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.
III Marine Expeditionary Force
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III Marine Expeditionary Force is a formation of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force of the United States Marine Corps. It is forward-deployed and able to rapidly conduct operations across the spectrum from humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to amphibious assault. It maintains a presence in Japan and Asia to support the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation. III MEF also conducts combined operations and training throughout the region in support of the National Security Strategy for Theater Security Cooperation and these exercises build partner capacity, develop and maintain strong regional alliances and military-to-military contacts. These exercises prepare III MEF to conduct operations ranging from combat operations to humanitarian assistance. III MEF has played a significant role in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief throughout the region. The MEF assisted the efforts led by the Government of Japan during Operation Tomodachi after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake. III MEF also conducted HA/DR missions in Thailand in October 2011, the Philippines in Oct.2010, more than 2,495 tons of relief supplies were delivered and over 21,000 people were evacuated. The Marines combine air, ground, and logistics forces to operate as a coherent, self-sufficient force, each mission dictates the MAGTFs scale and structure, giving the Marine Corps the flexibility to respond to any crisis and making a force in readiness. A MEF is the largest of all MAGTFs, III Marine Expeditionary Force was activated as I Amphibious Corps 1 Oct.1942 in Camp Elliott, San Diego, Calif. Later that month, they were deployed to Noumea, New Caledonia, the unit was redesignated as III Amphibious Corps 15 April 1944. III Amphibious Corps was deactivated 10 June 1946, III Marine Expeditionary Force was activated 6 May 1965 at Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam. III MEF was re-designated to III Marine Amphibious Force 7 May 1965, III Marine Amphibious Force deployed to Camp Courtney, Okinawa April 1971. III MAF was redesignated to III Marine Expeditionary Force 5 Feb.1988 and it fought in some of the bloodiest battles, including the Solomon Islands Campaign, the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign and the Battle of Okinawa. III Amphibious Corps redeployed to Tientsin, China in Sept. of 1945 where it participated in the occupation of Northern China until June 1946, III Amphibious Corps was deactivated 10 June 1946. III MEF was reactivated 6 May 1965 in Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam,7 May 1965, III MEF was re-designated as III Marine Amphibious Force and consisted of the 1st Marine Division, 3rd Marine Division and the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. The III MAFs area of operations was in the northern I Corps Tactical Zone, III MAF participated in the Vietnam War from May 1965 – April 1971 operating from Quang Tri, Thua Thien, Quang Nam, Quang Tin, and Quang Ngai. III MAF deployed to Camp Courtney, Okinawa in April 1971, since III MAF was redesignated to III Marine Expeditionary Force 5 February 1988, they have participated in many different operations
4.
Camp Hansen
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Camp Hansen is a United States Marine Corps base located in Okinawa, Japan. The camp is situated in the town of Kin, near the shore of Kin Bay. Camp Hansen holds the record for the most Marines that re-enlist in the Marine Corps, the camp houses approximately 6,000 Marines nowadays, and is part of Marine Corps Base Camp Butler, which itself is not a physical base and comprises all Marine Corps installations on Okinawa. Camp Hansen is named for Medal of Honor recipient Dale M. Hansen, Hansen was killed by a Japanese snipers bullet three days after his actions on Hill 60. Also located at Camp Hansen is a brig, a confinement facility that houses U. S. military members from around the Far East for short term sentences, according to documents leaked by Edward Snowden and published by The Intercept, site hosts NSA collection facility codenamed CAMELUS. In September 1995 a controversy erupted when three U. S. servicemen stationed in Camp Hansen rented a van, kidnapped and raped a 12-year-old Japanese girl, list of U. S. Marine Corps bases Camp Hansen. Archived from the original on 25 December 2008, an Insiders Guide to USMC Bases
5.
Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler
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Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler is a United States Marine Corps base located in the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa. It was named for legendary Marine Smedley D. Butler, Camp Smedley D. Butler is actually a collection of facilities and satellite installations spread throughout Okinawa. The renaming of Buckner to Butler occurred after most US Army troops left Okinawa, additionally, Marine Corps Air Station Futenma and Marine Wing Liaison Kadena, while not part of the Camp Butler complex, shares many resources with it. Other Marine installations in Japan include Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, United States Forces Japan Butlers web site Camp S D Butler, GlobalSecurity. org
6.
Vietnam War
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It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and the government of South Vietnam. The war is considered a Cold War-era proxy war. As the war continued, the actions of the Viet Cong decreased as the role. U. S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery, in the course of the war, the U. S. conducted a large-scale strategic bombing campaign against North Vietnam. The North Vietnamese government and the Viet Cong were fighting to reunify Vietnam and they viewed the conflict as a colonial war and a continuation of the First Indochina War against forces from France and later on the United States. The U. S. government viewed its involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam and this was part the domino theory of a wider containment policy, with the stated aim of stopping the spread of communism. Beginning in 1950, American military advisors arrived in what was then French Indochina, U. S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with troop levels tripling in 1961 and again in 1962. Regular U. S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965, despite the Paris Peace Accord, which was signed by all parties in January 1973, the fighting continued. In the U. S. and the Western world, a large anti-Vietnam War movement developed as part of a larger counterculture, the war changed the dynamics between the Eastern and Western Blocs, and altered North–South relations. Direct U. S. military involvement ended on 15 August 1973, the capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese Army in April 1975 marked the end of the war, and North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year. The war exacted a huge human cost in terms of fatalities, estimates of the number of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed vary from 966,000 to 3.8 million. Some 240, 000–300,000 Cambodians,20, 000–62,000 Laotians, and 58,220 U. S. service members died in the conflict. Various names have applied to the conflict. Vietnam War is the most commonly used name in English and it has also been called the Second Indochina War and the Vietnam Conflict. As there have been several conflicts in Indochina, this conflict is known by the names of its primary protagonists to distinguish it from others. In Vietnamese, the war is known as Kháng chiến chống Mỹ. It is also called Chiến tranh Việt Nam, France began its conquest of Indochina in the late 1850s, and completed pacification by 1893. The 1884 Treaty of Huế formed the basis for French colonial rule in Vietnam for the seven decades
7.
Operation Eagle Pull
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Operation Eagle Pull was the United States military evacuation by air of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on 12 April 1975. With a Khmer Rouge victory imminent, the US government made plans for the evacuation of US nationals. Operation Eagle Pull took place on the morning of 12 April 1975 and was a success carried out without any loss of life. Five days later the Khmer Republic collapsed and the Khmer Rouge occupied Phnom Penh, as part of their 1975 dry season offensive, rather than renewing their frontal attacks on Phnom Penh, the Khmer Rouge set out to cut off the crucial Mekong supply route. On 12 January 1975 the Khmer Rouge attacked Neak Luong, a key Khmer National Armed Forces defensive outpost on the Mekong. On 27 January, seven vessels limped into Phnom Penh, the survivors of a 16-ship convoy that had come under attack over the 100 kilometres journey from the South Vietnamese border. On 3 February a convoy heading downriver hit naval mines laid by the Khmer Rouge at Phu My approximately 74 kilometres from Phnom Penh. The FANK naval branch, the Khmer National Navy, had mine-sweeping capability, the MNK had lost a quarter of its ships, and 70 percent of its sailors had been killed or wounded. By 17 February, the Khmer Republic abandoned attempts to reopen the Mekong supply line, in future, all supplies for Phnom Penh would have to come in by air to Pochentong Airport. On 5 March, Khmer Rouge artillery at Toul Leap, north-west of Phnom Penh, shelled Pochentong Airport, Khmer Rouge forces continued to close in on the north and west of the city and were soon able to fire on Pochentong again. On 22 March rockets hit two supply aircraft, forcing the US Embassy to announce on 23 March a suspension of the airlift until the security situation improved. The Embassy, realizing that the Khmer Republic would soon collapse without supplies, reversed the suspension on 24 March, on 1 April the Khmer Rouge overran Neak Luong and Ban-am, the last remaining FANK positions on the Mekong. The Communists could now concentrate all their forces on Phnom Penh, Premier Lon Nol resigned that day and went into exile, the final collapse of the Khmer Republic was imminent. The evacuation plan was developed and refined by the US Military as Khmer Rouge forces closed in on Phnom Penh, on 27 June 1973 the Seventh Air Force published Contingency Plan 5060C Eagle Pull covering the evacuation of Phnom Penh. Conplan 5060C had three options, Option 1, the evacuation of Embassy personnel, US citizens and designated Cambodians by regular or chartered civilian airlift from Pochentong Airport, the LZs were to be adjacent to the US Embassy in Phnom Penh. On 6 February the reaction time was reduced to 48 hours and this was further reduced on 28 February to 24 hours, effectively meaning that the fleet had to remain within the Gulf of Thailand. On 21 March the Embassy predicted there would be 3,600 evacuees, the command element supervised the ongoing fixed-wing evacuation of more than 750 Cambodians over the next seven days in the face of 80–90 rounds of 105 mm artillery and 107 mm rocket fire each day. By 10 April Khmer Rouge fire had become so heavy that the evacuation was ended
8.
Operation Frequent Wind
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It was carried out on 29–30 April 1975, during the last days of the Vietnam War. More than 7,000 people were evacuated by helicopter from various points in Saigon, the airlift resulted in a number of enduring images. Evacuation plans already existed as a procedure for American embassies. At the beginning of March, fixed-wing aircraft began evacuating civilians from Tan Son Nhat Airport through neighboring countries, by mid-April, contingency plans were in place and preparations were underway for a possible helicopter evacuation. As the imminent collapse of Saigon became evident, Task Force 76 was assembled off the coast near Vung Tau to support a helicopter evacuation, by allowing the mostly-unopposed evacuation of Americans from Saigon. On 28 April, Tan Son Nhut Air Base came under artillery fire, the fixed-wing evacuation was terminated and Operation Frequent Wind commenced. The U. S. Embassy in Saigon was intended to only be an evacuation point for embassy staff. The evacuation of the embassy was completed at 07,53 on 30 April, tens of thousands of Vietnamese evacuated themselves by sea or air. With the collapse of South Vietnam, numerous boats and ships, VNAF helicopters, helicopters began to clog ship decks and eventually, some were pushed overboard to allow others to land. Pilots of other helicopters were told to drop off their passengers and then take off and ditch in the sea, during the fixed-wing evacuation 50,493 people were evacuated from Tan Son Nhut. In Operation Frequent Wind a total of 1,373 Americans and 5,595 Vietnamese, the total number of Vietnamese evacuated by Frequent Wind or self-evacuated and ending up in the custody of the United States for processing as refugees to enter the United States totalled 138,869. This operation was the combat deployment of the F-14 Tomcat aircraft. Planning for the evacuation of the Americans and their South Vietnamese allies from South Vietnam had begun prior to April,1975. When U. S. President Gerald Ford met with the National Security Council on 9 April,1975 he was told by Henry Kissinger that a maximum of 1. S. government, evacuation plans are standard for American embassies. The Talon Vise/Frequent Wind plan had developed over a number of years. Originally codenamed Talon Vise, the operation was renamed Frequent Wind when the original codename was compromised, there were approximately 17,000 at-risk Vietnamese on embassy rolls, which, using an average of seven dependents per family, meant that the number requiring evacuation was 119,000. Taken with other categories of Vietnamese, the number increased to over 200,000. Also on 1 April, Plan Alamo was implemented to utilize and defend the DAO compound and its annex as a holding area
9.
Multinational Force in Lebanon
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The ceasefire held until June 3,1982 when the PLO attempted to assassinate Shlomo Argov, Israels ambassador to London. Three days later, Israel reentered the PLO-controlled West Beirut and blockaded the city in order to contain insurgency, seven weeks into the blockade, the besieged PLO acceded to a new agreement for their withdrawal. The four-nation MNF was created as an interposition force meant to oversee the withdrawal of the Palestine Liberation Organization. The participants included the U. S. Additionally, the MNF was in charge of training units of the Lebanese Armed Forces. The relatively benign environment at the beginning of the gave way to chaos as the civil war re-escalated following the assassination of President-elect Bashir Gemayel in September 1982. Subsequent political and military developments on the ground caused the MNF to be viewed not as a peacekeeper and it was replaced by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon already present in Lebanon since 1978 under the leadership of Ghanaian Lieutenant General Emmanuel Erskine. Under its mandate, the MNF provides a multinational presence requested by the Lebanese Government to assist it, the MNF is not authorized to engage in combat but may exercise the right of self-defense. The USMNF follows a policy of active self-defense in response to attacks, in order to enhance the safety of MNF personnel, authority has been given to U. S. S. The MNF is currently composed of the units, which perform the functions indicated at the request of the Lebanese Government. Their precise functions within the MNF mission have varied over time, one U. S. Marine Amphibious Unit is ashore at Beirut International Airport as a 1, 400-man force which also provides external-security troops at U. S. diplomatic facilities in the greater Beirut area. Additional elements of the MAU in reserve, mainly combat support, as noted above, U. S. military personnel currently with the MNF will remain on the ground for the protection of our remaining personnel. Two Italian battalions are in a 1, 400-man force in southwest Beirut and also protect the Sabra. The Italian Government has nearly completed the process of returning the size of its force to that level from a high of 2,200 men. The Italians announced on Feb.8 their intention to withdraw further forces, the French battalions serve as a force in and near the port of Beirut. In addition, each contingent of the MNF has naval and/or air support forces in the region, the United States had previously been involved in Lebanon during the 1958 crisis. In May 1958 armed rebellion broke out in Beirut, supported mostly by Muslim elements, Marines and paratroopers were sent to Lebanon by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to keep the country from falling to Communism. President Chamoun left office in September after having completed his term, further instability ensued when Israel invaded Lebanon in June 1982, the invasion targeted the Palestine Liberation Organization bases in Beirut. In August 1982, he was successful in bringing about an agreement for the evacuation of Syrian troops, the agreement also provided for the deployment of a three-nation Multinational Force during the period of the evacuation
10.
Operation Southern Watch
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Operation Southern Watch was an air-centric military operation conducted by the United States Department of Defense from Summer 1992 to Spring 2003. Nothing in the resolution spelled out the Iraqi no-fly zones or Operation Southern Watch, military forces from Saudi Arabia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France participated in Operation Southern Watch. An intensification was noted prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq and it is now known that this increased activity occurred during an operation known as Operation Southern Focus. At first, Iraqi forces did not attack Coalition aircraft, later in the day, several Iraqi fighters dodged back and forth across the 32nd parallel, staying out of missile range of American fighters. However, an Iraqi MiG-25 crossed too far and was trapped inside the 32nd parallel by a flight of USAF F-16 Falcons of the 33rd Fighter Squadron, after intelligence verified the aircraft was hostile, the fighter pilot received clearance to fire. The lead plane piloted by then-Lieutenant Colonel Gary North, USAF and this was the first combat kill by an F-16 in USAF service, and the first combat kill using the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile. On 17 January 1993, a USAF F-16C destroyed an Iraqi MiG-23 Flogger with an AMRAAM missile for the second USAF aerial victory, on 7 January 1993, Iraq agreed to American, British, and French demands to withdraw their surface-to-air missiles from below the 32nd parallel. However, they did not remove all of them, and U. S. President George H. W. Bush ordered U. S. aircraft to bomb the remaining missile sites. On 13 January, more than 100 American, British, and French aircraft attacked Iraqi missile sites near Nasiriyah, Samawah, Najaf, around half the Iraqi sites south of the 32nd parallel were hit. On 29 June, a USAF F-4G Phantom II destroyed an Iraqi radar which had illuminated it, the first nine months of 1994 were quiet, and the USAF began to withdraw forces from the region. Saddam later withdrew the Iraqi Republican Guard out of the Kuwati border due to massive American military buildup and this served to increase Coalition resolve to enforce the no-fly zones and contain Iraqi aggression. On 25 June 1996, terrorists bombed the U. S. base at Khobar Towers in Dhahran, the attack killing 19 American airmen and injured an additional 372 people. In August 1996, Iraqi forces invaded the Kurdish regions of northern Iraq, as a result, the no-fly zone was extended north to the 33rd parallel. This marked renewed conflict with Iraqi air defenses and several more radars were destroyed by F-16 fighters, on 15 December 1998, France suspended participation in the no-fly zones, arguing that they had been maintained for too long and were ineffective. On 16 December, U. S. President Bill Clinton ordered execution of Operation Desert Fox and this resulted in an increased level of combat in the no-fly zones which lasted until 2003. On 30 December 1998, Iraqi SA-6 missile sites fired 6 to 8 surface-to-air missiles at American military aircraft, USAF F-16s responded by bombing the sites. On 5 January 1999, four Iraqi MiG-25s crossed into the southern no-fly zone, the American fighters fired a total of six missiles at the Iraqi aircraft, but they were able to evade them all and escape back to the north. Over the same period, American aircraft had attacked Iraqi targets on 73 occasions
11.
Bombing of Iraq (1998)
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The December 1998 bombing of Iraq was a major four-day bombing campaign on Iraqi targets from 16 December 1998, to 19 December 1998, by the United States and United Kingdom. The contemporaneous justification for the strikes was Iraqs failure to comply with United Nations Security Council resolutions, the operation was a major flare-up in the Iraq disarmament crisis. The bombing campaign had been anticipated since February 1998 and incurred wide-ranging criticism and support, at home, saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates initially announced they would deny U. S. military the use of local bases for the purpose of air strikes against Iraq. The new Act appropriated funds for Iraqi opposition groups in the hope of removing Saddam Hussein from power, despite the acts intention being support of opposition groups, Clinton justified his order for US action under the Act. The Act also said that, Nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorize or otherwise speak to the use of United States Armed Forces in carrying out this Act. Just prior to Desert Fox, the U. S. nearly led a campaign against Saddam called Operation Desert Thunder. It was abandoned at the last minute when the Iraqi leader allowed the UN to continue weapons inspections, Clinton administration officials said the aim of the mission was to degrade Iraqs ability to manufacture and use weapons of mass destruction, not to eliminate it. We are lessening, degrading his ability to use this, the weapons of mass destruction are the threat of the future. I think the president explained very clearly to the American people that this is the threat of the 21st century, hat it means is that we know we cant get everything, but degrading is the right word. Also, one of Saddams lavish presidential palaces came under attack, Iraqi air defense batteries, unable to target the American and British jets, began to blanket the sky with near random bursts of flak fire. The air strikes continued unabated however, and cruise missile launched by naval vessels added to the bombs dropped by the planes. By the fourth night, most of the targets had been damaged or destroyed and the Operation was deemed a success. U. S. Navy aircraft from Carrier Air Wing Three, flying from USS Enterprise, on the second night of Operation Desert Fox, aircrews flying 12 B-52s took off from the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean and launched 74 conventional air-launched cruise missiles. The following evening, two more B-52 crews launched 16 more CALCMs, over a two-night period aircrews from the 2nd and 5th Bomb Wings launched a total of 90 CALCMs. The B-1 bomber also made its debut by striking at Republican Guard targets. Also on 17 Dec, USAF aircraft based in Kuwait participated, the British contribution totaled 15 percent of the sorties flown in Desert Fox. By 19 December, U. S. and British aircraft had struck 97 targets, supported by Secretary Cohen, as well as United States Central Command commander General Anthony C. Zinni and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Henry H. Shelton, in total, the 70-hour campaign saw U. S. forces strike 85 percent of their targets,75 percent of which were considered highly effective strikes
12.
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
13.
Second Battle of Fallujah
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It was led by the U. S. Marine Corps against the Iraqi insurgency stronghold in the city of Fallujah and was authorized by the U. S. -appointed Iraqi Interim Government. The U. S. military called it some of the heaviest urban combat U. S, Marines have been involved in since the Battle of Huế City in Vietnam in 1968. This operation was the major operation in Fallujah. Earlier, in April 2004, coalition forces fought the First Battle of Fallujah in order to capture or kill insurgent elements considered responsible for the deaths of a Blackwater Security team. In February 2004, control of Fallujah and the area in the Al-Anbar province was transferred from the U. S. 82nd Airborne Division to the 1st Marine Division. Shortly afterward, on 31 March 2004, four American private military contractors from Blackwater USA were ambushed and killed in the city, images of their mutilated bodies were broadcast around the world. Within days, U. S. Marine Corps forces launched Operation Vigilant Resolve to take control of the city from insurgent forces. On 28 April 2004, Operation Vigilant Resolve ended with an agreement where the population was ordered to keep the insurgents out of the city. The Fallujah Brigade, composed of local Iraqis under the command of a former Baathist officer named Muhammed Latif, took control of the city. Before beginning their attack, U. S. and Iraqi forces had established checkpoints around the city to prevent anyone from entering the city, in addition, overhead imagery was used to prepare maps of the city for use by the attackers. American units were augmented by Iraqi interpreters to assist them in the planned fight, after weeks of withstanding air strikes and artillery bombardment, the militants holed up in the city appeared to be vulnerable to direct attack. U. S. Iraqi and British forces totaled about 13,500, the U. S. had gathered some 6,500 Marines and 1,500 Army soldiers that would take part in the assault with about 2,500 Navy personnel in operational and support roles. Regimental Combat Team 7 comprised the 1st Battalion/8th Marines, 1st Battalion/3rd Marines, about 2,000 Iraqi troops assisted with the assault. All were supported by aircraft U. S. Marine and U. S. Army artillery battalions, the 850-strong 1st Battalion of the Black Watch was ordered to help U. S. and Iraqi forces with the encirclement of Fallujah. In April, Fallujah was defended by about 500 hardcore and 1, by November, it was estimated that the numbers had doubled. Another estimate put the number of insurgents at 3,000, however, three groups, had their nationwide headquarters in Fallujah. An estimated 2,000 insurgents were from the Army of Mohammed, Ansar al-Sunna, the Iraqi insurgents and foreign mujahadeen present in the city prepared fortified defenses in advance of the anticipated attack. They dug tunnels, trenches, prepared spider holes, and built and they blocked streets with Jersey barriers and even emplaced them within homes to create strong points behind which they could attack unsuspecting troops entering the building
14.
Operation Tomodachi
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Operation Tomodachi was a United States Armed Forces assistance operation to support Japan in disaster relief following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The operation took place from 12 March to 4 May 2011, involved 24,000 U. S. servicemembers,189 aircraft,24 naval ships, many if not most of the U. S. military bases in Japan were involved in some manner in Operation Tomodachi. Yokota Air Base in Fussa, western Tokyo, is the command center. Kadena Air Base, Okinawa Prefecture is the hub of airpower in the Pacific, Marine Corps Air Station Futenma Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, operated as an aviation hub for many aircraft traveling to northern installations. S. Army Japan and I Corps Sasebo Naval Base in Nagasaki Prefecture, USS Essex, Yokosuka Naval Base inside of Tokyo Bay, is home to the Seventh Fleet, composed of 11 warships, including USS George Washington and command ship USS Blue Ridge. The US aid efforts are conducted under the direction of Japanese government or military authorities, the United States Navy quickly responded to provide aid. Aircraft from three FLSW squadrons were in theatre during the earthquake at Naval Air Facility Atsugi, vR-62s C-130 delivered 127 tons of material to aid in relief efforts and VR-58s C-40 delivered 366,000 pounds of food and water and 1400 passengers. During this time, the Taskmasters were airborne for 19 out of 26 hours transporting personnel, the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group were moved to the east coast of Honshu. As well as the groups own helicopters, the Ronald Reagan served as a platform for Japan Self-Defense Forces helicopters. Yokota Air Base was used in the aftermath of the earthquake as a field for commercial flights as Tokyo Narita Airport was closed. P-3 Orion aircraft were used to do damage surveys, amphibious landing craft and utility landing craft were used to deploy U. S and Japanese troops and supplies to areas where docks were damaged. Japan electrical company trucks were moved by U. S. LCUs from USS Essex, the destroyers USS McCampbell and USS Curtis Wilbur, which were off the Bōsō Peninsula at the time of the earthquake, and their helicopters were made available for search and rescue. The landing ships USS Essex and USS Germantown, with the embarked 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit from Okinawa, were moved from the Sea of Japan to the east coast of Japan. USS Blue Ridge, which had just arrived in Singapore at the time of the earthquake, was loaded with relief supplies, USS Tortuga, an amphibious dock ship, embarked two MH-53E Heavy Lift Helicopters assigned to HM-14 DET1 stationed in Pohang South Korea. The entire DET was on board Tortuga less than 18 hours after the earthquake, Tortuga transported 800 Japanese civil defense workers from Hokkaido to Honshu with 90 vehicles. Military Sealift Command ships also took part in the operation by transferring relief supplies, the ships that took part in the operation were USNS Carl Brashear, USNS Pecos, USNS Rappahannock, USNS Matthew Perry, USNS Bridge. USNS Safeguard, which was stationed at U. S, Fleet Activities Sasebo, arrived at Hachinohe, Japan with Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 5 and Underwater Construction Team 2 to clear wreckage from a local commercial channel. The US Navy dispatched aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and other vessels which flew a series of helicopter operations, a spokesman for U. S. 7th Fleet naval personnel stated that monitoring equipment indicated that the warship had been exposed to radiation
15.
Marine expeditionary unit
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A Marine expeditionary unit, formerly called Marine amphibious unit, is the smallest Marine air-ground task force in the United States Fleet Marine Force. Each MEU is a quick reaction force, deployed and ready for immediate response to any crisis. Troop strength is about 2,200 and usually commanded by a colonel, for further protection and strong air support, such an ESG is often deployed along with one or more carrier battle groups. This air-ground task force concept is designed to exploit the combat power inherent in air. The MEU brings all the supplies and logistical support it needs to sustain itself for quick mission accomplishment or to pave the way for any follow-up forces. Deployments on U. S. Navy amphibious assault ships allows MEUs to seabase around the globe, a typical MEU has approximately 2,200 Marines and sailors. It is equipped with, Many types of equipment are, or will soon, some examples include the Marine Personnel Carrier replacing the LAV-25, the F-35 Lightning II replacing the AV-8B Harrier, and the CH-53K Super Stallion replacing the CH-53E. The total strength is approximately 1,100 Marines and Sailors, the reconnaissance platoon provides the basic element for the Maritime Special Purpose Force. This force consists of four elements, the assault platoon, security, reconnaissance and surveillance assets, and a headquarters section. The total strength is approximately 350 Marines and Sailors, total strength is approximately 600 troops. The logistics combat element is based on the MEU combat logistics battalion and it contains all the logistics specialists and equipment necessary for the MEU to support and sustain itself for up to 15 days in an austere expeditionary environment. It consists of approximately 300 Marines and Sailors, the command element, which includes the MEU commander and his supporting staff, provides command and control over the other three elements. The overall strength is about 200 Marines and sailors, recently, MEUs have been deployed within an expeditionary strike group in the Mediterranean, the Western Pacific, and periodically, the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. An ESG is typically composed of three ships that embark the necessary troops and equipment and are escorted by a guided missile cruiser and guided missile destroyers. These cycles ensure that at least two of the seven MEUs are deployed forward at any given time and they are not, however, considered a special operations unit by the Department of Defense. The MEU then releases its major elements, retaining only its command element. This period provides the element a chance to rotate select personnel and begin planning for the addition of newly assigned MSEs. When the MSEs are received, the MEU begins six months of intense pre-deployment training, work-up period, Training during the six-month work-up period is often referred to as crawl, walk, run
16.
Okinawa Prefecture
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The larger are mostly high islands and the smaller ones are mostly coral islands. The largest of the islands is Okinawa, the climate of the islands ranges from humid subtropical climate in the north to tropical rainforest climate in the south. Precipitation is very high, and is affected by the rainy season, the islands beyond the Tokara Strait are characterized by their coral reefs. The Amami, Okinawa, Miyako, and Yaeyama Islands have a native population collectively called the Ryukyuan people, the varied Ryukyuan languages are traditionally spoken on these islands, and the major islands have their own distinct languages. In modern times, the Japanese language is the language of the islands. The northern islands are called the Satsunan Islands, while the southern part of the chain are called the Ryukyu Islands in Japanese. Following are the grouping and names used by the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Department of the Japan Coast Guard, the islands are listed from north to south where possible. Nansei Islands Satsunan Islands Ōsumi Islands with, Tanegashima, Yaku, Kuchinoerabu, Mageshima in the North-Eastern Group and they agreed on February 15,2010, to use Amami-guntō for the Amami Islands, prior to that, Amami-shotō had also been used. The English and Japanese uses of the term Ryukyu differ, in English, the term Ryukyu may apply to the entire chain of islands, while in Japanese Ryukyu usually refers only to the islands that were previously part of the Ryūkyū Kingdom after 1624. Nansei-shotō is the name for the whole island chain in Japanese. Japan has used the name on nautical charts since 1907, based on the Japanese charts, the international chart series uses Nansei Shoto. Nansei literally means southwest, the direction of the chain from mainland Japan. Some humanities scholars prefer the uncommon term Ryūkyū-ko for the island chain. In geology, however, the Ryukyu Arc includes subsurface structures such as the Okinawa Trough, the name of Ryūkyū is strongly associated with the Ryūkyū Kingdom, a kingdom that originated from the Okinawa Islands and subjected the Sakishima and Amami Islands. The name is considered outdated in Japanese although some entities of Okinawa still bear the name. In Japanese, the Ryukyu Islands cover only the Okinawa, Miyako, the northern half of the island chain is referred to as the Satsunan Islands in Japanese, as opposed to Northern Ryukyu Islands in English. Humanities scholars generally agree that the Amami, Okinawa, Miyako, there is, however, no good name for the group. The native population do not have their own name, since they do not recognize themselves as a group this size, Ryukyu is the principal candidate because it roughly corresponds to the maximum extent of the Ryūkyū Kingdom
17.
Ground combat element
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In the United States Marine Corps, the ground combat element is the land force of a Marine Air-Ground Task Force. It provides power projection and force for the MAGTF, the ground combat element, composed primarily of infantry units. The GCE also contains combat support units, including artillery, armor, combat engineer, at the division level, the GCE also contains limited organic combat service support, including a truck company, a military police/law enforcement company, and the division band. The size of the GCE varies in proportion to the size of the MAGTF, a Marine Expeditionary Force has a division. A Marine Expeditionary Brigade holds an infantry Regiment, often reinforced with equipment, the various Marine Expeditionary Units command a reinforced infantry battalion. Generally, MEF postings are permanent, while MEBs and MEUs rotate their GCE, ACE, and LCE twice annually. the art of MAGTF Operations
18.
1st Battalion, 1st Marines
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They fall under the command of the 1st Marine Regiment and the 1st Marine Division. 1/1 is an infantry unit composed of infantry Marines and support personnel. The battalion has been organized around fire and maneuver warfare in tropical, woodland, desert, from at least 1989, the units were organized as such, Company A -trained for insertion by Amphibious Assault Vehicles. Company B - trained for insertion by boats, also complimented with mountain warfare and various swimming specialties Company C - trained for insertion by helicopter. Weapons company - usually split into 3 infantry platoons, each vehicle-borne through a variation of the Humvee, Mortar platoon - deploy and deliver 81 mm mortars via a M252 mortar system. Javelin platoon - employ the SMAW and, since its introduction in 2002, CAAT platoon - includes heavy machine gunners and anti-armor missilemen. Headquarter and Service Company - The largest company, H&S includes the Battalion Commander, some of these operations have demanded reconfiguring the battalions organization in order to conduct missions which are not included in traditional maneuver warfare. Military transition teams have used to provide assistance for the transition of power from the coalition forces to the local police. In addition, the companies were redrawn in order to reflect their new duties. Normal training was complemented with responsibilities befitting an urban environment, Rifle companies focused less on fire team rushing, the mortar platoon of the Weapons company has experimented with various vehicle of mortarmen as riflemen. Weapons company utilized Mobile Assault Platoons to provide quick reaction and mobility in urban missions, when trained as a battalion landing team, the battalion can attach to a Marine Expeditionary Unit and become the ground combat element. 1st Battalion 1st Marines was activated on March 1,1941, at Guantanamo Bay, a month later they redeployed to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, but were quickly deactivated on June 18,1941. 1/1 was reactivated on February 7,1942, at New River, after a few months of training they were deployed to Wellington, New Zealand in July 1942. Following the outbreak of the Korean War, 1/1 was reactivated at MCB Camp Pendleton on August 9,1950, later that month they deployed to Kobe, Japan and from there took part in the amphibious landing during the Battle of Inchon. In October, the Marines were withdrawn from the Seoul area, from there 1st Battalion 1st Marines participated in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. They pushed as far north as Koto-ri, spending much of the defending their perimeter in this vicinity. The battalion spent much of the remainder of the war defending the thirty-eighth parallel, all told, it fought in the Korean War from September 1950 through July 1953. Following the war, the participated in the defense of the Korean Demilitarized Zone from July 1953 to April 1955
19.
Aviation combat element
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In the United States Marine Corps, the aviation combat element or air combat element is the air arm of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force. It provides rotary-wing, tiltrotor, and fixed-wing aircraft, support equipment, pilots, maintenance personnel, as well as command and control assets to the commander. The majority of usage within the MAGTF is for close air support or transport for the ground combat element or logistics combat element. The six main functions include, assault support, anti-air warfare, offensive air support, electronic warfare, control of aircraft and missiles, the aviation combat element, which contributes the air power to the MAGTF, includes all aircraft and aviation support units. The units are organized into detachments, squadrons, groups, and wings, except for low altitude air defense units, which are organized into platoons, detachments, batteries, the size of the ACE varies in proportion to the size of the MAGTF. A Marine Expeditionary Force has a Marine Aircraft Wing or MAW, a Marine Expeditionary Brigade holds a Marine Aircraft Group or MAG, reinforced with a variety of aircraft squadrons and support personnel. The various Marine Expeditionary Units command a squadron, with various types of aircraft mixed into a single unit. Generally, MEF postings are permanent, while MEBs and MEUs rotate their ACE, GCE, and LCE twice annually. 1st and 3rd Marine Aircraft Wings are unique in that they are subordinate to III MEF and I MEF, respectively, while all other equivalent units numerical designators match the MEF to which attached
20.
VMM-265
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Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265 is a United States Marine Corps transport squadron consisting of MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. The squadron, known as the Dragons, is based at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa, Japan and falls under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 36, HMM-265 was commissioned on October 1,1962 at Marine Corps Air Facility Jacksonville, North Carolina. Originally flying the UH-34, the deployed to Memphis, Tennessee shortly after commissioning in support of the Mississippi Crisis. Following that, HMM-265 began a series of testing new helicopter tactics such as the night raid. The squadrons commanding officer, LtCol Beeler, developed innovative new tactics and became a legacy in the Dragons. The day of destiny for HMM-265 occurred on June 29,1964 as BUNO150942 was flown for 3.4 hours to the home at MCAF Jacksonville by LtCol Beeler. By July of that year, the squadron began accepting Sea Knights and is the first FFleet Marine Force squadron to fly the aircraft, to commemorate their new aircraft, the Dragons of HMM-265 unveiled a new insignia on October 1,1964. This design, created by PFC Charles D. Lyles, was the unit patch until 2007. On February 4,1966, as HMM-265 became the first Marine Squadron to log 10,000 accident free hours in the CH-46A and this is a great achievement in an era when the CH-46 was going through the growing pains that occur when a new aircraft is fielded. In April 1966, HMM-265 boarded the USS Boxer in Norfolk, on May 22,1966, the squadron arrived in Vietnam at the Marble Mountain Air Facility located southeast of Da Nang Air Base. The squadron had 22 CH-46As and was assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 16, on July 15,1966, during the first day of Operation Hastings, HMM-265 had two of its helicopters crash. 7mm fire resulting in the death of 13 Marines. In addition to daily missions transporting Marines and cargo, HMM-265, HMM-265 along with HMM-164 conducted multiple battalion insertions to allow the 3rd Marine Division to conduct multiple search and destroy missions in the An Hoa region. 12th Marines artillery and Marine A-4 Skyhawks fired on landing zones prior to the CH-46s landing, the other major operation in 1966 was Operation Prairie. The Dragons supported the 4th Marine Regiment as they battled for the Nui Cay Tre Ridge, Landing in “hot” zones under heavy enemy fire marked this battle, a harbinger of future battles in Vietnam. In July 1967, HMM-265 became the Special Landing Force helicopter squadron embarked aboard the 7th Fleet’s Amphibious Ready Group, as the SLF squadron, the Dragons were tasked with conducting heliborne search and destroy missions against Viet Cong targets along the coast. During this time, five major operations were conducted with such as Bear Chain/Fremont, Beacon Guide, Kangaroo Kick, Beacon Gate. The Dragons resumed duties as the SLF squadron aboard the USS Iwo Jima in May 1969 and they conducted amphibious raids in support of Operations Bold Pursuit, Mighty Play, and finally Defiant Stand. After three years in Vietnam, the squadron was relocated to Marine Corps Air Station Santa Ana, a total of twenty-seven HMM-265 Marines perished in the war
21.
Logistics combat element
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It provides equipment and personnel to keep the MAGTF running logistically. The size of the LCE varies in proportion to the size of the MAGTF, a Marine expeditionary force has a Marine logistics group or MLG. A Marine expeditionary brigade holds a combat logistics regiment or CLR, often reinforced with equipment, the various Marine expeditionary units command a reinforced combat logistics battalion. Generally, MEF postings are permanent, while MEBs and MEUs rotate their GCE, ACE, and LCE twice annually
22.
Combat Logistics Battalion 31
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Combat Logistics Battalion 31 is a logistics battalion of the United States Marine Corps. CLB-31 is the Logistics Combat Element of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, as the Logistics Combat Element, Combat Logistics Battalion 31 provides all elements of the MEU with combat service support. Additionally, CLB-31 provides the 31st MEU with ammunition, postal, although CLB-31 is assigned to the 3rd Marine Logistics Group, the battalion remains permanently assigned to the 31st MEU. CLB-31 is based on Camp Hansen in Okinawa, Japan, provide ground combat service support to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit to conduct special operations as directed and to act as the nucleus for expanded combat service support operations. In ancient Greek mythology, Atlas was the primordial Titan who held up the celestial spheres and his burden, according to myth, would be to forever carry the weight of the universe on his shoulders. Atlas represents the spirit of a battalion that keeps the rest of the moving forward. CLB-31 adopted the title of Atlas Battalion in June 2012, Like Atlas, CLB-31 upholds, supports, as one of the most constantly deployed battalions and the Combat Service Support for the only continually forward-deployed MEU in the Marine Corps, CLB-31 continually earns the title Atlas Battalion. The unit was re-designated 17 October 1979 as Marine Amphibious Unit Service Support Group 31, mSSG-31 was deactivated with the other elements of the 31st Marine Amphibious Unit in Spring 1985. MSSG-31 was officially reactivated on 1 August 1992 at Camp Kinser, Okinawa, Japan, without a break, september 2004-March 2005, Conducted combat operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, to include participation in Operation Phantom Fury. It was truly hell. ″ February 2006, Provided Disaster Relief assistance to the Philippines following mudslides in southern Leyte, may–June 2008, Provided Disaster Relief assistance as part of Operation Caring Response followingCyclone Nargis in Myanmar. October 2009, Provided Disaster Relief assistance in Luzon, Philippines after Typhoons Ketsana, October 2010, Provided Disaster Relief assistance in Luzon, Philippines after Super Typhoon Megi. March 2011, Operation Tomodachi - Sailed from Indonesia to mainland Japan to assist recovery efforts following the 9.0 Tohoku earthquake, while in Saipan, the battalion used organic water production equipment to produce 279,375 gallons of water. The battalion ensured the operation of the islands emergency services communication network by delivering generator power to a communication tower on the highest point of the island. April 2016, CLB-31 sent the Humanitarian Assistance Survey Team with the Forward Command Element to Kumamoto, march 2016, CLB-31 participated in Exercise Ssang Yong 16. June 2016, LtCol Niewenhous assumed command of CLB-31, september 2016, CLB-31 participated in Exercise VALIANT SHIELD providing enablers for the MEUs raids and missions. October 2016, CLB-31 participated in PHIBLEX-33, CLB-31 operated out of various areas to include, Crow Valley, Clark Air Force Base, NETC, and Subic Bay which allowed them to participate in Joint Training Exercises with the Pilipino Marine Corps. CLB-31 also provided support to BLT 2/4 for various mission requirements
23.
Presidential Unit Citation (United States)
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The unit with the most Presidential Unit Citations is the USS Parche with 9 citations. The Army citation was established by Executive Order 9075 on 26 February 1942, superseded by Executive Order 9396 on Dec.2,1943, as with other Army unit citations, the PUC is in a larger frame than other ribbons, and is worn above the right pocket. All members of the unit may wear the decoration, whether or not they participated in the acts for which the unit was cited. Only those assigned to the unit at the time of the action cited may wear the decoration as a permanent award, for both the Army and Air Force, the emblem is a solid blue ribbon enclosed in a gold frame. The Air Force PUC was adopted from the Army Distinguished Unit Citation after the Air Force became a military branch in 1947. By Executive Order 10694, dated Jan,10,1957 the Air Force redesignated the Distinguished Unit Citation as the Presidential Unit Citation. The Air Force PUC is the color and design as the Army PUC but slightly smaller. The Citation is carried on the units colors in the form of a blue streamer,4 ft long and 2.75 in wide. For the Army, only on rare occasions will a larger than battalion qualify for award of this decoration. The Navy citation was established by Executive Order 9050 on 6 February 1942, the Navy version has blue, yellow, and red horizontal stripes, and is the only Navy ribbon having horizontal stripes. These are only worn by persons who meet the criteria at the time it is awarded to the unit, unlike the Army, those who later join the unit do not wear it on a temporary basis. The current decoration is known as the Department of Homeland Security Presidential Unit Citation. A Coast Guard version of the award was awarded to all U. S. Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary personnel responding to Hurricane Katrina by President George W. Bush for rescue, the United States Public Health Service Presidential Citation was established in 2015. The design was finalized by the Army Institute of Heraldry on 17 August 2015, two units of the Free French Forces were awarded Presidential Unit Citations during World War II. On April 22,1986, the 1st Fighter Group Força Aérea Brasileira was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its actions in the Po Valley region of Italy in World War II. The Brazilians, operating in Italy in support of Allied forces, destroyed in one day over 45 vehicles, strafed pontoon bridges on the River Po, eleven missions of 44 sorties were flown destroying nine motor transports and damaging 17. One Belgian-Luxembourgian battalion of the Belgian United Nations Command was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation once for actions during the Battle of the Imjin River, the Colombia Battalion received the citation while attached to the American 21st Infantry Regiment in 1951. One Dutch unit, the Netherlands Detachment United Nations, part of the Regiment Van Heutsz, was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation twice for actions during the Korean War, the first citation was awarded after the battle near Wonju and Hoengson in February 1951
24.
Gulf of Tonkin
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The Gulf of Tonkin is a body of water located off the coast of northern Vietnam and southern China. It is an arm of the South China Sea. The Gulf is defined in the west by the coastline of Vietnam, in the north by Chinas Guangxi province. The bays Vietnamese and Chinese names – Vịnh Bắc Bộ and Běibù Wān, the name Tonkin, written 東京 in Hán-Nôm characters and Đông Kinh in the Vietnamese alphabet, means eastern capital, and is the former toponym for Hanoi, the present capital of Vietnam. It should not to be confused with Tokyo, which is also written 東京, during Vietnams French colonial era, Tonkin was used to refer to the north of the country. On 2 August 1964, United States President Lyndon B. Johnson claimed that North Vietnamese forces had twice attacked American destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin. Known today as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, this event spawned the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution of 7 August 1964 and it furthermore foreshadowed the major escalation of the Vietnam War in South Vietnam, which began with the landing of US regular combat troops at Da Nang in 1965. Geography of China Geography of Vietnam Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club Xinhua – China to hold forum to boost Beibu Bay economic zone
25.
Phnom Penh
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Phnom Penh, formerly known as Chaktomuk, is the capital and most populous city of the Southeastern Asian country of Cambodia. Once known as the Pearl of Asia, it was considered one of the loveliest French-built cities in Indochina in the 1920s, Phnom Penh, along with Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, are significant global and domestic tourist destinations for Cambodia. Founded in 1434, the city is noted for its beautiful and historical architecture, there are a number of surviving French colonial buildings scattered along the grand boulevards. Situated on the banks of the Tonlé Sap, Mekong and Bassac rivers, Phnom Penh takes its name from the present Wat Phnom. Legend has it that in 1372, a widow named Lady Penh found a Koki tree floating down the Tonle Sap river after a storm. Inside the tree were four bronze Buddha statues and a statue of Vishnu. The temple became known as Wat Phnom Daun Penh, which is now known as Wat Phnom, Phnom Penhs official name, in its short form, is Krong Chaktomok meaning City of Four Faces. This loosely translates as The place of four rivers that gives the happiness and success of Khmer Kingdom, the highest leader as well as impregnable city of the God Indra of the great kingdom. First recorded a century after it is said to have taken place, the legend of the founding of Phnom Penh tells of a woman, Penh, living at Chaktomuk. It was the late 14th century and the Khmer capital was still at Angkor near Siem Reap 350 km to the north, gathering firewood along the banks of the river, Lady Penh spied a floating koki tree in the river and fished it from the water. Inside the tree she found four Buddha statues and one of Vishnu, the discovery was taken as a divine blessing, and to some a sign that the Khmer capital was to be brought to Phnom Penh from Angkor. To house the new found sacred objects, Penh raised a small hill on the west bank of the Tonle Sap River and crowned it with a shrine, now known as Wat Phnom at the north end of central Phnom Penh. Phnom is Khmer for hill and Penhs hill took on the name of the founder, and the area around it became known after the hill. Phnom Penh first became the capital of Cambodia after Ponhea Yat, king of the Khmer Empire, there is a stupa behind Wat Phnom that house the remains of Ponhea Yat and the royal family as well as the remaining Buddhist statues from the Angkorean era. In the 17th century, Japanese immigrants also settled on the outskirts of present-day Phnom Penh, a small Portuguese community survived in Phnom Penh until the 17th century, undertaking commercial and religious activity in the country. Phnom Penh remained the capital for 73 years, from 1432 to 1505. It was abandoned for 360 years by subsequent kings due to fighting between the royal pretenders. Later kings moved the capital several times and established their capitals at various locations in Tuol Basan, Pursat, Longvek, Lavear Em
26.
Cambodia
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Cambodia, officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is 181,035 square kilometres in area, bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the northeast, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia has a population of over 15 million. The official religion is Theravada Buddhism, practiced by approximately 95 percent of the population, the countrys minority groups include Vietnamese, Chinese, Chams, and 30 hill tribes. The capital and largest city is Phnom Penh, the political, economic, the kingdom is a constitutional monarchy with Norodom Sihamoni, a monarch chosen by the Royal Throne Council, as head of state. The head of government is Hun Sen, who is currently the longest serving leader in South East Asia and has ruled Cambodia for over 25 years. In 802 AD, Jayavarman II declared himself king, uniting the warring Khmer princes of Chenla under the name Kambuja. The Indianized kingdom built monumental temples including Angkor Wat, now a World Heritage Site, after the fall of Angkor to Ayutthaya in the 15th century, a reduced and weakened Cambodia was then ruled as a vassal state by its neighbours. In 1863 Cambodia became a protectorate of France which doubled the size of the country by reclaiming the north, the Vietnam War extended into the country with the US bombing of Cambodia from 1969 until 1973. Following the Cambodian coup of 1970, the king gave his support to his former enemies. Following the 1991 Paris Peace Accords, Cambodia was governed briefly by a United Nations mission, the UN withdrew after holding elections in which around 90 percent of the registered voters cast ballots. The 1997 coup placed power solely in the hands of Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Cambodian Peoples Party, important sociopolitical issues includes widespread poverty, pervasive corruption, lack of political freedoms, low human development, and a high rate of hunger. While per capita income remains low compared to most neighbouring countries, agriculture remains the dominant economic sector, with strong growth in textiles, construction, garments, and tourism leading to increased foreign investment and international trade. Cambodia scored dismally in an annual index ranking the rule of law in 102 countries, placing 99th overall, Cambodia also faces environmental destruction as an imminent problem. The most severe activity in this regard is considered to be the countrywide deforestation, the Kingdom of Cambodia is the official English name of the country. The English Cambodia is an anglicisation of the French Cambodge, which in turn is the French transliteration of the Khmer Kampuchea, Kampuchea is the shortened alternative to the countrys official name in Khmer, Preah Reacheanachak Kampuchea. The Khmer endonym Kampuchea derives from the Sanskrit name Kambujadeśa, composed of देश, desa and कम्बोज, Kambujas, colloquially, Cambodians refer to their country as either Srok Khmer, meaning Khmers Land, or the slightly more formal Prateh Kampuchea, literally Country of Kampuchea. The name Cambodia is used most often in the Western world while Kampuchea is more used in the East. Excavations in its lower layers produced a series of dates as of 6000 BC
27.
Ho Chi Minh City
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Ho Chi Minh City, formerly named and still often known as Saigon, is the largest city in Vietnam by population. It was once known as Prey Nokor prior to annexation by the Vietnamese in the 17th century, under the name Saigon, it was the capital of the French colony of Cochinchina and later of the independent republic of South Vietnam 1955–75. On 2 July 1976, Saigon merged with the surrounding Gia Định Province and was officially renamed Ho Chi Minh City after revolutionary leader Hồ Chí Minh, the citys population is expected to grow to 13.9 million by 2025. Ho Chi Minh City has gone by different names during its history, reflecting settlement by different ethnic. In the 1690s, Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh, a Vietnamese noble, was sent by the Nguyễn rulers of Huế to establish Vietnamese administrative structures in the Mekong Delta and its surroundings. Control of the city and the passed to the Vietnamese. Immediately after the communist takeover of South Vietnam in 1975, a provisional government renamed the city after Hồ Chí Minh, even today, however, the informal name of Sài Gòn/Saigon remains in daily speech both domestically and internationally, especially among the Vietnamese diaspora. In particular, Sài Gòn is still used to refer to District 1. This name may refer to the many plants that the Khmer people had planted around Prey Nokor. It may also refer to the dense and tall forest that existed around the city. Other proposed etymologies draw parallels from Tai-Ngon, the Cantonese name of Cholon, which means embankment, and Vietnamese Sai Côn, a translation of the Khmer Prey Nokor. Prey means forest or jungle, and nokor is a Khmer word of Sanskrit origin meaning city or kingdom, the current official name, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh, adopted in 1976 and abbreviated Tp. HCM, is translated as Ho Chi Minh City, abbreviated HCMC, the name commemorates Hồ Chí Minh, the first leader of North Vietnam. This name, though not his name, was one he favored throughout his later years. It combines a common Vietnamese surname with a name meaning enlightened will, in essence. Ho Chi Minh City began as a fishing village likely known as Prey Nokor, Forest City, or perhaps Preah Reach Nokor which. The area that the city now occupies was originally swampland, and was inhabited by Khmer people for centuries before the arrival of the Vietnamese. In 1623, King Chey Chettha II of Cambodia allowed Vietnamese refugees fleeing the Trịnh–Nguyễn civil war in Vietnam to settle in the area of Prey Nokor and to set up a custom house there
28.
People's Army of Vietnam
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The Peoples Army of Vietnam, also known as the Vietnamese Peoples Army, is the military force of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The PAVN is a part of Vietnam Peoples Armed Forces and includes, Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, Border Defence Force, however, Vietnam does not have a specific separate Ground Force or Army branch. The military flag of the PAVN is the flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, during the French Indochina War, the PAVN was often referred to as the Việt Minh. In the context of the Vietnam War, the army was referred to as the North Vietnamese Army and this allowed writers, the US military, and the general public, to distinguish northern communists from the southern communists, or Viet Cong. However, both groups ultimately worked under the command structure. According to Hanois official history, the Viet Cong was a branch of the VPA, in 2010 the PAVN undertook the role of leading the 1, 000th Anniversary Parade in Hanoi by performing their biggest parade in history. Under the guidelines of Hồ Chí Minh, Võ Nguyên Giáp was given the task of establishing the brigades, the first formation was made up of thirty one men and three women, armed with two revolvers, seventeen rifles, one light machine gun, and fourteen breech-loading flintlocks. The group was renamed the Vietnam Liberation Army in May 1945, in September, the army was again renamed the Vietnam National Defence Army. At this point, it had about 1,000 soldiers, in 1950, it officially became the Peoples Army of Vietnam. On 7 January 1947, its first regiment, the 102nd Capital Regiment, was created for operations around Hanoi. Over the next two years, the first division, the 308th Division, later known as the Pioneer Division formed by the 88th Tu Vu Regiment. By late 1950 the 308th Division had a full three infantry regiments, when it was supplemented by the 36th Regiment, at that time, the 308th Division was also backed by the 11th Battalion that later became the main force of the 312th Division. The first six divisions became known as the original PAVN Steel, in 1954 four of these divisions defeated the French Union forces at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, ending 83 years of French rule in Indochina. At about the time, Group 579 was created as its maritime counterpart to transport supplies into the South by sea. Most of the infiltrators were members of the 338th Division. Those PAVN formations were seen as extremely brave forces by the US forces and we had to change our plan and make it different from when we fought the Saigon regime, because we now had to fight two adversaries — the United States and South Vietnam. We understood that the U. S. Army was superior to our own logistically, in weapons, so strategically we did not hope to defeat the U. S. Army completely. Our intentions were to fight a time and cause heavy casualties to the United States, so the United States would see that the war was unwinnable
29.
Fall of Saigon
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The event marked the end of the Vietnam War and the start of a transition period to the formal reunification of Vietnam under the Socialist Republic. This bombardment at the Tân Sơn Nhất Airport killed the last two American servicemen to die in Vietnam, Charles McMahon and Darwin Judge. By the afternoon of the day, North Vietnamese troops had occupied the important points of the city. The South Vietnamese government capitulated shortly afterward, the city was renamed Hồ Chí Minh City, after the Democratic Republics late President Hồ Chí Minh. The evacuation culminated in Operation Frequent Wind, the largest helicopter evacuation in history, in addition to the flight of refugees, the end of the war and institution of new rules by the communists contributed to a decline in the citys population. Various names have applied to these events. The Vietnamese government officially calls it Day of liberating the South for national reunification or Liberation Day and it is called the Ngày mất nước, Tháng Tư Đen, Ngày Quốc Nhục, or Ngày Quốc Hận by many Overseas Vietnamese who were refugees from communism. The rapidity with which the South Vietnamese position collapsed in 1975 was surprising to most American and South Vietnamese observers, and probably to the North Vietnamese and their allies as well. For instance, a prepared by the CIA and U. S. Army Intelligence. These predictions proved to be grievously in error, even as that memo was being released, General Dũng was preparing a major offensive in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, which began on 10 March and led to the capture of Buôn Ma Thuột. The ARVN began a disorderly and costly retreat, hoping to redeploy its forces and hold the part of South Vietnam. Along the way, disorderly South Vietnamese retreats and the flight of refugees—there were more than 300,000 in Đà Nẵng—damaged South Vietnamese prospects for a turnaround. By April 8, the North Vietnamese Politburo, which in March had recommended caution to Dũng, cabled him to demand “unremitting vigor in the all the way to the heart of Saigon. ”On April 14, they renamed the campaign the Hồ Chí Minh campaign, after revolutionary leader Hồ Chí Minh. Meanwhile, South Vietnam failed to any significant increase in military aid from the United States. On April 9, PAVN forces reached Xuân Lộc, the last line of defense before Saigon, the North Vietnamese front line was now just 26 miles from downtown Saigon. With the ARVN having few defenders, the fate of the city was effectively sealed, the ARVN III Corps commander, General Toan, had organized five centers of resistance to defend the city. These fronts were so connected as to form an arc enveloping the area west, north. South Vietnamese defensive forces around Saigon totaled approximately 60,000 troops, however, as the exodus made it into Saigon, along with them were many ARVN soldiers, which swelled the men under arm in the city to over 250,000
30.
Pacific Ocean
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The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of the Earths oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, the Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres. Both the center of the Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere are in the Pacific Ocean, the oceans current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favourable winds on reaching the ocean. He called it Mar Pacífico, which in both Portuguese and Spanish means peaceful sea, important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times. Long-distance trade developed all along the coast from Mozambique to Japan, trade, and therefore knowledge, extended to the Indonesian islands but apparently not Australia. By at least 878 when there was a significant Islamic settlement in Canton much of trade was controlled by Arabs or Muslims. In 219 BC Xu Fu sailed out into the Pacific searching for the elixir of immortality, from 1404 to 1433 Zheng He led expeditions into the Indian Ocean. The east side of the ocean was discovered by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513 after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of Panama and he named it Mar del Sur because the ocean was to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the Pacific. Later, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailed the Pacific East to West on a Castilian expedition of world circumnavigation starting in 1519, Magellan called the ocean Pacífico because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn, the expedition found calm waters. The ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until the eighteenth century, sailing around and east of the Moluccas, between 1525 and 1527, Portuguese expeditions discovered the Caroline Islands, the Aru Islands, and Papua New Guinea. In 1542–43 the Portuguese also reached Japan, in 1564, five Spanish ships consisting of 379 explorers crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi and sailed to the Philippines and Mariana Islands. The Manila galleons operated for two and a half centuries linking Manila and Acapulco, in one of the longest trade routes in history, Spanish expeditions also discovered Tuvalu, the Marquesas, the Cook Islands, the Solomon Islands, and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific. In the 16th and 17th century Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a Mare clausum—a sea closed to other naval powers, as the only known entrance from the Atlantic the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent entrance of non-Spanish ships. On the western end of the Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish Philippines, Spain also sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest reaching Vancouver Island in southern Canada, and Alaska. The French explored and settled Polynesia, and the British made three voyages with James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii, and the North American Pacific Northwest, one of the earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789–1794. It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska, Guam and the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific. Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by other European powers, and later, Japan, in Oceania, France got a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia protectorates in 1842 and 1853 respectively. After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro managed to negotiate an incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888, by occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations
31.
Kenya
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Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country in Africa and a founding member of the East African Community. Its capital and largest city is Nairobi and it is bordered by Tanzania to the south and southwest, Uganda to the west, South Sudan to the north-west, Ethiopia to the north and Somalia to the north-east. Kenya covers 581,309 km2, and had a population of approximately 48 million people in January 2017, Kenya has a warm and humid tropical climate on its Indian Ocean coastline. The climate is cooler in the grasslands around the capital city, Nairobi, and especially closer to Mount Kenya. Further inland are highlands in Central and Rift Valley regions where tea, in the West are Nyanza and Western regions, there is an equatorial, hot and dry climate which becomes humid around Lake Victoria, the largest tropical fresh-water lake in the world. This gives way to temperate and forested areas in the neighbouring western region. The north-eastern regions along the border with Somalia and Ethiopia are arid and semi-arid areas with near-desert landscapes, Kenya is known for its world class athletes in track and field and rugby. The African Great Lakes region, which Kenya is a part of, has been inhabited by humans since the Lower Paleolithic period, by the first millennium AD, the Bantu expansion had reached the area from West-Central Africa. Bantu and Nilotic populations together constitute around 97% of the nations residents, European and Arab presence in coastal Mombasa dates to the Early Modern period, European exploration of the interior began in the 19th century. The British Empire established the East Africa Protectorate in 1895, which starting in 1920 gave way to the Kenya Colony, Kenya obtained independence in December 1963. Following a referendum in August 2010 and adoption of a new constitution, Kenya is now divided into 47 semi-autonomous counties, the capital, Nairobi, is a regional commercial hub. The economy of Kenya is the largest by GDP in East, agriculture is a major employer, the country traditionally exports tea and coffee and has more recently begun to export fresh flowers to Europe. The service industry is also an economic driver. Additionally, Kenya is a member of the East African Community trading bloc, the Republic of Kenya is named after Mount Kenya. The origin of the name Kenya is not clear, but perhaps linked to the Kikuyu, Embu and Kamba words Kirinyaga, Kirenyaa, if so, then the British may not so much have mispronounced it, as misspelled it. In the 19th century, the German explorer Johann Ludwig Krapf was staying with the Bantu Kamba people when he first spotted the mountain. On asking for the name of the mountain, he was told Kĩ-Nyaa or Kĩĩma- Kĩĩnyaa probably because the pattern of black rock, the Agikuyu, who inhabit the slopes of Mt. Kenya, call it Kĩrĩma Kĩrĩnyaga in Kikuyu, which is quite similar to the Kamba name. Ludwig Krapf recorded the name as both Kenia and Kegnia believed by most to be a corruption of the Kamba version, others say that this was—on the contrary—a very precise notation of a correct African pronunciation /ˈkɛnjə/
32.
Mediterranean Sea
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The sea is sometimes considered a part of the Atlantic Ocean, although it is usually identified as a separate body of water. The name Mediterranean is derived from the Latin mediterraneus, meaning inland or in the middle of land and it covers an approximate area of 2.5 million km2, but its connection to the Atlantic is only 14 km wide. The Strait of Gibraltar is a strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Gibraltar. In oceanography, it is called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea or the European Mediterranean Sea to distinguish it from mediterranean seas elsewhere. The Mediterranean Sea has a depth of 1,500 m. The sea is bordered on the north by Europe, the east by Asia and it is located between latitudes 30° and 46° N and longitudes 6° W and 36° E. Its west-east length, from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Gulf of Iskenderun, the seas average north-south length, from Croatia’s southern shore to Libya, is approximately 800 km. The Mediterranean Sea, including the Sea of Marmara, has an area of approximately 2,510,000 square km. The sea was an important route for merchants and travelers of ancient times that allowed for trade, the history of the Mediterranean region is crucial to understanding the origins and development of many modern societies. In addition, the Gaza Strip and the British Overseas Territories of Gibraltar and Akrotiri, the term Mediterranean derives from the Latin word mediterraneus, meaning amid the earth or between land, as it is between the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe. The Ancient Greek name Mesogeios, is similarly from μέσο, between + γη, land, earth) and it can be compared with the Ancient Greek name Mesopotamia, meaning between rivers. The Mediterranean Sea has historically had several names, for example, the Carthaginians called it the Syrian Sea and latter Romans commonly called it Mare Nostrum, and occasionally Mare Internum. Another name was the Sea of the Philistines, from the people inhabiting a large portion of its shores near the Israelites, the sea is also called the Great Sea in the General Prologue by Geoffrey Chaucer. In Ottoman Turkish, it has also been called Bahr-i Sefid, in Modern Hebrew, it has been called HaYam HaTikhon, the Middle Sea, reflecting the Seas name in ancient Greek, Latin, and modern languages in both Europe and the Middle East. Similarly, in Modern Arabic, it is known as al-Baḥr al-Mutawassiṭ, in Turkish, it is known as Akdeniz, the White Sea since among Turks the white colour represents the west. Several ancient civilisations were located around the Mediterranean shores, and were influenced by their proximity to the sea. It provided routes for trade, colonisation, and war, as well as food for numerous communities throughout the ages, due to the shared climate, geology, and access to the sea, cultures centered on the Mediterranean tended to have some extent of intertwined culture and history. Two of the most notable Mediterranean civilisations in classical antiquity were the Greek city states, later, when Augustus founded the Roman Empire, the Romans referred to the Mediterranean as Mare Nostrum
33.
Beirut
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Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. No recent population census has been done but in 2007 estimates ranged from more than 1 million to slightly less than 2 million as part of Greater Beirut. Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanons Mediterranean coast, Beirut is the countrys largest and it is one of the oldest cities in the world, inhabited more than 5,000 years ago. The first historical mention of Beirut is found in the ancient Egyptian Tell el Amarna letters dating from the 15th century BC, the Beirut River runs south to north on the eastern edge of the city. Beirut is Lebanons seat of government and plays a role in the Lebanese economy, with most banks and corporations based in its Central District, Badaro, Rue Verdun, Hamra. Following the destructive Lebanese Civil War, Beiruts cultural landscape underwent major reconstruction, identified and graded for accountancy, advertising, banking/finance and law, Beirut is ranked as a Beta World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. In May 2015, Beirut was officially recognized as one of the New7Wonders Cities together with Vigan, Doha, Durban, Havana, Kuala Lumpur, and La Paz. Beirut I, or Minet el Hosn, was listed as Beyrouth ville by Louis Burkhalter and said to be on the beach near the Orent, the site was discovered by Lortet in 1894 and discussed by Godefroy Zumoffen in 1900. The flint industry from the site was described as Mousterian and is held by the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon, Beirut II, or Umm el Khatib, was suggested by Burkhalter to have been south of Tarik el Jedideh, where P. E. Gigues discovered a Copper Age flint industry at around 100 metres above sea level, the site had been built on and destroyed by 1948. Beirut III, Furn esh Shebbak or Plateau Tabet, was suggested to have located on the left bank of the Beirut River. Burkhalter suggested that it was west of the Damascus road, although this determination has been criticized by Lorraine Copeland, P. E. Gigues discovered a series of Neolithic flint tools on the surface along with the remains of a structure suggested to be a hut circle. Auguste Bergy discussed polished axes that were found at this site. The area was covered in red sand that represented Quaternary river terraces, the site was found by Jesuit Father Dillenseger and published by fellow Jesuits Godefroy Zumoffen, Raoul Describes and Auguste Bergy. Collections from the site were made by Bergy, Describes and another Jesuit, a large number of Middle Paleolithic flint tools were found on the surface and in side gullies that drain into the river. They included around 50 varied bifaces accredited to the Acheulean period, some with a lustrous sheen, Henri Fleisch also found an Emireh point amongst material from the site, which has now disappeared beneath buildings. Levallois flints and bones and similar material were found amongst brecciated deposits. The area has now built on
34.
Lebanon
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Lebanon, officially known as the Lebanese Republic, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, Lebanons location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland facilitated its rich history and shaped a cultural identity of religious and ethnic diversity. At just 10,452 km2, it is the smallest recognized country on the entire mainland Asian continent, the earliest evidence of civilization in Lebanon dates back more than seven thousand years, predating recorded history. Lebanon was the home of the Canaanites/Phoenicians and their kingdoms, a culture that flourished for over a thousand years. In 64 BC, the region came under the rule of the Roman Empire, in the Mount Lebanon range a monastic tradition known as the Maronite Church was established. As the Arab Muslims conquered the region, the Maronites held onto their religion, however, a new religious group, the Druze, established themselves in Mount Lebanon as well, generating a religious divide that has lasted for centuries. During the Crusades, the Maronites re-established contact with the Roman Catholic Church, the ties they established with the Latins have influenced the region into the modern era. The region eventually was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1516 to 1918, following the collapse of the empire after World War I, the five provinces that constitute modern Lebanon came under the French Mandate of Lebanon. The French expanded the borders of the Mount Lebanon Governorate, which was populated by Maronites and Druze. Lebanon gained independence in 1943, establishing confessionalism, a unique, foreign troops withdrew completely from Lebanon on 31 December 1946. Lebanon has been a member of the Organisation internationale de la francophonie since 1973, despite its small size, the country has developed a well-known culture and has been highly influential in the Arab world. Before the Lebanese Civil War, the experienced a period of relative calm and renowned prosperity, driven by tourism, agriculture, commerce. At the end of the war, there were efforts to revive the economy. In spite of troubles, Lebanon has the highest Human Development Index and GDP per capita in the Arab world. The name of Mount Lebanon originates from the Phoenician root lbn meaning white, occurrences of the name have been found in different Middle Bronze Age texts from the library of Ebla, and three of the twelve tablets of the Epic of Gilgamesh. The name is recorded in Ancient Egyptian as Rmnn, where R stood for Canaanite L, the name occurs nearly 70 times in the Hebrew Bible, as לְבָנוֹן. The borders of contemporary Lebanon are a product of the Treaty of Sèvres of 1920 and its territory was the core of the Bronze Age Phoenician city-states. After the 7th-century Muslim conquest of the Levant, it was part of the Rashidun, Umyayad, Abbasid Seljuk, with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Greater Lebanon fell under French mandate in 1920, and gained independence under president Bechara El Khoury in 1943
35.
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
36.
Foal Eagle
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Foal Eagle is a combined Field Training Exercise conducted annually by the Republic of Korea Armed Forces and the United States Armed Forces under the auspices of the Combined Forces Command. It is one of the largest military exercises conducted annually in the world, the primary purpose of Foal Eagle is to demonstrate South Korean-U. S. military resolve to deter war on the Korean peninsula and to improve the combined and joint operational posture of those forces. Foal Eagle tests the capability of South Korea to defend itself, the United Nations Command informs the North Korean Peoples Army that South Korea and the United States will be conducting the exercise. The Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission monitors the exercise to ensure there are no violations of the Korean Armistice Agreement. Since 2001, Foal Eagle combined with the annual American-South Korean Reception, Staging, Onward movement, one significant feature of FE97 was the deployment of the U. S. Coast Guard cutter Hamilton with the carrier strike group led by the carrier Independence. Hamilton also participated in a combined joint navy-coast guard force to provide defense ring around the harbor of Pusan, Foal Eagle 1998 Foal Eagle 1998 took place between November 4 and December 21998. Foal Eagle 1998 was notable for a number of accomplishments and it marked the use of the Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System by all exercise participants, allowing forces to engage in realistic battle conditions without the loss of personnel or equipment. FE98 marked the first time that the U. S. Navy established anti-submarine operations centers off both coasts of Korea with the U. S, seventh Fleets battle force, Task Force 70, in tactical command of ROK and American submarines. Foal Eagle 1998 also featured an amphibious assault involving seven battalions of ROK, most training sites were located well south of Seoul, with training events included firing blank ammunition and night operations. FE00 also included a non-combatant evacuation exercise codenamed Courageous Channel. S and it was also announced that the new exercise would be scheduled for one to two weeks in the spring of 2002, and the exercise would take place annually thereafter. ROK military did execute an anti-terrorism exercise in 2001, prior to the start of RSOI/FE03, a U. S. Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft was shadowed by four North Korean aircraft. The 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment was deployed from Fort Riley, Kansas and this year’s exercise marked the 45th Foal Eagle exercise and the fifth time it has been combined with RSOI. RSOI/Foal Eagle 2007 RSOI/Foal Eagle 2007 took place between 25–31 March 2007, with its initial focused on initial operational flow of deployed forces to Korean theater of operations. The Foal Eagle phase included amphibious landing involving over 3,000 American marines, both exercises have U. S. troops training with South Korean military personnel. Key Resolve/Foal Eagle 2009 Key Resolve/Foal Eagle 2009 began on 28 February 2009, Key Resolve/Foal Eagle was held in the aftermath of the sinking of the ROK corvette Cheonan and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island by North Korea. Approximately 12,800 U. S. and 200,000 South Korean troops participated in the exercise, Key Resolve was the computer-based simulation portion of the combined exercise, while Foal Eagle was the peninsula-wide training portion of the exercise. Key Resolve was scheduled to end March 10, and Foal Eagle on April 30, the major U. S. naval formation that participated in Key Resolve/Foal Eagle 2009 was Carrier Strike Group Three. During the exercise, the aircraft carrier John C. Stennis was overflown by two Russian Ilyushin Il-38 maritime patrol aircraft on 16 March and two Tupolev Tu-95 long-range bombers on 17 March
37.
Guam
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Guam is an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, Guam is one of five American territories with a civilian government. The capital city is Hagåtña and the most populous city is Dededo, in 2015,161,785 people resided on Guam. Guamanians are American citizens by birth, Guam has an area of 210 sq mi and a population density of 770/sq mi. It is the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands and the largest island in Micronesia, among its municipalities, Mongmong-Toto-Maite has the highest density at 3, 691/sq mi, whereas Inarajan and Umatac have the lowest density at 119/sq mi. The highest point is Mount Lamlam at 406 meters above sea level, the Chamorros, Guams indigenous people, settled the island approximately 4,000 years ago. Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was the first European to visit the island on March 6,1521, Guam was colonized in 1668 with settlers, like Diego Luis de San Vitores, a Catholic missionary. Between the 16th century and the 18th century, Guam was an important stopover for the Spanish Manila Galleons, during the Spanish–American War, the United States captured Guam on June 21,1898. Under the Treaty of Paris, Spain ceded Guam to the United States on December 10,1898, Guam is among the seventeen Non-Self-Governing Territories of the United Nations. Before World War II, Guam and three other territories – American Samoa, Hawaii, and the Philippines – were the only American jurisdictions in the Pacific Ocean. On December 7,1941, hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Guam was captured by the Japanese, during the occupation, Guamanians were subjected to beheadings, forced labor, rape, and torture. Guam endured hostilities when American forces recaptured the island on July 21,1944, since the 1960s, the economy is supported by two industries, tourism and the United States Armed Forces. The original inhabitants of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are believed to be descendants of Austronesian people originating from Southeast Asia as early as 2000 BC and they evolved into the Chamorro people. The ancient-Chamorro society had four classes, chamorri, matua, achaot, the matua were located in the coastal villages, which meant they had the best access to fishing grounds, whereas the manachang were located in the interior of the island. Matua and manachang rarely communicated with other, and matua often used achaot as intermediaries. There were also makåhna, skilled in healing and medicine, belief in spirits of ancient Chamorros called Taotao mona still persists as a remnant of pre-European culture. Their society was organized along matrilineal clans, Latte stones are stone pillars that are found only in the Mariana Islands, and, they are a recent development in Pre-Contact Chamorro society. The latte-stone was used as a foundation on which thatched huts were built, Latte stones consist of a base shaped from limestone called the haligi and with a capstone, or tåsa, made either from a large brain coral or limestone, placed on top
38.
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
39.
Lockheed C-5 Galaxy
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The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft originally designed and built by Lockheed, and now maintained and upgraded by its successor, Lockheed Martin. It provides the United States Air Force with a heavy strategic airlift capability, one that can carry outsize and oversize loads. The Galaxy has many similarities to its smaller Lockheed C-141 Starlifter predecessor, the C-5 is among the largest military aircraft in the world. The C-5 Galaxys development was complicated, including significant cost overruns, shortly after entering service, cracks in the wings of many aircraft were discovered and the C-5 fleet was restricted in capability until corrective work was completed. The C-5M Super Galaxy is a version with new engines. The USAF has operated the C-5 since 1969, the Galaxy has also been used to distribute humanitarian aid and disaster relief, and supported the US Space Shuttle program. In 1961, several companies began studying heavy jet transport designs that would replace the Douglas C-133 Cargomaster. These studies led to the CX-4 design concept, but in 1962 the proposed design was rejected. By late 1963, the conceptual design was named CX-X. It was equipped with four engines, instead of six engines in the earlier CX-4 concept, the CX-X had a gross weight of 550,000 pounds, a maximum payload of 180,000 lb and a speed of Mach 0.75. The cargo compartment was 17.2 ft wide by 13.5 feet high and 100 ft long with front, to meet the power and range specifications with only four engines required a new engine with dramatically improved fuel efficiency. The criteria were finalized and an official request for proposal was issued in April 1964 for the Heavy Logistics System, in May 1964, proposals for aircraft were received from Boeing, Douglas, General Dynamics, Lockheed, and Martin Marietta. General Electric, Curtiss-Wright, and Pratt & Whitney submitted proposals for the engines, after a downselect, Boeing, Douglas and Lockheed were given one-year study contracts for the airframe, along with General Electric and Pratt & Whitney for the engines. All three of the designs shared a number of features, the cockpit was placed well above the cargo area to allow for cargo loading through a nose door. All of the designs had swept wings, as well as front, Lockheeds design featured a T-tail, while the designs by Boeing and Douglas had conventional tails. The Air Force considered Boeings design to be better than that of Lockheed, Lockheed was selected the winner in September 1965, then awarded a contract in December 1965. General Electrics TF39 engine was selected in August 1965 to power the new transport plane, the first C-5A Galaxy was rolled out of the manufacturing plant in Marietta, Georgia, on 2 March 1968. On 30 June 1968, flight testing of the C-5A began with the first flight, flown by Leo Sullivan, flight tests revealed that the aircraft exhibited a higher drag divergence Mach number than predicted by wind tunnel data
40.
Marine Corps Air Station El Toro
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Marine Corps Air Station El Toro was a United States Marine Corps Air Station located near Irvine, California. Before it was decommissioned in 1999, it was the 4,682 acres home of Marine Corps aviation on the West Coast, designated as a Master Jet Station, its four runways could handle the largest aircraft in the U. S. military inventory. While it was active, all U. S. Presidents in the post-World War II era landed in Air Force One at this airfield, the El Toro Flying Bull patch was designed by Walt Disney Studios in 1944. It survived virtually unchanged until the close of the Air Station, the land area originally taken by the air station is planned to be converted into a large recreational center, the Orange County Great Park. The site is used as a filming location, including the test track for the United States version of BBCs Top Gear franchise. In May 1942, Lieutenant Colonel William Fox was directed to select the sites for all of the Marine Corps West Coast air stations, Fox sought the most expeditious and low cost option and thus chose the already existing airports of El Centro, Mojave and Santa Barbara. For the fourth station he chose land that had previously looked at by the Navy for a blimp base. The Marine Corps gave the owner of the land, a farmer named James Irvine Sr. $100,000 for 4,000 acres including 1,600 acres designated for a blimp base. Construction of MCAS El Toro began on August 3,1942 on land owned by the Irvine Company. The company greatly resisted the construction at this site, which at the time contained the largest lima bean field in North America. The name El Toro came from the small community which in 1940 only had a population of 130 people. The runways and taxiways were completed by 1 December 1942 and all squadron hangars were complete by 15 January 1943, barracks and officers quarters were also ready by 20 January. January 1943 also saw the first operational units arriving at MCAS El Toro, first aboard were Marine Base Defense Aircraft Group 41 and VMF-113. They were followed later in the month by VMSB-142, VMF-224, VMSB-231 and VMSB-232, the station was formally commissioned on 17 March 1943 with Colonel Theodore B. Millard as the first commanding officer, soon after its opening, MCAS El Toro was handling the largest tactical aerodrome traffic on the Pacific Coast. Already the largest Marine air station on the West Coast, in 1944, funds were approved to double its size, by the end of 1944, the base would be home to 1,248 officers and 6,831 enlisted personnel. In 1950, El Toro was selected as a permanent Master Jet Station for the Fleet Marine Forces, to support this new role, the aviation infrastructure at El Toro was again expanded significantly. For most of the years, El Toro served as the primary base for Marine Corps west coast fighter squadrons
41.
Persian Gulf
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The Persian Gulf is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Hormuz, the Shatt al-Arab river delta forms the northwest shoreline. The Persian Gulf was a battlefield of the 1980–1988 Iran–Iraq War and it is the namesake of the 1991 Gulf War, the largely air- and land-based conflict that followed Iraqs invasion of Kuwait. The gulf has many fishing grounds, extensive coral reefs, and abundant pearl oysters, the body of water is historically and internationally known as the Persian Gulf. Some Arab governments refer to it as the Arabian Gulf or The Gulf, the name Gulf of Iran is used by the International Hydrographic Organization. The Persian Gulf is geologically young, having been formed around 15,000 years ago. Its length is 989 kilometres, with Iran covering most of the northern coast, the Persian Gulf is about 56 km wide at its narrowest, in the Strait of Hormuz. The waters are very shallow, with a maximum depth of 90 metres. Various small islands lie within the Persian Gulf, some of which are the subject of territorial disputes between the states of the region. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the Persian Gulfs southern limit as The Northwestern limit of Gulf of Oman and this limit is defined as A line joining Ràs Limah on the coast of Arabia and Ràs al Kuh on the coast of Iran. The Persian Gulf and its areas are the worlds largest single source of crude oil. Safaniya Oil Field, the worlds largest offshore oilfield, is located in the Persian Gulf, large gas finds have also been made, with Qatar and Iran sharing a giant field across the territorial median line. Using this gas, Qatar has built up a substantial liquefied natural gas, the oil-rich countries that have a coastline on the Persian Gulf are referred to as the Persian Gulf States. In 550 BC, the Achaemenid Empire established the first ancient empire in Persis, consequently, in the Greek sources, the body of water that bordered this province came to be known as the Persian Gulf. In the travel account of Pythagoras, several chapters are related to description of his travels accompanied by the Achaemenid king Darius the Great, to Susa and Persepolis, and the area is described. This water channel separates the Iran Plateau from the Arabia Plate, has enjoyed an Iranian Identity since at least 2200 years ago. Before being given its present name, the Persian Gulf was called many different names, the classical Greek writers, like Herodotus, called it the Red Sea. In Babylonian texts, it was known as the sea above Akkad, the name of the gulf, historically and internationally known as the Persian Gulf after the land of Persia, has been disputed by some Arab countries since the 1960s
42.
Kuwait
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Kuwait /kuːˈweɪt/, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in Western Asia. Situated in the edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, it shares borders with Iraq. As of 2016, Kuwait has a population of 4.2 million people,1.3 million are Kuwaitis and 2.9 million are expatriates, expatriates account for 70% of the population. Oil reserves were discovered in 1938, from 1946 to 1982, the country underwent large-scale modernization. In the 1980s, Kuwait experienced a period of geopolitical instability, in 1990, Kuwait was invaded by Iraq. The Iraqi occupation came to an end in 1991 after military intervention by coalition forces, at the end of the war, there were extensive efforts to revive the economy and rebuild national infrastructure. Kuwait is a constitutional emirate with a political system. It has an income economy backed by the worlds sixth largest oil reserves. The Kuwaiti dinar is the highest valued currency in the world, according to the World Bank, the country has the fourth highest per capita income in the world. The Constitution was promulgated in 1962, making Kuwait the most democratic country in the region, Kuwait ranks highly in regional metrics of gender equality, as it has the regions highest Global Gender Gap ranking. During the Ubaid period, Kuwait was the site of interaction between the peoples of Mesopotamia and Neolithic Eastern Arabia, mainly centered in As-Subiya in northern Kuwait. The earliest evidence of habitation in Kuwait dates back 8000 B. C. where Mesolithic tools were found in Burgan. As-Subiya in northern Kuwait is the earliest evidence of urbanization in the whole Persian Gulf basin area, mesopotamians first settled in the Kuwaiti island of Failaka in 2000 B. C. Traders from the Sumerian city of Ur inhabited Failaka and ran a mercantile business, the island had many Mesopotamian-style buildings typical of those found in Iraq dating from around 2000 B. C. The Neolithic inhabitants of Kuwait were among the worlds earliest maritime traders, one of the worlds earliest reed-boats was discovered in northern Kuwait dating back to the Ubaid period. In 3rd century BC, the ancient Greeks colonized the bay of Kuwait under Alexander the Great, according to Strabo and Arrian, Alexander the Great named Failaka Ikaros because it resembled the Aegean island of that name in size and shape. Remains of Greek colonization include a large Hellenistic fort and Greek temples, in 224 AD, Kuwait became part of the Sassanid Empire. At the time of the Sassanid Empire, Kuwait was known as Meshan, Akkaz was a Partho-Sassanian site, the Sassanid religions tower of silence was discovered in northern Akkaz
43.
2nd Battalion, 5th Marines
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2nd Battalion 5th Marines is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps consisting of approximately 800 Marines and Sailors. They are based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California and fall under the command of the 5th Marine Regiment, 2/5 is the most highly decorated battalion in the Marine Corps and their motto, Retreat, Hell. Comes from the French trenches of World War I, when a Marine officer named Lloyd W. Williams was advised by a French officer to retreat and replied, Retreat. 2nd Battalion 5th Marines was formed on July 1,1914 and immediately sailed to the Caribbean to quell political turmoil in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. In June 1917, as part of the United States entry into World War I, the sailed for France with the rest of the 5th Marine Regiment. At the time the battalion was composed of four companies, the 18th, 43rd, 51st and they fought during the Battle of Belleau Wood, Soissons, and the Meuse-Argonne campaign and were twice awarded the French Croix de guerre with Palm. To this day, members of the Battalion wear the French Fourragère representing this award, following the armistice of 1918, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines was assigned to occupation duties in Germany until their return to Quantico, Virginia in August 1919. Beginning in 1920, the Battalion began guarding US Mail trains throughout the United States, in 1927, the Battalion was sent to Nicaragua to fight bandits and to supervise the 1928 Nicaraguan national elections. In 1941, the joined the newly formed 1st Marine Division at New River, North Carolina. During World War II the battalion fought in the Battle of Guadalcanal, Battle of Cape Gloucester, Battle of Peleliu, following the Japanese surrender, the battalion was assigned to occupation duty in Northern China until 1947, at which time they returned to the United States. The Battalion also participated in the landing at Inchon, the liberation of Seoul, the Chosin Reservoir Campaign, and the defense of the East, Central, and Western Fronts before the war was over. From July 1953 to February 1955, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines assisted in the defense of the Korean Demilitarized Zone, in April 1966, the Battalion deployed to the Republic of Vietnam and served there until 1971. During this time, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines participated in operations at Huế, Quế Sơn, Phu Bai, Đông Hà. Immediately after their return to Camp Pendleton in 1971, the Battalion joined Operation New Arrivals, for the next fifteen years, the battalion deployed regularly as part of the Marine Corps Unit Deployment Program. In December 1990, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines sailed for the Persian Gulf in support of Operations Desert Shield / Desert Storm and they were staged in Saudi Arabia and participated in the liberation of Kuwait. During the return transit to the United States, the battalion was diverted to Bangladesh where it provided humanitarian relief as part of Operation Sea Angel. In 1995, the battalion began regular deployments to Okinawa for service as the Battalion Landing Team for the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, on February 2,2003, 2/5 left MCB Camp Pendleton for Kuwait where they staged prior to the beginning of the war in Iraq. On March 20,2003 at approximately 2,30 am local time 2/5, as an element of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, for this operation they were attached with Royal Marines from the 3 Commando Brigade crossing into Iraq the first night of the invasion
44.
1st Battalion, 5th Marines
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1st Battalion, 5th Marines is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California consisting of approximately 800 Marines and sailors. Nicknamed Geronimo, it falls under the command of the 5th Marine Regiment, the battalion was formed in 1914 and has served in every major conflict that the United States has been involved in since then. The battalion was disbanded upon their return to Norfolk, Virginia, on 25 May 1917, the battalion was activated and deployed to France on 1 June 1917. 1/5 participated in the following World War I campaigns, Aisne, Aisen-Marne, St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, Toulon-Troyon, Chateau-Thierry, Marabache, and Limey. 1/5 made its most notable contribution at the Battle of Belleau Wood on 6 June 1918, in a battle that claimed 325 1/5 lives, Gunnery Sergeant Ernest A. Janson became the first Marine to earn the Medal of Honor in World War I. From December 1918 to July 1919, the participated in the occupation of the German Rhineland. It then re-deployed to Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia and de-activated in August 1919, in July 1920 the battalion re-activated to provide security for the U. S. Mail. In March 1927, the Battalion deployed to stabilize the government of Nicaragua against overthrow attempts by rebel forces. For the next six years, they aided the Nicaraguan government until peace was finally restored, 1/5 was deactivated in January 1933. Shortly thereafter the battalion was re-activated in September 1934 in Quantico, Virginia, in November 1934, the 1st Battalion was reactivated for the fourth time, only to be deactivated in March 1935. Shortly before World War II in April 1940, 1st Battalion was again reactivated, the fighting in World War II found the Marines of 1st Battalion at Guadalcanal, New Guinea, Peleliu, and Okinawa. Landing at Orange Beach 1 and Orange Beach 2 on D-Day, September 15,1944 and this costly maneuver of Japanese tanks and a company-sized infantry element would be the sole instance of open Japanese maneuver during the months-long Battle of Peleliu. In April 1946, their mission accomplished, 1st Battalion was disbanded, during October 1949, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines was reactivated in Camp Pendleton, California. During August 1950, the Battalion deployed to fight the Communist force invading the Republic of Korea, names such as the Pusan Perimeter, Inchon, Seoul and Chosin Reservoir were added to the Battalions battle vocabulary. At the close of hostilities, the 1st Battalion returned to the United States, from June 1966 to March 1971, 1/5 was deployed to Vietnam. The battalion participated in action around Chu Lai, Danang, Quang Nam, Que Son Valley, Hoi An, Phu Loc, the unit was deactivated in June 1974 but once again was quickly reactivated in March 1975. The battalion played a role in the Battle of Hue City during February 1968. Engaging the enemy in the famous Citadel on the side of the Perfume River
45.
East Timor
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East Timor or Timor-Leste, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a sovereign state in Maritime Southeast Asia. It comprises the half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse. The countrys size is about 15,410 km2, nine days later, it was invaded and occupied by Indonesia and was declared Indonesias 27th province the following year. The Indonesian occupation of East Timor was characterised by a highly violent decades-long conflict between separatist groups and the Indonesian military, in 1999, following the United Nations-sponsored act of self-determination, Indonesia relinquished control of the territory. East Timor became the first new state of the 21st century on 20 May 2002 and joined the United Nations. In 2011, East Timor announced its intention to gain status in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations by applying to become its eleventh member. It is one of two predominantly Christian nations in Southeast Asia, the other being the Philippines. In Indonesian, the country is called Timor Timur, thus using the Portuguese name for the island followed by the word for east, the official names under the Constitution are Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste in English, República Democrática de Timor-Leste in Portuguese and Repúblika Demokrátika Timór-Leste in Tetum. Humans first settled in East Timor 42,000 years ago, descendants of at least three waves of migration are believed still to live in East Timor. The first is described by anthropologists as people of the Veddo-Australoid type, around 3000 BC, a second migration brought Melanesians. The earlier Veddo-Australoid peoples withdrew at this time to the mountainous interior, finally, proto-Malays arrived from south China and north Indochina. Hakka traders are among those descended from this final group, Timorese origin myths tell of ancestors that sailed around the eastern end of Timor arriving on land in the south. Some stories recount Timorese ancestors journeying from the Malay Peninsula or the Minangkabau highlands of Sumatra, austronesians migrated to Timor, and are thought to be associated with the development of agriculture on the island. Thirdly, Proto-Malays arrived from south China and north Indochina, before European colonialism, Timor was included in Chinese and Indian trading networks, and in the 14th century was an exporter of aromatic sandalwood, slaves, honey, and wax. It was the abundance of sandalwood in Timor that attracted European explorers to the island in the early 16th century. During that time, European explorers reported that the island had a number of small chiefdoms or princedoms, the Portuguese established outposts in Timor and Maluku. Effective European occupation of a part of the territory began in 1769, when the city of Dili was founded. For the Portuguese, East Timor remained little more than a trading post until the late nineteenth century, with minimal investment in infrastructure, health
46.
USS Juneau (LPD-10)
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USS Juneau, an Austin-class amphibious transport dock, is the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for the capital of Alaska. Juneau was decommissioned in 2008, and is part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet and her keel was laid down by Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company of Seattle, Washington, on 23 January 1965. She was launched on 12 February 1966, and commissioned on 12 July 1969, throughout the 1970s, Juneau completed five deployments to the western Pacific, including eight trips into Vietnamese waters, earning five battle stars for its efforts in the Vietnam War. Juneau conducted the first AV-8A Harrier landing on a Pacific Fleet LPD in February 1976, on 4 July 1976, Juneau arrived in Juneau, Alaska with a complement of Marines from 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division as part of the United States Bicentennial celebrations. During the 1980s Juneau completed seven deployments, in April 1989, Juneau received emergency orders to Prince William Sound in support of the Exxon Valdez oil spill clean up. She was the first naval vessel on station, and assumed the duties of command and she provided berthing, communications, transportation, food, medical and laundry services for over four hundred civilian cleanup workers. She was the host of Vice-President Quayles visit to Prince William Sound, joining with ships from Amphibious Group Two, Juneau was a member of the largest amphibious task force since the United Nations assault on Incheon, South Korea. In May 1991, Juneau proceeded to Bangladesh to assist in Operation Sea Angel, during her 14th deployment, Juneau was diverted to the coast of Somalia in support of Operation Restore Hope. Her embarked Marines ensured the security of shipments of supplies to the people of Somalia. Juneau was homeported in San Diego until 30 July 1999 when she relieved USS Dubuque as part of the naval forces. Since that date, Juneau has been homeported in Sasebo, Japan, Juneau was deployed to East Timor as part of the Australian-led INTERFET peacekeeping taskforce from 28 to 31 January 2000. However, in early June, with permission still not forthcoming, Juneau swapped with her sister ship, the USS Denver during the third quarter of fiscal year 2008. After the swap, the sailed to San Diego for decommissioning. The decommissioning took place 30 October 2008 after which the ship was moved to Hawaii and this article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here and this article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U. S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here
47.
International Force for East Timor
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INTERFET was commanded by an Australian, Major General Peter Cosgrove. Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 and annexed the former Portuguese colony, the annexation was recognised by few nations and was resisted by many East Timorese. Cold War security concerns were emphasised, while foreign powers also placed high importance on good relations with Indonesia and were reluctant to assist a push for independence as a result. However, following the fall of long-serving Indonesian President Suharto the new president, the explicit comparison was with the Matignon Accords involving France and New Caledonia. The letter upset Habibie, who saw it as implying Indonesia was a colonial power, news of the proposal provoked a violent reaction from pro-Indonesian militia in East Timor. The Indonesian army did not intervene to restore order, at a summit in Bali, Howard told Habibie that a United Nations peacekeeping force should oversee the process. Habibie rejected the proposal, believing it would have insulted the Indonesian military, the United Nations Mission in East Timor was established to organise and conduct a referendum on the question of independence. It was composed of police and observers rather than military personnel, the UN-sponsored referendum held on 30 August 1999 showed overwhelming approval for East Timorese independence from Indonesia. Many East Timorese were killed, with as many as 500,000 displaced, the Catholic Church in Australia urged the Australian Government to send an armed peacekeeping force to East Timor to end the violence. Protests occurred outside the Indonesia Consulate in Darwin and the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra, the United States offered crucial logistical and intelligence resources and an over-horizon deterrent presence, but did not commit forces to the operation. Finally, on 11 September, Clinton announced, Indonesia, in dire economic straits, under international pressure to allow an international peacekeeping force, Indonesian president BJ Habibie announced on 12 September that he would do so. The resolution also welcomed Australias letter to accept the leadership of a multinational force in East Timor. The lead-up to the operation remained politically and militarily tense, p-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft were also deployed. Ultimately no serious incidents occurred and the intervention was successful, however, of the 22 nations involved in INTERFET,10 provided naval assets. The United States contributed seven ships, the cruiser Mobile Bay, the assault ships Belleau Wood, Peleliu, and Juneau, and the replenishment ships Kilauea, San Jose. France supplied four vessels, the frigates Vendémiaire and Prairial plus the landing ships Siroco, singapore contributed the amphibious landing ships Excellence, Intrepid, and Perseverance. New Zealand deployed the frigates Te Kaha and Canterbury and the replenishment ship Endeavour, the International Forces East Timor coalition began deploying to East Timor on 20 September 1999, as a non-UN force operating in accordance with UN Resolutions. The Australian Deployable Joint Force Headquarters provided overall command and control, the main Australian combat element included infantry and cavalry provided by the 3rd Brigade
United States of America
United States Marine Corps
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This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps.
This article incorporates 
Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic
Fleet Marine Force, Pacific
