FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT & CEO
Dear MCA Member,
Though after the respective holidays, it's never too late to wish ALL Marines a very happy 234th Birthday and to extend my thanks to all who have served in our armed forces on the occasion of the 11 November Veterans Day holiday. On behalf of the professional association for All Marines, I thank you all for your service and sacrifices you have made for our country.
MCA hosted two professional events on 5 November. We thank MajGen Robert E. Schmidle, USMC, Assistant Deputy Commandant for Programs and Resources for taking time from his hectic schedule to talk to luncheon guests about the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) process now underway at our last MCAF Luncheon of the year in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area.
After the luncheon meal, we celebrated the 234th Birthday of our Corps with a cake cutting ceremony. The first pieces of cake went to the oldest Marine present, 90 year old Guadalcanal veteran, retired Major William Sager and also to the youngest Marine, 25 year old Corporal Luke Huffman serving in the inactive reserve and a MCCDC contractor with ALION at Quantico.
We also thank Dr. Mark Moyar, author of A Question of Command: Counterinsurgency from the Civil War to Iraq for taking the time to meet and chat with visitors at The MARINE Shop during his Meet the Author and Book Signing event.
Coming up on 3 December, the Marine Corps Association Foundation, in coordination with HQMC Plans, Policies and Operations Division, will host our annual Ground Dinner featuring the Commanding Generals, or their direct representatives, for each of the four Marine Divisions, who will provide a brief on the status, challenges and activities facing their respective Division. This forum is popular and always well attended so I encourage you to register early. You can do that by visiting our MCAF professional events schedule page HERE. And while you are there, please review the other dynamic events we have scheduled for the future.
Last month I was proud to announce that MCA had just entered into an agreement with United Services Automobile Association and I want to reiterate the news that USAA is now our exclusive Semper Fidelis Sponsor. USAA is a diversified financial services group of companies and is among the leading providers of financial planning, insurance, investments and banking services to the U.S. military and their families. Click HERE to read our press release on our new partnership with USAA and how it will benefit our members.
Semper Fidelis,
Les Palm
Major General, USMC (Ret)
President and Chief Executive Officer
MARINE CORPS ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION
The Marine Corps Association Foundation is MCA's newly established charitable organization that enables our members, sponsors and donors to make tax-deductible contributions to aid important support programs such as the MCAF Awards and Professional Events Programs as well as our new MCAF Unit Library program.
Visit MCAF's website HERE to read about the Foundation's purpose and how it supports Marines. We welcome support from both individuals and corporations.
Click HERE to learn about how you can make a tax-deductible donation yourself and also how to join MCAF as an individual or corporate member! Note that ALL donations over $25.00 received from 1-31 Deccember will qualify for our special Donor Coin pictured here. Please help MCAF support Marines and add to your coin collection!
And, if you would like to call us with suggestions or to explore ways to get more directly involved, here is our new MCAF toll free number: 877-4MY-MCAF (1-877-469-6223) Give us a call -- we would love to hear from you! And, if you would like to make a donation to the Foundation, here is the mailing address:
MCAF
PO Box 1775
Quantico, VA 22134
We thank you for your consideration!
MCA membership helps keep your connection to the Corps stay strong!
Your membership includes a subscription to one or both of MCA's magazines: Marine Corps Gazette, the professional journal of U.S. Marines and /or Leatherneck, magazine of the Marines. Both magazines focus on the Marine Corps, its history and dynamic activities. Reading both is an invaluable means of staying informed.
Marines routinely deploy for long periods of time, creating special needs. Deployed Marines can't afford to haul around extra weight and don't deserve problems with missed or delayed mail. To help overcome these problems MCA offers a flexible membership option, which provides continuous access even throughout lengthy operational deployments.
MCA's ONLINE-ONLY membership provides ONLINE access to BOTH magazines anywhere in the world via the Internet, and includes all other membership benefits at savings of about 24% off the print edition subscription rates. Active duty Marines who have any possibility of experiencing an operational deployment should strongly consider this option when joining or renewing.
No matter what magazine option you chose, you get ONLINE access to BOTH editions at no extra charge!
Leatherneck and Marine Corps Gazette are full of articles of real value to and largely written by Marines. Both magazines feature timely, professionally relevant, and highly illustrated articles that keep Marines abreast of current issues and the continuing Marine Corps story.
The Online editions of MCA's flagship magazines include the same material as the print editions but provide unique additions only available in a web-based environment. Searchable archives back to1916, audio and video feeds, graphic slide shows, interactive discussion boards on controversial issues that ANY reader can join and hot linked key words, allowing additional reading on topics that interest you are among the enhanced features Online readers enjoy!
We invite you to log on to read the digital versions of Leatherneck and Marine Corps Gazette and check out all these dynamic features today! AND, in January, the Digital editions of our magazines are going to be even easier to use with:
- A Dynamic New Look
- Dramatically Improved Content Access
- Intuitive Navigation
- Easy Search Features
- One Click social Networking
- Improved Mobile Access, AND, a WHOLE Lot More...
Not an MCA member? We invite you to join! Call toll-free at 866-622-1775, EMAIL us at mca@mca-marines.org, or go online at: http://www.mca-marines.org/join.asp.
New members mention code NEMTN1109. Renewals mention code REMTN1109.
Your Leatherneck team thanks you for all you do to support Leatherneck, the Marine Corps Association and the Corps and wish you the very best for Christmas and the upcoming holiday season.
In the December issue, we'll bring you the first of several Afghanistan updates from Andrew Lubin, embedded with Marines in the south. His article, "Keeping the Convoys Rolling: With Route Clearance Company, 1st Combat Engineer Battalion" provides you a first hand look at the Marines" reaction after being hit by an IED. He shot some video, so when our digital edition is posted at the end of the day on 24 November, you can go online, read the article and see the video.
Also in the December issue is 90-year-old World War II veteran and frequent contributor Cy O'Brien's article "The Raid on Koiari." During the World War II Battle of Bougainville, Major General Roy Geiger, commanding I Marine Amphibious Corps, decided to land the Marine Parachute Battalion, reinforced with a Raider company, behind the Japanese lines to accelerate the offense... the problem was the Marines landed right in the middle of a major Japanese position.
We cap the December issue with articles on the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame; an article on Marine Corps Systems Command's "Gruntworks," where gear and tactics are tested; and a short tribute to the Marine Corps Reserve's Toys for Tots program.
Looking into the new year, our January Leatherneck will include articles on the Marine security guards in Athens, recruiters' school, WW II's Battle of Hunt's Point--Peleliu, the attack on Cam Lo during Tet 1968 and another update from Afghanistan by Andrew Lubin.Remember to check out Corps Daily News each day for the latest on the Corps by visiting us on the web at
TDGs are returning to the Gazette. The Gazette has partnered with the Expeditionary Warfare School of the Marine Corps University to return TDGs to our pages. The school conducts an Advanced Warfighting Seminar for selected students and uses TDGs to facilitate decision making. On page 80 of this issue is a short introduction to the return of TDGs to the pages of the Gazette.To readers who remember the TDGs from years past, there will be similarities but also differences.
The challenging, new set of TDGs will be in an Afghanistan scenario and will be linked to one another. The way we will present the solutions will also be different from the way it was done in the past. Although we will publish the seminar's proposed solution in the magazine 2 months after the game is in the magazine, we will also post the solution on the web just a few weeks after the magazine is available online. We believe that the return of TDGs adds real value to what the Gazette provides to Marines in enhancing their professional skills and we strongly encourage our readers to test their decision making skills with them each month.
MEMBERSHIP / RENEWAL NOTICES
Members are the life's blood of any organization. We cherish ours, want to keep EVERY one we have and want to recruit even more! REMEMBER - The more members we have, the better we can support Marines through our professional development and awards programs! Supporting Marines is a crackerjack reason to join but here is another reason to keep your membership active.
Renew your membership by the 10th of the month following your FIRST renewal reminder notice and we will put your name goes into a drawing to win a bottle of great smelling USMC Semper Fi Cologne.
We even have two drawings a month to increase your chances of winning!
Congratulations and Welcome Back to Our lucky October winners:
HMC Joe H Gurule of Sun City West, AZ
Maj Stanley A Baldwin Jr USMC (Ret) of Whiteford, MD
SPECIAL NOTICES
MCA Bookstore Notice
MCA Member Discounts at Fox Creek Leather. Fox Creek Leather, a family-run business that produces high quality motorcycle leathers, now offers MCA members a special deal on some of their products. They offer a $25.00 discount on all leather jackets or saddlebags and $10.00 off chaps, vests and overpants. Visit their web site by clicking on the Fox Creek Leather banner on MCA's web site. To get your MCA discount, call and let them know you are an MCA member or type in "MCA Discount" in the message section of the online order process (The order would not reflect the discount immediately -- FCL will manually adjust the order before credit card processing).
amazon.com
If you are an AMAZON.Com Online shopper then we invite you to access their website through the new AMAZON.Com portal on MCA's home page. AMAZON.Com offers much more than just books. It is also a great source for toys, casual apparel, tools, gadgets and more.
SPECIAL SAVINGS ALERT - Walt Disney World Special Ticket Offer for the Military Community
Walt Disney World now offers large discounts on ticket packages to all active duty and retired military during the period 4 Jan - 23 Dec 2009. Click HERE for details.
NEW Offer for Washington, D.C. Area Vehicle Owners from TireVan
TireVan, DC area's only mobile tire installation service, offers members of the Marine Corps Association a FREE membership in their car care program known as TireVan Advantage. This program not only helps keep our members and families safe but also helps caring for their cars easier and cheaper.
TireVan provides A Better Way to Get New Tires. You can select from virtually any brand of tire, purchase them over the phone at 877.847.3826 or through www.TireVan.com at guaranteed low prices and then relax as TireVan's expert technicians bring your new tires to your car and professionally install them on the spot!
Membership in TireVan Advantage gets you a 20% installation discount-which is not available to the public. But membership is valuable even when you don't need new tires, by giving you access to money saving benefits such as automotive recall monitoring service which keeps you up-to-date on important safety and non-safety recalls issued by the auto manufacturer, important state inspection reminders and inflation/tread wear reminders. Independent websites charge as much as $50-$100 per year for similar services, all of which are available to Marine Corps Association members through TireVan free of charge!
Sign up today at www.advantage.TireVan.com and use enrollment code: MA477ESAdvertise With US! If you would like a promotional ad for your business or organization in MCA Today, send us your request to promotions@mca-marines.org. MCA Today has over 44,000 readers each month and is a valuable advertising resource.
The Marine Corps Association's ONLINE Store
Featuring all the in-print USMC Professional Reading Program titles, and a large selection of other professional reading of interest to Marines, MCA's ONLINE Store also offers a large range of unique specialty gifts for Marines. We have what Marines want and need!
WWW.MARINESHOP.NET
It's Easy -- Click the link and this is where you go!
Click on what interests you and go from there!
Featured Gifts For Marines!
Under Armour Arctic Beanie
In snug, form fitting 100% microfleece, our beanie proudly proclaims your service connection while keeping your brain-housing group warm and comfy!
104453
Member Price: $26.75
Non-Member Price: $29.00
Red Duffel Bag with Black Trim and
Eagle, Globe and Anchor on Top
Compliant with airline carry-on limitations, our 11" x 13" x 24" Carry-All has multiple pockets to organize your necessities on the go. A special order, non-returnable, drop ship item requiring 3 weeks for delivery.
103708
Member Price: $56.70
Non-Member Price: $63.00
Under Armour Varsity Backpack with Eagle, Globe and Anchor
In tough, wear-resistant ripstop and ballistic nylon, our handy Backpack features anatomically-shaped shoulder straps for carrying ease, and comes with a wet/dry tunnel pocket and heavy duty hardware for long term use. Commodious at 18" x 14" x 9", it boldly displays an elegantly embroidered Eagle, Globe and Anchor emblem.
104417
Member Price: $54.00
Non-Member Price: $60.00
Red Under Armour Polo with Eagle, Globe and Anchor Detail
Cut to traditional fit, our new Under Armour, bright red polo shirt in 85% Poly Armour and 5% Elastane uses the latest technology to keep you comfortable out in the sun. Lightweight HeatGear fabric keeps you cool and dry and the shirt features the latest in anti-odor protection as well as anti-pick and pill finish for long wearing durability. Most importantly, our Polo features a bright Eagle, Globe and Anchor emblem to keep your morale sunny no matter what the weather does!
104410
Member Price: $45.00
Non-Member Price: $50.00
Marine Corps Association Stores
To order, Call ( Monday - Friday 0800-1630)
Toll Free: 1-888-237-7683
Fax: 703-630-1446
Email: customercare@mca-marines.org
Visit the MCA Book Store at Camp Lejeune or The MARINE Shop at Quantico!
Click Here for Addresses
NEED HELP WITH RETAIL OR MEMBERSHIP PROBLEMS?
If you experience problems with our Online Store, with telephone orders or with your membership, the following phone numbers can get you the assistance you need:
(Mon-Fri 0800-1630 EST)
1-866-622-1775
(Mon-Fri 0800-1630 EST)
1- 888-237-7683
THE MARINE SHOP
MCA's Flagship Store!
Helping Marines look their Professional Best
is Our Mission!
The MARINE Shop in Quantico, Virginia is THE most prestigious provider of Marine uniforms and accessories in the Corps. Whether you need the best Marine or Marine Corps League Uniform, current professional reading or a special gift a Marine will treasure The MARINE Shop is your first choice!
Now Featuring the Best in Seasonal Uniform Accessories for Cooler Weather:
The MARINE Shop completed an extensive refit just a little over a year ago. Among the improvements were motivational sayings and epithets that were rendered in stone blocks emplaced in front of The MARINE Shop along the sidewalk. One of the sayings we used is attributed to MSgt Jeffery R. Sornig when he was a Corporal stationed at MCAS Cherry Point. Responding to a Navy Times article seeking reader input about "219 reasons why you love the Marine Corps" he submitted an entry that was published and then subsequently written in stone and proudly emplaced in front of The MARINE Shop during its refit. MSgt Sornig was pleasantly surprised to see his words carved for posterity during an October visit to Quantico.
On 5 November MCA was fortunate to have a proud contingent of our Corps' famous Code Talkers visit The MARINE Shop. Thanks for your service, Marines!
The MARINE Shop
300 Potomac Ave
Quantico, Virginia
(703) 640-7195
www.marineshop.net
MCAF PROFESSIONAL EVENTS:
MCAF professional events provide valuable professional development opportunities to Marines. They feature interesting guest speakers drawn from the top leadership of the Marine Corps, other services and Department of Defense and serve as a forum where these leaders provide their unique perspectives on the key issues important to Marines.
MCAF professional events include dinners, lunches, PME presentations, seminars, as well as "Meet the Author" and book signing events.
We invite you to attend whenever you are able. Visit our web site here often to stay current with our evolving schedule. Here are highlights from our latest schedule:
MCAF Annnual Ground Dinner
Crystal Gateway Marriott
Arlington, VA
Guest Speakers - Commanding Generals of each Marine Division or their representative
Book Signing
The MARINE Shop
Quantico, VA
Kirsten Holmstedt author of Band of Sisters and
The Girls Come Marching Home
MCAF Annual Ground
Logistics Awards Dinner
Crystal Gateway Marriott
Arlington, VA
Guest Speaker - TBD
MCAF Annual C4 Awards Dinner
Crystal City Hyatt
Arlington, VA
Guest Speaker - General James T. Conway, USMC
Commandant of the Marine Corps
MCAF Annual Ground Awards Dinner
Crystal Gateway Marriott
Arlington, VA
Guest Speaker - TBD
MCAF CORPORATE SPONSORS
Thanks to our sponsors for their generous support of the MCAF’s
Professional Events and Awards Programs
The Marine Corps has a number of legitimate needs for which the use of public funds is not appropriate. The MCAF Awards Program is an important example. The program is totally funded by MCA member dues and MCAF sponsor support and provides the assets needed to recognize the professional achievements of a large number of Marines in categories formally specified by the Marine Corps.
The MCAF Awards Program provides leadership, performance and academic awards to deserving Marines and succeeded in recognizing nearly 9,000 Marines and sailors for professional achievements this year alone!
The MCAF Professional Events and Marine Unit Professional Book Library Programs are other examples of programs that are primarily supported by corporate sponsors whose generosity provides the Foundation with the resources to fund these critical support programs.
The Marine Corps Association Foundation welcomes corporate support for our professional event program and invites potential sponsors to contact LeeAnn Mitchell at l.mitchell@mca-marines.org for more information.
---------------------------------- SEMPER FIDELIS SPONSOR: ----------------------------------
---------------------------------- PREMIER PLATINUM: ----------------------------------
---------------------------------- PREMIER DIAMOND: ----------------------------------
---------------------------------- PREMIER GOLD: ----------------------------------
---------------------------------- PREMIER SILVER: ----------------------------------
---------------------------------- PREMIER
BRONZE: ----------------------------------
------------------- And to our Other Sponsors: -------------------
Platinum: Panasonic
Gold: Harris RF Communications, Harris IT Services Corporation, Navistar, Smartronix
Silver: Agility Logistics, AMSG, Ciena, Cobham, CTC, EMA, MITRE, Impact Resources Technologies, L-3 Communications, Rheinmetall
Bronze: AFCEA; AT&T Government Solutions; BAE Systems;
CA, Inc.; Cisco; Columbia Group; CSC; Deloitte Consulting; DSC; EG&G; Exeter; Geico; Hartford Insurance; Honeywell; JWF Defense; Kollsman; Motorola; Navy Federal Credit Union; Professional Solutions; R. Phillips Enterprises; R&W Construction; Tandberg; Taser; Telos; Tesoro Corp.; Thales Communications; Tompkins Builders; Trader Construction;
Wackenhut Services
Marine Corps Association Foundation Corporate Members:
ClearedJobs.net, CSC, JWF Defense, Modus Operandi, K2 Solutions, BRTRC,
Publisher's Press, and Lincoln Military Housing
Become a Corporate Member today by calling 877-469-6223.
Your subscription to Leatherneck and / or Marine Corps Gazette is your most obvious membership benefit, but there are many more. Another key benefit is Member Value Pricing offered at MCA's Online Store, our MCA Bookstore at Camp Lejeune and at The MARINE Shop at Quantico, Virginia. Member Value Pricing gives you exclusive price discounts on all of MCA's professional reading and specialty gifts and includes discounts on most uniform items at The MARINE Shop.
Exclusive access to great deals from well-known companies who provide discounted computer prices, special deals on credit cards, insurance policies, rental cars, travel, educational programs and a whole lot more also comes with MCA membership. Check out the links below for additional information.
What other member benefits would YOU like us to offer? Email us at promotions@mca-marines.org with your suggestions.
Grantham University's special program for MCA members is an especially good deal for several reasons:
- Cost -- MCA members save up to 24% on tuition and educational material fees!
- Eligibility - Member dependents are ALSO eligible for the membership discount.
Grantham University's academic programs are both flexible and portable. and offer a wide range of academic disciplines at the Associate, Bachelors and Masters levels. All programs are conducted entirely ONLINE and at the convenience of the student. Take the courses you want, when you want and wherever you are.
For Marines making lengthy deployments that interfere with the ability to participate in traditional education programs, Grantham University provides a first rate option allowing them to continue their education anywhere in the world. And they are fully accredited.COMPUTER SAVINGS
The ultimate all-in-one iMac desktop computer is now even faster and offers the most powerful graphics ever available in an iMac. At speeds up to 3.06GHz, the latest-generation dual-core Intel processors powering iMac are faster than ever, offering greater performance for everything from enhancing photos to playing games and more.
Dell also gives quality discounts to MCA Members. Throw out your clunky old PC and make way for a bright new Dell.
Visit www.dell.com/USMC or
call 1-866-257-4711. Member ID: DS62593492
MARINE TRIVIA QUESTION
Q. He commanded in one of the subunits of one of the two, pogey rope outfits at Tarawa, Guadalcanal and Saipan and received a Navy Cross and two Silver Stars for gallantry in action. In a subsequent war he commanded the other pogey rope outfit and received yet another Navy Cross and two additional Silver Stars for extraordinary heroism. Who is he and what units did he command?
A.
The first person to e-mail the correct answer to comments@mca-marines.org will receive an exclusive MCA Coin. Please include your name and address in your e-mail. Good luck!
Here's our October trivia question reprinted for ready reference:
Q. Not content to rest on his laurels after serving as a Marine in Vietnam, this war veteran switched gears after his retirement to briefly fight America's, and indeed humanity's enemies as a squad leader in 1986. Here are pictures of the enemy leadership and soldiers. Who is that squad leader and in what venue was the fight?
A. Captain Dale Dye USMC (Ret) seems to have made his start in his post Marine Corps career in the movie industry in the 1986 remake of the movie Invaders from Mars in which he played a squad leader in the forces that attacked the off world invaders.
Congratulations to Matt Wicks of Long Beach, Mississippi for being the first with the correct answer.
This one must have been a hard one because in an MCA Trivia Contest FIRST, this month we had more wrong answers than right. The most popular wrong answer was actor Al Matthews in the role of Sgt Apone fighting on LV 426 with the Colonial Marines against Regina Horribilis the alien queen.
Get your space aliens RIGHT people!None of our readers are getting the highly coveted MCA endorsement for observation details this month! NO transfer to Recon for YOU!
COMMENTS? Send us your suggestions on what we should include in MCA Today and how we can improve it to: comments@mca-marines.org. We would love to hear from you!
MCA MAILING LIST. Send us the names and email addresses of your friends and comrades to customercare@mca-marines.org and we will make sure they get their own copy of MCA Today each month.
Semper Fidelis!
Robert Rubrecht
Director of Marketing and Communications
comments@mca-marines.org