gunny’s reaction to a college football player has earned him an interesting fan appreciation: He was made into a funny GIF that’s making its rounds on the Internet. Gunnery Sgt. Stephen Roberts is the Assistant Marine Officer Instructor for the NROTC program at Ole Miss, SB Nation reported. He oversees the color guard at each Rebels home game, so he was on the field in the second quarter of the Sept. 16 Ole Miss game against Texas. That’s when ESPN cameras caught an interesting moment. Longhorns receiver Marquise Goodwin made a 69-yard touchdown run to put Texas up 17-7 — and came…

Author Gina Harkins