Gabriel Ramirez spent his childhood dreaming of being a Marine, but that dream seemed unattainable as a 365-pound teen nicknamed “Meatball.”

The colors for Combat Logistics Regiment 35 were cased for the final time Friday aboard Camp Kinser in front of an audience of just three due to the coronavirus.

OPINION

On May 9, 2019, 1st. Lt. H. Conor McDowell as crushed to death seconds after his light armored vehicle rolled over at Camp Pendleton. A year later, his parents are still left grieving and asking questions.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit, military recruiters nationwide shut down in-person access and went to digital platforms. In doing so, they’ve adjusted to a new normal, changing the way they’ve recruited for generations.

When Cpl. Andrew Tate saw an overturned car at the side of the road in a national park in California, his Marine instincts and trauma aid training kicked in and allowed him to save the life of the badly injured driver, he said.

In this season finale of the Military Matters podcast, hosts Rod Rodriguez and Desmon Farris shed light on the murky world of information warfare.

Fifty-four Marines who arrived in Darwin in an advance party in March have already gone through a 14-day quarantine and begun training with their Australian counterparts.

Marine dining facilities across Okinawa are adding the Impossible Burger, a plant-based alternative to ground beef, to their food lines.

Marine Col. Lance Lewis has released a tentative plan to “re-open” Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni as long as coronavirus conditions in Japan continue to improve and the base remains free from infection.

A slow-moving fire charred about 50 acres of brush Monday evening in a training area on Camp Pendleton, authorities said.

Dozens of Japanese children whose parents work on the air station are staying home from local schools at the request of Marine Corps authorities trying to stop the spread of coronavirus.

The monitoring program Operation Buck Rogers is part of an innovative way Camp Pendleton game wardens have started keeping track of the sprawling base’s deer population that also helps the Marines with their training using the sophisticated unmanned aircraft systems.

Major based on Okinawa will run Historic Half on island after son ran his race in States.

A light tactical vehicle pulling a trailer was headed from Camp Hansen to Camp Kinser when it went out of control, causing the trailer to flip.

Tricare, the military’s health insurance provider, is covering telephone appointments and has eliminated copayments for telehealth services as of Wednesday. The changes will remain in effect through the national emergency, according to a new rule posted on the Federal Register.

Marines whose moves are now in limbo, along with others planning to move this year, will be grouped into three different scheduling tiers as the U.S. Transportation Command battles a permanent-change-of-station backlog throughout the military.

Some residents of this U.S. Marine base in southwestern Japan endured a brief shelter-in-place episode Monday when gas leaked from an off-base construction site.

The littoral, or nearshore, Marines will become specialists in ship-to-shore capabilities in austere conditions to, among other things, sink ships at sea using missiles fired from unmanned vehicles that look like bulked-up Humvees.

A three-judge panel from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an earlier decision saying the DOD had adequately weighed the impact of a new runway at Camp Schwab on the Okinawan dugong — an indigenous, elusive marine mammal.

Lt. Gen. Lewis Craparotta, the current commander of Marine Corps Forces Pacific, was nominated Wednesday to head the Quantico, Va.-based Marine Training and Education Command.

Japanese officials were allowed onto an Okinawa Marine Corps base to collect soil samples where 60,000 gallons of potentially toxic firefighting foam leaked in April.

The Darwin force, which trains in Australia during the Northern Hemisphere summer, has built up slowly since an initial contingent of 250 Marines hit the beach there in 2012.

In this review episode, Military Matters podcast hosts Rod Rodriguez and Desmon Farris talk some more with one of last week's guests, retired Air Force Command Chief Master Sgt. Juan Lewis — also known as the Fired Up Chief — about how his recovery from COVID-19 is coming along.

Brighton Marine members came to the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home bearing gifts Wednesday that will allow every single veteran the ability to communicate with friends and family any time they want.

Three Marines “stacked up” outside the door of a jetliner’s bathroom and detained a passenger who had barricaded himself inside the lavatory and screamed threats during a flight from Japan to Texas.

At San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot, 254 recruits made the transition from quarantine to training.

Pfc. Tyrell J. Audain was was attending the Marine Corps communications-electronics school at Twentynine Palms when he collapsed in the midst of a physical fitness test on April 15.

Fidelis Rides, a volunteer taxi program on Okinawa that provides service members with free transportation, started up its U-Shop program after a weeklong pause of its ride service April 1 due to coronavirus concerns.

The cases at the Marine’s West Coast training base are among recruits in one unit — Bravo Company — and some of the company’s drill instructors and staff, according to a spokesman for Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.

Lt. Col. Geoff Hollopeter, the former commander of 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, died April 3 in San Diego after going into cardiac arrest, the 1st Marine Division announced Tuesday in a statement.

Some sailors and Marines on the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan amid the coronavirus scare are using yarn as a coping mechanism — whipping up hats, socks, baby blankets and more as they carry out their mission.

The future is uncertain at San Onofre State Park, a slice of paradise just south of San Clemente – but Camp Pendleton officials support the land remaining in the hands of of the state system for at least the next few years.

The Marines on Okinawa removed potentially contaminated soil near a Marine Corps Air Station Futenma hangar Friday following the spill of 60,000 gallons of potentially toxic firefighting foam two weeks earlier.

One unforseeable outcome of the global COVID-19 pandemic has been a minor renaissance in sewing. People who haven’t sewn in years have been dusting off their Singers, downloading facemask patterns from the internet and getting to work.

Video

Retired Marine veteran Alex Melo spent five days in the ICU ward at Portsmouth Regional Hospital where he was intubated. Data from New York City shows a near 90 percent mortality rate in intubated COVID-19 patients. "When I saw light again, it was the most beautiful feeling," Melo said.

Marine mothers now are expected to continue physical fitness during their pregnancies, as directed in a new policy focused on parenthood and pregnancy. The new order updates the 2004 pregnancy and parenthood policy with the inclusion of updated standards and procedures in one place.

“This symbol has shown it has the power to inflame feelings of division,” Gen. David Berger wrote in a letter to Marines. “I cannot have that division inside our Corps.”

With a vocation as a certified public accountant, Thomas W. Hebert says his avocation is writing fiction. And, his service in the U.S. Marines Corps is the single most important motivation behind his latest book, an illustrated novel titled “The Remains of the Corps: Ivy and the Crossing,” the first of a six-volume set.

The Marines on Okinawa escorted Japanese officials onto Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to collect water samples following a spill of potentially toxic firefighting foam.

Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island announced it would suspend receiving new recruits March 30 to assess protocols after the coronavirus spread and numerous cases were reported.

The Marine Corps' physical fitness testing season runs through June 30, after which a six-month period for the combat fitness test begins.

Construction at Henoko of an airfield to replace Marine Corps Air Station Futenma on Okinawa was suspended Friday after a civilian security guard tested positive for coronavirus, the Okinawa Defense Bureau said Tuesday.

If imposed, the shelter in place order requires Marines to make their way home immediately via the quickest route possible, limit interactions with other people and seek further instruction from their chains of command.

Marine enlistee Braylon Beason was one of four youths who had just stepped onto a dock at Browns Bridge Recreation Area in Sale Creek, Tennessee on Wednesday when a man came running past them, stripping off his overshirt and shoes.

A Marine general apologized Friday to a vice-governor of Okinawa for an April 10 spill of 38,000 gallons of potentially toxic firefighting foam from an air station into a nearby stream and neighborhood.

Marines in Japan are now barred from using non-military public and mass transportation, and are allowed off-base only to patronize essential services.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the world indoors with no clear end in sight. Military Matters podcast hosts Rod Rodriguez and Desmon Farris talk to two mental health clinicians, both veterans, about how the isolation and uncertainty have impacted the mental health of veterans and service members across the country.

Pvt. Jay-Ar Ruiz, 28, remains in federal custody at a Missouri prison hospital. Since he is no longer in the military, he now is in the custody of the U.S. Attorney General, his attorney said.

The Marines and Air Force have warned do-it-yourself mask makers to avoid using military uniforms treated with insect repellent or fire retardant due to possible health risks.

For the second time in less than six months, a potentially toxic firefighting foam was discharged Friday afternoon at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma after something triggered a fire suppression system, officials said.

An 18-year-old North Side man who was arrested Friday night is suspected of "punching and pushing" a 29-year-year-old Marine veteran into the path of a CTA train, killing him Tuesday in the Loop, Chicago police say.

Fifty-four Marines, the advance party of what was to be a 2,500-strong summer rotational force Down Under, were placed in quarantine last month to guard against transmission of the coronavirus.

The families of four Marines killed in a helicopter crash in 2018 have filed a lawsuit against two companies, claiming they provided faulty parts for the aircraft that led to the fatal accident in southern California.

The III Marine Expeditionary Force’s 3rd Maintenance Battalion has 17 3D printers in a Camp Kinser warehouse “factory” running 24 hours per day to provide medical personnel with vital supplies.

The Plate Carrier Generation III vest can be easily adapted for different missions, and removed and reassembled in seconds, Marine Corps Systems Command said in a statement released Tuesday. When coupled with protective plates, the system guards against bullets and fragmentation, the statement said.

Tank crews, military police or bridge builders in the Marines who saw their jobs eliminated in the new 10-year plan to restructure the force will not be kicked out of the service right away, the commandant said Wednesday.

Fort Lauderdale is part of the San Antonio-class of U.S. Navy warships. The 684-foot-long, 105-foot-wide ships are used to embark and land Marines, their equipment and supplies ashore via air cushion or conventional landing craft and amphibious assault vehicles.

The Marine Corps is delaying the deployment of thousands of Marines to northern Australia for a six-month rotation starting in April due to travel restrictions associated with the coronavirus, U.S. officials said Monday.

Sasebo Naval Base commander Capt. Brad Stallings took an urgent tone and cited “folks who are not following the guidance, which is placing the force and the community at risk.”

The suspension on shipping new recruits is a precautionary measure intended to protect more recruits, the training personnel, and the installation community from the virus, according to a Marine Corps statement.

How did a trunk that once belonged to a decorated Montford Point Marine from New Jersey who fought at Iwo Jima end up in Connecticut? The mystery has the family of Gilmon D. Brooks scratching their heads.

Marines who are leaving the service or on special duty assignments have been exempted from a far-reaching stop movement order issued by the Pentagon to help halt the spread of the coronavirus.

Lt. Col. Andrew Mills lost his job leading Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 466.

A Marine stationed at the Pentagon tested positive for the coronavirus this week.

The isolation center — officially called the Task Force Medical Isolation and Observation Center Camp Pendleton — can house up to 200 Marines and sailors affected by coronavirus.

The panel also urged the immediate closure of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, which is in a densely packed urban area in central Okinawa.

The Marine Corps is leaving recruiting offices open and conducting in-person interviews with potential Marines, even as Army efforts move online and recruiters voice safety concerns tied to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Siddiqui family had sued the Marine Corps in 2017, alleging their son Raheel was assaulted, hazed, tortured and discriminated against at the training depot on Parris Island because of his Muslim faith.

Lance Cpl. Brandon David Bowen, 27, was charged March 23 by the Jacksonville Police Department with felony second-degree arson, among other charges.

Gen. David Berger, the Marine commandant, said in October that the Marine Corps is “not optimized for great competition. It is not optimized to support a naval campaign.”

“The Marine Corps is committed to ensure the health protection of our force and family members while also protecting our local communities," a service statement said.

Five more Pacific Fleet sailors stationed on San Diego-based ships tested positive for COVID-19, the Navy announced Sunday, doubling the number of such cases on the waterfront.

Concerns about safety as the new coronavirus spreads highlight the Pentagon’s challenges in preparing for the pandemic as calls grow louder for it to take a greater role in the U.S. response.

MCAS Beaufort leaders and local public health officials “are taking the necessary precautions to prevent a potential outbreak.”

According to officials, the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps are all altering their child care services and programs in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

Another active-duty Marine tested positive for COVID-19 at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, a base spokesman told The San Diego Union-Tribune Wednesday.

Marines arriving with the rotational force will be restricted to their rooms with access to necessary supplies, until the isolation period has passed, according to the service.

The 10-day leave following graduation from Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island has been suspended through at least May 11 to help prevent spread of coronavirus.

The patient, a Camp Lejeune dependent, tested presumptive positive for the virus at Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune, base officials announced Thursday.

The commander and the sergeant major of a Marine battalion at Camp Lejeune, N.C., have been fired nearly three months after two rifles went missing from the unit, the Marine Corps announced.

The Marines are investigating an infantryman based at Camp Pendleton for potential violations of the Pentagon’s policy against extremism, according to a Marine Corps spokesman.

Cpl. Eloiza Zavala, 20, a native of Sacramento, was a motor vehicle operator with Combat Logistic Battalion 13 out of Camp Pendleton, Calif.

In this special episode of Military Matters, hosts Rod Rodriguez and Desmon Farris shed light on the coronavirus that is causing major upheaval around the globe.

GALLERY

The heart of Camp Blaz, where barracks will be built for unaccompanied Marines, is next door to Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Guam, just west of Andersen Air Force Base.

A San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot spokesman said that, while other services canceled, the Marines do not see a reason to do so at this time and are following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

A U.S.-led cold weather exercise in Norway has been cut short because of concerns over the new coronavirus, U.S. European Command announced Wednesday.

Gunnery Sgt. Diego D. Pongo, of Simi Valley, Calif., and Capt. Moises A. Navas, of Germantown, Md., both 34 and both with 2nd Marine Raider Battalion out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., were identified as the service members killed Sunday during a joint U.S.-Iraq raid.

Schools at Marine Corps Base Quantico have been closed for cleaning after a Marine living at the Virginia base tested positive for the new coronavirus over the weekend, officials said.

The commander of a Marine Corps medical training battalion at Camp Pendleton, Calif., was relieved Monday.

A U.S. Marine assigned to Fort Belvoir, Va., tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, according to the Department of Defense.

Almost two dozen U.S. soldiers in Norway for a large-scale exercise are in quarantine isolation after possibly encountering a Norwegian service member who tested positive for the coronavirus, the Marine Corps said Friday.

The Army in its budget request said the rifle, designated Mk22 by Special Operations Command, would become the primary antipersonnel sniper system, “effective against personnel and material targets at extreme ranges.”

Jay-Ar Ruiz, 28, a Marine Corps private, was arrested during training at the San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot for striking a drill instructor in January 2018 and has spent most of the last two years confined to the brig at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

In this week’s episode of Military Matters, hosts Desmon Farris and Rod Rodriguez take a look at influencers among the military community and the opportunities and pitfalls that can await them.

Cutting the heads off cobras and pouring their blood into the mouths of Marines doesn’t sit well with at least two constituencies, cobras and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.