From Multi-National Force - Iraq:


An Iraqi man holds his drowning child in Karmah, Iraq, Sept. 28, 2008. Navy Chief Roger Buck, a 34-year-old battalion medical chief from Niceville, Fla., saw the limp child cradled in his father's arms and immediately began administering CPR, saving the boy’s life. Photo by Lance Cpl. Achilles Tsantarliotis, Regimental Combat Team 1.


Sunday, 19 October 2008

KARMAH — Corpsmen are often considered the medical ray of light for Marines in a combat zone.

Sometimes their light shines bright enough to reach local Iraqis in need, whether during a routine combined medical engagement, or for one Iraqi child who almost drowned, on the spot emergency medical attention that saved his life.

Navy Chief Roger Buck, a 34-year-old battalion medical chief from Niceville, Fla., with Task Force 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, saw the limp child cradled in his father’s arms during an Iraqi key-leadership, joint-forces dismounted patrol.

Buck ran to the boy and immediately began administering CPR.

“[Our] interpreter explained I was like a doctor,” said Buck. “They told us they found him face first in a canal. He had a light, faint pulse. I tried to calm the parents down then immediately started applying medical treatment. I cleared his airway and started giving him CPR.”

Within a few minutes the boy regained consciousness, coughed up water and was taken to a local hospital for follow on care.

“He did everything he should have,” said Gunnery Sgt. John Schidlmeier, a platoon leader with Lava Dog Assesment Reaction Team, 1st Bn., 3rd Marines. “His actions were admirable; especially for the situation. He reacted even though he was posting security; made sure a Marine took his position and treated the kid immediately.”

Buck said he was merely in the right place at the right time and just doing his job, and the look of gratitude and appreciation on the terrified parents was all the thanks he needed.

Buck insisted that all Corpsmen carry a great load of responsibilities, starting from the first day of corpsman training, to adapt and be versatile with varying situations. To him, it was just another day of life in the operating forces.

“I was just happy I could bring the kid back,” he said.

Days later, the battalion recognized Buck’s heroic actions and awarded him a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for his reactive measures and successful treatment.

“There are a thousand things a day that corpsmen do that go unseen,” he said. “It's always good to save a life. You don't always get to save everyone, so when you do it's very rewarding.”

(By Lance Cpl. Achilles Tsantarliotis, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines)

Labels: 1-3 Marines, combat medic, Good News, heroes, Regimental Combat Team 1, US Navy, USMC

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq
4/1/2008 4:03 PM, Sgt. Nathaniel C. LeBlanc
A Mine Resistant and Ambush Protected “Buffalo” vehicle from Reaper platoon, Company A, 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 1 creeps down a rural road with its flood lights revealing the ground below, allowing combat engineers to observe for any suspicious objects in their path during a route clearance mission. The Reapers have successfully cleared nearly 9,000 miles of roads throughout the area of operations at a crawling pace of 10 miles per hour, and discovered six improvised explosive devices during their seven month deployment.

Labels: 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, Buffalo, Camp Fallujah, Iraq, military vehicles, MRAP, photos, Regimental Combat Team 1

SEARCHING FOR BOMBS - U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Thomas G. Anderson and Iraqi police provide security while looking for a possible improvised explosive device outside of Jebadin, Iraq, March 15, 2008. Anderson is assigned to the 3rd Marine Regiment's 2nd Battalion, Foxtrot Company, Regimental Combat Team 1. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Stuart C. Wegenka


WIRED - U.S. Marine Cpl. Colin A. Hayes and Cpl. Joshua T. Dawson move concertina wire at a traffic control point in Akashat, Iraq, March 16, 2008, to make way for concrete barriers. The two are assigned to the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion's Regimental Combat Team 5. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Paul Torres


Soldiers from the 4th Brigade, 7th Division of the Iraqi Army, take a knee in a unique formation at the opening of their Basic Combat Training graduation ceremony here Mar. 9. The course is six-weeks long and provides instruction in military drill, tactical maneuvers and marksmanship. The marksmanship training is supervised and instructed by U.S. Marines at the Advanced Infantry Training Center here. The AITC graduated approximately 14,000 Iraqi Soldiers and Police officers from its course in 2007, which is just 2,000 fewer recruits than Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, S.C. The BCT recruits are instructed primarily by Iraqi Soldiers. Photo by: Lance Cpl. Robert C. Medina, 1st Marine Logistics Group, 03/09/2008


Before rolling out, Alfonso Vasquez, tactical safety specialist with Base Safety and Environmental, 1st Marine Logistics Group, ensures the all-terrain vehicle student operators are good to go. One of Base Safety's new goals is to make the roads at Camp Taqaddum safer by ensuring the ATV's are driven by people capable of handling them. Vasquez and Petty Officer 3rd Class Dexter M. Cubol, safety inspector with Base Safety and Environmental, manage an ATV operator's training course that gives service members a chance to get a feel for the vehicle before taking it out on the open road. Photo submitted 03/28/2008; taken by Cpl. Tyler B. Barstow Read the story associated with this photo

Labels: 3rd LARB, 3rd Marine Regiment, 7th Iraqi Army Division, Iraqi Army, Jebadin, photos, Regimental Combat Team 1, Regimental Combat Team 5, USMC

Cpl. Manuel Favila, infantryman with Personnel Security Detachment, Regimental Combat Team 1, and native to Guymon, Ok., surveys the surrounding area and covers the rear security of the convoy as the RCT-1 commanding officer meets with Marines of 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment at an outpost near Saqulawiyah, Iraq. Favila has seen two combat tours and he is currently on his third with RCT-1. He was deployed to Abu Ghraib, Iraq during his first deployment and participated in Operation Phantom Fury into the city of Fallujah. His second deployment was during OIF 3 where he and his unit were in Haditha and supported the elections. Photo submitted 02/28/2008 Taken by Sgt. Nathaniel C. LeBlanc

Labels: 2-24 Marine Regiment, Iraq, photos, PSD, Regimental Combat Team 1, Saqulawiyah, USMC