Merry Christmas everybody and an up- front Happy New Year to all. I just looked at the calendar and realized it had been since the 4th of December since I had penned my last update and so that means it is time for another submission to let all know what we are doing.

Things have continued to be challenging here at Camp Fallujah and our daily missions have changed with the maturing situation in the City of Fallujah. We are all still busy, still working hard and that never seems to change. For the last few months, as some of you may realize, we have not had all of the Marines from the MSSG at the same location. Some have been spread out across different camps for one or more reasons which speak to the many different missions we have in this unit. We have, for example, a medical contingent and some of our disbursers and postal Marines who have remained with the MEU command element to provide support to them. They have been away from the MSSG, but have been performing missions no less important and have been doing a great job.

I stopped by the group aid station the other day, as I will often do, to see how our Sailors were doing. During the battle for Fallujah these professionals made an enormous difference and contribution. Every convoy or engineering project that went forward had the constant presence of a corpsman in the event a Marine was injured. Many of our Sailors spent many hours in vehicles or in the city of Fallujah. At daily sick call our corpsmen provided care for not only our Marines, but as I have mentioned before, the soldiers of adjacent Army units. At one point a group of Iraqi soldiers “discovered” our aid station and for a number of days appeared like clockwork to get dressings changed on battle wounds. Our medical logisticians made sure the infantry battalion aid stations located forward had the required supplies prior to even thinking about asking for them. I’m sure this made a difference to many a wounded Marine. We’ve also had corpsmen providing support to the detainee detention facilities at more than one base and in this effort have treated a variety of medical problems they never expected to see.

On of our busiest platoons as late have been our engineers. They have a tremendous amount of capabilities and I don’t think Marine engineers have been so consistently busy since the Vietnam War. They take care of field showers, mobile electric power, bulk fuel and water storage, mine detecting and sweeping, and horizontal construction. They are always in motion and doing a tremendous job supporting the mission.

An element of the MSSG you often don’t think about when it comes to combat service support is Explosives Ordnance Disposal (EOD). For years this tight knit community has focused on support to training ranges and rendering dud munitions safe. However, OIF has seen all of that change and the services of these experts in their field is in constant demand. They are always on the road, destroying anti-Iraqi forces arms caches or de-fusing and destroying improvised explosive devises. During the battle for Fallujah they spent many days providing direct support to the infantry battalions as they fought through the city. The fact they are so near the fight became obvious to us when one of them was seriously wounded as he worked to destroy munitions in a house that had not yet been cleared. Fortunately, he will be fine, but it demonstrates the nature of what we are doing and the challenges EOD and the rest of the MSSG face on a daily basis.

At the start of this letter I said Merry Christmas. I can certainly say for all we would rather be at home with you for the holidays. Since we can’t we are doing what we have time to do to ensure we recognize the season. For those inclined, there are many opportunities for worship services, as the chaplain corps is here in full force. For everyone too, we are having a “combat Christmas tree” contest to see which platoon can build the best tree with available materials. None of the parts can be store bought, and you should see what the Marines are coming up with as entries. I will be sure and get pictures and post them to the website. We are also having opportunities for the Marines and Sailors to see movies and are running a talent show as well. Finally, the boxes and mail are really flowing, something we all appreciate. Thanks for the continued efforts.

Well, until next time and as always, I’m proud and you should be proud of the Marines and Sailors of MSSG 31. It is an honor to serve with them.

Thanks for all your support

Sincerely,

J. Alex Vohr