Pegasus lifts ROK Marine Corps Battalion Capt J. Conor Overstake HMH-463 Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463, “Pegasus”, continued its support of the Republic of Korea Marine Corps March 17, by success- fully conducting a battalion sized heliborne assault for the 33rd Battalion, 1st Republic of Korea Marine Division during a training exercise while deployed to Naval Air Station Pohang, Republic of Korea. The squadron, a MCB Hawaii based CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopter squadron, is currently participating in the Unit Deployment Program in Okinawa, Japan. They formed the core of the Aviation Combat Element for Exercises Freedom Banner and Foal Eagle 2008 while on the Korean Peninsula. As the ACE, HMH-463 was augmented by detachments from Marine Wing Communication Squadron 18, Marine Wing Support Squadron 171, Navy Fighter Attack Squadron 97 (Navy F/A-18C Hornet squadron), Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 152 (Marine KC-130 Hercules Hawaii Hawaii Coaches A-3 Museum B-1 Kayak C-1 M M ARINE ARINE VOLUME 38, NUMBER 15 WWW.MCBH.USMC.MIL APRIL 11, 2008 Hawaii children conduct book, bear drive for local, Iraqi children Lance Cpl. Regina A. Ruisi Combat Correspondent Twenty military and local children from the Zeta Delta Chapter of Eta Sigma Alpha National Home School Honor Society conducted a “Books and Bears” collection to benefit chil- dren in Hawaii and Iraq. The project collected more than 1,500 teddy bears for wounded children in Iraq, and more than 1,300 books for non- profit organization Kaiser Permanente’s Reach out and Read program in Hawaii. “I was watching an article on the news about a trauma hospi- tal in Iraq and there was a medic in the background handing a teddy bear to a wounded child,” said Jan Fox, project organizer. “A light just went off.” 3rd Marine Regiment Key Volunteers honored at appreciation luncheon Lance Cpl. Brian A. Marion Combat Correspondent Third Marine Regiment honored its Key Volunteers during the 3rd Marine Regiment Key Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon at the Officers’ Club here April 3. Thirty-one of 3rd Marine Regiment’s 96 Key Volunteers attended the luncheon and represented families from all units under the regiment’s command. “Thank you all so much for making the time to come here today,” said Col. Duffy White, commanding officer, 3rd Marine Regiment, while speaking to the volunteers. “We want to thank you individually during this luncheon for the wonderful service you’re providing to the families of your Marines.” The Key Volunteers are part of the Key Volunteer Network as part of the Marine Corp’s Family Readiness Program. They act as a communication tool between the units and families by keeping families informed about the unit’s missions and tasks. “Our Key Volunteers come from families of Marines who are currently stationed with [1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment], [2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment], [3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment], [1st Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment], Headquarters Company, several individuals augments and four Embedded Training Teams,” said Ed Hanlon, family readiness officer, 3rd Marine Regiment. “These Key Volunteers have been doing an outstanding job in serving the regiment during the high- deployment tempo it’s in. They are the com- mander’s link to the families, and the com- mand is grateful for them.” Not only do Key Volunteers provide com- munication between commanders and fam- ilies, they also coordinate various pre-deploy- ment and redeployment efforts. “It’s important for families to feel involved in their spouses’ lives,” said Staci Courtesy photo Republic of Korea Marines with the 1st Republic of Korea Marine Division enter a CH-53D Sea Stallion while participating in Exercises Freedom Banner and Foal Eagle 2008. Jan Fox The members of the Zeta Delta Chapter of Eta Sigma Alpha National Home School Honor Society count, sort through and box up books and bears donated during their month-long ‘Books and Bears’ collection at a meeting Monday. See PEGASUS, A-5 See DRIVE, A-5 HONOR, A-5 Family network helps with deployments Donna Miles American Forces Press Service Dealing with a loved one’s deployment can be difficult. But for Marine families based thousands of miles from home, the challenges might seem even more daunting if not for an active family support network in place to help them. Here at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, home to more than 11,000 Marines and sailors and their families, the Marine Corps Family Team Building program plays a critical role in helping families through multiple deployments. Historically a volunteer-based effort, the program now benefits from a recent Headquarters Marine Corps decision to create perma- nent, paid positions at every Marine base to ensure consistent, con- tinuous family support programs throughout the Corps, explained Xiomara Bowes, the program’s director. The Marine Corps dedicated other expanded resources to the pro- gram, as well, introducing broader family support efforts. “We have supplies; we have equipment; we have office spaces; we have facili- ties,” as well as additional childcare and extended-hour training pro- grams, Bowes said. Now, she said, the program can provide additional services and training, not only to spouses, but also to children of deployed Marines and Sailors, as well as their parents and extended families. “It opens it up for more training opportunities, more learning opportu- nities to just get through the challenging lifestyle,” she said. But even with this seven-person paid staff, Bowes said the network couldn’t serve the families of about 1,700 currently deployed Marines without a vast volunteer network. The 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force’s 2nd Battalion is deployed now, and the 1st Battalion is prepar- ing to deploy later this year. “We’re busy when it comes to deployments, especially with the Donna Miles Carrie Heironimus, wife of Navy Lt. Brandon Heironimus, right, gets information about family-support programs at a table set up in Marine Corps Base Hawaii’s base exchange from Brenda Hawkins, left, administrative assistant for the Marine Corps Family Team Building program, and Cheryl Roy, center, the base’s readiness and deployment support trainer. See SUPPORT, A-5
Transcript
Pegasus lifts ROK Marine Corps BattalionCapt J. Conor OverstakeHMH-463
Marine Heavy HelicopterSquadron 463, “Pegasus”,continued its support of theRepublic of Korea MarineCorps March 17, by success-fully conducting a battalionsized heliborne assault forthe 33rd Battalion, 1stRepublic of Korea MarineDivision during a trainingexercise while deployed toNaval Air Station Pohang,Republic of Korea.
The squadron, a MCBHawaii based CH-53D SeaStallion helicopter squadron,is currently participating inthe Unit DeploymentProgram in Okinawa, Japan.They formed the core of theAviation Combat Element forExercises Freedom Bannerand Foal Eagle 2008 while onthe Korean Peninsula.
As the ACE, HMH-463 wasaugmented by detachmentsfrom Marine WingCommunication Squadron18, Marine Wing SupportSquadron 171, Navy FighterAttack Squadron 97 (NavyF/A-18C Hornet squadron),Marine Aerial RefuelerTransport Squadron 152(Marine KC-130 Hercules
HawaiiHawaii
Coaches A-3
MuseumB-1
KayakC-1
MM A R I N EA R I N EVOLUME 38, NUMBER 15 WWW.MCBH.USMC.MIL APRIL 11, 2008
Hawaii children conduct book,bear drive for local, Iraqi childrenLance Cpl. Regina A. RuisiCombat Correspondent
Twenty military and localchildren from the Zeta DeltaChapter of Eta Sigma AlphaNational Home School HonorSociety conducted a “Books andBears” collection to benefit chil-dren in Hawaii and Iraq.
The project collected morethan 1,500 teddy bears forwounded children in Iraq, andmore than 1,300 books for non-profit organization KaiserPermanente’s Reach out andRead program in Hawaii.
“I was watching an article onthe news about a trauma hospi-tal in Iraq and there was a medicin the background handing ateddy bear to a wounded child,”said Jan Fox, project organizer.“A light just went off.”
3rd Marine Regiment Key Volunteershonored at appreciation luncheonLance Cpl. Brian A. MarionCombat Correspondent
Third Marine Regiment honored its KeyVolunteers during the 3rd Marine RegimentKey Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon at theOfficers’ Club here April 3.
Thirty-one of 3rd Marine Regiment’s 96Key Volunteers attended the luncheon andrepresented families from all units under theregiment’s command.
“Thank you all so much for making thetime to come here today,” said Col. DuffyWhite, commanding officer, 3rd MarineRegiment, while speaking to the volunteers.“We want to thank you individually during
this luncheon for the wonderful serviceyou’re providing to the families of yourMarines.”
The Key Volunteers are part of the KeyVolunteer Network as part of the MarineCorp’s Family Readiness Program. They actas a communication tool between the unitsand families by keeping families informedabout the unit’s missions and tasks.
“Our Key Volunteers come from familiesof Marines who are currently stationed with[1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment], [2ndBattalion, 3rd Marine Regiment], [3rdBattalion, 3rd Marine Regiment], [1stBattalion, 12th Marine Regiment],Headquarters Company, several individuals
augments and four Embedded TrainingTeams,” said Ed Hanlon, family readinessofficer, 3rd Marine Regiment. “These KeyVolunteers have been doing an outstandingjob in serving the regiment during the high-deployment tempo it’s in. They are the com-mander’s link to the families, and the com-mand is grateful for them.”
Not only do Key Volunteers provide com-munication between commanders and fam-ilies, they also coordinate various pre-deploy-ment and redeployment efforts.
“It’s important for families to feelinvolved in their spouses’ lives,” said Staci
Courtesy photo
Republic of Korea Marines with the 1st Republic of Korea Marine Division enter a CH-53D Sea Stallion while participating in Exercises Freedom Banner and Foal Eagle 2008.
Jan Fox
The members of the Zeta Delta Chapter of Eta Sigma Alpha National Home School Honor Society count,sort through and box up books and bears donated during their month-long ‘Books and Bears’ collectionat a meeting Monday.
See PEGASUS, A-5
See DRIVE, A-5
HONOR, A-5
Family network helpswith deploymentsDonna MilesAmerican Forces Press Service
Dealing with a loved one’s deployment can be difficult. But forMarine families based thousands of miles from home, the challengesmight seem even more daunting if not for an active family supportnetwork in place to help them.
Here at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, home to more than 11,000 Marinesand sailors and their families, the Marine Corps Family Team Buildingprogram plays a critical role in helping families through multipledeployments.
Historically a volunteer-based effort, the program now benefitsfrom a recent Headquarters Marine Corps decision to create perma-nent, paid positions at every Marine base to ensure consistent, con-tinuous family support programs throughout the Corps, explainedXiomara Bowes, the program’s director.
The Marine Corps dedicated other expanded resources to the pro-gram, as well, introducing broader family support efforts. “We havesupplies; we have equipment; we have office spaces; we have facili-ties,” as well as additional childcare and extended-hour training pro-grams, Bowes said.
Now, she said, the program can provide additional services andtraining, not only to spouses, but also to children of deployedMarines and Sailors, as well as their parents and extended families. “Itopens it up for more training opportunities, more learning opportu-nities to just get through the challenging lifestyle,” she said.
But even with this seven-person paid staff, Bowes said the networkcouldn’t serve the families of about 1,700 currently deployed Marineswithout a vast volunteer network. The 3rd Marine ExpeditionaryForce’s 2nd Battalion is deployed now, and the 1st Battalion is prepar-ing to deploy later this year.
“We’re busy when it comes to deployments, especially with the
Donna Miles
Carrie Heironimus, wife of Navy Lt. Brandon Heironimus, right, getsinformation about family-support programs at a table set up inMarine Corps Base Hawaii’s base exchange from Brenda Hawkins,left, administrative assistant for the Marine Corps Family TeamBuilding program, and Cheryl Roy, center, the base’s readiness anddeployment support trainer.
See SUPPORT, A-5
A-2 • APRIL 11, 2008 HAWAII MARINE
www.mcbh.usmc.mil
HHaawwaaii iiMMAARRIINNEE
Commanding Officer Col. M. A. DunganBase Sergeant Major Sgt. Maj. Erik ShirreffsPublic Affairs Officer Maj. Christopher M. PerrineDeputy Director 1st Lt. Binford R. StricklandPublic Affairs Chief Gunnery Sgt. Demetrio J. EspinosaManaging Editor Sgt. Macario P. Mora Jr.Press Chief Cpl. Mark FaylogaLayout/Design Editor Priya S. JenkinsPhotojournalist Christine CabaloCombat Correspondent Sgt. Sara A. CarterCombat Correspondent Cpl. Chadwick deBreeCombat Correspondent Lance Cpl. Regina RuisiCombat Correspondent Lance Cpl. Brian MarionCombat Correspondent Lance Cpl. Alesha R. GuardCombat Correspondent Lance Cpl. Achilles Tsantarliotis
Hawaii Marine is an authorized publication for membersof the Department of Defense.
Hawaii Marine is published by MidWeek Printing, Inc., aprivate firm in no way connected with the U.S. MarineCorps, under exclusive contract to the U.S. Marine Corps.
Contents of Hawaii Marine are not necessarily the officialviews of, or endorsed by, the United States Government, theDepartment of Defense or the U.S. Marine Corps.
The appearance of advertising in Hawaii Marine, includinginserts and supplements, does not constitute endorsement bythe DoD, Department of the Navy or the U.S. Marine Corpsof the products or services advertised.
Everything advertised in Hawaii Marine shall be madeavailable for purchase, use, or patronage without regard torace, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status,physical handicap, political affiliation, or any other nonmer-it factor of the purchaser, user or patron.
Editorial content or public service announcements (i.e.,all content other than paid advertisements) is edited, pre-pared and provided by the Public Affairs Office aboardMarine Corps Base Hawaii. Opinions expressed are not to beconsidered an official expression of the DoD, DoN or theUSMC.
Submit items for Hawaii Marine to the managing editor nolater than noon on the Friday prior to publication, using thefollowing address:
HAWAII MARINE, BOX 63062, BUILDING 216, MCB HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY, HAWAII 96863
Day — Scattered showers, mainly afternoon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 81.East wind around 14 mph. Chance of pre-cipitation is 30 percent.
Night — Scattered showers. Mostlycloudy, with a low around 69. East windaround 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is30 percent.
High — 81
Low — 69
Day — Scattered showers. Mostlycloudy, with a high near 81. East windaround 14 mph. Chance of precipitationis 30 percent.
Night — Scattered showers. Mostlycloudy, with a low around 69. Northeastwind around 13 mph. Chance of precip-itation is 40 percent.
High — 81
Low — 69
Day — Scattered showers. Mostlycloudy, with a high near 80. Breezy, witha east wind around 20 mph, with gustsas high as 24 mph.
Night — Scattered showers. Mostlycloudy. East wind around 17 mph, withgusts as high as 22 mph. Chance of pre-cipitation is 30 percent.
High — 80
Low — 70
Weekend weather outlook
HQMC MMPR/MMSB/CACO Visits
There will be several Headquarter Marine Corpsbriefs on the following dates, times and places.The target audience for the brief on Friday is E-5through O6.
All Marines and Sailors are invited to attend theCACO brief's on Monday and Tuesday.
CACO SCHEDULE Monday, 7:30 – 11:30 a.m., K-Bay Base Theater Monday, 1 – 5 p.m., K-Bay Base Theater Tuesday, 7:30 – 11:30 a.m., K-Bay Base Theater
Center For more information, contact Staff Sgt. Caro-
dine at 257-8862.
Marine Corps League
The Marines Corps League, Aloha Detachment,is encouraging Marines, Fleet Marine Force Corps-men and anyone who has the desire to preservethe traditions and promote the interest of the U.S.Marine Corps to join Aloha Detachment on Oahu.
For more information, contact Ah Chick at 227-9115 or 261-9693.
Beach Cleanup
The Hawaii State Bodysurfing Association willhost a beach cleanup April 20, at Sandy Beach incelebration of Earth Day.
For more information, contact Capt. BenjaminMercier at 257-2089.
BayFest 2008
Tickets for the 19th Annual BayFest 2008 go onsale fro the general public Saturday beginning at 9a.m.
Two types of tickets will be available for theevent: the BayFest ticket, which allows one-dayaccess to the carnival fairgrounds, contest, mili-tary static displays and the Island Lifestyle Exposi-tion. The all-inclusive ticket, which providespatrons with the same one-day access as theBayFest ticket, will also include concert admis-sion.
This year’s lineup will include Rodney Atkins,Everclear, Little Big Town, Live and 3 DoorsDown.
Tickets are available at Ticketmaster or your lo-cal Information, Tickets and Tours office. Formore information, contact your local ITT office orMarine Corps Community Services.
Channel 2 Survey
Combat Camera is conducting a survey togather information about usage of the Base Com-mander’s Channel, Channel 2.
Combat Camera is using the information to im-prove the service in order to better serve the basecommunity.
For more information, call Gunnery Sgt. Schel-lenbach at 257-1365, or to take the survey visithttp://ice.disa.mil/svy.cfm?channel2.
I hope all is well with you andthe ones you love. I was recentlyreading a well-known prayer,maybe you’ve heard it, “Godgrant me the serenity to acceptthe things I cannot change. Thecourage to change the things Ican and the wisdom to know thedifference.”
This made me think abouthow worry can affect our lives.In our busy world, it's notunusual to feel worried at times.We worry about our family, ourjob, our health and other per-sonal issues. We may also worryabout friends, our communityand issues facing the entireworld.
Unfortunately, worrying isone of the most destructive of allhuman habits because it decreas-es our effectiveness in otherareas. When we worry aboutsomething, our thoughts andemotions focus on events thathaven’t yet taken place. It’s likeMark Twain once said, “I am anold man and have known a greatmany troubles, but most of themhave never happened.”
Worrying is totally passive. Itaccomplishes nothing. On theother hand, worrying can literal-ly make you sick while keepingyou from accomplishing thethings that really matter. Think
of the things we worry about. Amazingly, we probably
worry most about the smallstuff, those details in life overwhich we have little or no con-trol.
Sometimes worry becomes aproblem. Worry might disruptour daily routine or keep us fromfalling asleep at night. More seri-ously, we might find ourselvesunable to do anything aboutworry, until it gets to the pointwhere worry controls our life.
One way to combat worry isto write down what you are wor-ried about. Writing down yourworries is important in changingyour behavior. Do you find your-self waiting until the last minuteto take care of important proj-ects and other issues? Do youfind yourself with financial con-cerns because you have no ideahow much money is in yourchecking account? All of thesewill weigh on your mind, andthey’ll continue to weigh on
your mind until you do some-thing about them.
You may also find, when youwrite down your worries, thatyou think frequently aboutissues and problems over whichyou have no control, such asyour best friend's marriage orworld issues. These may beimportant to you, but theyshould not be consuming you.
Most likely, however, you willnot be able to let go of theseworries until you begin workingon the worries you can control,such as balancing your check-book.
Hopefully, if you have a prob-lem with worrying, writing yourworries down will help. If youfeel your problem is a little moresevere, please seek help. If youwould like to talk to a Chaplain,you can contact me at 257-8318or [email protected].
Have a wonderful day!Chaplain Greg Cates
One of women's favorite features is oftentheir hair. While heredity and climateare big factors on your hair’s makeup,there are things you can do to keep your
gorgeous locks strong and shiny.Toward the end of boot camp, I remember
noticing a trend in some of the drill instruc-tors’ hair - it was either badly thinning orreceding. I'll admit I was scared it could hap-pen to me. After slathering tubs of gel on myhair until I had a slick, tight helmet on myhead everyday, I'm surprised my hair made itthrough boot camp. Three months of alcohol-laden gel and tight-tightbuns, I noticed my hairwas dry and brittle afterleaving the island.
Looking at picturesbefore boot camp mademe realize I’d better startdoing something to sal-vage my badly damagedhair. During military occupational school Ibegan reading up on ways to save my hair, andbegan a shopping spree of different hair prod-ucts. After about a year and a half of trial anderror, I've found what works for me.
Numerous articles and many hairdressers allsuggested shampooing hair only two or threetimes a week. They all swore that shampooingonly three times a week is ideal to keep yourhair strong and prevent premature hair loss.After much skepticism, I finally tried the three-times-a-week shampoo schedule. You’re proba-bly thinking, “But I workout all the time! We’refreaking Marines!” Yes, I thought the samething. I can't go to work without showering -especially the way I sweat (They call me SweatHog.) Instead of shampooing my hair everytime I showered, I'd condition it thoroughlyand only use shampoo a couple times a week.It made a huge difference! My hair became lessand less dry, and began getting its shiny lusterback. I also noticed I wasn't pulling out asmuch hair on my brush after showering.
Another trick a friend taught me at MOS
school was to switch your part each daythroughout the week. Instead of parting it onthe right all the time, switch it up and part iton the left. If you part your hair straight back,try a diagonal part or no part at all. Switchingyour part is supposed to promote hair growthand prevent hair loss. I've seen female Marineswho part their hair the same way day in andday out. This can lead to stress on the samearea of the scalp, eventually causing a baldingspot beginning at the part. This can also hap-pen with men who comb their hair to the sameside each day.
After reading aboutconditioning productsyou leave in your hairovernight, I wondered if Icould do that during theday. After showering inthe morning, my hair stillwet, I dumped even moreconditioner on my head
while I brushed it. The conditioner kept myhair saturated, so I didn't have to use as muchgel when putting it in a bun. This not onlysaved me money on gel, but also saved theends of my hair. When I took my hair down atthe end of the day, it looked like it had just got-ten a deep conditioning treatment.
The last tip I've recently tried is finding anon-alcoholic gel or mousse. The alcohol inhair gel is primarily what dries out your hair.Theses products are usually a bit more expen-sive, but you'll save your hair in the long run.I use a non-alcohol mousse. After I saturate myhair with conditioner and smooth it out, I dabjust a little mousse over the top of my hair. Itkeeps my hair "nice and tight" without havinga "boot helmet head." It looks much more pro-fessional, and feels much more natural.
While putting your hair in a bun or up-dofor work each day can be damaging, it doesn'thave to be.
By taking a little extra time each day to carefor your hair, you can keep it healthy and saveyourself money in the long run.
KEEP YOUR GUARD
Keeping your hair withinregulation doesn’t have tocause unnecessary damage.Follow these tips to keepyour hair healthy in and outof uniform.
Shampoo hair 2-3 times aweek; Use only conditionerany other time you showerto keep the natural oils inyour hair.
Try parting your hair differ-ently daily, wearing it up ordown to prevent hair lossand recession.
Saturate hair with condi-tioner before putting it in abun to keep it moisturizedall day long.
Use non-alcoholic hair gelor mousse when styling hair.
Use hair dryers sparingly, letyour hair air dry as often aspossible to keep from caus-ing heat damage.
Use hair straighteners spar-ingly, rub hair with oilbefore using them to protectfrom the heat.
Trim hair every six weeks tokeep the ends looking healthy.
Wet hair in the showerbefore swimming and itwon’t absorb as much chlo-rine.
Food, drink and tobacco allhave an influence on hairgrowth; Have a healthylifestyle and your hair willreflect it!
After work, let your hairdown for as long as possible totake the strain off of the scalp.
UPTop tips for
keeping your hair slick
While by no means “salty” with MarineCorps experience, the young Lance Cpl.Alesha R. Guard is adept at providinghelpful and useful advice. Even if thesubject is not one of her areas ofexpertise, she’s adamant aboutdoing the research to provide themost beneficial tips, tenaciouseven. Think of her as a DearAbby in a Marine Corps uniform... and able to take out a target from500 yards away. If you’ve got aquandary you could use somefriendly advice about, send her ane-mail at [email protected]
Helpful how-tos, tipsand advice on youngCorps’ life from your
friendly neighborhoodlance corporal
Get it rightget it tightSalvaging your hairfrom Corps damage
CATES
HAWAII MARINE APRIL 11, 2008 • A-3
3/3 sends Marinesto coaches courseLance Cpl. Brian A. MarionCombat Correspondent
PUULOA RIFLE RANGE, Hawaii —All Marines share one thing in common.No matter what their military occupa-tional specialty is, every Marine is arifleman first and foremost.
Marines aren't born with the lethalability to effectively engage targets at200, 300 and 500 yards. They learn themarksmanship fundamentals duringbootcamp from primary marksmanshipinstructors and combat marksmanshipcoaches.
When rifle qualifications come up inthe fleet, some units are lacking the nec-essary personnel to effectively run therange themselves.
Marines from 3rd Battalion, 3rdMarine Regiment, faced this problemand corrected it by sending more than40 Marines to Combat MarksmanshipCoaches Course 8-04 here, which beganMonday and continues for the next twoweeks.
“The battalion is getting ready to dobattalion ranges and need [staff non-commissioned officers-in-charge] andother Marines who have been in thecourse to gain experience and help moreMarines qualify higher on the ranges,”
said Staff Sgt. Adam R. Guerrero, pla-toon sergeant, Kilo Company, 3/3.“Along with all of us becoming coaches,we can now teach individual platoonsor companies on how to shoot, vicehaving only a few of us going to eachunit one at a time and teaching. Itmakes the units more self-sufficient.”
The instructors lengthened the classfrom the original two weeks to threeweeks, giving the students more practi-cal applications in their coaching abili-ties.
“We needed more time to teach theMarines,” said Lance Cpl. FrederickNotario, armorer and combat marks-manship instructor, Puuloa Rifle Range.“It felt like we were rushing them withthe original two weeks by firing twoweapon systems along with coachingand fault checking each others proce-dures,”
Marines receive a full week of classesbefore firing the rifle for their initialzero. They will then continue to fire therifle for the duration of the course andfire the pistol during the second week.
“The main complaint we had fromprevious classes was that Marines hadlittle chance to fault check each other,and now they will,” said Alexander N.Yadloczky III, chief marksmanship
instructor for combat marksmanshipcoaches course and combat marksman-ship trainer course, Puuloa. “Now withsome of the extra time, we can conductdrills in fault checking to better ensurethe coaches coming out of the trainingare better prepared.”
Along with the fault checking drills,Marines will be using the last week tofire their rifles with a rifle combat opticattached.
“Every Marine who goes into theaternow is going in with an RCO attachedto their weapon, and many of themdon’t even know how to zero or changethe RCO,” Yadloczky said. “The coursegives us a good opportunity to teachMarines how to use them.”
Throughout the week, the Marines in3/3 received periods of instruction inremedial actions for both rifle and pis-tol, marksmanship fundamentals foreach weapon, the effects of weather,how to fill out and read a data book,zeroing a rifle, and will qualify with pis-tol and rifle before the course ends.
“This is a good learning experience,”Guerrero said. “I’ve been in for nineyears, and already the training hasopened my eyes. I’m already saying tomyself, ‘Maybe that’s what I’m doingwrong.’”
Photos by Lance Cpl. Brian A. Marion
Corporal Jared Wagner, left, block non commissioned officer, Puuloa Rifle Range, evaluates Marines during Combat Marksmanship Coaches Course 8-04 at Puuloa Tuesday. More than 40 Marines from 3rdBattalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, attend this three week course, which helps Marines learn the skills necessary to help others on the range.
Marines from units within 3/3, attend Combat Marksmanship Coaches Course 8-04 at Puuloa Rifle Range Tuesday. During the three weeksthe Marines will be there, they will learn how to fault check shooters on the firing line for both the the M-9 service pistol, as well as the M-16A2, M-16A4 and the M-4 assault rifles.
Staff Sgt. Gerald Fuller, section leader, Weapons Platoon, 3rdBattalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, (right) and Staff Sgt. AdamGuerrero, platoon sergeant, Kilo Company, 3/3, look in their databooks at the dimensions of the ‘able,’ ‘dog,’ and ‘body’ targets.
Sergeant John Malovrh, combat marksmanship instructor, scoutsniper platoon, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, gives a period ofinstruction about weather conditions and how it can affect firing toMarines. Anything from the speed of the wind, to rain, to the tem-perature affects the trajectory of the round or the shooter.
Sharon Cacurak and Laura StokumMarine Corps Community Services
Our customers have been sur-veyed, and the results have shownthat Marine Corps Exchange KaneoheBay continues to demonstrateimproved customer satisfaction. EachFall, Headquarters Marine Corps con-tracts with Claes Fornell InternationalGroup to conduct the AssociateSatisfaction Index and the CustomerSatisfaction Index for all MarineCorps exchanges. The indexes wereintroduced in 1994 by Claes Fornell, aUniversity of Michigan professor. It’scurrently produced by the StephenM. Ross Business School at theUniversity of Michigan, with theAmerican Society for Quality and theCFI Group.
The American CustomerSatisfaction Index monitors andbenchmarks customer satisfactionacross more than 200 companies andU.S. federal agencies. Index scores arebased on a maximum value of 100.Results are published in national pub-lications such as the Wall StreetJournal, as well as quarterly on theACSI Web site http://www.theacsi.org.
In 2007, the average CSI score ofall 17 Marine Corps exchanges was72. The Kaneohe Bay MCX ratedthree points above the average withan overall score of 75. Our score hasrisen two points since 2006, and there
has been improvement in 15 of the16 major shopping dimensions speci-fied in the survey from 2006 to 2007.The only aspect that didn’t showimprovement received the same scorein 2007 as in 2006. Our exchange alsoscored the highest out of allexchanges in two aspects – pricing(value for your money, fair prices andadjusting prices to meet competitor’sprices) and refund (which includespolicy, associate courtesy and associ-ate efficiency).
We not only compare our servicesto other MCX stores throughout theMarine Corps, but we can also look atthe scores of other national stores andmeasure how our scores compare.While our CSI score was a 75, theaverage for department and discountstores (Wal-Mart, Target, Macy’s, etc.)was a 73. Wal-Mart Stores had a CSI of68, Sears and Kmart a 72.
The ASI/CSI survey is an extremelyuseful tool in helping to prioritizegoals and initiatives for the followingyear. Because the survey is conductedannually, MCX managers are alsoable to measure, compare and evalu-ate how effective their initiativeshave been from previous years.Perhaps even more importantly, theASI/CSI results give insight intowhere improvement is needed notjust on scores alone, but also on howsome aspects impact how satisfiedcustomers feel in general about retailscores.
For example, the CSI report
includes a priority matrix, indicatingareas of concern, aspects to maintain,strengths to build on and top priori-ties. From these, each manager is ableto create a business plan of action tohelp them use the information fromthe survey to improve their customersatisfaction scores the following year.
The ASI/CSI study recognizes thatthe two indexes, associate satisfactionand customer satisfaction, are oftendirectly related. In 2007, MCXKaneohe Bay received the highest ASIscore of all the exchanges, with aranking of 84 out of 100. In fact, intwo years, the MCX has increased itsassociate satisfaction by 15 percentfrom a 73 score in 2005 to an 84 scorein 2007.
At our Main Exchange, the satis-faction level of the employees showsthrough in the great work they doeach day and the pleasant shoppingenvironment that creates. Some ofthe specific strengths of the MCXthat were pointed out in the surveywere physical environment, team-work and work schedule. “They workevery day as a team, and they careabout what they do,” said KellyNakano, MCX manager. “And I thinkthat makes a difference.”
The Kaneohe Bay MCX employeeswork hard to take care of the storeand the customers, Nakano said.
From custodians to cashiers to cus-tomer service clerks, each employeetakes pride in their work and con-tributes to the clean, attractive physi-
cal environment. The employees alsodon’t hesitate to make suggestions tomake our MCX better, and manage-ment values their opinions, imple-menting them whenever possible.
The sense of teamwork thestore associates have, everyonehelps everyone out, benefits the
customer in the end. “Our main focus is the customers,”
said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Eric A.Littlejohn, exchange officer. “Itmakes it really easy for us when ouremployees work together as a team,and they have a genuine interest inthe folks they are serving.”
A-4 • APRIL 11, 2008 HAWAII MARINE
MarForPac Marines honor those before themLance Cpl. Ronald W. StaufferU.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific
HONOLULU — The relics of WorldWar II symbolize an era in history,which many people don’t get thechance to see in their lives.
Taking a step into history, 18leathernecks from U.S. Marine CorpsForces, Pacific, were given the oppor-tunity to visit some of the sites andsee what the war looked like whileparticipating in a period ofProfessional Military Education inAiea March 26.
Visiting the USS Arizona WarMemorial, the USS Missouri and thePacific Aviation Museum on FordIsland, the Marines not only listenedto old stories, but touched history asthey toured the innards of theMissouri.
Stepping away from the standardPME procedure, which regularlytakes place in a classroom environ-ment, the Marines got the chance toview history up close.
“The intent of this exercise was tofamiliarize Marines with the eventsof the pacific battles in World WarII,” said Staff Sgt. Jason Hazard, staffnoncommissioned officer-in-charge,S-3. “It familiarized them with thehistory, from the start [of the attackat Pearl Harbor] to the end of WorldWar II.”
Hazard said it was the battalioncommander’s intent to get Marinesout and do something a little differ-ent. Hazard said he figured gettingthem out on tours would be morebeneficial than sitting and watchinga movie or listening to a lecture.
Donning the Service “C” uniform,the 21st century Marines went fromthe era of Internet and cell phones,to ‘a day that will live in infamy.’
After a short video brief on theattack on Pearl Harbor, theyembarked on their own epic journey
in history as they were shuttled outto the Arizona Memorial.
They viewed the remains of theArizona and a wall with the names ofthe service members who lost theirlives on the attacked vessel.
“I’m motivated to be out here,”said Lance Cpl. Jonathan J. Scott,supply clerk, S-4. “I saw a coupleScotts on the wall, and I want to look
up their names [to see if they wererelated].”
From the Arizona Memorial, thegroup moved to the USS Missouriwhere they received a guided tour ofthe ship and the opportunity to sit atsome of the battle stations and viewthe cramped living quarters whereMarines and Sailors resided.
“It’s amazing to see how small the
living quarters were inside such alarge ship,” said Lance Cpl. AlexOrozco, comptroller, MarForPac. “Icouldn’t imagine being on a shipwhile it’s being attacked.”
After a break for lunch, theMarines launched their final cam-paign to the Pacific AviationMuseum for another guided tour.
There, they viewed a restored
Japanese Zero, an American A-36Apache and an A-24 Dive Bomber.They also learned about Japanese tac-tics and how the U.S. fought the airbattle against them during the attackon Pearl Harbor.
Hazard said the Marines get moreout of actually touring the memori-als. Plus they’re representing theMarine Corps and in a public setting.
Our mission: Help our deployed troops come homeCompiled by Lance Cpl. Alesha R. Guard
Combat Correspondent
Cell Phones for Soldiershopes to turn old cell phonesinto more than 12 millionminutes of prepaid callingcards for United States troopsstationed overseas in 2008. Todo so, Cell Phones for Soldiersexpects to collect 15,000 cellphones each month through anetwork of more than 3,000collection sites across thecountry.
The phones are sent toReCellular, which pays CellPhones for Soldiers for each
donated phone – enough toprovide an hour of talk timeto soldiers abroad.
“Americans will replace anestimated 130 million cellphones this year,” said MikeNewman, vice president ofReCellular, “with the majorityof phones either discarded orstuffed in a drawer. Most peo-ple don’t realize that the smallsacrifice of donating theirunwanted phones can have atremendous benefit for a wor-thy cause like Cell Phones forSoldiers.”
Teenagers Robbie andBrittany Bergquist fromNorwell, Mass., founded Cell
Phones for Soldiers with $21of their own money. Sincethen, the registered non-profitorganization has raised almost$1 million in donations and
has distributed more than400,000 prepaid calling cardsto service members servingoverseas.
“Cell Phones for Soldiersstarted as a small way to showour family’s appreciation forthe men and women whohave sacrificed the day-to-daycontact with their own fami-lies to serve in the U.S. armedforces,” said Bob Bergquist,the teens’ father. “Over thepast few years, we have beenoverwhelmed by the generosi-ty of others. But, we have alsoseen the continuing need tosupport our troops as moretroops are sent overseas for
longer assignments.”Through increased fundraising
efforts, the Bergquist familyhopes to raise more than $9million in the next five yearsto fund new programs.
For example, one programwould provide video phoneswith prepaid service to allowtroops abroad to see theirfamilies on a regular basis.
“I am an Army wife, andmy husband has been in Iraqsince November,” wroteKatrina Stimpson, in a letterto the Bergquist family. “Wehave a nine-month olddaughter, and my husbandleft when she was only four-
months old. The only wayshe knows who Daddy is, isthrough hearing his voice onthe phone and seeing hispicture. I have been search-ing for an inexpensive wayto get phone cards to send tomy husband and his unit,and haven't been able tofind one. So, I was extremelyrelieved and excited when Icame across your Web site.Thank you for all that youdo and keep up the greatwork!”
To donate or learn moreabout the program visit:http://www.cellphonesfor-soldiers.com/about.html.
Exchange rates higher satisfactionthan national retail stores
Lance Cpl. Ronald W. Stauffer
Sergeant Robert Manion, right, nuclear, biological and chemical chief, S-3, Headquarters and Service Battalion, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific, gazes through the glassshielding the ‘Instrument of Surrender’ document that finalized the end of WWII during a professional military education on the USS Missouri at Ford Island March 26.
Honolulu dropoff location
Helen's Haven Skinand Body Specialists4819 Kilauea Ave #6Honolulu, HI 96816Contact: Helen [email protected]: Monday - Saturday9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Lance Cpl. Regina A. Ruisi
Marine Corps Base Hawaii cashier, Laura Michaelson, takes pride in her work andstrives to maintain customer satisfaction.
Home schooled childrenaround Oahu began focusingtheir community service projectaround collecting teddy bears tosend to hospitals in Iraq, and alsodecided to collect books for thereading program. The childrenwere each responsible for theirown box, which they placed inareas to allow the community todonate toys and books.
Two Marine Corps BaseHawaii children were involvedin the project and set up some ofthe highest collecting boxes.Jessica and C.J. Nelson’s boxeswere located at the base ThriftShop, commissary and SemperFit Center. The thrift store donat-ed stuffed animals they received,and the commissary donated 60boxes of stuffed animals. Otherchildren set up boxes at PearlHarbor and Hickam Air ForceBase to get the military commu-nity involved in the project.
“Military families reallystepped up to the plate,” Fox, anAir Force spouse, said. “The ani-mals are packed and ready to go,stored in a spare bedroom of aNavy family’s home, and they’repreparing to move, so we need
to get them out.”The last challenge remained
in raising the money to pay forpostage to mail the bears to Iraq.Although toys and books are nolonger being collected, dona-tions in the form of monetaryassistance for postage are beingaccepted.
“We have 50 big boxespacked up and ready to go andproject to have 20 more,” Foxsaid. “I thought we’d only get500 bears!”
A local news station ran thestory about the bears’ collec-tions, and a Korean and VietnamWar veteran was so moved bythe story, he offered to pay thetotal postage cost.
“A gentleman watching thestory was so moved by C.J. say-ing that his dad is in Iraq, yet heis here boxing up bears to sendto Iraqi kids, he called the stationand offered to pay for all of ourpostage,” Fox said. “He sent me acheck for $1,200, yet wishes toremain anonymous.”
The children plan to send thetoys to 2nd Battalion, 3rdMarine Regiment, as well as tothe U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers, who are providingreconstruction and humanitari-
an efforts throughout the coun-try, Fox said.
The books, on the otherhand, are easier brought to thosewho need them, as they are slat-ed to be dropped off at the Reachout and Read program by the“Books and Bears” organizers.
“We get to help out the com-munity in Iraq and kids inHawaii,” said Jessica Nelson, 15.“It’s good to do community serv-ice projects to help serve yourcommunity.”
The children want to contin-ue doing the project for commu-nity service because everyoneliked being involved in it, saidC.J. Nelson, 12.
“We would keep the projectgoing if we had money for ship-ping,” Fox said. “It would begreat if we could make it a con-tinuing project for the troops.There’s really a need for it overthere. We also got a chance tobless the children here inHawaii. We wanted to do some-thing that would help kids local-ly in Iraq.”
For more information on the“Books and Bears” project, or tomake a donation, visithttp://www.orgsites.com/hi/zeta-deltahonor.
HAWAII MARINE APRIL 11, 2008 • A-5
Lance Cpl. Brian A. Marion
Third Marine Regiment hosted its 3rd Marine Regiment Key Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon at the Officers’ Club here April 3. Thirty-oneof the 96 Key Volunteers attended the luncheon. The Key Volunteers help communicate between the regiment and the families, as well ashelp coordinate family days, Jayne Wayne days and banner making events.
Holt, a key volunteer. “TheMarine Corps is a lifestyle, notjust a job, and we have to bethere to give our support.”
The Key Volunteers also helpcoordinate Jayne Wayne days,banner-making events and fami-ly days, Hanlon said.
“There’s nothing we can doto replace the void you, by vol-unteering your time, efforts,energy and creativity, can fill,”White said. “Within a 12-monthtimespan, there’s a lot of com-mitment that goes into makingsure we maintain our cohesionand our ability to answer the callwhen the Marine Corps asks usto deploy to combat. That’s thevoid you all are helping to fill.”
Within the last month theCommandant of the MarineCorps funded battalion levelcivilian family readiness officers.
“We have a commandant,Gen. [James T.] Conway, who
recognizes the valuable role vol-unteers play in sustaining us inthis long war,” White said. “ I amthankful for your service thispast year, and I hope you contin-ue to have the capacity and thedesire to volunteer next year.”
Along with the luncheon, thevolunteers received a woodenkoa platter and a certificate fromthe Regiment to help show itsappreciation to the volunteers.
“I don’t think we can say it somuch that it becomes meaning-less, but you’re volunteers, andyou don’t have to do what youdo,” said Maj. Gen. RobertNeller, commanding general,3rd Marine Division. “You choseto step up and volunteer. You arefamily readiness professionals inyou own right. This is a team.We wouldn’t have been able todo what we did without yoursupport for the deployment. Youknow what you did. You knowwho you helped. For that, Ithank you.”
squadron), Marine Air Control Squadron 4(Air Traffic controllers) and Korean languageinterpreters.
Exercises Freedom Banner and Foal Eagleare part of a series of major Combined ForcesCommand Korea annual exercises that pro-vide a cornerstone of stability on the KoreanPeninsula. Each exercise provides a visible,stable platform for annual training in keyoperations, which showcase US/ROK allianceresolve, as well as CFCK combat capability.
The ROK Marines don’t normally operateas a Marine Air Ground Task Force becausethe ROKMC doesn’t possess helicopter forcesof its own and doesn’t regularly train to con-duct heliborne assault operations. The battal-ion heliborne assault conducted last weekwas both a critical and culminating jointtraining objective. This heliborne assault con-sisted of a division of four CH-53D helicop-ters, led by Lt. Col. Frank E. Wendling, com-manding officer, HMH-463.
Pegasus transported the 33rd Bn., 1stROKMARDIV from NAS Pohang toLanding Zone Ka Chi (named after theRepublic of Korea’s national bird) located
northwest of NAS Pohang.The battalion was inserted over four waves.
“Pegasus” lifted ROK Marines fromCompanies 9, 10, 11, and Weapons Companyhauling 60mm and 81mm mortars. The liftwas flawlessly executed from brief throughexecution, displaying the capacity and poten-tial effectiveness of combined operations onthe Korean peninsula. The “Pegasus” mainte-nance department laid the groundwork forthe success of this mission. The squadron’smaintenance Marines ensured seven aircraftwere able to self deploy to, and from theKorean Peninsula from Okinawa, Japan, anover-water distance of over 700 nauticalmiles. The movement showcased the CH-53D’s ability to successfully perform, long-range air assault expeditionary operations.
The operational experience gained byboth HMH-463 and the 1st ROKMARDIV willpay future dividends as Marine Corps unitscontinues to train and operate in a combinedenvironment with ROK forces, maintainingthe strength and resolve of the US-ROKalliance. Members of HMH-463 look forwardto conducting assault support operationswith our allies in the Republic of Korea dur-ing future exercises.
PEGASUS, from A-1
DRIVE, from A-1
HONOR, from A-1
times we are in,” Bowes said. “There’s simply noway we could provide the support families need byourselves, without the commitment of our volun-teers.”
Bowes described the far-reaching efforts she saidare particularly important here, because there’s noway to hop into the family car and drive home, andairline tickets home cost hundreds of dollars.
“There’s a sense of isolation for many of them,”said Bowes, a Navy wife herself who understandsthe challenges deployments bring. “When you’rehere in Hawaii and your family is Montana, it’s notlike you can get on a plane and go to Montana.”
The isolation can be particularly difficult foryounger spouses experiencing their first deploy-ment, she said. The average Marine here is 19 to 20years old, and about 25 percent of the base popula-tion is married.
Even spouses able to pick up and fly home dur-ing the deployment can run into a quandary,explained Cheryl Roy, the base’s readiness anddeployment support trainer and wife of a 30-yearMarine who recently retired. If they leave their basehousing for more than 90 days, they’re required togive it up to the next person in line for housing and
to get back on the waiting list when they return. Their medical benefits can transfer with them,
but change because the family is moving from abase outside the continental United States to onewithin CONUS. And if they have pets, they have toconsider the quarantine requirements on theirreturn to Hawaii, Roy said. “It’s not an easy move;even if they decide to do that, it has challenges, aswell,” Bowes said.
These factors, she said, make a solid family sup-port network especially important.
Spouses often seek out the Family Team Buildingstaff to help them deal with a particular problems,but get something far more important, Roy said. “Ithink what they’re looking for and what we’re try-ing to give them are possibly two different things,”she said, “because they come looking for services,and we want to teach them how to take care ofthemselves. And if you look at each one of our pro-grams, you’ll see that the commonality is in teach-ing them and educating them in different ways todo just that.”
Training programs are offered on base andonline, and they run the gamut from courses thatpromote personal development such as communi-cation skills and financial awareness to those thatdevelop career skills.
“Our focus is on empowering them. We’re build-ing resiliency,” Bowes said. “It’s always going to beup and down. It’s just the nature of being in a mili-tary family. … There are constant changes to ourlifestyle,” she said. “And so because of that, what wewant to build is resiliency so they can acceptchange, transition from one thing to the next, andnever skip a beat. … We want to help build resilien-cy so they can get through those challenges.
The LINKS program -- better known by itsacronym than its full name: Lifestyle Insights,Networking, Knowledge and Skills program -- is avital part of this effort, Bowes said. She describedLINKS as “Marine Corps 101,” a program thatteaches families about the Marine Corps and its tra-ditions. This, she said, helps build pride amongfamily members and helps them better understandthe culture they live in and how it operates.
LINKS also covers topics ranging from how toread a leave and earnings statement, to what servic-es are provided on base and where to go for them,to an overview of Hawaiian culture and language.
The base’s programs also help families under-stand the family dynamics that take place before,during and after a deployment. Roy pointed to aseven-stage emotional cycle that begins up to sixweeks before the Marine’s departure and continues
up to 12 weeks after the homecoming -- each stageinvolving emotional ups and downs for the family.
“We want to teach them about the emotionalcycles of deployment, so they understand and areprepared for the emotional roller coaster,” she said.The Family Team Building program’s offerings spanthe full deployment cycle, from pre-deploymentbriefings to prepare families for what’s ahead to sup-port groups during the deployment to a warriortransition briefing that helps redeploying Marinestransition back to their roles at home.
To help families reach out to each other and givethem a little fun during the deployment the basealso sponsors an active Operation Homefront pro-gram, said Louise Yeager, Marine Corps communityservices area coordinator. Each month, the programoffers a free event for families of deployed Marinesand sailors: a bowling day, pool party, picnic, or visitto the local Tiki Island amusement park.
“The families really look forward to theseevents,” Yeager said. “It’s a chance for them to havefun, but also to get together with the other familymembers for sharing and support.”
As the Marine Corps Family Team Building pro-gram helps families, it’s also helping improve theMarines’ readiness for their deployments, Bowessaid.
SUPPORT, from A-1
Cpl. Erik VillagranMulti National Force - West
HIT, Iraq — Lance Cpl.Edwin S. Contreras, anassaultman with Company I,3rd Battalion, 4th MarineRegiment, Regimental CombatTeam 5, knows the best way tolet the Iraqi people know thatMarines are here to help isthrough the children.
Marines with Company Iconducted a security patrolMarch 29 through the city ofHit, Iraq, to ensure all is run-ning smoothly in the city.
“The purpose of the patrolwas to provide security for thepeople and to build rapportwith them,” said Lance Cpl.Brandon M. Barnes, a teamleader with Company I andnative of Fairbanks, Alaska.“We’re still looking for suspi-cious things or anything wecan do to hinder insurgentactivity.”
As Marines walked throughthe city they handed outtreats to kids who approachedthe patrols. Although some ofthe kids seemed timid at first,once they saw the candy theirfears disappeared. Marines feltthat making the extra effortfor the kids would demon-strate the good Marines aredoing.
“Giving out candy is goodfor our rapport with the peo-ple,” said Contreras, a nativeof Pico Rivera, Calif. “We winover the hearts of the kids, theparents see that and we winthe people over.”
Barnes understands theimportance of making thekids happy, but to keep kidsfrom disrupting his patrol hehad to tell them through aninterpreter to keep their dis-tance.
“We don’t always bringcandy out because when wedo they like to swarm ourpatrols,” Barnes said. “We
only do it now and then sothey know we’re trying tohelp.”
When Marines stopped athouses to speak with residentsof the neighborhood, the kidsfollowed and watchedMarines post security.
“We got to sit down withsome people and talk aboutsome interesting stuff,” Barnessaid. “We try to put a face tothe Marines so they knowwe’re human too.”
Marines asked questionsthrough an interpreter andspent the majority of the timelistening to what the peoplehad to say. They receivedinsight on how the communi-ty feels about the IraqProvisional Security Force,Iraqi Police and Marines.
Marines left the last houseon their patrol feeling goodabout how their patrol went.
“The patrol went smooth,”Contreras said. “We got to talkto a lot of people. Most of ourpatrols are about building rap-port with the people. Weaccomplished our mission outthere.”
A-6 • APRIL 11, 2008 HAWAII MARINE
AROUND THE CORPSMarines bring smiles to Iraqi children
Cpl. Erik Villagran
Lance Cpl. Austin L. Barnhill, a rifleman from Riverside, Calif., assigned to 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team5, hands an Iraqi girl candy March 29 in Hit, Iraq. Marines with Company I handed out candy to Iraqi children while conducting a securi-ty patrol through the city and spoke with Iraqi locals about their thoughts on the Iraqi Provisional Security Force, Iraqi Police and Marines.
LL I F E S T Y L E SI F E S T Y L E SMM A R I N EA R I N E
HAWAII MARINE B SECTION WWW.MCBH.USMC.MIL APRIL 11, 2008
Hawaii
Hawaii’s nautical history unfolds hereLance Cpl. Regina A. RuisiCombat Correspondent
There is only one destination in Hawaiithat promises whale bones, a cruise ship anda flying cow all under one roof: the HawaiiMaritime Center.
Located on Pier 7 on the beautiful and his-toric Honolulu Harbor, the museum is opento the public seven days a week, and offersvarious exhibits, interactive, video and staticdisplay for visitors to enjoy.
“This museum has the history of maritimeHawaii from the time the Polynesians cameup to Capt. Cook, the Russians, French,British and Americans, and cruise ships,” saidKevin Williams, docent, Hawaii MaritimeCenter. “There’s a skeletal Humpback whaleand even flying cows, although they lookskeptical.”
An audio-guided tour of the museum takesvisitors through Hawaii’s nautical history,from the discovery of Hawaii to modern
research vessels examining specimens fromPacific areas. Exhibits about the explorationand death of Capt. Cook, the history ofHonolulu Harbor, life on a ship and hundredsof ancient artifacts make the walk around thesmall museum visually appealing and intellec-tually stimulating.
For the younger visitors, hands-on displayslike knot tying, conducting “research” aboardthe S.S. Malama, a Hawaiian research vessel,and walking on the deck of a speed boat areentertaining, and adults can take their time tolearn about Hawaii’s maritime past.
“It’s the first time my sons are here,” saidDarren Martinez, Honolulu resident, who vis-ited the museum Sunday with his two sons.“I’ve been here once before. They like thehands on exhibits and the videos.”
A quick step outside and visitors are staringup at the “Falls of Clyde,” the world’s soulsurviving four-masted, full-rigging ship. Theship itself can no longer be toured, as it isbeing renovated, but visitors can see the ship
and artifacts found aboard it in the museum.The ship was built in 1878, and served Hawaiias a trading ship. It was made a NationalHistoric Landmark in 1989, and is anchoredbeside the museum, viewable to the public.The ship’s renovations, however, may ceaseand the historic ship may be sunk if renova-tion funds aren’t raised for the ship’s preser-vation.
Environmental exhibits show the impact ofhumans on the island of Oahu, and theimportance of the ocean to Oahu’s ecosystem.In the whaling exhibit, visitors see the impactof whaling on the Hawaiian people and evenget to see a Humpback whale skeleton, called“Lei Iwi,” Hawaiian for Lei of CherishedBones. Exhibits of Hawaii’s first cruise ship,the S.S. Lurline, and surfing show the effectmodern society has played on the seas ofHawaii.
“Up to 90 percent of what we consume onOahu is brought through Honolulu Harbor,”Williams said.
The impact of the harbor during the indus-trial revolution is displayed through an exhib-it featuring the promised “flying cow,” astuffed, life-sized cow hoisted by harnesses asif being lowered onto a ship deck.
From a Polynesian canoe to seaplanes, dif-ferent kinds of boats used in Hawaii’s historycan be found in the museum, and offer thevisitor a sense of development, showing howfar Hawaii, particularly Honolulu Harbor, hascome in its existence.
The museum is part of the Bishop Museumin Honolulu, and is open daily from 8:30 a.m.until 5 p.m. An admission fee of $8.50 foradults, and $5.50 for children three through12 is required (children under three are free),but there are military and military child dis-counts available. Audio tours are available inEnglish, as well as Japanese and Korean.
For more information about the HawaiiMaritime Center call 523–6151, or visit theirWeb site at http://www.bishopmuseum.org/exhibits/ hmc/hmc.html.
Photos by Lance Cpl. Regina A. Ruisi
The Hawaii Maritime Center is located on Pier 7 at Honolulu Harbor and is open daily for visitors to take a walk through Hawaii’s maritime history. The museum features displays covering maritime history fromthe landing of Polynesian canoes to the modern boats of today and is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Military discounts are available.
Lance Cpl. Kristopher Baran, cannoneer, Charlie Battery, 1stBattalion, 12th Marine Regiment, looks at hooks made of fish bonesat the Hawaii Maritime Center.
Lance Cpl. Ryan Noel, forward observer, Charlie Battery, 1stBattalion, 12th Marine Regiment, practices tying knots in an interac-tive exhibit at the Hawaii Maritime Center Sunday.
The whaling general store, part of the Kohala Lele exhibit, givesHawaii Maritime Center visitors a taste of what products whalersbought during Hawaii’s whaling period.
Imagine a game where youdon’t have to point out the“amazing” and next generationfeatures to yourself. A game youdon’t play with a voice in yourhead reiterating how awesomethe game is, fighting off badwaves of buyer’s remorse untilyou finally admit that mostgames are the same formula witha different cover or story.
Those games come along everyso often, setting new standardsand reminding us of how amaz-ing and interactively entertainingvideo games could be. That gameright now, for me, is the PC ex-clusive release, “Crysis.”
If every other game wasn’t rap-idly diminishing in interestbefore, I don’t want to ad-mit how much Iwonder why I ownedany other games afterthis “born again,” in-flicting game.
While “Crysis”does in a sense fol-low a formula that’sbeen used before;standard weaponry,saving the world,killing enemies and then some-how finding yourself fighting aninvading swarm of aliens withHitler-like intentions, it’s thestructure and assembly of thegame that leaves me at a loss forwords.
Set in the near future, you playas an elite specialforces characternamed Nomad,and given the fu-ture timeline, he’sequipped with a“Nano” suit thatallows different“modes” to be se-lected at the costof an energy bar.The bar depleteswith the use of en-hanced powerslike, nearly invisi-ble camouflage,extra strength –
Christine CabaloPhotojournalist
Music fans fueled by slick gui-tar riffs will want to speed intostores to buy R.E.M.’s newest al-bum, “Accelerate.”
The band’s signature vocal har-monies and synchronized guitarcombinations are in full force intheir 14th studio record. The al-bum’s rapid pace is thrilling —even for R.E.M. fans feeling likethe band missed the beat sincedrummer Bill Berry left.
Returning to their previouslysuccessful approach, the bandperformed their initial materialduring live concerts before refin-ing their finale version. The resultis a high-energy album, with afew slower songs to round out itssound.
Bonus tracks are available forthose who buy digital copies of“Accelerate” available for down-load from places such asiTunes or Amazon MP3.
The album’s songs aremostly dynamic rocktunes powered withchords from bassist MikeMills and guitarist Pe-ter Buck. Mills and leadvocalist Michael Stipesing strong accompa-nying harmonies thatelevate “Accelerate”from being just anotherrock album. Stipe’slyrics reflect a frustration over po-litical pundits, using enigmaticand emotive words for listenerswithout being overtly blunt.
Kicking off with swift speedysongs like “Living Well is the BestRevenge” and “Supernatural Su-perserious,” R.E.M. sets the stagefor a rousing record. The bandshows they can be thoughtful yetcatchy, with “Man-sized Wreath.”Its chorus is an instantly memo-rable piece of music with lyricsdemanding more sincerity frompoliticians. The lyrics to the al-bum’s single “Accelerate” bringout vivid imagery for the need tofind solutions, singing: “Where isthe ripcord, the trap door, thekey?”
Whether or not you agree withStipe’s personal politics, he emitsan infectious feeling of gainingpower from making your own de-cisions.
The message is especially pres-ent in “Horse To Water,” and
Stipe sings it with an air of rockdefiance. The song’s refrain issimple yet haunting, "I'm notthat easy, I'm not your horse towater."
Slow and moderate-pacedsongs on “Accelerate” are just im-pressive with lingering melodies.There’s a quiet angst in tracks like“Until the Day Is Done” and“Houston.” Stipe even refers backto previous albums in “Sing forthe Submarine,” and it’s a signthe band can reinterpret their sig-nature sound into new ways formusic lovers.
Fans who bought the albumthrough Internet download alsohave several bonus tracks. Theband includes some live perform-ances of songs from “Accelerate”in addition to two exclusive In-ternet tracks: “Redhead Walking”and “Airliner.” The live perform-ances are straight interpretations,and fans may have preferred tohear other arrangements of thesongs.
The two Internet tracks are def-initely worth the download.
“Redhead Walking” is acover from ‘80s indie rockgroup, Beat Happening.
Fans of the original songwill like R.E.M.’s rendi-tion, which balancespaying respect to thebebop source materialand finding a newhard rock edge. “Air-liner” is an instrumen-tal piece showcasing
lighting-fast guitarwork in a ‘50s surf mu-
sic piece. Clocking in at a littlemore than 30 minutes, fans canextend the experience and buythe band’s Internet bonus tracksor any of their recent live per-formances.
The slight disappointment formore variation in their live bonustracks is a minor quibble. Theband more than makes up for itwith a solid al-bum and its twoother exclusiveInternet tracks.With its fast edge,“Accelerate” indi-cates R.E.M. fanswill continue tobe shinny, happypeople who liketo rock.
To learn moreabout “Acceler-ate,” log on to thealbum’s Web siteat: http://www.remaccelerate.com/.
helping you with steadier aim,jumping or pounding enemies’heads in, courtesy of the old fash-ioned knuckles. While maybe notrealistic in a modern sense, its avideo game and its job is to im-merse you in another world,however likely or unlikely it is –and in that sense, it’s handsdown the reigning king.
This game has blown my mindin so many ways I don’t evenknow where to begin. Now, ashallow game with pretty visualsis going to be useless to me, butan amazing game built by deli-cately infusing gameplay andsuch aesthetic prowess, creating acinematically moving experience– leaving me catatonic, only re-sponding to Nomad, is likely asign of an award winner.
The way you move, shoot andembed yourself in levels is
unbelievable, findingyour own paththrough Vietnam-likejungles to sneak upon the enemy, anddepending on themode you select,either shoot, elimi-nate them execu-tioner style or entera Texan show-
down, and annihilatethem “Texas Ranger” style.
The physics, for example,make your heart race every timeyou hear an enemy grenade, orwhile you plow through lush jun-gles and out of nowhere see atank looking right at you, readyto greet you with a slug.
You’re right, that’s not an ex-ample of physics, but what hap-pens when the tank hits you, iswhen your jaw drops. The screengoes black for a second, like thegame shut down, suddenlyemerging with traces of blood,debris and confusion realisticallydistorted, with a “heart-pump-ing” moment of panic as you re-gain your equilibrium and thankthe heavens your not particledust. That right there, is the dif-ference from every other gameand “Crysis,” largely as a result of
B-2 • APRIL 11, 2008 HAWAII MARINE
TSANTARLIOTIS
CABALO
Lance Cpl. Achilles Tsantarliotiswouldn’t consider himself a gamer.He prefers the term “visually interactiveartist.” His interest in gaming beganwhen his parents bought him his firstconsole, a Nintendo EntertainmentSystem, and has continued since. He feels“A great game is one that immerses youin the action, one that has massivegrowth and endless options that let youplay at you own accord.”
Christine Cabalo first fell in lovewith music in grade school whenteachers said she could sing alongwith their music. “I'm still not sure ifI'm actually good at it, or if they justpraised me because I sang loud.” If shewere in a band, she believes she would be“cooler than I am now,” and would belyricist/lead tambourine player as well asproviding light percussive instrumenta-tion.
Better KnowA Critic
TALK
*
*[tôk stôreï] Hawaiian slang for an informal, lengthy conversation. Often used as a method to bond, or a good way to kill time.
STOR
Y
What should officialsdo to increase Marinerecruitment?
"'I think rewarding those who sign up wouldbe great. Maybe they can give more moneyto the recruits."
— Deedee Kaheaku
"I think they should increase base pay forthe [non-comissioned officers]. Bonuses are
nice, but the amount still gets taxed. Youdon't see too much of it after taxes, and anincrease in base pay would be more useful."
— Cpl. Jonathan Brown
“With more than 1,900 Marines onactive duty in February 2008, it'snever been a better time to be aWarrior. The Marine Corps sur-passed its retention and recruitinggoals by more than 37 percent,according to the Department ofDefense's statistics. To keep thenumbers going up, we asked ...
”I think recruiters justneed to get out moreand show the MarineCorps values to civil-ians.— Pfc. Joseph Robinson
Second Opinion
Into digital agewith R.E.M.
Your weekly guide to all aspects
of entertainmentWelcome to the Pass In Review, your num-
ber one source for cinema, music,videogame and book reviews. The Pass InReview crew consists of more than 10 critics,each with their own idea of what makes amovie, album, game or book great. So be sureto take advantage of the Better Know A Criticsection, which spotlights this week’s critics tobetter help you choose the critic with opinionsmost like your own. Using our breakthroughfour point scale system you can quickly deci-pher what is worth your time and what isn’t, orread the full review for an in-depth analysisand explanation of the rating. The rating sys-tem uses ammunition and range terminology,so if you’re not familiar, here’s a quick break-down of the ratings ...
1/4 — No Impact, No IdeaHorrendous. Among the worst of theworst in its genre. Dedicating time to thisis not only wasteful, but unforgivable.Avoid at all costs.
2/4 — High And To The RightMediocrity at its best. Lacks a few thingsthat might have made it really good. Adecent time waster, partake only if youhave nothing better to do.
3/4 — On TargetPraiseworthy. A great endeavor, notquite an instant classic but still veryentertaining. This is a sound invest-ment of your time.
4/4 — Confirmed KillGenius. In the top 10 percent of itsgenre. This is the stuff legends aremade of. Missing out on it would bea disservice to yourself.
So, there you have it and we hope you enjoyour weekly reviews. Don’t forget, The HawaiiMarine accepts submissions from its readers soif you consider yourself a film buff, music afi-cianado, gaming geek or bookworm feel free tosubmit your own reviews. Or, if you disagreewith a review published and want fellow read-ers to know the real scoop, send in a condensedreview and we’ll run it as a second opinion.
Any one who likes futuristic armor,aliens, and battles that blow
the mind away will likeCrytek's "Crysis." Set in the
future, a U.S. Special Forces unit issent to a remote island to investi-gate what happened to a scientific
team studying the island. Things take a turn for the worseas the unit loses one of its members to a gruesome, inhuman death.Suspecting there's more to the island than previously thought, theunit searches for a research team that's still on the island. Then
things get interesting. "Crysis" ranks up there with the "Halo"series in my books.
Editor’s note: A Day in the Life highlightsmilitary occupational specialties andDepartment of Defense jobs throughout theMarine Corps. This series gives appreciation tothe thousands of service members, DoDemployees and civilians who make MarineCorps Base Hawaii and installation of excel-lence.
Your son or daughter is having prob-lems at school; countless attemptsto resolve the problem have left you
unsatisfied. If only there was a third partyto help resolve the conflict. Fortunately,there is.
The school liaison officer.Amy Madsen’s job as the school liaison
officer is an occupation unique to the mil-itary world. It’s a job that requires under-standing and passion, for both the mili-tary side, and the school.
The school liaison officer is account-able for a spectrum of duties. Ensuring thebase commander the military personnel’schildren are in good hands, helping par-ents inbound to Marine Corps BaseHawaii, answer any questions or concernsabout the education provided, andresolving con-flicts betweenparents and theschool.
“I help keep theschool connected tothe command,”Madsen said. “I’llhelp resolve con-flicts that arisebetween the ‘mili-tary world’ and theschool. Parents arevery passionateabout their chil-dren’s educationand sometimes ittakes a lot ofpatience and under-standing to helpthem.”
The school liai-son officer helps
clarify some policies to parents who mightcome from a different type of educationalenvironment, said Annette Ostram, prin-cipal, Mokapu Elementary School.
“She’s very helpful,” Ostram said. “It’dbe much more difficult to get parentsinformation – she helps smooth every-thing out.”
The school liaison officer has been theturning point in some active duty familiesskeptical of taking orders to Hawaii,because of the misconceptions surround-ing the public schools here.
“I was ending my duty in Okinawa,”said Brian Nuss, security manager, MCBHawaii. “And I got the option of comingto Hawaii, but the more and more Iresearched into it, I became apprehensive.Education is very important to my family,and I wasn’t too happy about what I washearing. After a few weeks of correspon-ding with [Madsen] I wasn’t worried any-more. She was instrumental in takingorders here.”
Madsen, a prior Marine officer, hadtaken on the occupation as a reservist inAugust 2004. The billet was created sixmonths before in March, and wasn’tintended as a permanent duty, until it wasdecided to transition to a civilian held bil-let.
“They had turned the position into a
civilian billet as I was ending my reserveservice,” she said. “I had applied like manyothers, and they chose me to continue asthe [SLO] which I was happy to do.”
Madsen at the time had recently endednine years of service in the Marine Corpsas a captain, and even though she neverthought of pursuing a career in an educa-tion field, continued to provide the medi-ating services to active duty families andtheir children’s schools.
Madsen credits some of her ability tosuccessfully help both, concerned familiesand schools, to her prior service as an offi-cer and being able to relate to militaryfamilies, and as a mother.
“While I was an officer I did everythingfrom adjutant to aid-de-camp,” sheexplained. “And when I had first startedworking as the SLO I was taken aback,here I was working with a general andnow I was being screamed at by parents. Ididn’t understand how passionate theywere about their children. I took a look atwhat skills would be beneficial in this joband started working on them, understand-ing all sides of concern, helping find a res-olution between what parents and teach-ers might think is right for the kids, andsometimes just talking to the parents –their significant others are deployed andtheir just stressed out. You’d be surprised
how 10-minutes oftalking can helpthem alleviate theirissues.”
For a job that hasno real definition andendless expectations,Madsen said she han-dles everything differ-ently and will dowhatever she can tohelp.
“It’s really reward-ing,” Madsen said. “Ireally enjoy helpingpeople, and eventhough I’m not in theMarine Corps any-more – I still hold aspecial place in myheart for Marines,and I’ll continue tosupport them.”
Lance Cpl. Regina A. RuisiCombat Correspondent
Since 1965, the Marine Corps has effective-ly preserved its history through the MarineCorps Oral History Branch. The corps-wideprogram is conducted here by Capt. DianaMearns, the historical program officer, whodocuments the accounts of Hawaii’s servicemembers. The warriors’ stories are collectedorally and join the ranks of thousands ofMarines and Sailors who’ve come before them,dating back to the Vietnam War.
“Desert Diaries” tells the personal stories ofpride and loyalty, humor and sadness, and theglory and horror of America’s wars. The storiesare provided by the base historian, and arepublished to help share our warriors’ storieswith the public.
“... we knew that day we had savedthose soldiers and Marines’ lives by pro-viding close air support.”
From the time he can remember, Capt.David Schnick always wanted to be apilot. He grew up looking toward the
Wisconsin sky as a child, Schnick would seemilitary aircraft flying overhead and knewthat’s what he wanted to do.
“I joined the Marine Corps because Iwanted to fly,” he said.
After attending college in Wisconsin and
Marine Corps OfficerCandidates School, Schnickwent to Marine Corps AirStation Beaufort where hedeployed to Iraq in 2006. Hisunit was responsible for pro-viding air support for 3rdBattalion, 3rd MarineRegiment, who he would endup being part of a year later.
Now the air officer with3/3, Schnick deployed withthe battalion in July 2007,returning home to Hawaii inFebruary. There he and hisMarines provided close airsupport for the infantrymenon the ground.
Schnick’s job included looking forimprovised explosive device planters andthe IEDs themselves, and checked for areasof fire so he could provide close air sup-port.
“Something would happen at least oncea week in Ramadi, so we’d end up flyingover there a lot,” Schnick said.
One particularly gratifying eventSchnick remembers from his time in Iraqwas supporting an Army unit with commu-nications and close air support. The unitwas pinned down, taking enemy fire from20 insurgents, and couldn’t radio back totheir battalion commander to request to
fire back. Schnick and his Marines were fly-ing overhead and could receive radio trans-missions from the Army unity and provid-ed the link the soldiers needed to engagethe enemy.
“We were able to relay the request togive them the approval to fire and relayedit back to them,” Schnick said. “We weregiven authorization to fire, so we did.There were a number of Iraqi [killed inaction] left behind and their AK-47s. Thatwas a real positive experience for usbecause we were dealing with infantrymenwho were pinned down in a ditch, and weknew that day we had saved those soldiersand Marines’ lives by providing close air
support.”When Schnick and his Marines
weren’t flying three or four hourmissions, they were working on alAsad Air Base in their squadrons.
“We really didn’t have a lot ofhardships,” Schnick said of life onthe air base. “Once and a while theelectricity went out or they’d havetrouble trucking food down, but tobe completely honest, compared towhat was happening around usand what was happening to theinfantrymen, the grunts out in thefield, we were living in luxury.”
Monthly incoming rockets werethe only things the Marines wor-
ried about, and most times the rockets did-n’t make it close enough to do damage toanything but the flight line. Schnickremembers one specific day he was on dutywhen the base was rocketed by insurgents.
“A large bang went off outside and aMarine walked in, his eyes the size ofsaucers, and said, ‘Sir, we were just rocket-ed,’” Schnick said.
The attack hit near the Marines’ livingquarters and put holes in aircraft.
“In typical Marine fashion, the Marineswent over to look at the hole, and asthey’re looking into it, [explosive ordi-nance disposal] shows up and said it was anun-detonated rocket,” Schnick said.
Prices: Friday and Saturday 7:15 p.m., shows are $3 for adults and $1.50 for children. Sunday matinee is shown at 2p.m. Shows are $2 for adults and $1 for children. Evening showings on Sunday and Wednesday are at 6:30 p.m. and lateshows are shown Friday and Saturday at 9:45 p.m. Cost is $2 for adults and $1.50 for children.
For ticket pricing, the Base Theater Box Office defines an adult as a patron 12 and older and defines a child as a patronfrom 6 to 11. Children 5 and younger are admitted free of charge. Parents must purchase tickets for R-rated movies in personat the box office for children 16 and younger. Patrons must present their military identification card when purchasing tickets.
Call 254-7642 for recorded information.Sneak Preview Policy: One hour and 45 minutes prior to the movie, tickets will be issued to first priority patrons wait-
ing in line, then second and third priority patrons. In an effort to prevent piracy, the following security measures will be enforced on base for sneak preview screenings: bag
checks, confiscation of cameras or cell phones with picture taking capability (items will be returned after screening), magne-tometer wanding, audience scanning with night vision goggles during screening.
The Base Theater and film companies thank you in advance for your cooperation and hope you will enjoy the show. Forrecorded information, call the Base Theater at 254-7642.
Today at 7:15 p.m.Today at 9:45 p.m.Saturday at 7:15 p.m.Saturday at 9:45 p.m.Sunday at 2 p.m.Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.Friday at 7:15 p.m.Friday at 9:45 p.m.
“
”
A large bang went offinside and a Marinewalked in, his eyes the sizeof saucers, and said, ‘Sir,we were just rocketed.’
A Day in the Life
Hawaii Fi-Do helps Mokapustudents read to succeedChristine CabaloPhotojournalist
Students are learning new tricks from Hawaii Fi-Do ServiceDogs at Mokapu Elementary School.
Kindergarteners who meet their behavior standards earn spe-cial library reading time with the dogs each month. The read-ing program, which began for Mokapu students in December2007, may come to an end this quarter if the school has insuf-ficient funds.
“In order to get the reward, a student has to meet a goal theyset up during the week,” said Krista Nielsen, dean of students,Mokapu Elementary School. “They rate themselves, and if theyget enough positive marks they can spend time with the dogs.”
Nielsen said students are very honest about rating them-selves, and they’re eager to earn reading time with the servicedogs. Students pair up at the school library, spending a few min-utes reading books as they sit with a dog and its handler. BernieLeonard, kindergarten teacher, Mokapu Elementary School, saidit’s encouraged her students to improve their reading skills sothey can actively read to the dogs. The books they read duringthe sessions also feature dogs in action.
“It’s very calming to be with the service dogs,” Leonard said.“The students have more self-esteem afterward, and they learnto take care of animals. There’s also less hitting from each otheron the playground.”
The kindergarten teacher said the most aggressive children in
Christine Cabalo
Mokapu Elementary School kindergartners sit April 13 with servicedogs from Hawaii Fi-Do as part of their rewards program. Studentsheard and read stories featuring dogs as they sat with their four-legged friends.
See SUCCEED, B-5
Lance Cpl. Achilles Tsantarliotis
Amy Madsen, school liaison officer, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, gathers informationfor inbound parents. Madsen bridges the two communities, military and Hawaiianschools, to help answer any question and alleviate any conflicts.
B-4 • APRIL 11, 2008 HAWAII MARINE
ON BASEON BASE
A silent auction is underway at the Auto Skills Center, Building 3097,Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, for bids on the vehicles.
Bids will be taken by placing a sealed ballot in a box provided at the AutoSkills Center. Bidding will close at the close of business Sunday. The boxeswill be opened the day after closing, and those with the highest bids willbe notified.
her class are gentle with the service dogs, and students speakquietly even when they’re excited to see them. Class disciplinereferrals were down 90 percent last quarter, and no referrals havebeen given out this quarter.
Some children notice that a few of the service dogs arelabradoodles, hybrid dogs with genes from labrador retrievers
and poodles. Hawaii Fi-Do handlers also answer student ques-tions in addition to reading stories with them.
Corlyne Haitsuka, Hawaii Fi-Do handler and owner, said sheshows students how her golden retriever, Sunny, helps herremain mobile. Haitsuka has several joint disorders and otherillnesses that make doing daily tasks challenging.
“Without Sunny, I’d probably need to hire a nurse,” Haitsukasaid. “She’s trained to open doors, turn on lights and fetchthings for me. Sunny reminds me when I need to take medica-tion, and she’s quickly responded during emergencies like giv-ing me orange juice when my blood sugar was low.”
Susan Leuhrs, founder and executive director, Hawaii Fi-Do,said she and other handlers do similar reading sessions with thedogs at Schofield Barracks. Children are encouraged to come tothe library during the weekend to spend some time with theservice dogs.
Hawaii Fi-Do handlers visit schools with older children aswell, and the trainers show them how service dogs help their
handlers in public. Leuhrs said children and adults are surprised to see the dogs
doing so many tasks, even helping with the laundry. At Mokapu Elementary School, the Hawaii Fi-Do founder
gives a dog stamp to students after finishing their reading ses-sion. Students Paul Boston and Breanna Goodwin give Sunny akiss before they leave.
“It’s my first day here,” Goodwin said. “I have a dog namedLucky, and today I read a book about a dog named Lucky.”
Nielsen said school officials are working on finding fundingthrough grants or donations to keep the program going. Thedean of students also said she’s gotten requests from other class-es to participate in the program, and she would love to expandthe rewards program to others.
“Our focus is to reinforce positive behavior,” Nielsen said.“Rather than continually punish people for the negative. It’samazing to see how excited students get, and they love to cud-dle up with the dogs.”
Shaughn PettySpecial to the Hawaii Marine
April 22 marks the 38th anniversary ofEarth Day. In an effort to conserve the planet,the federal government has policies, regula-tions and laws are helping to clean the air,promote land conservation, improve waterquality and conserve energy.
There are things you can do to help saveour planet too.
On Oahu, 95 percent of the electricity isgenerated by burning fossil fuels (78 percentfrom oil and 17 percent from coal).
By reducing the amount of electricity weuse we reduce the consumption of these fossilfuels and in turn reduce the negative impacton the environment by lowering the amountof greenhouse gas emissions. There are manyways to decrease our use of electricity.
The biggest consumer of electricity amonghousehold appliances is your refrig-erator. It uses between 10 and 15percent of the electricity youuse each year.
Owning an energy effi-cient refrigerator canhelp as will keeping thetemperature between 37and 40 degrees.
Cleaning the condensercoil can improve the effi-ciency of your refrigeratorand reduce your annual energycosts by as much as $20. Letcooked foods cool to room temperaturebefore putting them in the fridge. Hot foodsand their containers will raise the tempera-ture in the fridge making it work harder.
The fuller you keep your freezer the lesscold air you lose when you open the door.
The other big energy users in your house-hold are your hot water heater, your washerand dryer and your dishwasher. Here are someideas to make these appliances more efficientand to save energy.
Either turn down the hot water heater to120 degrees or turn on the “energy conserva-tion” setting.
Some manufacturers set water heater ther-mostats at 140 degrees when most house-holds only require them at 115 to 120degrees.
For each 10 degrees reduction in water tem-perature you can save 3 to 5 percent in energycosts. Make sure your water heater and pipesare properly insulated. Install a timer on yourwater heater to turn off at night and on justbefore you wake in the morning.
Wait until you have a full load to run thedishwasher. Don’t pre-rinse the dishes; to-day’s detergents are strong enough to do thejob.
When possible, wash a few dishes by hand.In time that will save a few loads in the dish-washer, conserving energy.
Wash clothes in warm or cold water, nothot. Ninety percent of the energy used in op-erating a washing machine goes toward heat-ing the water that washes and rinses theclothes.
By reducing the temperature, you will cutenergy use and your clothes will be just asclean.
Front loading washers use 40-60percent less water and 30-50
percent less energy than typi-cal top loading washers.
Don’t over dry yourclothes or better yet,hang them out to dry.
Turn off lights whenno one is in the room,
dim lights when you canand let natural sunlight
into your home as much aspossible. Exchange old incan-
descent light bulbs for new EnergyStar compact fluorescent light bulbs.
Avoid using air conditioners as much aspossible. Ceiling fans use 80 percent less en-ergy than central air conditioners.
By only using ceiling fans, you can reduceyour annual cooling costs by 10-65 percent.
In warm weather run the fan blades in acounter-clockwise direction to feel 5 degreescooler.
During the winter set the fan blades to ro-tate clockwise at a low speed to force warm airfrom the ceiling down into the living space.
Earth Day is a time to celebrate the gainswe have made and to create new ways to ac-celerate energy conservation and environ-mental progress.
Earth Day and every day is a time to act toprotect our planet.
HAWAII MARINE APRIL 11, 2008 • B-5
the graphical power it boasts,because instead of just being hitand worried about how muchhealth you have, your juststunned, not even thinkingabout how to destroy the tank –just adrenaline pumping as youwonder, “Am I going to live?”
Unlike most shooters that layout a “path” that creates a con-trolled sense of freedom, andeven though you’re allowed tokill enemies however you like(how kind of the developers)you just follow the predeter-mined path like the yellowbrick road. Not in “Crysis.”
Its setup is best described as a“sandbox” map, completely al-lowing, and in most cases pro-moting, your own path based onhow you like to play. Toward theend of the game it starts becom-ing more restricted only becauseof the story that slowly unravels in agrim mountain, and sequentially,other space limited areas.
The whole time I was playingI never thought about how far Iwas in the game, or how closeto the end (when the self assur-ance was disappearing); whichis what I do in most games iron-ically enough, like a need tobeat a game I’m actually not en-joying just to claim my money’sworth. I was constantly tryingnew ways to kill enemies or try-ing different weapons, takingfull advantage of the environ-ment to defeat numericallyoverwhelming foes.
A negative of such visual as-tonishment and breakthrough –everything that sets the gameapart, is that it requires a pow-erful computer. The game alsofeatures a multiplayer option,which is the same visually stim-
ulating, reflex testing, eyecandy as single player, onlywith other people constantlytrying to outwit and destroyyou, providing endless replayvalue.
To accurately describe thisgame is far from easy. “What dophysics and beautifully, interac-tive environments do to agame?” It’s really somethingyou need to experience andwatch as each aspect of thegame magically pieces together.
For someone who’s incrediblyhard to impress, I’m dumb-founded – and I’m actually go-ing to see if it’s possible to“skate” out of work to go reeval-uate my description.
CRYSIS, from B-2
Kawehilani Bryant and her daughter, Keohoonalani, set up the Base Library's exhibit April 3. 'WilliamWordsworth and the Age of English Romanticism' exhibit shows biographical information on the poet andhis contemporaries, such as Percy Shelley. The Hawaii Council for the Humanities provides the BaseLibrary with 10 exhibits for library visitors to see during the year.
Wordsworth's mirth
Christine Cabalo
Observe Earth Day bytaking proper steps toconserve energy
SUCCEED, from B-3
Cpl. Ryan TomlinsonRegimental Combat Team 5
KOREAN VILLAGE, Iraq —Operation Iraqi Freedom hasmade for a safer and more sta-ble Iraq. That goal wasreached with hard work fromthe service members as well aswhat a group of people call,“Man’s best friend.”
Military working dogs withTask Force Military Police, 1stBattalion, 11th MarineRegiment, assisted Coalitionforces throughout OIF to pre-vent insurgent activity bylocating weapons caches andexplosive materials.
“These dogs use a keensense of smell,” said PettyOfficer 2nd Class Michael T.Williams, a kennel masterwith TFMP. “That sense (ofsmell) can locate weaponscaches to prevent futureattacks.”
The dog handlers with TFMPwork in Camp Korean Village,Iraq, in support of 2nd LightArmored ReconnaissanceBattalion, Regimental Combat
Team 5. The group is com-prised of members of the U.S.Army, Marines and Navy, andis ready to assist at a momentsnotice.
“We train the dogs con-stantly every week; if wearen’t on missions, we aretraining the dogs,” said PettyOfficer 2nd Class Eliot J.Tiashi, 25, a dog handler withTFMP from Daytona Beach,Fla. “By training them everyday, [the dogs] maintain theirefficiency.”
The dogs acquired their ini-tial training in Lackland AirForce Base, San Antonio.During the course, the K-9sare trained to locate varioustypes of explosives andweapons. The trainingadvances from lower levels tohigher by placing the dog indifferent environments wherethey have to locate specificitems.
Despite all of the trainingthe K-9s endure, the handlers
still care for them and playwith them like family dogs.
“The relationship is like afather and a son,” saidWilliams, a native ofCulleoka, Tenn. while walk-ing his German shepherd“Kitt.” “They make deploy-ments go by easier, becauseno matter what, you still haveyour friend there with you.”
The dog handlers withTFMP have conducted opera-tions since January and willbe detaching to I MarineExpeditionary Force (FWD).Despite the change of com-mand, the service memberswill conduct operations insupport of 2nd LAR Bn. aswell as any infantry or logis-tics battalion needing K-9assistance until the day theyreturn home.
“Every day the dogs aresaving lives,” said Williams.“Whether it’s that day or inthe future, it’s one less lifetaken.”
B-6 • APRIL 11, 2008 HAWAII MARINE
AROUND THE CORPSWorking dogs helpclear Anbar of danger
Cpl. Ryan Tomlinson
'Kitt,' U.S. Government working dog, searches for firearms and explosives in the Anbar province of IraqApril 1 with Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael T. Williams, a kennel master with Task Force Military Police,1st Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment. Prior to arriving in Iraq, the dogs are trained in San Antonio, toassist Coalition forces with searching for weapons caches.
SS P O RP O R T ST SHAWAII MARINE C SECTION WWW.MCBH.USMC.MIL APRIL 11, 2008
HawaiiMM A R I N EA R I N E
Warriors fight back,defeat Outlaws, 10-9Lance Cpl. Brian A. MarionCombat Correspondent
The Headquarters Battalion Warriors defeated theCombat Service Support Group 3 Outlaws 10-9, during anIntramural Baseball League double elimination playoffgame at Riseley Field here Monday.
The game came down to the bottom of the sixth inningwhen Bradley Rich, Warriors pitcher, struck out three bat-ters consecutively, keeping the Outlaws from tying or win-ning the game.
Both teams came into the game with no practice theweek before, but they didn’t let this slight hindrance keeptheir spirits down as they hit the field.
“We tried practicing this weekend, but other teams hadthe field, and we couldn’t find the time to practice,” saidBenjamin Chester, Outlaws coach and catcher. “We areactually looking forward to the game though. We are final-ly back to 100 percent accountability this game, and wehave the most powerful batting lineup in the series.”
The Warriors missed practice for a different reason com-pletely and their coach felt the key to victory would bethrough defensive.
“The guys didn’t want to practice during the weekend,and it’ll show during the game,” said Romeo Ibrao,Warriors coach. “Pitching will be the key to victory in thisgame.
The Warriors batted first, but were unable to score beforeturning the ball over to the Outlaws.
The Outlaws came out swinging in the first inning by
Kayak safelywith a planChristine CabaloPhotojournalist
Last month’s water sport-ing accidents on Kauaireminds kayakers to thinkbefore going into the water.
New kayakers in Hawaiireduce their risks of needingemergency rescue by plan-ning ahead. Mapping a safecourse requires assessingweather conditions and per-sonal skill level.
“Everyone should file afloat plan,” said Neil Morgan,manager, Base Marina. “Theplan should show whereyou’re going and when you’llbe there. Filing it with us andletting a loved one knowabout it helps in case some-thing happens.”
Kayakers who rent fromthe Base Marina, he said, set
up return times with staff. Ifrenters are late, staffers begina search before calling inemergency workers. Themanager said he’s never hadto mount a life or death res-cue, and so far any incidentswere luckily false alarms.
“The last big scare we hadwas during the Fourth ofJuly,” Morgan said. “We wereexpecting the renters back by4:30 p.m., and when theywere overdue we startedsearching. Eventually wefound them hanging out onKailua Beach because theystopped to watch the fire-works.”
Notifying others whenplans change is equallyimportant, he said. Beforesearch parties start a costly
Photos by Lance Cpl. Brian A. Marion
Todd Lawhon, catcher, Headquarters Battalion Warriors, finishes his slide home as Benjamin Chester, Combat Service Support Group 3Outlaws' coach and catcher looks for the ball during an Intramural Baseball League playoff game at Riseley Field here Monday.
Christine Cabalo
Sean Arthur, work associate, Base Marina (left) and Megan Corlin,recreation assistant, Base Marina return a rental kayak to its rack.Renters set up float plans which list a schedule of a kayaker's routeand final destination. If renters are late, staffers can use the plan tohelp in a potential rescue effort.
Lance Cpl. Alesha R. Guard
Players from Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 2 pose with the championship trophy, April 1, at the Semper Fit Center here. The team took home the IntramuralBasketball League Championship title after a 3 – 0 playoff record.
CPRW-2 takes home titleLance Cpl. Alesha R. GuardCombat Correspondent
Commander, Patrol andReconnaissance Wing 2 tookhome the Intramural BasketballLeague Championship title April1 at the Semper Fit Center here.
After a long season of mas-sacring the other league teamsand endless hours of practice,CPRW-2 earned the champi-onship title without a doubt.
“We played together lastseason and everyone knewthe primary goal was team-work,” said Andrew Washington,forward, CPRW-2. “We workedto stay in shape so we couldrun the other teams up anddown the floor. We pushedeach other to hustle the entiregame and never let up or giveup.”
Lawrence Ballentine, teamcaptain, CPRW-2, said it waseasy to get the team to pusheach other and play as a teambecause most are returningplayers. There were a few newfaces though, so they had to
James Newman, 15, center fielder, Headquarters Battalion Warriors,pitches the ball toward home plate during an Intramural BaseballLeague playoff game against the Combat Service Support Group 3Outlaws at Riseley Field here Monday.
Renters may use their kayaks in the Base Marina and inother low-surf areas near the base. Kayakers should to avoidPyramid Rock and high-surf beaches. Speak with lifeguardsabout weather conditions and off-limit areas. Paddlersshould also carry sunscreen, water, food, and a cell phone ortwo-way radio to communicate. Before heading out, safetyofficials suggest filing a float plan with loved ones or theBase Marina staff.
For more information about kayak rentals, call 524-7666.
Cool Kayaks
See TITLE, C-5
See FIGHT, C-2
See KAYAK, C-5
C-2 • APRIL 11, 2008 HAWAII MARINE
Reign of excellenceLance Cpl. Achilles TsantarliotisCombat Correspondent
Twelve-weeks of endless physical training, foreverdreading a drill instructor personally selecting you as thewinner of the bonus PT workout. Running until you feltlike your card was up, thinking, “is this how I die?”
Enter a drill instructors worst nightmare, or “complexchallenge,” a recruit who either isn’t correctly sweating, ormore likely, considers the PT a walk in the park.
Those Marines are the ones who snidely admit they leftrecruit training in worse condition then they entered,while some of their peers contemplated their deaths dur-ing PT, they, like a perverse “Oliver Twist,” wished the DI’sgave them more.
One of those Marines, responsible for making DI’sappear aerobically challenged, is Cpl. Heather Pine, sig-nals intelligence operator, 3rd Radio Battalion.
“I used to run cross country in high school,” Pine said.“But I didn’t take it that serious. I remember actually get-ting out of shape after boot camp, it wasn’t too demand-ing.”
For someone who seems relatively nonchalant and aloofabout her extracurricular activities before the MarineCorps, she still remains humble, but has risen from a smallbase “Fun Run” winner, to a member of the base team, andultimately to the highest level, the “All-Marine Team.”
“I had volunteered for those little runs they have onbase – like a ‘Fun Run,’” she explained. “Well, I didn’t real-ly volunteer for it, they made us compete in it, and Iended up winning. After the race someone had come up to
me about joining the base team, and I was on my way torunning again.”
Pine said she was glad she started again, and plans tocontinue running after the Marine Corps.
“I’m glad I did it,” she said. “I’ll run around seven toeight hours a week now, about 50 to 60 miles – it feelsgood. At first I enjoyed the competitiveness, now it’s real-ly relaxing, you’re just running on your own – it feels likenothing can bother you. You can’t really take a cell phonerunning,” she said laughing.
Pine recently won first place for women with a time of6:47:02, in the “Maui Run to the Sun” footrace, a whop-ping 36-miles.
“I didn’t really do anything special for that run,” shehumbly admits. “Maybe a 4-hour run a few weeks beforeit, but nothing much. It was a different kind of race forme. It was just about uphill the whole way. I did strugglea little at the end but …”
“Uphill” doesn’t do the race justice, said Joe Puleo, headcoach, Marine Corps All-Marine Running Team.
“About a year ago,” he said, “She was a recreational run-ner. She’s improved dramatically since then. I’ll vary hertraining routine based upon the goal race. For the [Maui]run, she was just running long runs, and for a runner likeher, she could normally complete 36 miles in about fourand a half hours. But parts of that run were unrunnable;the terrain was so steep she walked up parts of it. She start-ed at sea level and ran over 10,000 feet elevation, that’sridiculously difficult - it’s crazy.”
Puleo said her success is a combination of natural abili-ty and discipline to follow training schedules.
With obvious talent, it’s no surprise she has completesupport from her unit.
“We’re very proud of her,” said Staff Sgt. Wai Tam, head-quarters and service company gunnery sergeant, 3rd RadioBattalion. “She’s an inspiration to the Marines in the bat-talion, and she handles it very professionally. She’s a goodMarine at the same time.”
Lance Cpl. Achilles Tsantarliotis
Corporal Heather Pine, signals intelligence operator, 3rd RadioBattalion, stares along the base track as if it were child’s play. Pine,a long distance runner, is one of the five best female runners in theMarine Corps, and recently won the ‘Maui Run to the Sun’footrace,roughly equivalent to 148 laps around the track, if the track was acontinuous 10,000 foot climb.
‘Voluntold’ running sparks Marine’s interest
FIGHT, from C-1
driving in three runs fromEd Hans, 3rd baseman,Chester, and Juan Pena, leftfielder, bringing the score to3-0 in the bottom of thefirst.
The Warriors answeredthe Outlaw’s three run spreewhen James Newman, cen-ter fielder, crossed homeplate in the top of the sec-ond, keeping the Outlawsfrom shutting them out.
Unfortunately, the Warriorscouldn’t capitalize on theslight shift in momentumand allowed the Outlaws tobring Darian Velasquez, sec-ond baseman, Rey Cruz,shortstop, Matthew Stutton,catcher, and Steve Cappearthome, increasing their leadto 7-1.
“There’s a lot of ball leftin the game,” Ibrao said tohis team before the begin-ning of the third. “Keepyour heads in the game andfocus on your strike zone.Don’t let them pull you outof it.”
Both teams tried scoringin the third inning, buteach team’s defense steppedup, holding each otherscoreless.
The Warriors brought theheat in the top of thefourth. Eric McKay, short-stop, Robert Julien, leftfield, Eric Gamboa, pitcher,Kalani Mauga, third base-man, and Todd Lawhon,catcher, brought theWarriors five points closerto the Outlaws, making thescore 7-6 going into the bot-
tom of the fourth.The Warriors’ defense
almost kept the Outlawsfrom increasing their leadin the bottom of the fourth,but allowed Cappeart toscore, bringing the Outlawsone run closer to tying thegame.
The Warriors came intothe fifth inning in a flurryof activity, bringing NickRayburn, first baseman,
The Outlaws tried rally-ing in the bottom of thefifth, but the Warriors’defense stepped up andallowed only one run, mak-ing the score 10-9.
It all came down to the sixthinning. Due to time restraints,the sixth inning would be thelast inning of the game. Bothteams knew they had to keepthe other from scoring.
“This is it guys,” Ibraosaid. “We have to step it upand don’t let them score.”
The Outlaws’ defenseshut down the Warriors’offense in the top of thesixth, giving their offense achance to tie or win thegame.
Ibrao brought in Richfrom left field to pitch thelast inning.
“It all comes down topitching,” Ibrao said. “Ialways save Rich for last. I
want to keep the battersguessing, and he can reallythrow the ball.”
Rich brought the heat inthe bottom of the sixth,walking the first batter andstriking out the next three.
The Warriors won thegame, 10-9.
“The win wouldn’t havebeen possible without theother innings doing sowell,” Rich said. “This winfelt good because we didn’tplay too well during the
regular season, but tonight,we showed what type ofteam we can be.”
This was the Outlawsfirst loss and will continueto play in the double elimi-nation playoffs.
“I’m more disappointedabout the loss than any-thing,” Chester said. “Youknow what they say, ‘Everydog has its day.’ [TheWarriors] had their today.We’ll see them againthough.”
Photos by Lance Cpl. Brian A. Marion
The Warriors' infield and outfield hold one last huddle at second base in the bottom of the sixth to encourage each other during an Intramural Baseball League playoff gameagainst Combat Service Support Group 3 Outlaws at Riseley Field here Monday. The Warriors won the game, 10-9.
Todd Lawhon, catcher, Headquarters Battalion Warriors, swings at a pitch from Benjamin Chester, Combat Service Support Group 3Outlaws coach.
Bradley Rich, left fielder, Headquarters Battalion Warriors, gazestoward the pitching mound, waiting for a pitch.
HAWAII MARINE APRIL 11, 2008 • C-3
Beginner Outrigger Canoe Paddlers Wanted
Windward Kai Canoe Club in Kailua recently providedbeginner outrigger canoe paddling classes for Marines fromMarine Corps Base Hawaii.
Several Marines are now training for the summer racing sea-son. WKCC practices at Kailua Beach and welcomes activeduty and family members (18 and over) to participate in thisHawaiian sport and culture.
The club is especially seeking to field a beginner womens’crew to race this summer. No experience is necessary and alltraining and equipment are provided.
For more information, call Derrel at 383-0400 or Greg at255-9977.
Youth Soccer Registrations Begin
Registration for youth soccer leagues offered by the Officeof Youth Activities will be held now through April 31. Theleagues are open for base youth ages 5-17. Games will beplayed on weekends on base as well as interplay with PearlHarbor and Hickam teams in the Hawaii Military YouthAthletic Association. Each team will receive a minimum ofeight games.
Practices are slated to begin June 2. Games start June 28 andcontinue through August 15. Players will get a team jersey,shorts, and socks which they can keep at the end of the year.Volunteer coaches are needed. Coaches will receive a discountif they have a child in the league.
The cost for the league is $65. Players must also be currentChildren Youth Teen Program members. To register, come bythe Youth Activities Office located in building 1090, behindPapa John’s Pizza and the Annex.
For more information, contact Youth Activities at 254-7610.
Women’s Base Softball Team
The women’s base softball team is looking for players.Anyone interested can attend their practice every Thursdayfrom 6 to 8 p.m., at the Annex Softball field.
For more information, contact Meghan Brophy at254-7590.
All-Marine Women’s Softball
The All-Marine Women’s Softball coach will be here fromApril 29 through May 5. He’ll be looking for players for the AllMarine team.
For more information, contact Meghan Brophy at254-7590.
Goju-Kan Karate
Aspiring martial artists can participate in Goju-kan KarateMonday, Wednesday and Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Building1090’s multi-purpose room (the old Base Chapel).
For more information or to sign up at Youth Activities, call254-7610.
Youth Gymnastics/Dance Class
Youth of all ages can attend gymnastics and a variety ofdance classes Monday through Saturday at Building 1090.Classes are at varying times in the morning, afternoon andevening, so interested parents and youth should stop by YouthActivities for more information. Classes include dance, hula,tumbling and more.
For more information, call 254-7610.
Parents for Fitness
The Parents for Fitness Program is a cooperative babysittingeffort available at the Semper Fit Center, here for all active dutyservice members and their families. The PFFP participants arerequired to volunteer babysit three times per month and isopen for children 6 weeks and older.
For more information, call 664-0184.
Deep-Sea Fishing Charters Offered at Base Marina
Fishermen searching for convenient access to deep-sea char-ters need look no further than the Base Marina. Bill CollectorFishing Charters offers numerous charter packages accommo-dating up to six passengers.
Avoiding the traffic and crowd of Oahu’s South Shore, BillCollectors charters fish from the uncrowded waters ofWindward Oahu.
For more information or to charter the Bill Collector, con-tact the Base Marina at 257-7667 or 254-7666.
Campground and Picnic Sites
For picnic and campsites, Marine Corps Base Hawaii offerssome of the most scenic beaches on the island.
Three of those beaches, Pyramid Rock, Hale Koa and FortHase, are available by reservation from dawn to dusk. Hale KoaBeach is available for overnight camping, but requires a reser-vation.
For more information, contact 254-7666 for Kaneohe or477-5143 for Camp H.M. Smith.
Paintball Hawaii
Nestled behind the Lemon Lot stands Paintball Hawaii.Shoot over for great deals and have a blast with your friends.
Cost is $25 per person and includes one air refill, equip-ment and the field fee. The field is open weekends from 9 a.m.to 5 p.m.
For more information or to schedule an appointment, call265-4283.
ON SPORTSON SPORTSSPORTSPORTS B BRIEFSRIEFS 2008 Intramural Baseball Playoffs
Lessons learned
Lance Cpl. Alesha R. Guard
Megan O'Connell volleys the ball during tennis lessons at the base tennis courts April 3. ‘Its never too late to learn,’ O'Connell saidwith a laugh. O'Connell takes weekly lessons with Barbara Sniezek, right, and JoAnn McKinnon from Carolyn Thibault, tennis intstruc-tor, 808 Tennis Academy. Group and individual classes are availible for both children and adults. Call Carolyn Thibault for more infor-mation at 254-4018.
3RD RADIO BN3RD RADIO BN
9-Apr 6:30 p.m.Gm 4
CPRW-23-Apr 6:30 p.m.
Gm 1 CPRW-2 15-Apr 6:30 p.m.CMO Gm 7
CSSG-37-Apr 6:30 p.m. HQBN
Gm 2HQBN 10-Apr 6:30 p.m. Best two out of three games Gm 12
Gm 5 April 23. 24 & 28 if needed Gm 13MAG-24 all games start at 6:30 30 PM Gm 14
8-Apr 6:30 p.m.Gm 3 MAG-24
ONE TWELVE Loser Gm #7Loser Gm #6#5
16-Apr 6:30 p.m. 22-Apr 6:30 p.m.Gm 8 Gm 11
CMO Loser Gm #1 Gm 1021-Apr 6:30 p.m.
Loser Gm #4CSSG-3 Loser Gm #2 17-Apr 6:30 p.m.
14-Apr 6:30 p.m. Gm 9 Gm 6
ONE / TWELVE Loser Gm #3
Cover the world in paint!
Aim for a fun time with friends! OpenSaturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information, call 265-4283
Cover the world in paint!
Aim for a fun time with friends! OpenSaturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information, call 265-4283
Cover the world in paint!
Aim for a fun time with friends! OpenSaturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information, call 265-4283
Need a flexibleworkout?
Sign up for Semper Fit’s PiYO class! Each sessionfuses Yoga and Pilates exercises for a well-balancedfitness regimen. Classes are Tuesdays and Thursdaysfrom 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
For more information, call 254-7597.
C-4 • APRIL 11, 2008 HAWAII MARINE
HEALTH AND WELLNESS
A closer look at living, coping with autismNews ReleaseLIFELines
When Stacey went over to hernew friend Chelsea's house, she metChelsea's 4-year-old brother, Shawn."Hi," said Stacey, smiling. Shawnglanced at her and said nothing.Then he turned back to a toy he washolding. Later, in Chelsea's room,Stacey said, "I don't think yourbrother likes me."
"It's not your fault," explainedChelsea. "Shawn has autism."
Stacey wanted to know whatautism meant, what causes it, whatit's like to have autism, and more.Let's find out.
What Does Autism Mean?Autism causes kids to experience
the world differently from the waymost other kids do. It's hard for kidswith autism to talk with other peo-ple and express themselves usingwords. Kids who have autism usual-ly keep to themselves and manycan't communicate without specialhelp.
They also may react to what'sgoing on around them in unusual ways. Normalsounds may really bother someone with autism— so much so that the person covers his or herears. Being touched, even in a gentle way, mayfeel uncomfortable.
Kids with autism often can't make connec-tions that other kids make easily. For example,when someone smiles, you know the smiling per-son is happy or being friendly. But a kid withautism may have trouble connecting that smilewith the person's happy feelings.
A kid who has autism also has trouble linkingwords to their meanings. Imagine trying tounderstand what your mom is saying if you did-n't know what her words really mean. It is doublyfrustrating then if a kid can't come up with theright words to express his or her own thoughts.
Autism causes kids to act in unusual ways.They might flap their hands, say certain wordsover and over, have temper tantrums, or playonly with one particular toy. Most kids withautism don't like changes in routines. They like tostay on a schedule that is always the same. Theyalso may insist that their toys or other objects bearranged a certain way and get upset if theseitems are moved or disturbed.
If someone has autism, his or her brain has
trouble with an important job: making sense ofthe world. Every day, your brain interprets thesights, sounds, smells, and other sensations thatyou experience. If your brain couldn't help youunderstand these things, you would have troublefunctioning, talking, going to school, and doingother everyday stuff. Kids can be mildly affectedby autism, so that they only have a little troublein life, or they can be very affected, so that theyneed a lot of help.
What Causes Autism?Autism affects about 1 in every 150 kids, but
no one knows what causes it. Some scientiststhink that some kids might be more likely to getautism because it or similar disorders run in theirfamilies. Knowing the exact cause of autism ishard because the human brain is very complicat-ed.
The brain contains over 100 billion nerve cellscalled neurons. Each neuron may have hundredsor thousands of connections that carry messagesto other nerve cells in the brain and body. Theconnections and the chemical messengers theysend let the neurons that help you see, feel,move, remember, and work together as theyshould.
For some reason, some of the cells and con-nections in the brain of a kid with autism — espe-cially those that affect communication, emo-tions, and senses — don't develop properly or getdamaged. Scientists are still trying to understandhow and why this happens.
What Do Doctors Do?Figuring out if a kid has autism can be diffi-
cult. A parent is usually the first to suspect thatsomething is wrong. Maybe the kid is old enoughto speak but doesn't, doesn't seem interested inpeople, or behaves in other unusual ways. Butautism isn't the only problem that can causethese kinds of symptoms. For example, kids whohave hearing problems might have trouble speak-ing, too.
Usually, the results of lab tests and other med-ical tests are normal in kids with autism, but doc-tors may do them to make sure the kid doesn'thave other problems. These medical tests caninclude blood and urine tests, a hearing exam, anEEG, and an MRI. Intelligence (IQ) tests alsomight be done.
Often, specialists work together as a team tofigure out what is wrong. The team might includea pediatrician, a pediatric neurologist, a pediatric
developmentalist, a child psychia-trist, a child psychologist, speechand language therapists, and others.The team members study how thechild plays, learns, communicates,and behaves. The team listens care-fully to what parents have noticed,too. Using the information they'vegathered, doctors can decidewhether a child has autism or anoth-er problem.
How Is Autism Treated?There is no cure for autism, but
doctors, therapists, and specialteachers can help kids with autismovercome or adjust to many difficul-ties. The earlier a kid starts treatmentfor autism, the better.
Different kids need differentkinds of help, but learning how tocommunicate is always an impor-tant first step. Spoken language canbe hard for kids with autism to learn.Most understand words better byseeing them, so therapists teachthem how to communicate bypointing or using pictures or signlanguage. That makes learning otherthings easier, and eventually, many
kids with autism learn to talk.Therapists also help kids learn social skills,
such as how to greet people, wait for a turn, andfollow directions. Some kids need special helpwith living skills (like brushing teeth or making abed). Others have trouble sitting still or control-ling their tempers and need therapy to help themcontrol their behavior. Some kids take medica-tions to help their moods and behavior, butthere's no medicine that will make a kid's autismgo away.
Students with mild autism sometimes can goto regular school. But most kids with autism needcalmer, more orderly surroundings. They alsoneed teachers trained to understand the prob-lems they have with communicating and learn-ing. They may learn at home or in special classesat public or private schools.
Living With AutismSome kids with mild autism will grow up and
be able to live on their own. Those with moreserious problems will always need some kind ofhelp. But all kids with autism have brighterfutures when they have the support and under-standing of doctors, teachers, caregivers, parents,brothers, sisters, and friends.
Issues of having, living with dyslexiaNews ReleaseLIFELines
Dyslexia is a learning problemsome kids have with reading and writ-ing. It can make words look jumbled.This makes it difficult for a kid to readand remember what was read.
So what's going on inside the per-son's brain? A problem occurs in thebrain, but it doesn't mean the personis dumb. Plenty of smart and talentedpeople struggle with dyslexia.
When someone has dyslexia, some-times the messages the brain is send-ing get jumbled up or confused. A kidwho has dyslexia might get frustratedand find it hard to do schoolwork. Butthe good news is that dyslexia doesn'tneed to keep a kid down.
What Is Having Dyslexia Like?A kid who has dyslexia might start
out doing fine in school. But gradual-ly, it can become a struggle, especiallywhen reading becomes an importantpart of schoolwork. A teacher mightsay that the kid is smart, but doesn'tseem to be able to get the hang ofreading. If a teacher or parent noticesthis, the best thing to do is to go to aspecialist who can help figure outwhat's wrong.
A specialist in learning disabilitiesknows a lot about learning problemsthat kids have - and what to do aboutthem. During a visit with a specialist, akid might take some tests. But the ideaisn't to get a good grade; it's to spotproblems. Discovering a learning dis-ability is the first step toward gettinghelp that will make it easier for the kidto learn.
How Does Reading Happen?Most kids begin learning to read by
learning how each letter of the alpha-bet looks and sounds. Next, they startfiguring out what the letters sound likewhen they're put together to form
words. Reading is a little like riding abike because you have to do a bunchof things at once. It's hard at first, butonce you know how to do it, it feelseasy and natural.
Reading means your eyes and brainhave to do all these steps:
1. focus on printed marks (lettersand words)
2. control eye movements acrossthe page
3. recognize the way letters sound 4. understand words and grammar
(the way words are put together) 5. build images and ideas
6. compare new ideas to what isalready known
7. store the ideas in memory Phew! You may know that certain
parts of your brain do certain jobs. Forreading, you need your centers ofvision, language, and memory. Andyou also need a network of nerve cellsto connect these centers. If a kid has aproblem with any of the centers - orthe connections between them - read-ing could be difficult.
What Can a Kid Do?Kids who have dyslexia can get help
from specialists who know how tomake reading easier. They might learnnew ways for remembering sounds.
For example, "p" and "b" are calledbrother sounds because they are both"lip poppers." You have to press yourlips together to make the sound.Thinking about the way the mouthneeds to move to make sounds canhelp dyslexic kids read more easily.
Kids with dyslexia also might useflash cards or tape classroom lessonsand homework assignments instead oftaking notes about them. At home,kids may need to spend extra time
doing homework. They may need par-ents or tutors to help them stay caughtup. There are even special computerprograms that help kids learn how tosound out words.
How Do Kids With DyslexiaFeel?
Kids who have dyslexia might getfrustrated sometimes and they maynot like that they are in a differentreading group than their friends. Butthey can get help to improve theirreading skills and go on to do greatthings in life.
File illustration
File photo
find out where they fit in tomake the most of everyone’stalent.
“We knew we had potentialin the beginning when wenoticed we were one of theolder teams in the league,”said Brian Washington, for-ward, CPRW-2. “We only hadtwo players that were under25, so we had a lot moreknowledge of the game thanall of the other teams. Ourgoal from the start was to winand not worry about anythingelse. We did not care who hadthe most points, steals orblocks. We all just wanted towin the game.”
Throughout the season,Ballentine decided to have histeam only run a 2-3 defense.The decision proved to bevery successful.
“We would rather teams tryand beat us from the outsidethan near the basket,”Ballentine said.
With a tough defense per-fected, the team refused to getcomfortable and continued topush each other, Ballentinesaid.
“Offensively we all workedon shooting free throws, anddefensively we worked onmoving our feet and talking
on the floor to each other,”Brian Washington said. “Ourgoal was to beat everyone by20 or more points. We had asmall team in size and players.We only had 8 guys. Ourtallest guy was 6’2” and hewas not even our center. Hewas a power forward. Yet, wewon night in and night out.We played very smart basket-ball the whole season.”
They won together andenjoyed their triumphs as ateam, Andrew Washingtonsaid.
“I think we were such asuccess because of our team-work, and we all had one goal- to win as a team,” AndrewWashington said. “No one inparticular was looking to bethe hero.”
Ballentine thought theteam’s toughest competitionwas themselves. The otherteams just couldn’t keep upwith their run-and-gunoffense and aggressivedefense.
“The only time we play aclose game is when we don’texecute,” Ballentine said. “Idon’t think any team couldcompete with us.”
Not only were they playoffchampions with a 3–0 record,they were first place in theregular season at 12–1.
rescue, Morgan said emer-gency responders look for thepersonal vehicles of kayakersto confirm a last known loca-tion. Kari Hemund, manager,Base Water Safety said pad-dlers should have a cellphone or two-way radio withthem to call for help.Otherwise, rescue workersmay start looking for themhours after running into trou-ble.
“It’s definitely importantto stay calm so you can figureout where you are,” she said.“When kayaks capsize and ifpeople see land, they start toswim to it instead of stayingwith their boat. It’s safer to
stay with the boat because it’sguaranteed to float.”
Hemund said peopleshould consider their kayak-ing abilities when decidingwhere to launch. Paddlersshould feel comfortable inthe water, and she said ithelps to practice flipping acapsized kayak with variousmethods to be prepared. Shesuggests novices or those newto Hawaii waters shouldkayak in the Base Marina oralong low-surf beaches.Kayaking in high surf is notallowed near Pyramid Rock,and paddlers can talk to life-guards about conditions.
She said traveling withother experienced kayakersreduces risks in unfamiliar
territory. Paddling with othercanoeing enthusiasts is partof the lure of canoeing forNavy Capt. Greg Kvaska, offi-cer-in-charge and companycommander, 21st DentalCompany.
“I mostly paddle in acanoe with a group becausehaving three to four peoplewith you in a boat is usuallysafer,” Kvaska said. “Beacheswith lifeguards are usuallybetter than those remotestretches of land.”
The Navy captain said pad-dlers should wear a lifejacketto prevent drowning, andhaving some swimming skillshelps. Hawaii’s waters presentspecial challenges for kayak-ers because of coral reefs, and
he said it’s also important toavoid off-limit areas. MananaIsland or Rabbit Island nearOahu’s eastern coast is illegalto use as a landing site with-out government permissionbecause it’s an animal sanctu-ary. Kvaska said there aredozens of other spots wherenew kayakers in Hawaii canpractice.
“Generally anywhere inKaneohe Bay is fairly safebecause there are stretches ofland surrounding you,” hesaid. “Beginners shouldn’t tryto paddle out from the moredifficult areas like near theWaianae coast in the west.Then the trade winds reallycould blow you all the way toKauai.”
Megan Corlin, recreation assistant, Base Marina (left) and Sean Arthur, laborer, Base Marina lift a kayak from a renter's car. Renters set upfloat plans which list a schedule of their route and final destination. If renters are late, staffers can use the plan to help in a potential res-cue effort.
HAWAII MARINE APRIL 11, 2008 • C-5
KAYAK, from C-1
TITLE, from C-1
Christine Cabalo
Lance Cpl. David RogersOkinawa Marine
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa— Representatives fromTraining and EducationCommand evaluated Marinesof Combat Logistics Regiment3, 3rd Marine LogisticsGroup, on the combat fitnesstest March 25-26 at theparade field on Camp Foster.
TECOM officials firstselected CLR-3 as a test unitfor the fitness test afterMarine Corps CommandantGen. James Conway directedthe creation of the CFT inNovember 2006.
CLR-3 was the 12th of 14units evaluated Marine Corpswide by the TECOM team.The recorded scores of allunits tested will contribute tothe standards of the final ver-sion of the test. TECOM offi-cials have been adjusting theCFT standards and proce-dures over the past fourmonths, and they continueto improve it with every stopon their tour, said Col. BrianMcGuire, officer in charge ofthe combat fitness test devel-opment.
"We're not just taking theobjective data from the sitesthat we've been to in terms ofscores," McGuire said. "We'realso getting solid objectivefeedback from every singleMarine who has taken thetest, because at every stopalong the way, we discoversomething that makes thetest better."
McGuire individuallyasked each Marine for theirinput after they completedthe course and recorded thosefindings, which may lead tomore improvements.
In the current CFT format,the participating Marines rana half-mile as fast as possibleand lifted ammunition canis-ters above their head as manytimes as possible before run-ning a "maneuver under fire"course. Throughout the test,the Marines had to sprint,crawl, carry simulated casual-ties, run with ammunitioncanisters and accurately toss apractice grenade.
Master Gunnery Sgt.Rodney Brown, the logisticschief of CLR-3, praised theCFT for its contribution to awider spectrum of physicalfitness.
"It was definitely one ofthe hardest things I've donein the past six months,"
Brown said. "With the sprintsyou get the aerobic affect.With the lifting of the ammocans and the fireman's carry,you get more of a weight lift-ing perspective. But I think itis pretty much all encompass-ing as far as all the differenttypes of physical challengesthat are out there."
According to McGuire, theexercises of the CFT are pri-marily anaerobic, whichmeans they focus on musclestrength during short dura-tions of physical exertion.
"And that really reflectsthe feedback that we've got-ten from our combat veter-ans," McGuire said. "Thephysical demands in combatare characterized by shortintense bursts of physicalactivities with undeterminedrest patterns. The tests that
will be incorporated will bemore functional as they relateto the demands of combat."
The CFT is not intended toreplace the PFT, but there areplans to have it linked to pro-motion. However, it has notyet been determined howthat will be implemented, hesaid.
McGuire did however dis-pel the rumor that the CFTand PFT will be run on thesame day.
"That's not going to hap-pen," McGuire said. "This testis very rigorous from an anaero-bic perspective. Though wewant to compliment the PFT,we don't want it to be on thesame day."
The final version of theCFT is scheduled to be imple-mented into the MarineCorps in June.
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C-6 • APRIL 11, 2008 HAWAII MARINE
AROUND THE CORPSTECOM evaluates CLR-3combat fitness tests
Lance Cpl. David Rogers
Private Harvey Denson,Combat Logistics Regiment 3,3rd Marine Logistics Group,lifts an ammunition canisterduring a combat fitness test asMarine Corps' Training andEducation Command represen-tatives evaluate the unit March25 on the Camp Foster paradefield.
