Compass Points - Stand & Fight
Operation Epic Fury Continues
Compass Points - Stand & Fight
Operation Epic Fury Continues
March 2, 2026
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As Operation Epic Fury continues, the Nation mourns the loss of three US service members. The campaign is an air campaign against the radical regime in Iran. The US Commander-in-Chief has said the campaign may last weeks. Already the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been killed in air strikes. Some reports are indicating that the Ayatollah’s successor, Ayatollah Arafi has now also been killed. The campaign may mark the end of the terroristic theocracy that took over Iran back in 1979.
In response to Operation Epic Fury, both celebrations and protests have broken out in the Middle East, and around the world. Some unverified reports indicate that US Marines in Karachi, Pakistani have been defending the consulate against a massive demonstration attempting to breach the compound: “8 killed as US Marines allegedly open fire on Pakistani protesters in Karachi.”
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At least eight people have been killed and more than 20 wounded outside the U.S. Consulate in Karachi following alleged gunfire by U.S. Marines stationed at the diplomatic mission in the southern port city.
According to journalist Nadir Baloch, U.S. soldiers stationed at the consulate opened fire on Pakistani protesters. Reports indicate that more than eight people were killed and over 30 injured. It is also claimed that the bodies of the victims were confiscated by the U.S. base administration.
Meanwhile, @DD_Geopolitics on X said that U.S. Marines fired on the crowd before any breach of the perimeter, prompting the subsequent storming of the facility.
-- MM News
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So far, Marines have successfully fought off the mob in Karachi and prevented the consulate staff from being taken hostage.
If Operation Epic Fury is the end of the Iranian theocracy, then Marines guarding diplomatic staff will have been at the start of the theocracy and at the end.
Back in 1979, Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had some 3,000 followers attack the US Embassy in Tehran. US Marines at the embassy were not allowed to fight and defend the embassy. As a result, the mob took 66 American citizens hostage and held them on the embassy grounds. A few days later, the women hostages and a few injured were released. The remaining 52 hostages were held for 444 days.
One of the hostages, a Marine Security Guard, Sgt Rocky Sickmann, recalls the hostage taking:
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. . . I ran back to the embassy. Billy Gallegos, a fellow Marine security guard, was sealing down the building, securing it with steel doors. He kept it open long enough for me to get in. Then we donned our gas masks and flak jackets and retrieved our shotguns and snub-nosed .38s. My adrenaline was pumping. At the same time I was concerned. There were only a couple of us in the embassy.
How did they gain entry to the chancery?
As I watched, the Iranians approached, holding signs with messages like This Is a Peaceful Demonstration. Then they were pounding on the front door, and I heard they’d gained access to the basement. So I ran downstairs, and around the corner through smoke and debris come four Iranian women being forced forward by Iranian men. That’s when we start hearing orders: “Don’t fire! Don’t antagonize! Help is on the way.” So we withdrew upstairs behind the steel doors.
Smoke was coming in under the door, as we had popped tear gas. Then the attackers started bringing Americans to the door. There we were, safe on the other side, and we’d hear someone on the other side yell, “They’ve got a gun to my head, and if you don’t open the door, they’re going to kill me!” Then they’d bring another person begging for his or her life.
Somebody was in communication with the White House or State Department, and they were asking what was happening. At that point we were ordered to give ourselves up, and the government would resolve things diplomatically. That was Nov. 4, 1979, and we weren’t released until Jan. 20, 1981. So that morning 52 Americans were stripped of their freedom, dignity and pride for 444 days.
-- Sgt Rocky Sickmann, USMC - History.net
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As Sgt Sickmann makes clear, when the US military is allowed to stand and fight, good things happened, When they are not allowed to fight, the results can be tragic. Like the US Marines at the consulate in Karachi today, the entire US military is standing up and fighting for freedom. The fight is ongoing. The danger is ongoing.
LtGen Michael Borgschulte, USMC, Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy, in a recent letter has alerted the entire Brigade of Midshipmen to the historic significance of US operations in Iran.
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Brigade of Midshipmen,
As you have seen in the news, our Joint Force has begun military operations against Iran. For decades, Iran has waged a proxy war against American forces and our partners across the Middle East. The events now unfolding are historic. They are consequential. And they demand serious reflection from all of us.
. . . This moment should sharpen your perspective. The fate of nations, the stability of regions, and the lives of your fellow Americans are not abstract ideas. They rest in the hands of officers who are competent, disciplined, and morally grounded. The fate of the Iranian people, like so many populations caught under regimes that choose hostility over peace, will ultimately be shaped in part by how professionally and decisively American forces conduct themselves.
You’ve heard me talk about warfighting and our focus on it. What you are seeing in the news is an example of why we must be ready. Warfighting is not a slogan. It is the core purpose of our Navy and Marine Corps. It requires intellectual rigor in the classroom, physical toughness on the field, and professional seriousness in every training evolution.
It requires leaders who understand history, technology, human behavior, and the moral weight of command. It requires officers who can think clearly under pressure and act decisively in uncertainty. This is not a time for distraction. It is not a time for complacency.
It is a time... to double down . . . .
-- LtGen Michael J. Borgschulte, USMC, 66th Superintendent USNA
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Compass Points salutes LtGen Michael J. Borgschulte, USMC, for calling on his midshipmen and all sailors and Marines to renew their commitment to duty in peace and war. The future is unknowable, but when the Navy & Marine Corps team and the entire US military are allowed to stand and fight, then peaceful peoples are protected and murderous adversaries are destroyed.
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MM News - 03/01/2026
8 killed as US Marines allegedly open fire on Pakistani protesters in Karachi
By MM News Staff
https://mmnews.tv/8-killed-as-us-marines-allegedly-open-fire-on-pakistani-protesters-in-karachi/
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History.net - 10/1/2018
U.S. Marine Sergeant Rocky Sickmann: A Hostage Remembers
Sickmann was one of 52 hostages from the U.S. Embassy in Tehran who endured 444 days of captivity in 1979–81.
By David Lauterborn
https://www.historynet.com/u-s-marine-sergeant-rocky-sickmann-hostage-remembers/
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I am proud that the Marine Security Guards at Karachi defended the Consulate once the outer perimeter was breeched. They shot a mob ( not protestors) who were armed and dangerous.
Yes, no Marines afloat and available for NEO’s or any other of a number of missions. Gen MaAbee is 100% correct - irrelevant. Sadly, there is a sequence of events after irrelevance — massive cuts in funding, down sizing and eventually being disbanded. If someone does not see that eventuality they are not paying attention. Generals Berger and Smith may go down in history as the individuals who killed the Corps.
It takes a long time to build an elite organization. It can self destruct very quickly.
TELL IT TO THE MARINES!
I just finished watching this morning’s brief by the SOW and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Daniel "Raizin" Caine. Pete Hegseth’s message is the US Military is now here to successfully execute missions as a true war fighting organization. YOU GO PETE!
General Caine also provided a great operational brief on “Epic Fury”. He praised USCENTCOM and its Component Commands of the Army, Navy and Air Force along with SPACECOMMAND and US CYBER COMMAND. He also talked about USTRANSCOM’s role on moving everything that USCENTCOM needed for this extended operation. He talked a lot about the integration of the Joint Force. You also can feel his pride in the US Joint Force ability to project power and overwhelming force globally.
But wait a minute? Did the Chairman forget the US Marine Corps? As a career Marine officer…how embarrassing. The US Joint Force is on display without the US Marine Corps. The US Navy and Air Force are rightfully center stage for this operation but without that Marines as a force in readiness. You would think the USCENTCOM would have at least an Amphibious Ready Group (MEUSOC) in theater for missions like TARP, Raids, Deceptions and any of the other 15 Mission Categories a MARCENT ARG could provide.
I understand that there is a squadron of Marine F-35s on the USS Gerald Ford. Good! However, did the current Marine Commandant forget that he is the force provider to the US Combatant Commands? Did the Combatant Commander say no to the MLR? Did the Commandant have a “desk pounding” session with the CNO and SECNAV to get enough amphibious ships ready to provide an ARG to CENTCOM? Is there "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark"…or is that smell of strategic thinking decomposition coming from the Commandants Office? S/F