Cpl. Jaimey C. Syvruv, motor transportation mechanic, Combat Logistics Battalion 2, 1st Marine Logistics group, helps an Iraqi Soldier trouble shoot a heater problem on a High-Mobility, Multipurpose, Wheeled Vehicle during the first Iraqi partnership at the Iraq camp here, Dec. 31. ?This is the first time we worked with Iraqi Soldiers at their camp instead of our maintenance area,? said Gunnery Sgt. Duane E. Black, 38, Marceline, Mo., Motor Transportation Maintenance Platoon commander, CLB-2, 1st MLG. ?We can train more of their mechanics at the Iraqi maintenance bay because they all can?t come over to our shop.? For more than a year, Iraqi mechanics on Camp Majed aboard Al Asad have been traveling to the American side of the base for HMMWV mechanical training. No more then five Iraqi Soldiers would show up every Wednesday to learn about fixing their military vehicles. Over the last year, the Primary Iraqi Command has been focusing on Marines standing back and advising instead of fixing the vehicles for them. ?We?re here to watch over the Iraqi Soldiers and observe them work on HMMWV,? said Syvruv, 22, Blanchardville, Wis. ?We are standing back and letting them do the work so they can become more self sufficient.? With all the mechanical knowledge the Marines taught to the Iraqi Soldiers, U.S. forces will be able to leave Iraq knowing they can function as a military on their own. - Cpl. Jaimey C. Syvruv, motor transportation mechanic, Combat Logistics Battalion 2, 1st Marine Logistics group, helps an Iraqi Soldier trouble shoot a heater problem on a High-Mobility, Multipurpose, Wheeled Vehicle during the first Iraqi partnership at the Iraq camp here, Dec. 31. ?This is the first time we worked with Iraqi Soldiers at their camp instead of our maintenance area,? said Gunnery Sgt. Duane E. Black, 38, Marceline, Mo., Motor Transportation Maintenance Platoon commander, CLB-2, 1st MLG. ?We can train more of their mechanics at the Iraqi maintenance bay because they all can?t come over to our shop.? For more than a year, Iraqi mechanics on Camp Majed aboard Al Asad have been traveling to the American side of the base for HMMWV mechanical training. No more then five Iraqi Soldiers would show up every Wednesday to learn about fixing their military vehicles. Over the last year, the Primary Iraqi Command has been focusing on Marines standing back and advising instead of fixing the vehicles for them. ?We?re here to watch over the Iraqi Soldiers and observe them work on HMMWV,? said Syvruv, 22, Blanchardville, Wis. ?We are standing back and letting them do the work so they can become more self sufficient.? With all the mechanical knowledge the Marines taught to the Iraqi Soldiers, U.S. forces will be able to leave Iraq knowing they can function as a military on their own.

CAMP BAHARIA, Iraq (Dec. 30, 2008) – The Marines of first squad, Security Company, Combat Logistics Battalion 5, 1st Marine Logistics Group, review procedures before a combat logistics patrol Dec. 30. The Marines in Security Co. provide route security for convoys. Their defensive tactics keep the other vehicles out of harm’s way and ensure a safe trip to their destination. They protect the convoy and are responsible for setting up landing zones in case a casualty needs to be evacuated. (Photo by Cpl. Tyler B. Barstow) - CAMP BAHARIA, Iraq (Dec. 30, 2008) – The Marines of first squad, Security Company, Combat Logistics Battalion 5, 1st Marine Logistics Group, review procedures before a combat logistics patrol Dec. 30. The Marines in Security Co. provide route security for convoys. Their defensive tactics keep the other vehicles out of harm’s way and ensure a safe trip to their destination. They protect the convoy and are responsible for setting up landing zones in case a casualty needs to be evacuated. (Photo by Cpl. Tyler B. Barstow)

Cpl. Tracy A. Kuntzsch, a fire team leader, and Sgt. Jacob I. Sanchez, a squad leader, interact with an Iraqi child during a humanitarian mission Dec. 30. Kuntzsch, 24, from Bunkerhill, Kan., and Sanchez, 25, from Los Angeles, and other service members visited Habbaniyah Tourist Village's public school to donate school supplies on behalf of Operation Iraqi Children, a nonprofit organization. - Cpl. Tracy A. Kuntzsch, a fire team leader, and Sgt. Jacob I. Sanchez, a squad leader, interact with an Iraqi child during a humanitarian mission Dec. 30. Kuntzsch, 24, from Bunkerhill, Kan., and Sanchez, 25, from Los Angeles, and other service members visited Habbaniyah Tourist Village's public school to donate school supplies on behalf of Operation Iraqi Children, a nonprofit organization.

His crusade spanned two years. He travelled to triages and hospitals across Anbar in 2006. He worked tirelessly with his stateside colleagues in 2007. Two years of toiling, all to gather enough evidence, or ?data? as he calls it, to make his case. Now, back in Iraq, Navy Capt. Michael H. Hoffer feels he has won a significant victory against arguably the military?s most serious and common casualty: Traumatic Brain Injury. Traumatic Brain Injuries, or TBI?s, occur when an individual experiences shock waves from a blast, acceleration-deceleration (collision), or an impact or penetration directly to the skull. Doctors divide TBI into severe, moderate or mild. ?Right now, 92 percent of all battlefield injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan are classified as (mild) TBI,? said Hoffer, the Otolaryngologist (ears, nose and throat doctor), Surgical Company, 1st Maintenance Battalion (-) (Reinforced), 1st Marine Logistics Group. The Theater TBI Center of Excellence, a result of Hoffer?s two-year initiative, is the first of its kind here in Anbar. It was established initially in September and finalized as the province?s hub of TBI treatment in December. With the cooperation of corpsmen on the ground and company commanders, the center now administers to every casualty who experienced events associated with causing TBI. - His crusade spanned two years. He travelled to triages and hospitals across Anbar in 2006. He worked tirelessly with his stateside colleagues in 2007. Two years of toiling, all to gather enough evidence, or ?data? as he calls it, to make his case. Now, back in Iraq, Navy Capt. Michael H. Hoffer feels he has won a significant victory against arguably the military?s most serious and common casualty: Traumatic Brain Injury. Traumatic Brain Injuries, or TBI?s, occur when an individual experiences shock waves from a blast, acceleration-deceleration (collision), or an impact or penetration directly to the skull. Doctors divide TBI into severe, moderate or mild. ?Right now, 92 percent of all battlefield injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan are classified as (mild) TBI,? said Hoffer, the Otolaryngologist (ears, nose and throat doctor), Surgical Company, 1st Maintenance Battalion (-) (Reinforced), 1st Marine Logistics Group. The Theater TBI Center of Excellence, a result of Hoffer?s two-year initiative, is the first of its kind here in Anbar. It was established initially in September and finalized as the province?s hub of TBI treatment in December. With the cooperation of corpsmen on the ground and company commanders, the center now administers to every casualty who experienced events associated with causing TBI.

Cpl. Troy N. Harris, the day-shift noncommissioned officer for the Sahl Sinjar Arrival/Departure Air Control Group, Combat Logistics Company 19, 1st Marine Logistics Group, counts off the line of passengers on a debarking flight Dec. 24. Harris, 22, from Burien, Wash., helps transport people and cargo out of Sahl Sinjar which is the home of the first Marine Air Ground Task Force outside of al Anbar province since 2004. - Cpl. Troy N. Harris, the day-shift noncommissioned officer for the Sahl Sinjar Arrival/Departure Air Control Group, Combat Logistics Company 19, 1st Marine Logistics Group, counts off the line of passengers on a debarking flight Dec. 24. Harris, 22, from Burien, Wash., helps transport people and cargo out of Sahl Sinjar which is the home of the first Marine Air Ground Task Force outside of al Anbar province since 2004.

Cpl. Kyle E. Johnson, 22, San Ramon, Calif., load master, Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 352, Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, guides a container delivery system onto a KC-130J aircraft here Dec. 26. Combat Logistics Battalion 2, 1st Marine Logistics Group and VMGR-352 conducted an aerial resupply delivery to Bravo Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 5 in northwestern Iraq. ?The only way that we can re-supply Reconnaissance Marines is by conducting air deliveries,? said Cpl. Mathew J. Ladd, 21, Bowling Green, Ky., air chief, CLB-2, 1st MLG. ?Bravo Co. is limited to what they can carry because they need to maintain maneuverability to complete their mission.? The Recon Marines were resupplied with food, water and vehicle repair parts. As soon as the KC-130J pilots neared the Bravo Co. position, they lowered the plane to several hundred feet above the ground, opened the ramp and accelerated at an incline so the bundles would slide down the rollers and out the back of the aircraft. ?The parachutes initiate right as the bundles fall out of the plane,? said Maj. Brian J. Gilbertson, 33, Waukesha, Wis., executive officer/pilot, VMGR-352, MAG-11, 3rd MAW. ?It takes roughly 400 ft. for the parachutes to fully bloom.? Once the four 1,500 pound bundles landed, Bravo Co. collected the supplies and folded the parachutes so they could be used again. Combat Logistics Battalion 2 provides western Iraq with all air resupply deliveries. - Cpl. Kyle E. Johnson, 22, San Ramon, Calif., load master, Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 352, Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, guides a container delivery system onto a KC-130J aircraft here Dec. 26. Combat Logistics Battalion 2, 1st Marine Logistics Group and VMGR-352 conducted an aerial resupply delivery to Bravo Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, Regimental Combat Team 5 in northwestern Iraq. ?The only way that we can re-supply Reconnaissance Marines is by conducting air deliveries,? said Cpl. Mathew J. Ladd, 21, Bowling Green, Ky., air chief, CLB-2, 1st MLG. ?Bravo Co. is limited to what they can carry because they need to maintain maneuverability to complete their mission.? The Recon Marines were resupplied with food, water and vehicle repair parts. As soon as the KC-130J pilots neared the Bravo Co. position, they lowered the plane to several hundred feet above the ground, opened the ramp and accelerated at an incline so the bundles would slide down the rollers and out the back of the aircraft. ?The parachutes initiate right as the bundles fall out of the plane,? said Maj. Brian J. Gilbertson, 33, Waukesha, Wis., executive officer/pilot, VMGR-352, MAG-11, 3rd MAW. ?It takes roughly 400 ft. for the parachutes to fully bloom.? Once the four 1,500 pound bundles landed, Bravo Co. collected the supplies and folded the parachutes so they could be used again. Combat Logistics Battalion 2 provides western Iraq with all air resupply deliveries.