1.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
2.
United States Marine Corps
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The U. S. Marine Corps is one of the four armed service branches in the U. S. Department of Defense and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the military officer in the U. S. Armed Forces, is a Marine Corps general, the Marine Corps has been a component of the U. S. Department of the Navy since 30 June 1834, working closely with naval forces for training, transportation, and logistics. The USMC operates posts on land and aboard sea-going amphibious warfare ships around the world, two battalions of Continental Marines were formed on 10 November 1775 in Philadelphia as a service branch of infantry troops capable of fighting for independence both at sea and on shore. The role of the Corps has since grown and evolved, expanding to aerial warfare and earning popular titles such as, Americas third air force, and, second land army. By the mid-20th century, the U. S. Marine Corps had become a major theorist of and its ability to rapidly respond on short notice to expeditionary crises gives it a strong role in the implementation and execution of American foreign policy. As of 2016, the USMC has around 182,000 active duty members and it is the smallest of the U. S. The USMC serves as an expeditionary force-in-readiness and this last clause, while seemingly redundant given the Presidents position as Commander-in-chief, is a codification of the expeditionary responsibilities of the Marine Corps. It derives from similar language in the Congressional acts For the Better Organization of the Marine Corps of 1834, in 1951, the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee called the clause one of the most important statutory – and traditional – functions of the Marine Corps. In addition to its duties, the Marine Corps conducts Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure operations, as well as missions in direct support of the White House. The Marine Band, dubbed the Presidents Own by Thomas Jefferson, Marines from Ceremonial Companies A & B, quartered in Marine Barracks, Washington, D. C. The Executive Flight Detachment also provides transport to Cabinet members. The relationship between the Department of State and the U. S. Marine Corps is nearly as old as the corps itself, for over 200 years, Marines have served at the request of various Secretaries of State. After World War II, an alert, disciplined force was needed to protect American embassies, consulates, in 1947, a proposal was made that the Department of War furnish Marine Corps personnel for Foreign Service guard duty under the provisions of the Foreign Service Act of 1946. A formal Memorandum of Agreement was signed between the Department of State and the Secretary of the Navy on December 15,1948, during the first year of the MSG program,36 detachments were deployed worldwide. Continental Marines manned raiding parties, both at sea and ashore, the Advanced Base Doctrine of the early 20th century codified their combat duties ashore, outlining the use of Marines in the seizure of bases and other duties on land to support naval campaigns. Throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries, Marine detachments served aboard Navy cruisers, battleships, Marine detachments served in their traditional duties as a ships landing force, manning the ships weapons and providing shipboard security. Marines would develop tactics and techniques of amphibious assault on defended coastlines in time for use in World War II, during World War II, Marines continued to serve on capital ships
3.
23rd Marine Regiment (United States)
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The 23rd Marine Regiment is a reserve infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps. It is headquartered in San Bruno, California and falls under the command of the 4th Marine Division, the regiment comprises twenty units which are geographically dispersed throughout eight states from California to Alabama. The regiment consists of Marine reservists, active duty Marines and active duty Navy personnel, the regimental headquarters is located in San Bruno, California. Regiments first commanding officer was Colonel Louis R. Jones, during World War II, the 23rd Marines participated in the following campaigns, Kwajalein, Saipan, Tinian, and the Battle of Iwo Jima. During the fierce fighting occurred in the Pacific Theater, four Marines of the 23rd Marine Regiment were awarded the Medal of Honor for valor. Anderson, 2/23, Kwajalein Joseph W. Ozbourn, 1/23, Tinian Darrell S. Cole, 1/23, Iwo Jima Douglas T. Jacobson, 3/23, 1/23 was the left assault Battalion on yellow beach 1. 2/23 was the right assault Battalion on yellow beach 2 and 3/23 was the assault reserve, in October 1945, the regiment was again relocated to Camp Pendleton and was subsequently deactivated on 15 November 1945. Onley Colonel Louis R. Jones Colonel Walter W. Wensinger Lieutenant Colonel Edward J. Dillon Colonel Leonard B, cresswell The 23rd Marine Regiment was reactivated on 1 February 1966 in Alameda, California and assigned during the same month to the 4th Marine Division, USMCR. 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marines was activated in Nov 1990 and deployed to Saudi Arabia for Desert Shield, 3/23 was attached to the 8th Marine Regiment of the 2nd Marine Division and deployed along the Kuwait/Saudi Arabian border conducting patrolling and security operations. 2 days before G-Day, 3/23 attacked into Kuwait at Umm Gudair to secure forward artillery positions for the support of the attack into Kuwait, with this action, 3/23 became the first unit of the 2nd Marine Division to enter combat since World War II. 3/23 continued to advance as part of 8th Marines, fighting actions into Kuwait City when the ceasefire was called, 2/23d Marines responded to the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippine islands in 1991 and provided critical humanitarian relief. The 23rd Marine Regiment, either in whole or in part, have been activated multiple times including 2003,2006, in June,2012, the 23d Marine Regimental Headquarters Company deployed to Barbados, Caribbean for Tradewinds 2012. 23d Marines Home 23D Marines Toys for Tots Website
4.
4th Marine Division (United States)
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The 4th Marine Division is a reserve division in the United States Marine Corps. It is the combat element of the Marine Forces Reserve and is headquartered in New Orleans. This division was formed by the organization and redesignation of several other units, in March the 24th Marine Regiment was organized, and then in May it was split in two to supply the men for the 25th Marines. This war-time shuffling provided the building blocks for a new division. The units were separated, however, with the 24th Marines. The rest of the units were at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and this East Coast echelon moved to Pendleton by train and transit of the Panama Canal in July and August. When all the units were finally together, the 4th Marine Division was formally activated on August 14,1943 and it was awarded two Presidential Unit Citations and a Navy Unit Commendation, and then deactivated 28 November 1945. The division patch worn on Saipan had a gold 4 on a scarlet background, the emblem was designed by SSgt John Fabion, a member of the Divisions Public Affairs Office before the Marshalls Campaign. Major General Harry Schmidt Major General Clifton B, cates Brigadier General James L. Underhill Brigadier General Samuel C. Cumming Brigadier General Franklin A. Hart Colonel William W. Rogers Colonel Matthew C. Background, Early in 1962, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara indicated to the Congress that he wanted the Marine Corps to have a fourth division/wing team, to be formed of Ready Reserves. In April of that year, the Commandant of the Marine Corps announced a reorganization of the Marine Corps Reserve to be effective 1 July 1962. In this reorganization,53 reserve units were redesignated as 4th Marine Division units, Major General Robert E. Cushman, Jr. commanding general of Camp Pendleton was given the additional responsibility as the commanding general of the division. On 23 June 1966, the World War II division colors were presented to General Cushman, significantly at a 4th Marine Division Association meeting at Camp Pendleton, California. Reminiscent of a torch, a new generation of Marines was eager to prove itself worthy of the trust attendant in the acceptance of the proud colors. Even before the nucleus had been formed, still other changes were on the drawing board. In late 1965, the Commandant approved a plan to reorganize the Organized Marine Corps Reserve so that the division/wing team would become a mirror image of its regular counterparts. The first step toward achieving this goal was to reorganize the 4th Marine Aircraft Wing so that it would reflect an active wing, all of these changes were made by 15 July 1970 when Brigadier General Leo J. Dulacki arrived to take command of the division. One month later, General Dulacki was promoted to major general, the nucleus designation was dropped with the command unit now being designated as Headquarters, 4th Marine Division
5.
Houston
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Houston is the most populous city in the state of Texas and the fourth-most populous city in the United States. With a census-estimated 2014 population of 2.239 million within an area of 667 square miles, it also is the largest city in the southern United States and the seat of Harris County. Located in Southeast Texas near the Gulf of Mexico, it is the city of Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land. Houston was founded on August 28,1836, near the banks of Buffalo Bayou and incorporated as a city on June 5,1837. The city was named after former General Sam Houston, who was president of the Republic of Texas and had commanded, the burgeoning port and railroad industry, combined with oil discovery in 1901, has induced continual surges in the citys population. Houstons economy has an industrial base in energy, manufacturing, aeronautics. Leading in health care sectors and building equipment, Houston has more Fortune 500 headquarters within its city limits than any city except for New York City. The Port of Houston ranks first in the United States in international waterborne tonnage handled, the city has a population from various ethnic and religious backgrounds and a large and growing international community. Houston is the most diverse city in Texas and has described as the most diverse in the United States. It is home to cultural institutions and exhibits, which attract more than 7 million visitors a year to the Museum District. Houston has a visual and performing arts scene in the Theater District. In August 1836, two real estate entrepreneurs from New York, Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen, purchased 6,642 acres of land along Buffalo Bayou with the intent of founding a city. The Allen brothers decided to name the city after Sam Houston, the general at the Battle of San Jacinto. The great majority of slaves in Texas came with their owners from the slave states. Sizable numbers, however, came through the slave trade. New Orleans was the center of trade in the Deep South. Thousands of enslaved African Americans lived near the city before the Civil War, many of them near the city worked on sugar and cotton plantations, while most of those in the city limits had domestic and artisan jobs. Houston was granted incorporation on June 5,1837, with James S. Holman becoming its first mayor, in the same year, Houston became the county seat of Harrisburg County and the temporary capital of the Republic of Texas
6.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
7.
Battle of Kwajalein
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The Battle of Kwajalein was fought as part of the Pacific campaign of World War II. It took place from 31 January-3 February 1944, on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, employing the hard-learned lessons of the battle of Tarawa, the United States launched a successful twin assault on the main islands of Kwajalein in the south and Roi-Namur in the north. The Japanese defenders put up resistance, although outnumbered and under-prepared. The determined defense of Roi-Namur left only 51 survivors of a garrison of 3,500. For the Japanese, the battle represented the failure of the beach-line defense, Japanese defenses became prepared in depth, and the battles of Peleliu, Guam, and the Marianas proved far more costly to the US. Kwajalein Atoll is in the heart of the Marshall Islands and it lies in the Ralik Chain,2,100 nmi southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii at 8°43′N 167°44′E. Kwajalein is the worlds largest coral atoll and comprises 93 islands and islets, it has an area of 1,560 acres. The two most significant land masses are Kwajalein Island in the south, and the islands of Roi-Namur in the north. By the start of World War II, the Marshalls were already a part of the Japanese perimeter of defense. Its facilities were being utilized as outlying bases for submarines and surface warships, as well as for air staging for future advances being planned against Ellice, the Fiji Islands, and Samoa. After the capture of Makin and Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands and these islands had been Imperial German colonies, after their purchase from Spain in 1899. At the end of World War I, however, they were assigned to Japan in the settlement as the Eastern Mandates. The islands then became a mystery because the Japanese closed them to the outside world and it was presumed the Japanese had built illegal fortifications throughout the islands, but the precise extent of such fortifications was unknown. Japan regarded them as part of the ring of their territory. The strategic importance of the Marshalls had been recognized as early as 1921 in Plan Orange, the Marshalls were a key step in the island-hopping march to the Japanese mainland. After losing the Solomon Islands and New Guinea to the Allies in 1943 and they preferred fighting a decisive battle closer to home. Nevertheless, the Marshalls were reinforced at the end of 1943 to make their capture more costly for the Americans, by January 1944, the regional commander in Truk, Admiral Masashi Kobayashi, had 28,000 troops to defend the Marshalls, although he had very few aircraft. The 6th Base Force, under the command of Rear Admiral Monzo Akiyama, Akiyama, however, had his men spread out over a very wide area, with IJN air bases located on Roi-Namur, Mille, Maloelap, Eniwetok, and Wotje
8.
Battle of Tinian
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The Battle of Tinian was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Tinian in the Mariana Islands from 24 July until 1 August 1944. The 9, 000-man Japanese garrison was eliminated, and the island joined Saipan, a two-prong attack through the Central Pacific and the Philippines was adopted at the 1943 Cairo Conference. Operation Granite II, was a U. S. Navy devised strategy of island hopping, calling for the seizure of Saipan, Tinian, the Gilbert and Marshall Islands had been seized by the summer of 1944, while some Japanese garrisons were left to starve. The US naval bombardment commenced on 16 July, with three battleships, five cruisers and sixteen destroyers, the battleship Colorado and the destroyer Norman Scott were both hit by 150mm Japanese shore batteries. Colorado was hit 22 times, killing 43 men and wounding 198, Norman Scott was hit six times, killing the captain, Seymore Owens, and 18 of his seamen, plus wounding 47. The 4th Marine Division landed on 24 July 1944, supported by naval bombardment, with the help of Seabee inginuity the Marines were able to land where the Japanese did not expect, along the Northwest coast with its waters edge small coral cliffs. A successful feint for the settlement of Tinian Town diverted defenders from the actual landing site on the north of the island. They withstood a series of night counterattacks supported by tanks, the weather worsened on 28 July, damaging the pontoon causeways, and interrupting the unloading of supplies. By 29 July, the Americans had captured half the island, Japanese remnants made a final stand in the caves and ravines of a limestone ridge on the south portion of the island, making probes and counterattacks into the Marine line. Resistance continued through 3 August, with some civilians murdered by the Japanese, by 10 August 1944,13,000 Japanese civilians were interred, but up to 4,000 were dead through suicide, murdered by Japanese troops or killed in combat. The garrison on Aguijan Island off the southwest cape of Tinian, commanded by Lieutenant Kinichi Yamada, held out until the end of the war, the last holdout on Tinian, Murata Susumu, was captured in 1953. After the battle, Tinian became an important base for further Allied operations in the Pacific campaign, camps were built for 50,000 troops. North Field was built over Airfields No.1 and 3,2, and became operational in March 1945. Four 1000-bed hospitals were planned and located in preparation for the invasion of Japan, none were actually built, as the Japanese surrendered after the atomic bombs were dropped, which thus ended the need for the hospitals. North Field West Field Media related to Battle of Tinian at Wikimedia Commons Battle for the Mariana Islands on YouTube
9.
Battle of Saipan
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The Battle of Saipan was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands from 15 June to 9 July 1944. The Allied invasion fleet embarking the expeditionary forces left Pearl Harbor on 5 June 1944, in the campaigns of 1943 and the first half of 1944, the Allies had captured the Solomon Islands, the Gilbert Islands, the Marshall Islands and the Papuan Peninsula of New Guinea. This left the Japanese holding the Philippines, the Caroline Islands, Palau Islands and it had always been the intention of the American planners to bypass the Carolines and Palauan islands and to seize the Marianas and Taiwan. From these latter bases, communications between the Japanese archipelago and Japanese forces to the south and west could be cut. From the Marianas, Japan would be well within the range of an air offensive relying on the new Boeing B-29 Superfortress long-range bomber with its radius of 1,500 mi. The Japanese, expecting an attack somewhere on their perimeter, thought an attack on the Caroline Islands most likely, to reinforce and supply their garrisons, they needed naval and air superiority, so Operation A-Go, a major carrier attack, was prepared for June 1944. Smith XXIV Corps Artillery — Brigadier General Arthur M. Harper 1st Provisional Gun Group 225th Field Artillery Howitzer Group 2nd Marine Division — Major General Thomas E, fifteen battleships were involved, and 165,000 shells were fired. Seven modern fast battleships delivered 2,40016 in shells, but to avoid potential minefields, fire was from a distance of 10,000 yd or more, the following day the eight older battleships and 11 cruisers under Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf replaced the fast battleships but were lacking in time and ammunition, the landings began at 07,00 on 15 June 1944. More than 300 LVTs landed 8,000 Marines on the west coast of Saipan by about 09,00, eleven fire support ships covered the Marine landings. However, by nightfall, the 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions had a beachhead about 6 mi wide and 0.5 mi deep, the Japanese counter-attacked at night but were repulsed with heavy losses. On 16 June, units of the U. S. Armys 27th Infantry Division landed and advanced on the airfield at Ås Lito, again the Japanese counter-attacked at night. On 18 June, Saito abandoned the airfield, the invasion surprised the Japanese high command, which had been expecting an attack further south. Admiral Soemu Toyoda, Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Navy, saw an opportunity to use the A-Go force to attack the U. S. Navy forces around Saipan, on 15 June, he gave the order to attack. But the resulting battle of the Philippine Sea was a disaster for the Imperial Japanese Navy, the garrisons of the Marianas would have no hope of resupply or reinforcement. Without resupply, the battle on Saipan was hopeless for the defenders, Saito organized his troops into a line anchored on Mount Tapotchau in the defensible mountainous terrain of central Saipan. The nicknames given by the Americans to the features of the battle — Hells Pocket, Purple Heart Ridge, the Japanese used the many caves in the volcanic landscape to delay the attackers, by hiding during the day and making sorties at night. The Americans gradually developed tactics for clearing the caves by using flamethrower teams supported by artillery, however, General Holland Smith had not inspected the terrain over which the 27th was to advance
10.
Battle of Iwo Jima
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The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. This five-week battle comprised some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the War in the Pacific of World War II, after the heavy losses incurred in the battle, the strategic value of the island became controversial. It was useless to the U. S. Army as a staging base, however, Navy Seabees rebuilt the landing strips, which were used as emergency landing strips for USAAF B-29s. The Imperial Japanese Army positions on the island were heavily fortified, with a network of bunkers, hidden artillery positions. The American ground forces were supported by naval artillery, and had complete air supremacy provided by U. S. Navy. Japanese combat deaths numbered three times the number of American deaths, although uniquely among Pacific War Marine battles, American total casualties exceeded those of the Japanese. Of the 21,000 Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima at the beginning of the battle, only 216 were taken prisoner, despite the bloody fighting and severe casualties on both sides, the Japanese defeat was assured from the start. Joe Rosenthals Associated Press photograph of the raising of the U. S. flag on top of the 169 m Mount Suribachi by six U. S, Marines became an iconic image of the battle and the American war effort in the Pacific. All indications pointed to an American drive toward the Mariana Islands, in March 1944, the Japanese 31st Army, commanded by General Hideyoshi Obata, was activated to garrison this inner line. The commander of the Japanese garrison on Chichi Jima was placed nominally in command of Army, after the American conquest of the Marianas, daily bomber raids from the Marianas hit the mainland as part of Operation Scavenger. Iwo Jima served as an early warning station that radioed reports of incoming bombers back to mainland Japan and this allowed Japanese air defenses to prepare for the arrival of American bombers. At the same time, with reinforcements arriving from Chichi Jima and the home islands, in addition, it was used by the Japanese to stage air attacks on the Mariana Islands from November 1944 through January 1945. The capture of Iwo Jima would eliminate these problems and provide an area for Operation Downfall – the eventual invasion of the Japanese Home Islands. The distance of B-29 raids could be cut in half, American intelligence sources were confident that Iwo Jima would fall in one week. In light of the intelligence reports, the decision was made to invade Iwo Jima. American forces were unaware that the Japanese were preparing a complex and deep defense, by June 1944, Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi was assigned to command the defense of Iwo Jima. While drawing inspiration from the defense in the Battle of Peleliu, takeichi Nishis armored tanks were to be used as camouflaged artillery positions. This network of bunkers and pillboxes favored the defense, for instance, The Nanpo Bunker, which was located east of Airfield Number 2, had enough food, water and ammo for the Japanese to hold out for three months
11.
Gulf War
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The Iraqi Armys occupation of Kuwait that began 2 August 1990 was met with international condemnation, and brought immediate economic sanctions against Iraq by members of the UN Security Council. US President George H. W. Bush deployed US forces into Saudi Arabia, an array of nations joined the coalition, the largest military alliance since World War II. The great majority of the military forces were from the US, with Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia paid around US$32 billion of the US$60 billion cost, the war was marked by the introduction of live news broadcasts from the front lines of the battle, principally by the US network CNN. The war has also earned the nickname Video Game War after the daily broadcast of images from cameras on board US bombers during Operation Desert Storm. The initial conflict to expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait began with an aerial and naval bombardment on 17 January 1991 and this was followed by a ground assault on 24 February. This was a victory for the coalition forces, who liberated Kuwait. The coalition ceased its advance, and declared a ceasefire 100 hours after the campaign started. Aerial and ground combat was confined to Iraq, Kuwait, Iraq launched Scud missiles against coalition military targets in Saudi Arabia and against Israel. The following names have been used to describe the conflict itself, Gulf War, a problem with these terms is that the usage is ambiguous, having now been applied to at least three conflicts, see Gulf War. The use of the term Persian Gulf is also disputed, see Persian Gulf naming dispute, with no consensus of naming, various publications have attempted to refine the name. Other language terms include French, la Guerre du Golfe and German, Golfkrieg, German, Zweiter Golfkrieg, French, most of the coalition states used various names for their operations and the wars operational phases. Operation Desert Storm was the US name of the conflict from 17 January 1991. Operation Desert Sabre was the US name for the offensive against the Iraqi Army in the Kuwaiti Theater of Operations from 24–28 February 1991, in itself. Operation Desert Farewell was the given to the return of US units and equipment to the US in 1991 after Kuwaits liberation. Operation Granby was the British name for British military activities during the operations, Opération Daguet was the French name for French military activities in the conflict. Operation Friction was the name of the Canadian operations Operazione Locusta was the Italian name for the operations, in addition, various phases of each operation may have a unique operational name. The US divided the conflict into three campaigns, Defense of Saudi Arabian country for the period 2 August 1990, through 16 January 1991
12.
War on Terror
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The War on Terror, also known as the Global War on Terrorism, is a metaphor of war referring to the international military campaign that started after the September 11th attacks on the United States. U. S. President George W. Bush first used the term War on Terror on 20 September 2001 and it was originally used with a particular focus on countries associated with Islamic terrorist organizations including al-Qaeda and like-minded organizations. In 2013, President Barack Obama announced that the United States was no longer pursuing a War on Terror, in 2017 Donald Trump assumed presidency of the United States and vowed that the fight against ISIL is his number one priority. Trump has also agreed to work together and carry joint operations with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the war on terror. The phrase War on Terror has been used to refer to the ongoing military campaign led by the U. S. The conflict has also referred to by names other than the War on Terror. Author Shane Harris asserts this was a reaction to the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, Bush later apologized for this remark due to the negative connotations the term crusade has to people, e. g. of the Muslim faith. The word crusade was not used again, on 20 September 2001, during a televised address to a joint session of Congress, Bush stated that ur war on terror begins with al-Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped, in April 2007, the British government announced publicly that it was abandoning the use of the phrase War on Terror as they found it to be less than helpful. This was explained more recently by Lady Eliza Manningham-Buller, in her 2011 Reith lecture, the former head of MI5 said that the 9/11 attacks were a crime, not an act of war. So I never felt it helpful to refer to a war on terror. U. S. President Barack Obama has rarely used the term, in March 2009 the Defense Department officially changed the name of operations from Global War on Terror to Overseas Contingency Operation. In March 2009, the Obama administration requested that Pentagon staff members avoid the use of the term, basic objectives of the Bush administration war on terror, such as targeting al Qaeda and building international counterterrorism alliances, remain in place. Because the actions involved in the war on terrorism are diffuse, jackson cites among many examples a statement by John Ashcroft that the attacks of September 11 drew a bright line of demarcation between the civil and the savage. Administration officials also described terrorists as hateful, treacherous, barbarous, mad, twisted, perverted, without faith, parasitical, inhuman, Americans, in contrast, were described as brave, loving, generous, strong, resourceful, heroic, and respectful of human rights. The origins of al-Qaeda can be traced to the Soviet war in Afghanistan, a small number of Afghan Arab volunteers joined the fight against the Soviets, including Osama bin Laden, but there is no evidence they received any external assistance. On 7 August 1998, al-Qaeda struck the U. S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing 224 people, the plant produced much of the regions antimalarial drugs and around 50% of Sudans pharmaceutical needs. The strikes failed to kill any leaders of WIFJAJC or the Taliban, next came the 2000 millennium attack plots, which included an attempted bombing of Los Angeles International Airport
13.
Operation Enduring Freedom
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Operation Enduring Freedom comprises several subordinate operations, Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan, lasted from October 2001 to 31 December 2014. Government used the term Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan to officially describe the War in Afghanistan, continued operations in Afghanistan by the United States military forces, both non-combat and combat, now occur under the name Operation Freedoms Sentinel. In September 2001, U. S. President George W, the term OEF-A typically refers to the phase of the War in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. Other operations, such as the Georgia Train and Equip Program, are loosely or nominally connected. All the operations, however, have a focus on counterterrorism activities, Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan, which was a joint U. S. U. K. and Afghan operation, was separate from the International Security Assistance Force, which was an operation of North Atlantic Treaty Organization nations including the U. S. and the U. K. The two operations ran in parallel, although it had suggested that they merge. S. and British ships. The initial military objectives of OEF-A, as articulated by President George W, of those groups included are Abu Sayyaf Group, al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah. The operation consisted of training the AFP in counter-terrorist operations as well as supporting the people with humanitarian aid in Operation Smiles. In October 2002, the Combined Task Force 150 and United States military Special Forces established themselves in Djibouti at Camp Lemonnier, the stated goals of the operation were to provide humanitarian aid and patrol the Horn of Africa to reduce the abilities of terrorist organizations in the region. The military aspect involves coalition forces searching and boarding ships entering the region for illegal cargo as well as providing training, the humanitarian aspect involves building schools, clinics and water wells to enforce the confidence of the local people. Since 2001, the expenditure by the U. S. government on Operation Enduring Freedom has exceeded $150 billion. The operation continues, with military direction mostly coming from United States Central Command, seizing upon a power vacuum after the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan after their invasion, the Taliban assumed the role of government from 1996–2001. Their extreme interpretation of Islamic law prompted them to ban music, television, sports, and dancing, amputation was an accepted form of punishment for stealing, and public executions could often be seen at the Kabul football stadium. Womens rights groups around the world were frequently critical as the Taliban banned women from appearing in public or holding many jobs outside the home and they drew further criticism when they destroyed the Buddhas of Bamyan, historical statues nearly 1500 years old, because the Buddhas were considered idols. In 1996, Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden moved to Afghanistan upon the invitation of the Northern Alliance leader Abdur Rabb ur Rasool Sayyaf, when the Taliban came to power, bin Laden was able to forge an alliance between the Taliban and his al-Qaeda organization. It is understood that al-Qaeda-trained fighters known as the 055 Brigade were integrated with the Taliban army between 1997 and 2001 and it has been suggested that the Taliban and bin Laden had very close connections. On 20 September 2001, the U. S. stated that Osama bin Laden was behind the 11 September attacks in 2001, the US made a five-point ultimatum to the Taliban, Deliver to the U. S
14.
Iraq War
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The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that toppled the government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict continued for much of the decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces. An estimated 151,000 to 600,000 or more Iraqis were killed in the first 3–4 years of conflict and it became re-involved in 2014 at the head of a new coalition, the insurgency and many dimensions of the civil armed conflict continue. The invasion began on 20 March 2003, with the U. S. joined by the United Kingdom and several allies, launching a shock. Iraqi forces were overwhelmed as U. S. forces swept through the country. The invasion led to the collapse of the Baathist government, President Hussein was captured during Operation Red Dawn in December of that same year, the United States responded with a troop surge in 2007. The winding down of U. S. involvement in Iraq accelerated under President Barack Obama, the U. S. formally withdrew all combat troops from Iraq by December 2011. Select U. S. officials accused Saddam of harboring and supporting al-Qaeda, while others cited the desire to end a repressive dictatorship, after the invasion, no substantial evidence was found to verify the initial claims about WMDs. The rationale and misrepresentation of pre-war intelligence faced heavy criticism within the U. S. in the aftermath of the invasion, Iraq held multi-party elections in 2005. Nouri al-Maliki became Prime Minister in 2006 and remained in office until 2014, the al-Maliki government enacted policies that were widely seen as having the effect of alienating the countrys Sunni minority and worsening sectarian tensions. The Iraq War caused hundreds of thousands of civilian, and thousands of military casualties, the majority of casualties occurred as a result of the insurgency and civil conflicts between 2004 and 2007. A1990 Frontline report on The arming of Iraq said, Officially, most Western nations participated in an arms embargo against Iraq during the 1980s. Western companies, primarily in Germany and Great Britain, but also in the United States, sold Iraq the key technology for its chemical, missile, any Western governments seemed remarkably indifferent, if not enthusiastic, about those deals. N Washington, the government consistently followed a policy which allowed and perhaps encouraged the growth of Saddam Husseins arsenal. The Western arming of Iraq took place in the context of the Iran-Iraq War, prior to September 2002, the CIA was the George W. Bush administrations main provider of intelligence on Iraq. The agency was out to disprove linkage between Iraq and terrorism the Pentagon adviser told me, the U. N. had prohibited Iraq from developing or possessing such weapons after the Gulf War and required Iraq to permit inspections confirming compliance. This was confirmed by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, during 2002, Bush repeatedly warned of military action against Iraq unless inspections were allowed to progress unfettered. In accordance with U. N. Security Council Resolution 1441, Iraq agreed to new inspections under United Nations Monitoring, as part of its weapons inspection obligations, Iraq was required to supply a full declaration of its current weapons capabilities and manufacturing
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Infantry
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Infantry is the general branch of an army that engages in military combat on foot. As the troops who engage with the enemy in close-ranged combat, infantry units bear the largest brunt of warfare, Infantry can enter and maneuver in terrain that is inaccessible to military vehicles and employ crew-served infantry weapons that provide greater and more sustained firepower. In English, the 16th-century term Infantry describes soldiers who walk to the battlefield, and there engage, fight, the term arose in Sixteenth-Century Spain, which boasted one of the first professional standing armies seen in Europe since the days of Rome. It was common to appoint royal princes to military commands, and the men under them became known as Infanteria. in the Canadian Army, the role of the infantry is to close with, and destroy the enemy. In the U. S. Army, the closes with the enemy, by means of fire and maneuver, in order to destroy or capture him, or to repel his assault by fire, close combat. In the U. S. Marine Corps, the role of the infantry is to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy fire and maneuver. Beginning with the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, artillery has become a dominant force on the battlefield. Since World War I, combat aircraft and armoured vehicles have become dominant. In 20th and 21st century warfare, infantry functions most effectively as part of a combined arms team including artillery, armour, Infantry relies on organized formations to be employed in battle. These have evolved over time, but remain a key element to effective infantry development and deployment, until the end of the 19th century, infantry units were for the most part employed in close formations up until contact with the enemy. This allowed commanders to control of the unit, especially while maneuvering. The development of guns and other weapons with increased firepower forced infantry units to disperse in order to make them less vulnerable to such weapons. This decentralization of command was made possible by improved communications equipment, among the various subtypes of infantry is Medium infantry. This refers to infantry which are heavily armed and armored than heavy infantry. In the early period, medium infantry were largely eliminated due to discontinued use of body armour up until the 20th century. In the United States Army, Stryker Infantry is considered Medium Infantry, since they are heavier than light infantry, Infantry doctrine is the concise expression of how infantry forces contribute to campaigns, major operations, battles, and engagements. It is a guide to action, not a set of hard, doctrine provides a very common frame of reference across the military forces, allowing the infantry to function cooperatively in what are now called combined arms operations. Doctrine helps standardise operations, facilitating readiness by establishing common ways of accomplishing infantry tasks, doctrine links theory, history, experimentation, and practice
16.
Texas
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Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U. S. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the states struggle for independence from Mexico. The Lone Star can be found on the Texan state flag, the origin of Texass name is from the word Tejas, which means friends in the Caddo language. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, although Texas is popularly associated with the U. S. southwestern deserts, less than 10 percent of Texas land area is desert. Most of the centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, the term six flags over Texas refers to several nations that have ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas, Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state, the states annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U. S. in early 1861, after the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation. One Texan industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle, due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy. The states economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, when oil discoveries initiated a boom in the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy, as of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with California at 57. With a growing base of industry, the leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace. Texas has led the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product. The name Texas, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning friends or allies, was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves, during Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas, La Provincia de Texas. Texas is the second largest U. S. state, behind Alaska, though 10 percent larger than France and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Chile, Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers, the Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south
17.
Louisiana
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Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Louisiana is the 31st most extensive and the 25th most populous of the 50 United States and its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the state in the U. S. with political subdivisions termed parishes. The largest parish by population is East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana is bordered by Arkansas to the north, Mississippi to the east, Texas to the west, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. Much of the lands were formed from sediment washed down the Mississippi River, leaving enormous deltas and vast areas of coastal marsh. These contain a rich southern biota, typical examples include birds such as ibis, there are also many species of tree frogs, and fish such as sturgeon and paddlefish. In more elevated areas, fire is a process in the landscape. These support a large number of plant species, including many species of orchids. Louisiana has more Native American tribes than any other state, including four that are federally recognized, ten that are state recognized. Before the American purchase of the territory in 1803, the current Louisiana State had been both a French colony and for a period, a Spanish one. In addition, colonists imported numerous African people as slaves in the 18th century, many came from peoples of the same region of West Africa, thus concentrating their culture. Louisiana was named after Louis XIV, King of France from 1643 to 1715, when René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle claimed the territory drained by the Mississippi River for France, he named it La Louisiane. The suffix -ana is a Latin suffix that can refer to information relating to an individual, subject. Thus, roughly, Louis + ana carries the idea of related to Louis, the Gulf of Mexico did not exist 250 million years ago when there was but one supercontinent, Pangea. As Pangea split apart, the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico opened, Louisiana slowly developed, over millions of years, from water into land, and from north to south. The oldest rocks are exposed in the north, in such as the Kisatchie National Forest. The oldest rocks date back to the early Tertiary Era, some 60 million years ago, the history of the formation of these rocks can be found in D. Spearings Roadside Geology of Louisiana. The sediments were carried north to south by the Mississippi River
18.
Bossier City, Louisiana
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Bossier City is a suburb of Shreveport, Louisiana, United States, located in Bossier Parish. As of the 2010 census, Bossier City had a population of 61,315, Bossier City is located on the eastern bank of the Red River and is closely tied to its larger sister city Shreveport on the opposite bank. The Shreveport – Bossier City metropolitan area is the center of the known as the Ark-La-Tex. Bossier City is not the parish seat, the parish courthouse is located instead in Benton, about 12 miles to the north of Bossier City. In the 1830s, Bossier City was the plantation Elysian Grove, purchased by James Cane, James and his first wife, Rebecca Bennett, came to the area with Rebeccas brother, William Bennett and his wife Mary Doal Cilley Bennett. They first had the trading post across the river on what was then Caddo Indian Land, the trading post partners and Mary D. C. Bennetts father, Samuel Bennett, became a 1/7 partner in the new Shreve Town, which eventually became Shreveport. Elysian Grove plantation was on the Red River, at the intersection of the Texas Trail on the Red River where the trading post ran the ferry crossing between what was to become Shreveport and Bossier. The plantation loading and unloading dock later became known as Canes Landing in the old log books. For a very time, Canes Landing was known as Cane City. In 1843, a section of land was divided out of the Great Natchitoches district, the section of land was named in honor of Pierre Evariste John Baptiste Bossier, a former Creole general, who became a cotton farmer in Bossier Parish. He is considered one of the first settlers in the area, in the 1840s, the Great Western Migration began, and the parish grew in population. Many early settlers passed through the region on their way to the wild West, by 1850, over 200 wagons a week passed through Bossier City. Some of these settlers stayed, attracted by the soil and river valley, in 1850, the census listed the population at around 6,962. During the Civil War, companies of Confederate soldiers left Canes Landing aboard steamboats for the distant battlefields, mrs. Cane hosted hundreds of Confederate officers and troops who were heading off to war. Mrs. Canes plantation was fortified to protect Shreveport by three batteries, with Fort Kirby Smith in the center, the others were Batteries Price, and Walker & Ewell. Fort Smith stood near the now Bossier High School, and protected the area from an eastern invasion, the Civil War hit Bossier Parish in 1861, and ended in Shreveport four years later when the Trans-Mississippi Department surrendered. Shed Road, the first all-weather turnpike in the American South, was constructed in the 1870s and it extended for 9 miles from Red Chute to the Red River
19.
Corpus Christi, Texas
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Corpus Christi, colloquially Corpus, is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U. S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it extends into Aransas, Kleberg. It is 130 miles southeast of San Antonio and its political boundaries encompass Nueces Bay and Corpus Christi Bay. Its zoned boundaries include small land parcels or water inlets of three neighboring counties, the citys population was estimated to be 320,434 in 2014, making it the eighth-most populous city in Texas. The Corpus Christi metropolitan area had an population of 442,600. It is also the hub of the six-county Corpus Christi-Kingsville-Alice Combined Statistical Area, the Port of Corpus Christi is the fifth-largest in the United States. The region is served by the Corpus Christi International Airport, the citys name means Body of Christ in Latin. The name was given to the settlement and surrounding bay by Spanish explorer Alonso Álvarez de Pineda in 1519, the citys nickname is Sparkling City by the Sea, particularly featured in tourist literature. Corpus Christi was founded in 1839 by Colonel Henry Lawrence Kinney and William P. Aubrey as Kinneys Trading Post and it was a small trading post that sold supplies to a Mexican revolutionary army camped about 25 mi west. In July 1845, U. S. troops commanded by General Zachary Taylor set up there in preparation for war with Mexico. About a year later, the settlement was named Corpus Christi and was incorporated on 9 September 1852, the Battle of Corpus Christi was fought between August 12 and August 18,1862, during the American Civil War. United States Navy forces blockading Texas fought a land and sea engagement with Confederate forces in and around Corpus Christi Bay. Union forces defeated Confederate States Navy ships operating in the area, the Port of Corpus Christi was opened in 1926, and the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station was commissioned in 1941. The 1919 Storm devastated the city, killing hundreds on September 14, only three structures survived the storm on North Beach. To protect the city, the seawall was built, the city also suffered damage from Hurricane Celia in 1970 and Hurricane Allen in 1980, but little damage from Hurricane Ike in 2008. In November 1873, seven Mexican shepherds were lynched by a mob near the city, in February 1929, the League of United Latin American Citizens was founded in Corpus Christi. This organization was created to battle racial discrimination against Hispanic people in the United States, since its founding, LULAC has grown and now has a national headquarters in Washington, D. C. In March 1949, the American GI Forum was founded in Corpus Christi, currently, AGIF focuses on veterans issues, education, and civil rights issues
20.
Harlingen, Texas
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Harlingen is a city in Cameron County in the heart of the Rio Grande Valley of southern Texas, United States, about 30 miles from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The city covers more than 40 square miles and is the second largest city in Cameron County, as of the 2010 census the city had a population of 64,849, for a growth rate of 12. 5% since the 2000 census. It is the city with the least expensive cost of living in the United States, Hill envisioned the Arroyo Colorado as a commercial waterway. He named the town he founded on the bank after the Frisian city of Harlingen. The towns post office was established that year, the first school opened with fifteen pupils in 1905 near the Hill home, the first residence built in Harlingen. Harlingen incorporated on April 15,1910, when the population totaled 1,126, in 1920 the census listed 1,748. The local economy at first was almost entirely agricultural, major crops were vegetables and cotton. World War II military installations in Harlingen caused a jump in population from 23,000 in 1950 to 41,000 by 1960, Harlingen Army Air Field preceded Harlingen Air Force Base, which closed in 1962. The citys population fell to 33,603 by 1972, then climbed to 40,824 by 1980, local enterprise, focused on the purchase and utilization of the abandoned base and related housing, laid the groundwork for continuing progress through a diversified economy. The estimated population in July 1985 was 49,000, of which about 80 percent was Hispanic, in the late 1980s income from tourism ranked second only to citrus fruit production, with grain and cotton next in order. The addition of wholesale and retail trade, light and medium manufacturing, large-scale construction for multifaceted retirement communities is a new phase of industrial development. The City of Harlingen operates a busy industrial airpark where bombers used to land, at Valley International Airport the Confederate Air Force occupied hangar and apron space until 1991. The first hospital in Harlingen opened in 1923 and consisted of more than two barracks as wings. The Valley Baptist Hospital was built nearby a few years later, the Valley Baptist Hospital has grown into the Valley Baptist Medical Center. The citys outstanding network of health care specialists and facilities parallels the growth of the still-expanding center, also serving regional health needs are the South Texas State Chest Hospital, the State Hospital for Children, and the Rio Grande State Mental Health and Mental Retardation Center. Civic and cultural development in Harlingen has kept pace with the growth of the community, each March Harlingen is the site of the Rio Grande Valley International Music Festival. The city has two newspapers—the Harlingen Press, a paper established in 1951, and the Valley Morning Star. In 1990 the population was 48,735, in 1992 the city was named an All-America City, cited especially for its volunteer spirit and self-help programs
21.
Austin, Texas
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Austin is the capital of the U. S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. It is the 11th-most populous city in the U. S. and it is the fastest growing large city in the United States and the second most populous capital city after Phoenix, Arizona. As of the U. S. Census Bureaus July 1,2015 estimate and it is the cultural and economic center of the Austin–Round Rock metropolitan area, which had an estimated population of 2,056,405 as of July 1,2016. In the 1830s, pioneers began to settle the area in central Austin along the Colorado River, in 1839, the site was officially chosen to replace Houston as the new capital of the Republic of Texas and was incorporated under the name Waterloo. Shortly thereafter, the name was changed to Austin in honor of Stephen F. Austin, the Father of Texas and the republics first secretary of state. The city subsequently grew throughout the 19th century and became a center for government and education with the construction of the Texas State Capitol and the University of Texas at Austin. After a lull in growth from the Great Depression, Austin resumed its development into a city and, by the 1980s, it emerged as a center for technology. A number of Fortune 500 companies have headquarters or regional offices in Austin, including Amazon. com, cisco, eBay, Google, IBM, Intel, Oracle Corporation, Texas Instruments, 3M, and Whole Foods Market. Dells worldwide headquarters is located in nearby Round Rock, a suburb of Austin, residents of Austin are known as Austinites. They include a mix of government employees, college students, musicians, high-tech workers, blue-collar workers. The city also adopted Silicon Hills as a nickname in the 1990s due to an influx of technology. In the late 1800s, Austin was known as the City of the Violet Crown because of the glow of light across the hills just after sunset. Even today, many Austin businesses use the term Violet Crown in their name, Austin is known as a clean-air city for its stringent no-smoking ordinances that apply to all public places and buildings, including restaurants and bars. The FBI ranked Austin as the second-safest major city in the U. S. for the year 2012, U. S. News & World Report named Austin the best place to live in the U. S. in 2017. Austin, Travis County and Williamson County have been the site of habitation since at least 9200 BC. When settlers arrived from Europe, the Tonkawa tribe inhabited the area, the Comanches and Lipan Apaches were also known to travel through the area. Spanish colonists, including the Espinosa-Olivares-Aguirre expedition, traveled through the area for centuries, in 1730, three missions from East Texas were combined and reestablished as one mission on the south side of the Colorado River, in what is now Zilker Park, in Austin. The mission was in area for only about seven months
22.
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton
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Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps. The base was established in 1942 to train U. S, Marines for service in World War II. By October 1944, Camp Pendleton was declared a permanent installation and by 1946 and it was named after Major General Joseph Henry Pendleton, who had long advocated setting up a training base for the Marine Corps on the west coast. Today it is the home to myriad Operating Force units including the I Marine Expeditionary Force, in 1769, a Spanish expedition led by Captain Gaspar de Portolá explored northward from Loreto, Baja California Sur, seeking to reach Monterey Bay, something never before done overland by Europeans. On July 20 of that year, the arrived in the area now known as Camp Pendleton. The expedition went on to military outposts and Franciscan missions at San Diego. During the next 30 years,21 missions were established, the most productive one being Mission San Luis Rey, at that time, San Luis Rey Mission had control over the Santa Margarita area. After 1821, following the Mexican War of Independence from Spain, the retired soldiers were joined as rancheros by prominent businessmen, officials and military leaders. They and their children, the Californios, became the landed gentry of Alta California, in 1841, two brothers, Pio Pico and Andrés Pico, became the first private owners of Rancho Santa Margarita. More land was added to the grant, giving it the name of Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores. The design of the cattle brand is seen in the bases logo today. In 1863, an Englishman named John Forster paid off Picos gambling debts in return for the deed to the ranch. During his tenure as owner of the ranch, he expanded the house, which was first built in 1827. It was purchased by wealthy cattleman James Clair Flood and managed by Irishman Richard ONeill, under the guidance of ONeills son, Jerome, the ranch began to net a profit of nearly half a million dollars annually, and the house was modernized and furnished to its present form. In the early 1940s, both the Army and the Marine Corps were looking for land for a training base. It was named for Major General Joseph Henry Pendleton who had advocated the establishment of a West Coast training base. Construction began in April but the base was considered a temporary facility so it was built to standards of wood frame construction. After five months of building activity, the 9th Marine Regiment
23.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
24.
Roi-Namur
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Roi-Namur /ˌrɔɪ-nəˈmʊər/ is an island in the north part of the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Germany annexed the Marshalls in 1885 but did not put government officials on the islands until 1906, under the Treaty of Versailles, Japan took over in 1914. They colonised the Marshalls extensively, developing and fortifying large bases on many of the islands, Roi-Namur was the target of the U. S. 4th Marine Division in the Battle of Kwajalein, in February 1944. During the Japanese occupation, the two islands were connected by a neck of land and causeway. Roi-Namur was selected by DARPA as a host site for a series of experiments under the Project Defender umbrella. By building on Roi-Namur, they were able to use the test shots being used by the US Armys Nike-X program installed on Kwajalein Island, Roi-Namur is home to an about 120 American and Marshallese employees of the Reagan Test Site. The Roi side is the housing area, with the retail. Activities on Roi-Namur range from a golf course, saltwater swimming pool, scuba club, movie theater, volleyball. Roi hosts the Freeflight International Airport with one runway for planes that commute from Kwajalein bringing additional workers. Additional Marshallese daytime workers come via ferry from the island of Enniburr, the Namur side is home to the ALCOR, ALTAIR, MMW and TRADEX radar tracking stations. There is a launch facility on Roi-Namur. Rockets launched here are usually sounding rockets that ascend beyond the atmosphere but have short ranges, there are crumbling remnants of Japanese blockhouses and pillboxes around Roi-Namur
25.
Kwajalein Atoll
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Kwajalein Atoll is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, the total land area of the atoll amounts to just over 6 square miles. The atoll lies in the Ralik Chain,2,100 nautical miles southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii, Kwajalein is one of the worlds largest coral atolls as measured by area of enclosed water. Comprising 97 islands and islets, it has an area of 16.4 km² and surrounds one of the largest lagoons in the world. The average height above sea level for all the islands is about 1.8 metres, Islands often have alternate names, the first is the Marshallese name, the second was assigned somewhat arbitrarily by the US Navy prior to their attack on the atoll during World War II. The original name was considered too difficult for English speakers to properly differentiate among the islands, the latter has often been retained by English speakers. The exception to this is Kwajalein itself, which is close to the native name, the atoll is 2,100 miles from Honolulu,2,000 miles from Australia, and 2,100 miles from Japan. Kwajalein Island is about 500 miles north of the equator, Kwajalein Island is the southernmost and largest of the islands in the atoll. The area is about 1.2 square miles and it is 2.5 miles long and averages about 800 yards wide. To enlarge the island, the Americans placed fill at both the part of the island above the pier, the northern part extending towards Ebeye. The northern extension was used for housing, the remainder for industrial purposes, some 13,500 Marshallese citizens live on the atoll, most of them on Ebeye Island. The water temperature averages 81 °F degrees, underwater visibility is typically 100 feet on the ocean side of the atoll. SAR Pass is closest to Kwajalein on the West reef and this pass is manmade and was created in the mid-1950s. It is very narrow and shallow compared to the passes in the lagoon and is only used by small boats. South Pass is on the West reef, north of SAR Pass, Gea Pass is a deep water pass between Gea and Ninni islands. Bigej Pass is the first pass on the East reef north of Kwajalein, other islands in the atoll, Directly north of the eastern end of Kwajalein is Ebeye. It is not part of the Reagan Test Site, it is a Marshallese island-city with shops, restaurants and it has the largest population in the atoll, with approximately 13,000 residents living on 80 acres of land. Inhabitants are mostly Marshall Islanders but include a population of migrants and volunteers from other island groups
26.
Marshall Islands
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The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country located near the equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the International Date Line. Geographically, the country is part of the island group of Micronesia. The countrys population of 53,158 people is spread out over 29 coral atolls, comprising 1,156 individual islands and islets. The islands share maritime boundaries with the Federated States of Micronesia to the west, Wake Island to the north, Kiribati to the south-east, about 27,797 of the islanders live on Majuro, which contains the capital. Micronesian colonists gradually settled the Marshall Islands during the 2nd millennium BC, Islands in the archipelago were first explored by Europeans in the 1520s, with Spanish explorer Alonso de Salazar sighting an atoll in August 1526. Other expeditions by Spanish and English ships followed, the islands derive their name from British explorer John Marshall, who visited in 1788. The islands were known by the inhabitants as jolet jen Anij. The European powers recognized Spanish sovereignty over the islands in 1874 and they had been part of the Spanish East Indies formally since 1528. Later, Spain sold the islands to the German Empire in 1884, in World War I the Empire of Japan occupied the Marshall Islands, which in 1919 the League of Nations combined with other former German territories to form the South Pacific Mandate. In World War II, the United States conquered the islands in the Gilbert, along with other Pacific Islands, the Marshall Islands were then consolidated into the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands governed by the US. Self-government was achieved in 1979, and full sovereignty in 1986, Marshall Islands has been a United Nations member state since 1991. The country uses the United States dollar as its currency, the majority of the citizens of the Marshall Islands are of Marshallese descent, though there are small numbers of immigrants from the United States, China, Philippines, and other Pacific islands. The two official languages are Marshallese, which is a member of the Malayo-Polynesian languages, and English, micronesians settled the Marshall Islands in the 2nd millennium BC, but there are no historical or oral records of that period. Over time, the Marshall Island people learned to navigate over long distances by canoe using traditional stick charts. Spanish explorer Alonso de Salazar was the first European to see the islands in 1526, commanding the ship Santa Maria de la Victoria, on August 21, he sighted an island at 14°N that he named San Bartolome. On September 21,1529, Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón commanded the Spanish ship Florida and he stood off a group of islands from which local inhabitants hurled stones at his ship. These islands, which he named Los Pintados, may have been Ujelang, on October 1, he found another group of islands where he went ashore for eight days, exchanged gifts with the local inhabitants and took on water. These islands, which he named Los Jardines, may have been Enewetak or Bikini Atoll
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24th Marine Regiment (United States)
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The 24th Marine Regiment was one of three infantry regiments in the 4th Marine Division of the United States Marine Corps. Its last headquarters before being deactivated on 9 September 2013 was in Kansas City, 1/24 passed to 25th Marine Regiment, while 2/24 passed to 23rd Marine Regiment and 3/24 was disbanded. The 24th Marine Regiment was activated at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, all three battalions were organized at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina prior to activation of the Regimental Headquarters. 1st Battalion, 24th Marines formed on 19 October 1942, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines on 20 January 1943, 3rd Battalion, in August of that same year the regiment was attached to the newly created 4th Marine Division. The regiment began movement to the zone in January 1944 when it sailed from San Diego. The first combat assignment for the regiment was to part in the seizure of Roi-Namur. On 1 February, the regiment assaulted Namur, the 2d and 3d Battalions led the attack. On moving inland the regiment met strong resistance, second Battalion suffered especially heavy casualties, primarily due to the explosion of an enemy ammunition dump. The island was wrested from the Japanese by the following day. The 24th Marines reembarked and sailed for Hawaii two days later, while stationed there, 24th Marines took part in the preparations for the invasion of the Mariana Islands. Saipan was the first objective of the Mariana Island Campaign for the regiment, the 24th Marines were originally placed in reserve. However, heavy fighting on the day of the landing,15 June 1944, 24th Marines went ashore that afternoon joining other Marine units from the 2nd Marine Division and 4th Marine Divisions in pushing inland. The Japanese stubbornly resisted the invading Americans until 9 July when the island was declared secure, American military forces in the Marianas next turned their attention to the neighboring island of Tinian. The 24th Marines had a role in the campaign to seize Tinian. The regiment was in the first wave to hit the beaches, enemy opposition was quickly overcome and the 24th Marines rapidly moved inland. By 1 August organized resistance had ended with the island under American control, the regiment returned to Hawaii at the end of the month. In Hawaii, the 24th Marines received replacements for losses suffered in the Marianas, in late January 1945, the 24th Marines embarked and sailed for the Japanese stronghold, landing on 19 February, with other 4th Marine Division units. From the very beginning of the operation the 24th Marines remained locked in battle, the last enemy pocket of resistance was finally crushed on 16 March
28.
M4 Sherman
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The M4 Sherman, officially Medium Tank, M4, was the most numerous battle tank used by the United States and some of the other Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman proved to be reliable, relatively cheap to produce, thousands were distributed through the Lend-Lease program to the British Commonwealth and Soviet Union. The tank was named by the British for the American Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman, the M4 Sherman evolved from the interim M3 Medium Tank, which had its main armament in a side sponson mount. The M4 retained much of the mechanical design, but put the main 75 mm gun in a fully traversing turret. The designers stressed mechanical reliability, ease of production and maintenance, durability, standardization of parts and ammunition in a number of variants. These factors, combined with the Shermans then-superior armor and armament, outclassed German light, the M4 went on to be produced in large numbers. It spearheaded many offensives by the Western Allies after 1942, for this reason, the US Army believed that the M4 would be adequate to win the war, and no pressure was exerted for further tank development. Logistical and transport restrictions, such as limitations imposed by roads, ports, Tank destroyer battalions using vehicles built on the M4 hull and chassis, but with open-topped turrets and more potent high-velocity guns, also entered widespread use in the Allied armies. Even by 1944, most M4 Shermans kept their dual purpose 75 mm gun, some Shermans were produced with a more capable gun, the 76 mm gun M1, or refitted with a 17-pounder by the British. These factors combined to give the Allies numerical superiority in most battles, the U. S. Army Ordnance Department designed the M4 medium tank as a replacement for the M3 medium tank. The M3 was a development of the M2 Medium Tank of 1939. The M3 was developed as a stopgap measure until a new turret mounting a 75 mm gun could be devised, though reluctant to adopt the British army weapons in their entirety the American designers were prepared to accept proved British ideas. British ideas, as embodied with in a designed by the Canadian General Staff. Before long American Services and designers had accumulated sufficient experience to forge ahead on several points, in the field of tank armament the American 75mm and 76mm dual-purpose tank guns won the acknowledgement of British tank experts. On 18 April 1941, the U. S, Armored Force Board chose the simplest of five designs. Known as the T6, the design was a modified M3 hull and chassis and this would later became the Sherman. The goals were to produce a fast, dependable medium tank able to support infantry, provide breakthrough striking capacity, the T6 prototype was completed on 2 September 1941. The T6 upper hull was a large casting
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Saipan
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Saipan /saɪˈpæn/ is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to the 2010 United States Census, Saipans population was 48,220, the Commonwealths center of government is located in the village of Capitol Hill on the island. Since the entire island is organized as a municipality, most publications term Saipan as the Commonwealths capital. The current Mayor of Saipan is David M. Apatang, who was sworn into office on June 12,2015, Saipan is the second-largest island in the Mariana Islands archipelago, after Guam. It is located about 120 mi north of Guam and 5 nautical miles northeast of Tinian, Saipan is about 12 mi long and 5.6 mi wide, with a land area of 115.38 km2. The western side of the island is lined with sandy beaches, the eastern shore is composed primarily of rugged rocky cliffs and a reef. A narrow underwater bank of Marpi Reef lies 28 mi north of the Saipan, the highest elevation on Saipan is a limestone-covered mountain called Mount Tapochau at 1,560 ft. Unlike many of the mountains in the Mariana Islands, it is not an extinct volcano, to the north of Mount Tapochau towards Banzai Cliff is a ridge of hills. Mount Achugao, situated about 2 miles north, has interpreted to be a remnant of a stratified composite volcanic cone whose Eocene center was not far north of the present peak. Saipans flora is predominantly limestone forest, some developed areas on the island are covered with Leucaena leucocephala, also known as tangan-tangan trees, that were spread broadly some time after World War II. Tangan-Tangan trees were introduced, primarily, as an erosion-prevention mechanism, remaining native forest occurs in small isolated fragments on steep slopes at low elevations and highland conservation areas of the island. Coconuts, papayas, and Thai hot peppers – locally called donni såli or boonie peppers – are among the fruits grow wild. Mango, taro root, breadfruit, and bananas are a few of the many foods cultivated by local families, Saipan is home to a number of endemic bird species. Among them, the Mariana fruit dove, white-throated ground dove, bridled white-eye, golden white-eye, Micronesian myzomela and the endangered nightingale reed warbler. The island used to have a population of giant African land snails, introduced either deliberately as a food source, or accidentally by shipping. In the last few decades, its numbers have been controlled by an introduced flatworm. Unfortunately, possibly due to the flatworm, the native tree-snails also became extinct, Saipan has a tropical marine climate moderated by seasonal trade winds from the northeast from November to March, and easterly winds from May to October. Average year-round temperature is 84 °F, there is little seasonal temperature variation, and Saipan has been cited by the Guinness Book of World Records as having the least fluctuating temperatures in the world
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Saipan International Airport
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Saipan International Airport, also known as Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport, is an airport located on Saipan Island in the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The airport is owned by Commonwealth Ports Authority and its airfield was previously known as Aslito and Isley Field. This airport is assigned a location identifier of GSN by the Federal Aviation Administration. Saipan International Airport was a field before the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service constructed a temporary landing field on the site in 1933. The landing field was used for training purposes and had two runways configured in an L pattern, in 1937, the Navy began upgrading the airfield for full military use, despite an international law ban on constructing military facilities within the South Pacific Mandate. Following the attack against the United States in 1941, the field was named Aslito Field, based on the indigenous Chamoru name for the area of its location, the IJNAS assigned two squadrons of Mitsubishi A6M5a-52 Zeros to the airfield in mid-June 1944. These squadrons took part in the occupation of the Mariana Islands during the Battle of the Philippine Sea later that month, the airfield was liberated by the United States Army 27th Infantry Division on June 18,1944 during the Battle of Saipan. During the battle, a Zero from Guam actually landed at Aslito Airfield, as it landed, the aircraft was fired at and damaged, crashing at the end of the runway. The pilot survived and the plane was captured, the field was renamed Isley Field after United States Navy Commander Robert H. Isley who was killed on June 13,1944, while strafing the base. Once in American hands, Isley Field was expanded considerably to support Twentieth Air Force B-29 Superfortress operations, the XXI Bomber Command had been assigned the overall responsibility of the B-29 operations out of the Marianas bases, and Isley Field was to be used by the 73rd Bombardment Wing. By November 22, over 100 B-29s were at Isley, the XXI Bomber Command was assigned the task of destroying the aircraft industry of Japan in a series of high-altitude, daylight precision attacks. In response to attacks, most of the Japanese air attacks on the Mariana Islands between November 1944 and January 1945 targeted Isley Field. The 73d Bomb Wing was reassigned to the United States in December 1945, the airfield was returned to civil control and it reverted to being called Aslito Field. Saipan International Airport commenced operation on July 25,1976 taking over from the nearby Kobler Field, Continental Micronesia initially had its main hub at Kobler Field and then Saipan Airport. On July 15,2008, the airlines Manila-Saipan flight, the final remaining Continental Micronesia directly-operated flight, Japanese tourists began visiting Saipan in large numbers during the 1970s. The airfield and terminal were significantly upgraded in 1975 to handle widebody aircraft, in 2005, Japan Airlines suspended its services from Japan to SPN. Routes to Osaka and Nagoya were taken over by Northwest Airlines, the airport was also renamed after former Lt. Gov. Francisco C
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Banzai charge
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A banzai charge is the term used by the Allied forces to refer to Japanese human wave attacks mounted by infantry units. This term came from the Japanese cry Tennōheika Banzai, shortened to banzai, the banzai charge is considered to be one method of gyokusai, a suicide attack, or suicide before being captured by the enemy such as seppuku. The origin of the term is a classical Chinese phrase in the 7th-century Book of Northern Qi, in Japan, since the Sengoku period, samurai followed the code called bushido, defining behaviors loyal and honorable. Among the rules there existed a code of honor that was used by Japanese military governments. During the Siege of Port Arthur human wave attacks were conducted on Russian artillery, since the Japanese suffered massive casualties in the attacks, one description of the aftermath was that thick, unbroken mass of corpses covered the cold earth like a coverlet. During the war period, the Japanese militarist government began disseminating propaganda that romanticized suicide attack, the Japanese government presented war as purifying, with death defined as a duty. By the end of 1944, the government announced the last protocol, unofficially named ichioku gyokusai, for the purpose of resisting opposition forces until August 1945. During the U. S. raid on Makin Island, on August 17,1942, the Japanese defenders then launched a banzai charge with rifles and swords but were stopped by superior American firepower. The pattern was repeated in additional attacks, but with similar results, infantry, who lost almost 650 men. Banzai charges were always of dubious effectiveness, in the early stages of the Pacific War, a sudden banzai charge might overwhelm small groups of enemy soldiers unprepared for such an attack. At best they were conducted by groups of surviving soldiers when the battle was already lost. At worst they threw away valuable resources in men and arms in suicidal attacks which only hastened defeat
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20th Marine Regiment (United States)
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20th Marine Regiment was an Composite Engineer Regiment of the United States Marine Corps that fought during World War II. It originally consisted of three battalions and was assigned to support the 4th Marine Division, the 1st and 2nd Battalions were made up of Marine Engineers and Pioneers while the 3rd Battalion was formed with US Navy Construction Battalion personnel also known as Seabees. During the war the Regiment fought during the Battle of Kwajalein, Battle of Saipan, the regiment was inactivated on August 31,1944 and its component battalions were reassigned within the 4th Marine Division. While the 121st NCB remained at Tinian to work on the airfield the 4th Marine Division moved on preparing for Iwo Jima,133 NCB was posted to the slot vacated by the 121st. With the 20th Regiment gone the 133rd was assigned to the 23rd Marines as their shore party, the 4th Engineers were then under divisional control. That Battalion had Marine Officers assigned to it, Lieutenant Colonel Nelson K. Brown Colonel Lucian W. Burnham Lieutenant Colonel Nelson K
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Tinian
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Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguijan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of the four constituent municipalities of the Northern Marianas, Tinians largest village is San Jose. Tinian is about 5 nautical miles southwest of Saipan, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel and it has a land area of 39 square miles, with its highest elevation at Mount Lasso at 171 meters. The island has a variety of flora and fauna, and limestone cliffs, the Tinian monarch is the islands only endemic bird species and it is threatened by habitat loss. There is a variety of life and coral reefs surrounding the island. Its clear, warm waters are ideal for snorkeling, scuba diving, the population of Tinian was 3,136, which corresponds to less than 5 percent of all residents of the Northern Mariana Islands and a population density of 35 people per km2. Most of the inhabitants are Chamorros and members of other groups of islands in the Caroline Islands. There are also minorities of Filipino, Bangladeshi, East Asian, around 3000 years ago, Tinian was ruled by the Chamorro Chief Taga, who built the biggest stone home with latte stones. A beach on Tinian and the charter airline were named after him. Tinian, together with Saipan, was possibly firstly sighted by Europeans by the Spanish expedition of Ferdinand Magellan, when it made a landfall in the southern Marianas on 6 March 1521. Again, it is likely it was sighted by Gonzalo Gómez de Espinosa in 1522 on board of Spanish ship Trinidad and this would have happened after the sighting of the Maug Islands in between the end of August and end of September. The Spanish formally occupied Tinian in 1669, with the expedition of Diego Luis de San Vitores who named it Buenavista Mariana. From 1670, it became a port of call for Spanish and occasional English, Dutch and French ships as a station for food. The native population, estimated at 40,000 at the time of the Spanish arrival, shrank to less than 1400 due to European-introduced diseases, the survivors were forcibly relocated to Guam in 1720 for better control and assimilation. Under Spanish rule, the island was developed into ranches for raising cattle and pigs, after the Spanish–American War of 1898, Tinian was occupied by the United States. However, it was sold by Spain to the German Empire in 1899. In 1914, during World War I, the island was captured by the Empire of Japan, the island was settled by ethnic Japanese, Koreans and Okinawans, who developed large-scale sugar plantations. Initial efforts to settle the island met with difficulties, including an infestation of scale insects, by June 1944, some 15,700 Japanese civilians were resident on Tinian
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Iwo Jima
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The U. S. occupied Iwo Jima until 1968 when it was returned to Japan. The first European to arrive at Iwo Jima was Spanish sailor Bernardo de la Torre who named it Sufre Island, at that time Iwo Jima and other islands were the limit between the Spanish and Portuguese Empires in the far East. In 1779, the island was charted as Sulphur Island, the translation of its official name. The name Sulphur Island was translated into Late Middle Japanese with the Sino-Japanese rendering iwau-tau, from Middle Chinese ljuw-huang sulfur, the historical spelling iwautau had come to be pronounced Iwō-tō by the age of Western exploration, and the 1946 orthography reform fixed the spelling and pronunciation at Iō-tō. An alternative, Iwō-jima, modern Iō-jima, also appeared in nautical atlases, tō and shima are different readings of the kanji for island, the shima being changed to jima in this case. Japanese naval officers who arrived to fortify the island before the U. S. invasion mistakenly called it Iwo Jima, in this way, the Iwo Jima reading became mainstream and was the one used by U. S. forces who arrived during World War II. Moves to revert the pronunciation were sparked by the high-profile films Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, the change does not affect how the name is written with kanji, 硫黄島, only how it is pronounced or written in hiragana, katakana and rōmaji. The island has an area of 21 km2. The most prominent feature is Mount Suribachi on the southern tip, named after a Japanese grinding bowl, the summit of Mount Suribachi is the highest point on the island. Iwo Jima is unusually flat and featureless for a volcanic island, Suribachi is the only obvious volcanic feature, as it is only the resurgent dome of a larger submerged volcanic caldera. 80 km north of the island is North Iwo Jima and 59 kilometres south is South Iwo Jima, just south of Minami-Iō-jima are the Mariana Islands. Iwo Jima has a history of volcanic activity a few times per year. Late 1779, Captain Cooks surveying crew landed on a beach which is now 40 m above sea level due to volcanic uplifting. Such uplifting occurs on the island at a rate of between 100 and 800 mm per year, with an average rate of 200 mm per year. Early 1945, USA armed forces landed on a beach which as of 2015 was 17 metres above sea level due to volcanic uplift,28 March 1957, Phreatic eruption without warning 2 km northeast of Suribachi, lasted 65 minutes and ejected material 30 m high from one crater. Another crater,30 m wide and 15 m deep, formed by collapse 50 minutes after the eruption ended,31 March 1957, Gas emissions increased. 9-10 March 1982,5 phreatic eruptions from vents on the northwest shore of Iwo-jima,21 September 2001, Submarine eruption from 3 vents southeast of Iwo-jima. It built a 10 m diameter pyroclastic cone,19 October 2001, A small phreatic eruption at Idogahama, made a crater 10 m wide and 2–3 m deep
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Tokyo
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Tokyo, officially Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan and one of its 47 prefectures. The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous area in the world. It is the seat of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese government, Tokyo is in the Kantō region on the southeastern side of the main island Honshu and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands. Formerly known as Edo, it has been the de facto seat of government since 1603 when Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu made the city his headquarters. It officially became the capital after Emperor Meiji moved his seat to the city from the old capital of Kyoto in 1868, Tokyo Metropolis was formed in 1943 from the merger of the former Tokyo Prefecture and the city of Tokyo. The Tokyo metropolitan government administers the 23 Special Wards of Tokyo, the metropolitan government also administers 39 municipalities in the western part of the prefecture and the two outlying island chains. The population of the wards is over 9 million people. The prefecture is part of the worlds most populous metropolitan area with upwards of 37.8 million people, the city hosts 51 of the Fortune Global 500 companies, the highest number of any city in the world. Tokyo ranked third in the International Financial Centres Development IndexEdit, the city is also home to various television networks such as Fuji TV, Tokyo MX, TV Tokyo, TV Asahi, Nippon Television, NHK and the Tokyo Broadcasting System. Tokyo ranked first in the Global Economic Power Index and fourth in the Global Cities Index. The city is considered a world city – as listed by the GaWCs 2008 inventory – and in 2014. In 2015, Tokyo was named the Most Liveable City in the world by the magazine Monocle, the Michelin Guide has awarded Tokyo by far the most Michelin stars of any city in the world. Tokyo ranked first in the world in the Safe Cities Index, the 2016 edition of QS Best Student Cities ranked Tokyo as the 3rd-best city in the world to be a university student. Tokyo hosted the 1964 Summer Olympics, the 1979 G-7 summit, the 1986 G-7 summit, and the 1993 G-7 summit, and will host the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tokyo was originally known as Edo, which means estuary. During the early Meiji period, the city was also called Tōkei, some surviving official English documents use the spelling Tokei. However, this pronunciation is now obsolete, the name Tokyo was first suggested in 1813 in the book Kondō Hisaku, written by Satō Nobuhiro. When Ōkubo Toshimichi proposed the renaming to the government during the Meiji Restoration, according to Oda Kanshi, Tokyo was originally a small fishing village named Edo, in what was formerly part of the old Musashi Province. Edo was first fortified by the Edo clan, in the twelfth century
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Iraq
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The capital, and largest city, is Baghdad. The main ethnic groups are Arabs and Kurds, others include Assyrians, Turkmen, Shabakis, Yazidis, Armenians, Mandeans, Circassians, around 95% of the countrys 36 million citizens are Muslims, with Christianity, Yarsan, Yezidism, and Mandeanism also present. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish, two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run south through Iraq and into the Shatt al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. These rivers provide Iraq with significant amounts of fertile land, the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, historically known as Mesopotamia, is often referred to as the cradle of civilisation. It was here that mankind first began to read, write, create laws, the area has been home to successive civilisations since the 6th millennium BC. Iraq was the centre of the Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian and it was also part of the Median, Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, Ayyubid, Mongol, Safavid, Afsharid, and Ottoman empires. Iraqs modern borders were mostly demarcated in 1920 by the League of Nations when the Ottoman Empire was divided by the Treaty of Sèvres, Iraq was placed under the authority of the United Kingdom as the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. A monarchy was established in 1921 and the Kingdom of Iraq gained independence from Britain in 1932, in 1958, the monarchy was overthrown and the Iraqi Republic created. Iraq was controlled by the Arab Socialist Baath Party from 1968 until 2003, after an invasion by the United States and its allies in 2003, Saddam Husseins Baath Party was removed from power and multi-party parliamentary elections were held in 2005. The American presence in Iraq ended in 2011, but the Iraqi insurgency continued and intensified as fighters from the Syrian Civil War spilled into the country, the Arabic name العراق al-ʿIrāq has been in use since before the 6th century. There are several suggested origins for the name, one dates to the Sumerian city of Uruk and is thus ultimately of Sumerian origin, as Uruk was the Akkadian name for the Sumerian city of Urug, containing the Sumerian word for city, UR. An Arabic folk etymology for the name is rooted, well-watered. During the medieval period, there was a region called ʿIrāq ʿArabī for Lower Mesopotamia and ʿIrāq ʿajamī, for the region now situated in Central and Western Iran. The term historically included the south of the Hamrin Mountains. The term Sawad was also used in early Islamic times for the region of the plain of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In English, it is either /ɪˈrɑːk/ or /ɪˈræk/, the American Heritage Dictionary, the pronunciation /aɪˈræk/ is frequently heard in U. S. media. Since approximately 10,000 BC, Iraq was one of centres of a Caucasoid Neolithic culture where agriculture, the following Neolithic period is represented by rectangular houses. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gypsum, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations
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2nd Battalion, 7th Marines
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The 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines is a light infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. They are based at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms and consist of approximately 1,200 Marines, the battalion falls under the command of the 7th Marine Regiment and the 1st Marine Division. As the war progressed, the company was eliminated and the component elements redistributed throughout the headquarters. During the Korean War, the three rifle companies were designated D, E and F. During the Vietnam War, the battalion was organized under a four rifle company order of battle – E, F, G and H, the battalion was activated on 1 January 1940 at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. On 18 September 1942, 2/7 landed on Guadalcanal and they fought the Battle of Guadalcanal for four months until they were relieved by elements of the United States Armys Americal Division. The battalion was sent to Australia along with the rest of the 1st Marine Division for rest. 2/7 landed on Cape Gloucester, New Britain on 26 December 1943 securing an airfield the first day and that night, Japanese Marines counterattacked and 2/7 took the brunt of the assault and the fighting continued throughout the night. By the time the sun began to rise, the entire Japanese force had been wiped out, on 14 January, 2/7 along with the rest of the regiment assaulted and took the last Japanese stronghold on the island, Hill 660. Two days later, the counter-attack came but the Marines held the hilltop often resorting to hand-to-hand fighting, the battalion continued to run patrols around the island to protect against guerrilla attacks from hold-out Japanese soldiers. In March 1943, New Britain were declared secure and on 1 April Marine Division was relieved by the US Army 40th Infantry Division, 2/7, and the rest of the 1st Marine Division again returned to Australia. On 15 September 1944, the 7th Marines landed along with the rest of the 1st Marine Division, note, The 2nd battalion was the only battalion to be held in reserve. They were to go in later in the day in support of the 7th Marines, on the night of 20 September the 2nd battalion went out to the transfer line, but there were not enough LVTs. Instead, they had to wait and go in the next morning directly in support of Chesty Pullers 1st Marines, the 2nd battalion went right into the middle of the fighting of the 1st marine regiment. When they landed they were met by intense artillery and mortar fire from Japanese positions that had not been touched by the pre-invasion bombardment, on 20 September, the 7th Marines broke out of their beachhead and linked up with the 1st Marines. The battalion fought on the island for eight weeks before it was secured. On 1 April 1945, was part of the 80,000 Marines that landed on Okinawa, the 1st Marine Division landed on the southern portion of Okinawa against light resistance. Their beachhead was secured and supplies began flowing in
38.
7th Marine Regiment (United States)
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The 7th Marine Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps based at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California. Nicknamed the Magnificent Seventh, they fall under the command of the 1st Marine Division, conduct mechanized, combined-arms operations and other expeditionary operations in order to support theater engagement plans and contingency operations. During World War I, the 7th Marine Regiment immediately deployed to Cuba for two years and they were deactivated in the demobilization that followed the war. When the Marine Corps was once called upon to provide peacekeepers in the Caribbean. At the end of the crisis, 7th Marines was once again inactivated, on 1 January 1941, the 7th Marine Regiment was re-activated at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The regiment moved to what is today Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, on 18 September 1942 the regiment landed in the Solomon Islands on Guadalcanal. For four long months the regiment relentlessly attacked the Japanese defenders and repulsed banzai charges, again and again the regiment was called upon to storm the Japanese-held islands in the Pacific. The Seventh Marine Regiment fought in places as Eastern New Guinea, New Britain, Bloody Peleliu. After the surrender of Japan, 7th Marines took part in the Occupation of Northern China from 30 September 1945 through 5 January 1947 and they returned to MCB Camp Pendleton, California in January 1947 and were reassigned to the 1st Marine Division. The regiment was deactivated on 6 March 1947 as part of the Marine Corps draw down of forces after the war, 7th Marines however was quickly reactivated on 1 October 1947 but only as a shell of its former self as it consisted of only four companies. Company C deployed to China from 2 May through 23 June 1949 to safeguard the withdrawal of Americans and was the last element of Fleet Marine Force to depart China. On 17 August 1950, after the outbreak of the Korean War, the Regiment was reactivated, the regiment fought from Inchon to the Yalu, at The Frozen Chosin Reservoir and in the long defense of South Korea until the armistice. In fall of 1962, substantial parts of the regiment embarked for the Caribbean and possible action in Cuba, as the Cuban Missile Crisis subsided, The Seventh Marines returned to Camp Pendleton, California. In 1965, the regiment was deployed to South Vietnam, the last elements of 7th Marines departed the Republic of Vietnam 13 October 1970. They were part of the attack into Kuwait and eventual victory, in December 1992, RCT-7 deployed on Operation Restore Hope to relieve famine and return order to Somalia, remaining there for five months. On 13 August 1993, on the eve of the regiments 76th anniversary, in August 1996, organizational changes once again designated 3rd LAR Battalion and 1st Tank Battalion as separate battalions in direct support of the 7th Marines MPF Mission. Also in direct support is Delta Company 3rd AA Battalion who returned to 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, in January 2003, the 7th Marines deployed to Kuwait as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. On 21 March, the regiment crossed the line of departure into Iraq as it moved to seize, during the course of the next few weeks, the regiment continued the offensive to capture Baghdad and collapse the regime of Saddam Hussein
39.
Haditha
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Haditha is a city in the western Iraqi Al Anbar Governorate, about 240 km northwest of Baghdad. It is a town situated on the Euphrates River at 34°08′23″N 42°22′41″E. Its population of around 25,700 people, predominantly Sunni Muslim Arabs, the city lies near the Buhayrat al Qadisiyyah, an artificial lake which was created by the building of the Haditha Dam, the largest hydroelectric facility in Iraq. In September 2014, the Islamic State tried to capture the dam, the dam and the town remain under the control of the Iraqi Security Forces. Haditha is officially a political district subordinate to the Al Anbar Province, the Haditha District consist of the Sub-Districts of Haditha, the Haqlaniyah Sub-District, and the Barwannah Sub-District. Each district is governed by a Mayor and a Sub-District Council, the twenty member sub-district councils elect one of their own to serve as the Council Chairman. They also employ other municipal managers such as a Municipal Engineer, the riverbank in the Haditha District is occupied by well irrigated farm plots that produce a large amount of food. Substantial sheep and goat flocks are kept in the area. Further food sources come from fishing the river or the nearby Lake Qadisiya, entering the Haditha Sub District, one is likely to see municipal signs illustrated with a water wheel. These are displayed as a reference to the areas history, locals suggest that the ancient looking structures on or near the Euphrates River were part of a water wheel structure that dates back to a period of Roman occupation. They claim locals built water wheels to establish a limited aqueduct system similar to the one that served Rome, whether or not soldiers or citizens of the Roman Empire ever resided in Haditha is an open question. The Haditha Dam and surrounding areas were secured by U. S. troops in April 2003 as part of the invasion of Iraq. An attack on the dam would have severely flooded towns along the Euphrates downstream from Haditha, as the fighting continued following the fall of Saddam Hussein, Haditha became a center for insurgent activity. It lies between Al-Qaim, an insurgent entry point, and Baghdad, on July 16,2003 Mohammed Nayil Jurayfi, mayor of Haditha, and his youngest son, Ahmed, were assassinated. In 2004, U. S. troops left a police force in charge of the city and insurgents rounded up dozens of local police officers. In May 2005, U. S. forces launched Operation New Market in Haditha against the controlling the city. On August 1,2005, an ambush killed 6 United States Marine snipers, in the city, on August 3, according to an August 2005 report by The Guardian, the town was controlled by insurgents, with US forces making only fleeting visits every few months. Like Al-Qaim, it had come under a Taliban-like rule, with Western-style items banned and this insurgent dominance has continued into 2006
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Ramadi
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Ramadi is a city in central Iraq, about 110 kilometers west of Baghdad and 50 kilometers west of Fallujah. It is the capital of Al Anbar Governorate, the city extends along the Euphrates and is the largest city in Al-Anbar. Founded by the Ottoman Empire in 1879, by 2011 it had a population of about 375,000 people and it lies within the Sunni Triangle of western Iraq. Ramadi occupies a strategic location on the Euphrates and the road west into Syria. This has made it a hub for trade and traffic, from which the city gained significant prosperity and its position has meant that it has been fought over several times, during the two World Wars and again during the Iraq War and Iraqi insurgency. It was heavily damaged during the Iraq War, when it was a focus for the insurgency against occupying United States forces. Following the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq in 2011, the city was contested by the Iraqi government and the extremist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and fell to ISIL in May 2015. On 28 December 2015, the Iraqi government declared that it had re-taken Ramadi from ISIL, that governments first major military victory since the loss of Ramadi some seven months earlier. Ramadis population was reported by the World Food Programme to number 375,000 people in 2011, though the number is likely to have decreased since then given the impact of the Iraq war and insurgency. Its population grew rapidly during the last half of the 20th century, the population is very homogeneous, over 90 per cent Sunni Arab. Ramadi is located in a fertile, irrigated, alluvial plain, within Iraqs Sunni Triangle and he described it as a pretty little town and noted that the black tents of the Bedouin could be seen along the both banks of the river all the way from Ramadi to Falujah. The modern city was founded in 1869 by Midhat Pasha, the Ottoman Wali of Baghdad, Ramadi was described in 1892 as the most wide awake town in the whole Euphrates valley. It has an office and large government barracks. The bazaars are very large and well filled, sir John Bagot Glubb was posted there in 1922 to maintain a rickety floating bridge over the river, carried on boats made of reeds daubed with bitumen, as he put it. By this time the Dulaim were mostly settled, though they had not yet adopted an urbanised lifestyle. Glubb described them as cultivators along the banks of the Euphrates, watering their wheat, barley and date palms by kerids, yet they had but recently settled, and still lived in black goat-hair tents. A British military handbook published during World War I noted that some European travellers have found the inhabitants of Rumadiyah inclined to fanaticism, Ramadi was twice fought over during the Mesopotamian Campaign of World War I. It was held initially by the forces of the Ottoman Empire, the British Armys Lieutenant General Frederick Stanley Maude sought to drive out the garrison in July 1917 but faced severe difficulties due to exceptional heat during both day and night
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Al Anbar Governorate
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Al Anbar Governorate, or Anbar Province, is the largest governorate in Iraq by area. Encompassing much of the western territory, it shares borders with Syria, Jordan. The provincial capital is Ramadi, other important cities include Fallujah, the governorate was known as Ramadi up to 1976, when it was renamed Al Anbar Province, and it was known as Dulaim before 1962. Nearly all the inhabitants of the province are Sunni Muslims and most belong to the Dulaim tribe. In early 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, with the assistance of local Sunni militia, since then, numerous offensive actions have been undertaken by the Iraqi government to remove ISILs occupation of the province. The name of the governorate in Persian language means warehouse or silo, from the verb and this was the last stop/warehouses on the old Silk Road toward Syria. This city of Anbār was founded in the 3rd century by the Muntherids, and was before the Arab conquest in 634 and it was abandoned after the Mongol invasion in the 14th century. A pseudo-authentication is offered by proposing that the name is Arabic and stands for granaries in Arabic, in reality, Nbr does not mean grain in classical or middle Arabic, nor commonly in modern Arabic. The name already in use in Pre-Islamic times during the Sasanian rule over Iraq long before any Arabic having introduced to an otherwise Aramaic speaking Iraq, Dulaim is the old name of the governorate due to the Dulaim tribe inhabiting the region. It was called also called Lwa Al-Dulaim in the Ottoman period, geographically, Anbar governorate is considered part of the Arabian Peninsula. Summer temperatures rise to 42 degrees Celsius, whilst in the average lows reach 9 degrees Celsius. The northwesterly and southwesterly winds are sometimes to a speed of 21 m/s. Average rainfall in winter to 115 mm, the most important agricultural crops in Al-Anbar are wheat, potatoes, autumn, barley, maize and vegetables and fodder. There are also a number of orchards and the province has 2.5 million palm trees. Agriculture depends on perfusion or through the rivers and the wells, half of the residents in Anbar are living on the banks of the Euphrates River outside cities and the towns, there were between 1.9 million and 2 million inhabitants in the districts of Al Anbar. The largest cities are Ramadi and Fallujah, according to UN estimate in 2003 the population of Al Anbar is 1,230,169. There are no estimates of the population which include all of the cities and towns. According to a 2003 estimate by the NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq and it is estimated that around 90 percent of Anbars inhabitants are adherents of the Sunni branch of Islam
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Al Asad Airbase
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Ayn al-Asad Airbase is an Iraqi Armed Forces and United States armed forces base located in the Al Anbar Governorate of western Iraq. It was the second largest US military airbase in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom, until January 2010, it was the home of the II Marine Expeditionary Force/Multi-National Force West. Due to numerous amenities aboard the base, service members referred to it as Camp Cupcake, the base is located in the Hīt District of the largely Sunni Al Anbar Governorate, about 100 miles west of Baghdad and 5 miles west of the village of Khan al Baghdadi. The airbase is divided by Wādī al Asadī, a wadi whose course passes through the oasis along the western edge and then continues eastward. This oasis is locally referred to as Abrahams Well, the ‘Ayn al Asad spring surfaces within the base and flows into the Wādī al Asadī. Geologically, the base resides in the Al-Ḥammād sector of the Syrian Desert, composed mostly of a rock, the base was originally named Qadisiyah Airbase, a reference to the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah. Qadisiyah AB was one of five new air bases built in Iraq as part of their Project Super-Base, the base was built sometime between 1981 and 1987 by a consortium of Yugoslavian companies under contract to the government of Iraq. Two Yugoslav government agencies led the project, the FDSP acted as the project manager and Aeroengineering acted as the project engineer. Known as Project 202-B and Project 1100, the involved in its construction included Granit. The US$280,000,000 project at Qadisiyah AB included accommodation for 5,000 personnel, the hardened aircraft shelters built here and throughout Iraq by the Yugoslavs were nicknamed Yugos. At the time they were considered state of the art but were rendered obsolete in 1991 after the development of the GBU-28 laser-guided bunker-buster bomb, prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the base housed three units of the Iraqi Air Force, which flew MiG-25s and MiG-21s. It was abandoned shortly after the start of the invasion and it was initially known as Objective Webster, and then eventually was renamed Al Asad Airbase, which means The Lion in Arabic. The base was secured during the Iraq War by the Australian Special Air Service Regiment on 16 April 2003 and was turned over to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in May 2003. The 3rd ACR was relieved by the Marines of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in March 2004, Al Asad became the largest U. S. base in western Iraq and the western equivalent of Baghdads Green Zone. Al Asad was a major hub, hosting hundreds of fuel. Huge shipments of fuel were commonly run along the dangerous routes coming out of Jordan and, despite insurgent attempts, a single convoy operation would sometimes last a couple days with trucks on the road for over 8 hours a day. The base is self-sufficient for producing drinking water, having both a reverse osmosis water purification plant and a bottling plant, most of the housing on base are cans – shipping containers converted to, or manufactured as, living areas. Some of the barracks still remain, however, and were used as well
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3rd Battalion, 25th Marines
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3rd Battalion, 25th Marines is a reserve infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps. In the early 1960s, the unit was reactivated as a reserve battalion, currently headquartered in Brook Park, Ohio with units throughout Ohio, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania, the battalion is nicknamed three deuce five and consists of approximately 800 Marines and Sailors. They fall under the 25th Marine Regiment and the 4th Marine Division, recent operations have included tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. To locate, close with, and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver or to repel the assault by fire. Additionally, the Battalion is prepared to augment active Marine Forces in case of national emergency, the 25th Marine Regiment was activated on May 1,1943. The 25th Marine Regiment fought in the Battles of Saipan, Tinian, Kwajalein Atoll, during the fighting on Iwo Jima, the battalion was tasked with the securing of Airfield One, before pushing northward into the heart of the Japanese defenses. Colonel Justice M. Chambers received the Medal of Honor for his actions as 3/25s commanding officer during the battle and his medals are displayed in the trophy case located at H&S Brook Park, Ohio. In 1945 the regiment was deactivated when World War II had ended, on July 1,1962, the 25th Marine Regiment was reactivated as a Marine Corps Reserve Unit. This Regiment has continued to train in every clime and place for its role in the defense of the United States, the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines was again activated during Operation Desert Storm to support operations conducted in Southwest Asia. Although the Marines of 3/25 did not deploy to Southwest Asia, they played a key role in operations in Norway, Panama. The battalion was activated on January 4,2005, from January 10 to late February 2005, the companies conducted pre-deployment training at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms and March Air Reserve Base, California. Major operations that the battalion participated in during its deployment included Operations Matador, New Market, Spear, Sword, River Bridge, Outer Banks, the battalion rotated out of Iraq in late September 2005, and deactivated on January 3,2006. Forty-six Marines and two Navy Corpsmen serving with the battalion in Iraq were killed in action, a memorial paying tribute to them was erected at the Battalion headquarters in Brook Park, Ohio and was dedicated on November 12,2005. In August 2010, 3/25 deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, the battalions missions were across Helmand province and included reconnaissance, civil affairs, security and combat operations. The battalion rotated out of Afghanistan in March 2011, and was deactivated in June 2011, One Marine serving in the battalion was killed in action during the deployment. List of United States Marine Corps battalions Organization of the United States Marine Corps Template, Http, //www. usmcra. org/page-855167s 3/25s official website
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Haditha Dam
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The Haditha Dam or Qadisiya Dam is an earth-fill dam on the Euphrates, north of Haditha, creating Lake Qadisiyah. The dam is just over 9 kilometres long and 57 metres high, the purpose of the dam is to generate hydroelectricity, regulate the flow of the Euphrates and provide water for irrigation. It is the second-largest hydroelectric contributor to the system in Iraq behind the Mosul Dam. The Haditha Dam project was conceived in the late 1960s, construction began in 1977 and it was conceived of as a multi-purpose project that would generate hydroelectric power, regulate the flow of the Euphrates, and provide water for irrigation. Construction lasted between 1977 and 1987 and was a joint undertaking by the Soviet Union and Iraqi governments, the cost of the initial construction of the Haditha Dam is estimated at US$830 million. With the creation of the Haditha Reservoir, the ancient archeological site of Usiyeh along with Anah were flooded, Usiyeh was located on the right bank of the Euphrates between Haditha and Anah and was excavated by the Japanese Archaeological Expedition in Iraq between 1982 and 1983. A multi-room underground structure along with a staircase, four life-size lion terracotta statues and these findings dated back to 1800–1700 BC. Ancient Anah was also flooded and contained a prized minaret, during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, United States Army Rangers seized the Haditha Dam on 1 April in order to prevent it from being destroyed. Destruction of the dam would have affected the functioning of the countrys electrical grid. Afterwards, various U. S. Marine units had been stationed at the dam, in 2004, the Gulf Region Division of the United States Army Corps of Engineers carried out restoration works on one of the turbines to restore the dams hydroelectric power station to full capacity. According to the Coalition Provisional Authority, the inauguration of this turbine on 3 June 2004 signified the first time since 1990 that the station operated at full capacity. In the same year, a new line was established between Haditha and Baghdad with the help of the USACE to restore a line that had previously been destroyed. This new line, stretching over a distance of 223 kilometres with 504 towers, has a capacity of 400 kV, the cost of the line was US$56.7 million and was paid by Iraqs oil revenues. The dam is situated in a stretch of the Euphrates Valley where a small secondary channel branched off the main channel. The width of the channel was 350 metres whereas the secondary channel was 50 metres wide. The hydroelectric station is located in this secondary channel, the Haditha Dam is 9,064 metres long and 57 metres high, with the hydropower station at 3,310 metres from the dams southern edge. The crest is at 154 metres AMSL and 20 metres wide, total volume of the dam is 0.03 cubic kilometres. In cross-section, the dam consists of an asphaltic concrete cutoff wall at its core, followed by meally detrital dolomites, and these materials were chosen because they are readily available near the construction site
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Afghanistan
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Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located within South Asia and Central Asia. It has a population of approximately 32 million, making it the 42nd most populous country in the world. It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and east, Iran in the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan in the north and its territory covers 652,000 km2, making it the 41st largest country in the world. The land also served as the source from which the Kushans, Hephthalites, Samanids, Saffarids, Ghaznavids, Ghorids, Khiljis, Mughals, Hotaks, Durranis, the political history of the modern state of Afghanistan began with the Hotak and Durrani dynasties in the 18th century. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan became a state in the Great Game between British India and the Russian Empire. Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, King Amanullah unsuccessfully attempted to modernize the country and it remained peaceful during Zahir Shahs forty years of monarchy. A series of coups in the 1970s was followed by a series of wars that devastated much of Afghanistan. The name Afghānistān is believed to be as old as the ethnonym Afghan, the root name Afghan was used historically in reference to a member of the ethnic Pashtuns, and the suffix -stan means place of in Persian. Therefore, Afghanistan translates to land of the Afghans or, more specifically in a historical sense, however, the modern Constitution of Afghanistan states that he word Afghan shall apply to every citizen of Afghanistan. An important site of historical activities, many believe that Afghanistan compares to Egypt in terms of the historical value of its archaeological sites. The country sits at a unique nexus point where numerous civilizations have interacted and it has been home to various peoples through the ages, among them the ancient Iranian peoples who established the dominant role of Indo-Iranian languages in the region. At multiple points, the land has been incorporated within large regional empires, among them the Achaemenid Empire, the Macedonian Empire, the Indian Maurya Empire, and the Islamic Empire. Archaeological exploration done in the 20th century suggests that the area of Afghanistan has been closely connected by culture and trade with its neighbors to the east, west. Artifacts typical of the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze, urban civilization is believed to have begun as early as 3000 BCE, and the early city of Mundigak may have been a colony of the nearby Indus Valley Civilization. More recent findings established that the Indus Valley Civilisation stretched up towards modern-day Afghanistan, making the ancient civilisation today part of Pakistan, Afghanistan, in more detail, it extended from what today is northwest Pakistan to northwest India and northeast Afghanistan. An Indus Valley site has found on the Oxus River at Shortugai in northern Afghanistan. There are several smaller IVC colonies to be found in Afghanistan as well, after 2000 BCE, successive waves of semi-nomadic people from Central Asia began moving south into Afghanistan, among them were many Indo-European-speaking Indo-Iranians. These tribes later migrated further into South Asia, Western Asia, the region at the time was referred to as Ariana
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II Marine Expeditionary Force
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II MEF falls under the command of U. S. Marine Corps Forces Command, and is a service retained force, meaning it is not assigned or allocated to any of the Geographic Combatant Commands. However, II MEF regularly provides subordinate units in support of operations, european Command, U. S. Africa Command, and U. S. Southern Command Areas of Responsibility, as well as in support of other U. S. unified, II MEF units are available for and prepared to respond to contingency requirements worldwide. The size and composition of any MAGTF will be dependent upon the mission assigned, one mission that could be assigned to the MEB would be assignment for planning, deployment and utilization of equipment stored aboard Maritime Prepositioning Ships. At the same time, tactical aircraft of the MEB are flight ferried to an airfield in or near the area of operation, the MEB can be sustained for 30 days by the supplies aboard the ships. The only routinely deployed MAGTFs, the 22d, 24th and 26th MEUs deploy on a basis to the Mediterranean Sea area to serve as the landing force for the Commander. Following a 2010-11 force structure review, II MEF is the only force in the Marine Corps presently commanded by a two-star general officer. Smith Hall Globalsecurity. org II MEFs official website
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8th Marine Regiment (United States)
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The 8th Marine Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps. They are based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and fall under the command of the 2nd Marine Division, while training for war, the command was transferred to Fort Crockett, Texas to guard the nearby Mexican oil fields. The regiment was joined there by the 9th Marines to form the 3d Marine Brigade, as such, the Marines were held in reserve to establish and defend naval bases in the Atlantic Ocean or the West Indies, if required. The 8th Marines was inactivated at Philadelphia Navy Yard on 25 April 1919, a year later, the regiment was reactivated for service in Haiti where Marines had been fighting the Cacos bandits since 1914. Through systematic patrolling which culminated in a number of brief, sharp clashes, the 8th Marines was inactivated again in 1925. In 1940 the regiment was formed once more, in San Diego and it was the first Marine regiment to deploy into the Pacific waters to Samoa. After ten months of training, while defending the Samoan Islands. While there, the 8th Marines won its first Presidential Unit Citation, when the 8th arrived on Guadalcanal they were still wearing the Kelly Transitional helmet according to the book, Helmet for My Pillow. Joining the 2nd Marine Division in New Zealand, the 8th Marines spent several months refitting for the Battle of Tarawa, in 76 hours the Marines seized that island and opened the door to the Japanese Empire. For its actions, the 8th Marine Regiment received its second Presidential Unit Citation, after refitting in Hawaii, the 8th Marines sailed for the Marianas, to storm the beaches of Saipan and Tinian, capturing key bases for the air war against Japan. Reinforced with artillery, the regiment later joined the 1st and 6th Divisions in the Battle of Okinawa, in the 1980s,28 May 1982 2nd Battalion 8th Marines under the command of LtCol. 15 June 1982 2nd Battalion 8th Marines evacuated the U. S. Ambassador, Staff,25 August 1982 2nd Battalion 8th Marines along with the French, Italian and Israelis Forces evacuated the Palestinian Liberation Organization from Beirut. December 1982 3rd Battalion 8th Marines relieved 2nd Battalion 8th Marines on station, 1st Battalion 8th Marines relieved 2nd Battalion 2nd Marines June 1983, and on 23 October 1st Battalion 8th Marines Barracks along with the French 8th Para Regiment Barracks were bombed. 2nd Battalion 8th Marines were returning to Beirut, and detoured to the Caribbean when they heard of the Bombing of Marine Barracks, immediately after departing Grenada, 2d Battalion, 8th Marines continued their deployment to join the Multinational Peacekeeping Force in Beirut, Lebanon. From December 1990 to April 1991 the 8th Marines participated in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia, 2d Battalion, 8th Marines participated in Operation Provide Comfort in northern Iraq from April to July 1991. 8th Marines deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in the February 2005 and they operated around the city of Fallujah, Iraq. The Marines secured the city ahead of the December 2005 national elections, 8th Marines redeployed to Iraq in January 2009, taking over responsibility for the western Al-Anbar province from the 5th Marines. During this period, RCT-8 continued and completed the major retrograde of equipment out of Iraq, according to CBS News, the regiment had one of the highest casualty rates during its 2009 deployment
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Helmand Province
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Helmand or Hillmand The ancient names of of Helmand were is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering 58,584 square kilometres area, the province contains 13 districts, encompassing over 1,000 villages, and roughly 879,500 settled people. Lashkar Gah serves as the provincial capital, Helmand was part of the Greater Kandahar region until made into a separate province by the Afghan government in the 20th century. The province has an airport, in the city of Lashkar Gah. The British Camp Bastion and U. S, Camp Leatherneck are a short distance southwest of Lashkar Gah. The Helmand River flows through the desert region of the province. The Kajaki Dam, which is one of Afghanistans major reservoirs, is located in the Kajaki district, Helmand is believed to be one of the worlds largest opium-producing regions, responsible for around 42% of the worlds total production. This is believed to be more than the whole of Burma, which is the second largest producing nation after Afghanistan. The region also produces tobacco, sugar beets, cotton, sesame, wheat, mung beans, maize, nuts, sunflowers, onions, potato, tomato, cauliflower, peanut, apricot, grape, and melon. Helmand culture of western Afghanistan was a Bronze Age culture of the 3rd millennium BC and it is exemplified by such major sites as Shahr-i Sokhta, Mundigak, and Bampur. The term Helmand civilization was proposed by M. Tosi and this civilization flourished between 2500 BC and 1900 BC, and may have coincided with the great flourishing of the Indus Valley Civilisation. This was also the phase of Periods III and IV of Shahr-i Sokhta. Jiroft culture is related to Helmand culture. Jiroft culture flourished in the eastern Iran, and the Helmand culture in western Afghanistan at the same time, in fact, they may represent the same cultural area. Mehrgarh culture, on the hand, is far earlier. Some Vedic scholars also believe the Helmand valley corresponds to the Sarasvati area mentioned in the Rig Veda as the homeland for the Indo-Aryan migrations into India, helmland was inhabited by ancient peoples and governed by the Medes before falling to the Achaemenids. Later, the area was part of the ancient Arachosia polity, and a frequent target for conquest because of its location in Asia. The Helmand river valley is mentioned by name in the Avesta as Haetumant, one of the centers of the Zoroastrian faith
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps.
This article incorporates 
