Marine Week 2012 to be held in Cleveland, Ohio
October 25th, 2011 | Marine Week | Posted by Dan Lamothe
The Rock ‘n’ Roll Capital of the World will showcase the Marine Corps next summer.
Cleveland, Ohio, has been selected as the next site for Marine Week, the Corps’ annual community outreach event, Marine officials announced today. It will be held from June 11 to 17, include demonstrations of military equipment and training and conclude with a “full-scale combat demonstration,” assumedly involving nearby Lake Erie.
The Corps already has launched a promotional website here featuring this video:
Some of the Corps’ history in Cleveland is available here.
Floating over Marine Week with a helmet camera
June 24th, 2011 | Aviation Marine Week | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Marine Week wraps up in St. Louis on Sunday, so it seemed like a good time to play catch-up on what’s going on in the Gateway City.
In this video, filmed near the famous Gateway Arch, Marines demonstrate a special patrol insertion/extraction. They take off with a CH-46 helicopter from a helipad on the Mississippi River, providng a pretty sweet aerial view of the city from Cpl. A.J. Lugo’s helmet camera:
In another highlight, Cpl. Justin McLoud threw the opening pitch before the Cardinals game Wednesday night.
Other events this weekend include martial arts demonstrations, military working dog exhibitions and a simulated amphibious assault at the Arch. A closing ceremony will be held Sunday at 10:30 a.m., with a performance by the Silent Drill Platoon afterward at city’s War Memorial.
In case you’ve been following along, another controversy has erupted during the event, too.
In addition to Lt. Col. Shane Tomko offending politically correct sensibilities with his tank wisecrack during the Cardinals-Phillies game on Tuesday, the St. Louis mayor’s chief of staff, Jeff Rainford, has apologized after suggesting that three Marines who were robbed at knifepoint in the city were drunk at the time.
Marine Week commander jokes about using tank on Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay
June 22nd, 2011 | Marine Week | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Lt. Col. Shane Tomko sings the national anthem before a June 20 boxing tournament conducted in conjunction with Marine Week St. Louis. (Photo by Lance Cpl. Chelsea Flowers)
At this point, Marine Week St. Louis is well underway. Leathernecks are out and about in the Gateway City, promoting the Marine Corps’ values, performing community service and answering questions about the military. All should be right with the world.
Unfortunately, there’s a public relations snag today. Lt. Col. Shane Tomko, commander of the task force leading Marine Week, performed an on-air interview last night during a Phillies-Cardinals game. An apparent die-hard Cards fan, the salty head of 3rd Battalion, 24th Marines, out of St. Louis, made an observation about Phillies ace pitcher Roy Halladay that has blown up the Internet today.
Numerous sports blogs have picked up on it, including Crossing Broad and the nationally known Yahoo! blog, Big League Stew. You can watch the video here, but here are the quotes that have drawn interest:
Lt. Col. Tomko: I’ll tell you what, with that M1A1 Abrams [tank] we got across the street, if Halladay keeps on pitching well, we can fix that with one round pretty quickly.
Announcer: – awkward laughs - I’m sure you could. I don’t know if we should say that, but you just did.
Lt. Col. Tomko: I can say whatever I want because I’m a war fighter, and this is the Cardinals Nation the last time I checked.
Sigh. Somewhere, there are Marine public affairs officers banging their heads on a table, especially since a primary purpose of Marine Week is to reinforce the perception that the Corps is accessible and friendly. Call me crazy, but a battalion commander joking about being able to “say whatever I want” probably isn’t helping in that regard.
Predictably, bloggers have jumped right in. Yardbarker, a national sports blog chain, even posted a finger-wagging entry today with the headline, “Jarhead Jeers Halladay, Jokes About Murder.” For all their sensitivity about Tomko’s comments, the use of a derogatory nickname for Marines was apparently acceptable at Yardbarker.
This is kind of an old theme. Gallows humor in the military is about as common as turkey on Thanksgiving. It can be a big help downrange, but… well… you have to know your audience. Add in that plenty of sports fans are nuts about their team, and it draws widespread interest.
For what it’s worth, Tomko is listed as “hometown Marine” of note on the Marine Week website. He’s an infantry officer who has served 28 years in the Corps. Based on this CNN transcript, it appears he was the commanding officer of a company of Marines involved in the initial 2001 invasion of Afghanistan.
Marines roll out slick new video for Marine Week St. Louis
April 15th, 2011 | Marine Week | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Never let it be said that the Marine Corps doesn’t know how to promote an event.
Months before the Corps rolls into the proud city of St. Louis for its annual Marine Week event, it’s already drumming up support for it. The latest outreach effort is a slick video that features old combat footage, running cadences and a movie-like music score.
“After this summer the city of St. Louis will never be the same.” That sounds like a bit of a stretch, but it’s still a pretty sweet video.
It’s a sure thing: Marine Week is going to St. Louis
November 11th, 2010 | Marine Week | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Two years ago, the Marine Corps decided to hold a new event to showcase its self to the American people: Marine Week.
Since Marine Corps Times first broke news of that decision in February 2009, the Corps has has held successful events in Chicago and Boston, developing innovative ways to incorporate itself into some of the U.S.’s most bustling and historic cities.
Today, the Corps announced formally that Marine Week 2011 will be held in St. Louis. It’s something Marine officials had suggested previously, but the formal announcement posted on YouTube is still pretty compelling:
The Corps already has launched a website for the event, to be held June 20-26. Stay tuned for more.
Meet Marines in St. Louis
August 24th, 2010 | Marine Week | Posted by Tony Lombardo
St. Louis looks to be the frontrunner to serve as host of next year’s Marine Week.
“We’re looking at St Louis, but it’s not official,” said Lt. Col. Peter Conlan, who is heading Marine Week planning through the Marine Corps Division of Public Affairs.
Historically, Marine Week has occurred in May. Chicago hosted the first year, in 2009, and Boston hosted this year. Dates have not been set for Marine Week 2011, Conlan said.
“The City of St. Louis would be a proud, hospitable location for Marine Week 2011,” Mayor Francis G. Slay told Marine Corps Times via e-mail.
St. Louis business and community leaders were visiting with Marines in the Washington, D.C., area Aug. 20. They were participants in the Marine Corps Business Executive Forum, a daylong seminar that draws business leaders from across the country and provides them with a closer look at the Corps’ mission.
Do you think St. Louis is a good choice? Will you be making the trip?