U.S. Marines and Sailors with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) (26th MEU(SOC)), will be returning home, marking the end of an eight-month deployment serving as the Tri-Geographic Combatant Command crisis response force, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Mar. 16-19, 2024.Media are invited to the 26th MEU(SOC)’s homecoming events as the Marines and sailors arrive back at their home bases in Cherry Point, New River, and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.Saturday, Mar. 16, 2024 – Marines and Sailors assigned to the 26th MEU(SOC)’s Aviation Combat Element will fly-off AV-8B Harriers from the USS BATAAN (LHD 5) to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. This marks the last time VMA-231 will deploy AV-8Bs
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“I knew that the umbilical cord that I had with my previous life was now broken and that everything would be completely different,” said Porter Halyburton, a retired U.S. Navy Commander with Fighter Squadron 84, as he recalled the moment he was taken as a prisoner of war.On October 17, 1965, Halyburton and VF-84 pilot, Lt. Cmdr. Stan Olmstead, were shot down over North Vietnam. The crash left Olmstead dead and Halyburton as a prisoner at Hỏa Lò Prison, often referred to as the Hanoi Hilton by American prisoners of war, for the next seven years.“A typical day was not a typical day because I was there for almost seven and a half years, and I was in eight different prisons; I’ve moved 35 times,” said Halyburton. “I’ve lived in solitary
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Lawrence Romua, the Lead Defense Travel Administrator (LDTA) for Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) New River in Jacksonville, North Carolina, was recently awarded the Defense Travel Management Office Excellence in Practice Champion Award for his outstanding mentorship and instruction to his unit.
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For many, the turning of the new year brings promise of change and new beginnings. This sentiment holds especially true for the Camp Lejeune Fire and Emergency Services (CLFES) family as we welcome a new fire chief for the first time in more than a decade.Alex Rivera, an Air Force veteran, and California native, comes to the CLFES family from the United States Military Academy (USMA), West Point, where he served as the fire chief for the last three years.“Chief Rivera and I were both promoted together to Assistant Fire Chiefs at West Point at the end of 2016. We served together for a few years, and he was then promoted to chief,” said Assistant Chief James Rohner, USMA, West Point and Rivera’s former colleague. “He was the perfect person
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Cpl. Seth Doran, an aircraft communications/navigation systems technician with Air Traffic Control, Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron (H&HS), Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) New River, is December 2023's MCAS New River Go-Getter of the Month. Doran holds numerous billets in safety and supervisory roles in his work section and is also the nominee for 2023 Aviation Technician of the Year.Before the Marine Corps, the Port Huron, Michigan, native, grew up with a drive to learn, laying the foundation for his future in high school with his heavy participation in school robotics programs. “I was always curious when it came to learning, whatever I could get my hands on and learn- I was doing it,” Doran reminisced.As he pondered his future
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MCB Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River will release all non-essential personnel at noon today and will exercise a two-hour delay for all non-essential personnel tomorrow. Service members and civilian employees should contact their chain of command for guidance on essential and non-essential reporting procedures. DoDEA middle and high schools on Camp Lejeune will release students at 12:30 p.m. DoDEA elementary schools on Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River will release students at 1 p.m. For more information on DoDEA school cancellations, please visit https://www.dodea.edu/americas/mid-atlantic/camp-lejeune-schools. All mess halls across Camp Lejeune and MCAS New River will remain open for normal operations. Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune will
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