John S Hamilton News

Over 1,400 employees gathered at EMD’s headquarters and manufacturing campus in La Grange, Ill. to celebrate the company’s fifth year of independence since being spun off from General Motors Corporation in April 2005. Honored guests included U.S. Congressional Representatives Dan Lipinski and Judy Biggert, along with Mayor Jeffrey Tobolski of McCook and Mayor Robert A. Conrad of the town of Countryside. A variety of activities were held to mark the occasion including a formal program that featured the remarks of EMD’s president and chief executive officer, John S. Hamilton. Hamilton observed, “Five years ago there were feelings of uncertainty regarding the future of the organization.

Riverine Squadron (RIVRON) 1, based at Naval Amphibious Base (NAB) Little Creek deployed March 8 after a year of intense training with Marine forces. The deployment marks the first for a riverine squadron since the Vietnam War. More than 100 riverine Sailors deployed to the Middle East to integrate with Marines from the II Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) to conduct maritime security operations (MSO) along rivers and other inland waterways: denying the use of the maritime environment as a venue for attack; a haven for insurgent activities; or the illegal transportation of weapons, people or material in Iraq. “The combat skills training…