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Brett Beard enlisted in 1988 and after MCRD, attended the BJC and became a print journalist. He deployed in 1990 in support of Operation Desert Shield/Storm. During allied ground offensive 2/21/1991, was recognized for delivering the first images of the breach to the JIB & awarded Navy Achievement Medal and combat action ribbon. Served in 1991 in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In 1992, he deployed to Operation Restore Hope in Somalia and served as journalist and civilian media escor

National USMCCCA President Keith Oliver has penned a great article about our former executive director, Jack Paxton for the Daily Commercial . You can find the "Wildwood Marine's legacy preserved in print" story online here .

Wendi Winters , USMCCCA affiliate member and frequent Defense Information School guest speaker, was among the five news people killed yesterday at the Annapolis Capital. Shown here with former DINFOS Commandant, Col. Jeremy Martin, Wendi was known as a "force of nature" in the region. In addition to her passions and activities described in the accompanying link, the classic New Yorker was especially supportive of active duty military members, armed forces aspirants and veter

The University of South Carolina Moving Image Research Collections (MIRC) is now home to the United States Marine Corps Film Repository. A partnership with the Marine Corps’ History Division at Quantico, the Repository will ensure the physical preservation and digitization of an estimated 18,000 films made almost entirely by the Marines of Combat Camera. Featuring films from Combat Camera’s origins in World War II through the 1980s, MIRC will make freely available online to

Sgt. Matthew Callahan is the first servicemember ever to be named both Military Photographer and Videographer of the Year . An article about him was featured in Stars and Stripes , recently. Callahan is a many time distinguished Performance winner and is expected to pick up his award at the Annual Awards Banquet on Aug. 22 during the 2018 USMCCCA Professional Development & Training Symposium to be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel New Bern, NC, from Monday, Aug. 20 -

By Tom Graves For Tom Pach, a veteran of the Korean War, Joe Rosenthal’s Iwo Jima flag raising photograph has a special significance, not just as a Marine, but as a man who lost his older brother in the battle for the island. Pach was one of the estimated 200 people gathered on Memorial Day Weekend to learn about Joe Rosenthal and his iconic photo taken in the midst of the bloody battle. Many men and women in the audience stood to be acknowledged for their military service

Shawn Rhodes , former combat correspondent and vice president of the USMCCCA, recently delivered a keynote at the training symposium hosted by I MEF at Camp Pendleton, CA. More than 50 communications/strategy Marines from various west coast commands were present to hear Shawn share his lessons learned, both as a CC and from leveraging media products in his own business. Shawn also shared the new initiatives underway at the USMCCCA and encouraged the Marines present to attend

Second Lieutenant 2nd Lt. Brian A. Tuthill recently commissioned as a Marine Corps officer May 12 at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. He graduated summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA to earn a bachelor of science in Public Management & Policy, and was selected as his university’s Naval ROTC unit’s distinguished Marine officer graduate. At his NROTC unit, he served in multiple billets, including assistant operations officer, communications officer, pre-OCS developme

Former Marine CC Amy Forsythe is now a U.S. Navy Reserve Public Affairs Officer and is currently mobilized to active duty serving her third tour in Afghanistan. Forsythe, a lifetime USMCCCA member, never goes anywhere without a camera. Here she is crossing the famous "Friendship Bridge" at the Afghanistan-Uzbekistan border in the northern part of the country. The announcement that there's going to be a short ceasefire is welcome news for everyone! Hoping for peace and reconc

The first winner of the newly launched 2nd Marine Division CommStrat Photo of the Month competition depicts a drummer in the 2nd MarDiv Band, playing "Colors" during the post and relief ceremony for the 2nd MarDiv Sergeant Major, SgtMaj Michael P. Woods . This image was made by LCpl Elijah J. Abernathy , a Combat Mass Communicator (4531). Abernathy has worked as a photographer for 2nd MarDiv for a year and works with a Canon IDX . He's become skilled on the Canon Mark III

Tom Graves writes: The Joe Rosenthal Chapter has an opportunity to man a USS Joe Rosenthal ( www.USSJoe.org ) table at the California DAV State Convention next week (June 7-8) in Orange County (near Anaheim), Calif. Unfortunately, the dates directly conflict with the California VFW Convention where we will be hosting a table and where I will briefly address the veterans about Joe Rosenthal . Is there a (retired) CC in Orange County who might like to represent us at the

Jessica Rambo , a Combat Camera veteran tells us she is associated with Semper K9 , an organization which rescues dogs from shelters and trains them to be service dogs at no cost for disabled service members. Semper K9 is proud to announce the acceptance of service dog in training Perkins into our Service Dogs for Veterans program. Perkins, an 8-week old shepherd lab mix, is named in memory of USMC Combat Photographer Corporal William T. Perkins Jr. and comes to us from

Melanie Cunningham is producing a biographical documentary about the American economist Thomas Sowell, to be broadcast on public television. Dr. Sowell was drafted into the US Marine Corps during the Korean War. He was stationed at Camp Lejeune ('52-'53), where he was part of the Combat Camera unit. Corporal Sowell was part of the first wave of graduates from Pensacola Naval Air Station photography school to be stationed at Camp Lejeune and I believe he was mustered out on

When nominations for the 2018-19 USMCCCA national slate closed at midnight May 15, a trio of fresh faces emerged unopposed for vacant board positions. " Jason Huffine , Melanie Snarr and Paul Mancuso stepped up," said nominating chair Mike Frank, "This gives the Association a good mix and some fresh blood during this season of change," he said.  "Among other strengths they bring to the table, all three could be 'posters' for the 4500 merger. They have proven themselves co

Dear Readers, For the last several years, Paul G. Bayes has sent the obituary of his younger brother, Thomas, into the Leatherneck office, hoping we will publish it in the magazine. Private First Class Thomas J. Bayes was killed in Vietnam while serving with 2nd Battalion, 26th Marines 50 years ago. And his brother, himself a Navy veteran, remembers. Several of the thousands of awards the Marine Corps Association & Foundation presents each year are namesake awards, pr

"Shock and Awe" , scheduled for release on July 13, 2018 is a film based on the true events of Knight Ridder journalists, (including our own Joe Galloway played by Tommy Lee Jones ) who were the only ones who “got it right” in the lead-up to the 2003 Iraq War when they questioned the true nature of the Bush White House’s justification for the conflict.

The USMCCCA's longest serving executive director was laid to rest with full military honors Monday May 14 at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell. Capt. Jack T. Paxton , USMC (ret) was surrounded by wife Pat and, at times, his entire family during his hospitalization and hospice care in The Villages, Florida last month. Each of his five children ( Jeff , Jack Jr ., Rick , Sharon and Tom ), sister M.J. and many grandchildren, nieces and nephews, were gathered for Ja