First Lt. Rebecca M. Turpin received the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device at Combat Logistics Battalion 3’s Warriors’ Field on 4 September for her actions under enemy fire during the battalion’s last deployment to Afghanistan, October 2008 to May 2009.

UNDERGROUND TALIBAN

Some people go cave exploring for fun, but when there is a possibility of stumbling on explosive materials, an armed enemy or a nasty surprise they’ve left to be triggered in the dark, it’s about as far from fun as you can get.

Late in the afternoon of 26 February, 1991, barely 24 hours after more than 50,000 soldiers of Iraq’s Republican Guard Corps began their withdrawl from Kuwait and Southern Iraq, the two lead cavalry troops of “Cougar Squadron,” the 2nd Squadron of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, charged out of the sandstorm during Operation Desert Storm and caught it in the open desert along the north-south gridline of a military map referred to as the “73 Easting.” Taken by surprise, defending Iraq