Sigh.

It's a very, very hard weekend at 29 Palms. When they dribble in in ones and twos, that's one thing. 10 death notifications, with the associated 11 WIA notifications, all from one small unit - it's a rough day in the Corps.

No. 1252-05 Dec 03, 2005 IMMEDIATE RELEASE

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DoD Identifies Marine Casualties
The Department of Defense announced today the death of 10 Marines who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Staff Sgt. Daniel J. Clay, 27, of Pensacola, Fla.

Lance Cpl. John M. Holmason, 20, of Suprise, Ariz.

Lance Cpl. David A. Huhn, 24, of Portland, Mich.

Lance Cpl. Adam W. Kaiser, 19, of Naperville, Ill.

Lance Cpl. Robert A. Martinez, 20, of Splendora, Texas

Cpl. Anthony T. McElveen, 20, of Little Falls, Minn.

Lance Cpl. Scott T. Modeen, 24, of Hennepin, Minn.

Lance Cpl. Andrew G. Patten, 19, of Byron, Ill.

Sgt. Andy A. Stevens, 29, of Tomah, Wis.

Lance Cpl. Craig N. Watson, 21, of Union City, Mich.

All 10 Marines died Dec. 1 from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Fallujah, Iraq. All 10 Marines were assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, their unit was attached to 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).

Media with questions about these Marines can call the Twentynine Palms Public Affairs Office at (760) 830-6213.

This seems a good time to link to Bill Lind's piece on Operational IEDs and 4th Generation Warfare. Food for thought, regardless of what else you might think of Lind's thoughts on the subject of war and other things.

I gotta admit - Van Creveld did some useful work in the 70's and 80's, but lately seems have just gotten to be a crabby curmudgeon, but sometimes we've got to get out of the echo chamber and consider other viewpoints. I don't find his assessment persuasive at this juncture.

While it's small comfort - there is less joy in Jihadiville today, too.

The fledgling Iraqi Air Force (which has had some serious problems with corruption) is starting to get off the ground. Heh. I wonder if the Iranians will ever return the last Iraqi Air Force - the one that flew to Iran during Desert Storm because they knew that being anywhere else was going to be fatal. Nah, probably better to start from scratch.