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Author Gina Harkins
Last week, while following the coverage of all the unrest in the world after the attacks on U.S. embassies, I came across this map that showed where protests were happening globally. I was reminded of our Marine Corps Times deployment map, and thought we should illustrate that information the same way. Every employee here at Marine Corps Times has spent their fair share of time gathering information on where Marines are around the world. But I always thought it was something that would be especially cool if it was digital — something that allowed our readers to interact with the information more. So here’s…
Next time your feet get cold, you might just ask a nearby female Marine if you can borrow the socks hiding out in her hair. Yes, that’s right. The secret behind the ladies’ uniform hairstyle is out — she has a sock in her hair. Maybe even two. And to get that bun looking smooth, she probably used enough hairspray to transport anyone back to 1989 via a giant cloud of aerosol. A hot-off-the-presses Marine Corps news release details how to “sock it up,” so you too can get that hairstyle that will set you apart from no one and…
Marines training a foreign military are learning skills about fighting in a place they haven’t had much exposure to in the last decade — the jungle. A small team with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit was sent on a unique mission. Eleven Marines left the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group to meet up with a team from Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force in Uganda, according to a Marine Corps news release. The Ugandan troops they are training are preparing for a deployment to Somalia, a failed state that has lacked a central government for more than two decades. Marines with…
A Marine and his brother have both been awarded medals — one for combat and one for athletics. Gunnery Sgt. Verice Bennett’s brother, Ashton Eaton, was awarded the gold medal at Olympic Stadium in London on Thursday for his performance in the decathlon. He accumulated 8,869 points in the two-day event that includes 10 grueling tasks like the high jump, the long jump and various races. Bennett, 34, watched his brother compete from Virginia where he works at Manpower and Reserve Affairs at Marine Corps Base Quantico. He said he couldn’t be more proud of his little brother. “It’s unbelievable,”…
It looks like Marines thought Austin Powers’ nemesis, Dr. Evil, was onto something when he said he wanted some sharks with laser beams attached to their heads. The Corps’ call for laser weaponry came from I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) for use in Iraq — just on an Osprey instead of a shark. A document put up on Wired’s Danger Room, the tech magazine’s national security blog, in 2007 is causing a stir and federal officials want to know who leaked it. Only, they’re asking about it five…
It doesn’t look like the Marine Corps is ready to cut ties with the Ultimate Fighting Championship quite yet. The veterans committee of a union group has called on the Corps to stop its relationship with the UFC. The group, Unite Here, has issued 5,000 petitions to Marine Corps recruiting stations across the country and sent a letter to Commandant Gen. Jim Amos calling for an end to the sponsorship and partnership with the UFC. See the story here. But just days after the petitions went out, Marine…
Cpl. Christopher Farias received a Father’s Day surprise after he threw out the first pitch at the Dodgers game on Sunday — his dad was behind the catcher’s mask. Farias thought he was throwing out the first pitch as “veteran of the game,” but there was a bigger plan in action. According to his dad, this was the first Father’s Day in eight years that the 11th Marines Field Artillery School instructor wasn’t called away on duty. So he hid behind the catcher’s gear and got behind the plate to catch his son’s ceremonial first pitch. Farias, based in Dodger-territory at Camp…
The Run Amuck Challenge is filled with steep hills, obstacle courses and deep mud pits — but none of that stopped a blind man from participating. Charlie Plaskon, 69, of Long Island, N.Y. , completed the course held Saturday at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va. He did so with the aid of a Marine, Master Sgt. Donald Ogden. Plaskon, a marathon-running grandfather, was one of more than 2,500 participants who trekked through three and a half miles of muddy trails and pits. Ogden’s office at Marine Corps Recruiting Command received a request from public affairs to lead a blind runner through…
Justin Henderson left for boot camp in January 2011. More than 500 days later, he’s still there. Henderson is stuck at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, S.C. after catching pneumonia 13 days into training. He’s now awaiting a Physical Evaluation Board, which requires paperwork to pass through the Defense Department and Veterans Affairs to get his disability rating. He stays in a squad bay with Leonard Carter. Carter had to leave boot camp in June 2011 to have a tumor removed from his leg. He is also awaiting a PEB. Both have since been told by their doctors they’re…
