Weather in Iraq & KuwaitDoD News Releases
Department of Defense official press releases. Includes casualties.
Centcom Casualties
Centcom casualties database.
iCasualties.org Web Site
Includes statistics on injuries, illness, and death for coalition forces and civilians. Privately run web site with reference to official DoD reports.
The Official USMC Operation Iraqi Freedom Web Site
Outstanding web site from the USMC.
Click for web site
Embedded Reporters
This is our own on-going list of embedded reporters with the Marines, 2004. Click for list
Military Camps in Iraq
Outstanding web site from Global Security.
Click for web site
Recent News Stories
Check out the Recent News Section from MarineParents.com
Click for web page
Print quality map of Iraq
JPG File Click Here, or Large JPG File Click Here, or TIFF File Click Here
DEPLOYMENT GUIDES (PDF Files):
These deployment guides are free for you to download or read online. To download, right click on the file name and choose 'save as' to save it to your computer.
Finding your Marine's Unit:
To learn more about your Marine's Unit or Battalion, use our Unit Information Pages. The Unit Information Page (UIP) includes links to the unit's official USMC web pages, phone numbers for contact information, and links to the message board community specific to that unit. This is an important page for you to 'bookmark' and share with other family members and friends.
Click to search for UIP
Questions About Deployment?
If you have questions about deployment to Iraq that have not been anwered here, please contact us. Our teams of volunteers work around the clock researching and answering questions for our Marine families.
Click For Contact Form
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text : "Terms & Definitions",
hint : "In combat situations throughout history, a new vocabulary emerges that is unique to each era. We offer the following 'Iraq' terminology:- angel - among American military medical personnel in Iraq, a soldier killed in combat.
- battlefield Airmen - Air Force Special Operations Command’s pararescue, combat control and weather troops. the term battlefield Airmen may be new, AFSOC troops have been filling those combat jobs for many years.
- battle rattle - Full battle rattle is close to 50 pounds worth of gear, including a flak vest, Kevlar helmet, gas mask, ammunition, weapons, and other basic military equipment. One component is the soft vest that covers the torso the shoulders and the back. It's made of soft material, a mixture of Kevlar and Twaron. These are sown together in sort of a sandwich fashion inside a nylon camouflage-pattern shell. The nylon vest has attaching points for load-bearing equipment. The second component of the system is ceramic plates that fit in pockets in the front and back of the vest. These plates protect the heart and lungs. Any TV news report from Iraq or Afghanistan shows American service members wearing 'full battle rattle.' Wearing the battle rattle has saved lives in both Iraq and Afghanistan. A soldier in full dress, including helmet, flak jacket, and automatic weapon said to be wearing 'battle rattle' 'play clothes' or 'Mommy's comforts' - terms that antedated the war in Iraq, though used less frequently because the gear was used by smaller numbers of troops. The term Battle Rattle was previously associated with a call to arms on warships in the 1812 period.
- CC: Coalition Country - the coalition of the willing allies
- DFAC [Dining FACility] - A DFAC is where you eat. Soldiers eat in a dining facility, or DFAC (pronounced dee-Fak). Old soldiers show their age they call it a 'chow hall' and if you say “mess hall” it dates you. DFACs are modern looking cafeteria, some decorated it with sports memorabilia, movie posters, and televisions with ESPN on.
- dirt sailor - A member of the Navy’s Construction Battalions (Seabees). In Iraq, a sailor playing a part that is not a normal Navy role.
- FOB - forward operating base.
- FRAGO (fragmentary order) - a more formal decisionmaking process may be required before issuing a FRAGO, especially if a major adjustment to the operation order (OPORD) is needed. Fragmentary order-An abbreviated form of an operation order, usually issued on a day-to-day basis, which eliminates the need for restating information contained in a basic operation order. FRAGOs do not take the place of an OPORD. A FRAGO determines timely changes to an already existing order. The important point here is that a frag order is issued based on the basic operation order and is not a 'stand alone' directive. It will normally state the changes from the basic order such as enemy situation and new taskings.
- frankenstein - A Marine Corps monster truck, bulging and rippling with spot-welded seams of add on armor. 'We scrounge around for what we need and 'Frankenstein' it together.' As of December 2004, of the 30,000 estimated wheeled vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan, about 8,000 of the older models did not have armor protection. Of those that were protected, about 6, 000 had full protection, while about 10,000 vehicles had received add-on kits, many improvised in theater.
- gun truck - an armored and heavily armed vehicle used for convoy security.
- GWOT - global war on terrorism.
- haji - 1: Arabic word for someone who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca; 2: used by the American military for an Iraqi, anyone of arab decent, or even of a brownish skin tone, be they afghanis, or even bangladeshis; 3: the word many soldiers use derogatorily for the enemy.
- haji armor - improvised armor, installed by troops hiring Iraqis to update the vehicles by welding any available metal to the sides of Humvees
- haji mart - among American military in Iraq and Afghanistan, a flea market, bazaar, or roadside vendor. Usually derisive or jocular. From haji, a term for any
- haji patrol - 1: escort detail; 2: Local National unit is also referred to as the Haji patrol, with all the projects that are being performed by the local nationals.
- haji shop - even the smallest base has some form of what soldiers call a 'haji shop' or, in more politically correct terms, a shop run by locals. Frequently near the PX, the 'Haji' shop would sell everything from cigarettes to knockoff sunglasses to pirated DVDs.
- hillbilly armor - Improvised vehicle armor, salvafed from digging through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal to bolster armor on their vehicles. Name derives from Tennessee National Guard 278th Regimental Combat Team, whose Spc. Thomas Wilson grilled SecDef Rumsfeld in December 2004 about the need for such scrounging. 'Why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to up-armor our vehicles?' Spc. Wilson asked.
- I.E.D. - improvised explosive device
- I.C.D.C. - Iraqi Civil Defense Corps
- inside the wire - inside an enemy combatant detention facility. Working 'inside the wire' of the enemy combatant detention facility can lead to stress for the US troops working here. But experts and leaders are working hard to help servicemembers deal with the unique conditions of working in an isolated island base such as Guantanamo. Troops working inside the wire must pass through several sets of intimidating double gates. They always cover their nametapes and never call each other by their real names while they're near detainees. Vietnam-era phrase for the perimeter of any US base in Vietnam.
- ITGA - Interim Transitional Government of Afghanistan.
- KAF - That stands for Kandahar Air Field. That is the main base of operations for the Southern part of Afghanistan. The main post is big and has lots of people, it is a main transportation hub--both Helo and Fixed Wing--also Convoys of Humvees going in and out
- KBR - Kellogg, Brown & Root - The biggest contractor serving the Coalition Forces.
- LN - Local National. A citizen of Iraq, if you're in Iraq, Afghanistan if you're in Afghanistan, etc. Usually encountered as labor brought on post to do construction or other labor.
- OEF - Operation Enduring Freedom.
- OIF - Operation Iraqi Freedom.
- PRT - This stands for Provincial Reconstruction Team. These are military, goverment departments and civilian aid organizations from our country and many others who come to a town and help to rebuild. The PRT coordinates construction projects and provide humanitarian assistance
- REMF - rear-echelon motherf**r - vietnam era phrase revived for the sandbox
- Remfland - the rear-echelon areas where support personnel live and work in relative safety - the paradox being that in the Sandbox, unlike Vietnam, REMFland is more a state of mind than a physical location.
- sandbox - Iraq
- sandpit - Iraq
- sustainer theater - AAFES' motion picture team has assembled an opening lineup of movies for the Balad Camp Anaconda theater dubbed 'Sustainer.' Before Soldiers can view first run shows at the Sustainer Theater the process of getting movies here takes weeks of time and effort, initially beginning at the Army Air Force Exchange Service headquarters in Dallas.
- TCN - Third Country National: A citizen of a neutral country who is in the theater of operations as a contractor. The Nepalese truck drivers who were killed by Ansar Al Sunnah in the summer of 2004 were TCNs.
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