Photos

On 22 August 2006 First Lieutenant Kirk A. Whittenberg, commander of 1st Platoon, Alpha Company, 9th Engineer Support Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 15, 1st Marine Logistics Group (Fwd), addresses his platoon before going on a vehicle patrol to locate and examine improvised explosive devices in the Al Anbar Province. Whittenberg, a 24-year-old Chester, Ill., native, explained that 1st Platoon, in addition to securing the roads for Iraqi civilians and combat units, also builds living quarters for the service members in Camp Ramadi and Camp Taqaddum, Iraq. The battalion, augmented from 3rd Marine Logistics Group, is scheduled to remain here until spring 2007. 9th Engineer Support Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 15, 1st Marine Logistics Group is deployed with I MEF (FWD) in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq (MNF-W) to develop the Iraqi Security Forces, facilitate the development of official rule of law through democratic government reforms, and continue the development of a market based economy centered on Iraqi Reconstruction. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Private First Class Ryan L. Tomlinson)