Lieutenant Colonel Craig R. Wonson, Commanding Officer of Camp Pendleton, USMC, Marine

Lieutenant Colonel Craig R. Wonson, Commanding Officer of Camp Pendleton, USMC with Sanjay Dalal, Rotarian, Social Media Entrepreneur, Irvine, California

I am privileged to share this photograph with Lieutenant Colonel Craig R. Wonson, Commanding Officer of Camp Pendleton, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment (1/1).

It was a great honor to hear Lt. Colonel Wonson speak articulately about the Marines' fearless involvement in the War on Terror at my Rotary club of Newport-Irvine on March 18, 2010.

Here were some of my updates on oGoing as I was listening to Colonel Wonson:

1. After the speech, it was my honor to shake hands of Colonel Wonson, a proud Marine. He even obliged by taking a photograph in front of flag
2. Lt. Colonel Wonson: "General Petraeus strategy... Clear, Hold, Build, Transition. Bottomline - Surge in Iraq... Same type Afghanistan...."
3. Lt. Colonel Wonson is providing a review of Iraq & Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, N. Korea, and how they support, stay ahead, war gaming, etc.
4. Lt. Colonel Wonson: "Training... busting their butts! Extensive training. Weeks to months of training & operations. Tax dollars at work..."
5. Lt. Colonel Wonson: "Forward deployed self-sustaining force of Marines, anything that happens in central command e.g. counter insurgency"
6. Lt. Colonel Wonson: "Marine expeditionary units and what they do... forward deployed force that's trained & equipped."
7. Lt. Colonel Craig Wonson, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment (1/1) and their involvement in the War on Terror, speaker at Rotary meeting

After the speech, I asked Lt. Colonel Wonson on how they get the Marines ready as they are deployed overseas in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other countries... specifically, how they gain an understanding of the local culture, customs & people before they are deployed. He went over the rigorous training & immersion that all the Marines have to go through (sort of like a crash course), so that they have greater hands-on knowledge of the local people before they even land.

I would like to take this opportunity to ask all my friends to support our marines, troops and military at Camp Pendleton & across the USA. What our military does to selflessly protect this great country has no equal.

Sincere regards,
Sanjay Dalal, Social Media Entrepreneur
www.SanjayDalal.com
Irvine, California