title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: In general, the Iraqi Turkmen dialects of Tal Afar (approx 700,000 speakers), Altun Kupri, Tuz Khurmatu, Taza Khurmatu, Kifri, Bashir and Amirli show unity with the Eastern Anatolian dialect of Urfa; meanwhile, the dialects in Kirkuk, Erbil, Dohuk, Mandali and Khanaqin show similarities with Tehrani and Afshar Turkic dialects. Yet, the Kirkuk dialect also shows comparable features with Urfa, and 21.4% of Kirkuk province's population had self-declared their mother tongue as "Turkish" in the last census which asked about language. In particular, a cultural orientation towards Turkey prevails among Iraqi Turkmen intellectuals and diglossia (Turkish of Turkey) is very frequent in educated circles, especially in Kirkuk. In addition, the Erbil dialect shows similarities with Turkish dialects stretching from Kosovo to Rize, Erzurum and Malatya.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: The Iraqi Turkmen generally also have an active command in standard Turkish due to their cultural orientation towards the Republic of Turkey. Turkish media outlets (especially satellite TV) has been influential; moreover, there are a number of private schools which teach in Turkish backed by Turkish institutions. Thus, diglossia in Iraq Turkmen and standard Turkish (of Turkey) has become a widespread phenomenon.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: Professor Christiane Bulut has argued that publications from Azerbaijan often use expressions such as "Azerbaijani (dialects) of Iraq" or "South Azerbaijani" to describe Iraqi Turkmen dialects "with political implications"; however, in Turcological literature, closely related dialects in Turkey and Iraq are generally referred to as "eastern Anatolian" or "Iraq-Turkic/-Turkman" dialects, respectively.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: Furthermore, the terms "Turkmen/Turkman" are also considered to be historically political because in the early 20th century the minority were simply recognized as Turks who spoke the Turkish language, until after the military coup of 14 July 1958, when the ruling military junta introduced the names "Turkman/Turkmen" to distance the Turks of Iraq from those in Anatolia, and then banned the Turkish language in 1972.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: Under the British Mandate over Iraq, the Turkish language was recognized as an official language in Kirkuk and Kifri under Article 5 of the Language Act of 1930. Article 6 of the Act permitted the language of education to be determined by the native language of the majority of students, whilst Article 2 and Article 4 gave Iraqi citizens the right to have court hearings and decisions verbally translated into Arabic, Kurdish, or Turkish in all cases.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: Upon Iraq's entry into the League of Nations in 1932, the League demanded that Iraq recognize its ethnic and religious minorities. Consequently, the Turkish language, alongside Kurdish, was to be recognized as an official language under the Iraqi constitution of 1932: "in the liwa of Kirkuk, where a considerable part of the population is of Turkmen race, the official language, side by side with Arabic, shall be either Kurdish or Turkish". According to Article 1, no law, order, or act of government was allowed to contradict the terms of the 1932 constitution, nor could it be changed in the future.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: However, in 1959 the military junta introduced the names "Turkman" and "Turkmanja". More recently, Article 4 of the 2005 Iraqi Constitution recognizes "Turkomen" as an official minority language in the "administrative units in which they constitute density of population" (alongside Syriac).


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: In 1997 the Iraqi Turkmen Congress adopted a Declaration of Principles, Article Three states that "the official written language of the Turkmen is Istanbul Turkish, and its alphabet is the new Latin alphabet." By 2005 the Turkish language replaced traditional Turkmeni, which had used the Arabic script, in Iraqi schools.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: In 2005 Iraqi Turkmen community leaders decided that the Turkish language would replace the use of traditional Turkmeni in Iraqi schools; Turkmeni had used the Arabic script whereas Turkish uses the Latin script (see Turkish alphabet). Kelsey Shanks has argued that "the move to Turkish can be seen as a means to strengthen the collective "we" identity by continuing to distinguish it from the other ethnic groups. ... The use of Turkish was presented as a natural progression from the Turkmen; any suggestion that the oral languages were different was immediately rejected."


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: Parental literacy rates in Turkish are low, as most are more familiar with the Arabic script (due to the Ba'athist regime). Therefore, the Turkmen Directorate of Education in Kirkuk has started Turkish language lessons for the wider society. Furthermore, the Turkmen officer for the Ministry of Education in Nineveh has requested from the "United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq" the instigation of Turkish language classes for parents.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: The current prevalence of satellite television and media exposure from Turkey may have led to the standardisation of Turkmeni towards Turkish, and the preferable language for adolescents associating with the Turkish culture.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: In 2004 the Türkmeneli TV channel was launched in Kirkuk, Iraq. It broadcasts programmes in the Turkish and Arabic languages. As of 2012, Türkmeneli TV has studios in Kirkuk and Baghdad in Iraq, and in the Çankaya neighbourhood in Ankara, Turkey. Türkmeneli TV has signed agreements with several Turkish channels, such as TRT, TGRT and ATV, as well as with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus's main broadcaster BRT, to share programmes and documentaries.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: The Iraqi Turkmens are predominantly Muslims. The Sunni Turkmen form the majority (about 60–70%), but there is also a significant number of Turkmen practicing the Shia branch of Islam (about 30% to 40%). Nonetheless, the Turkmen are mainly secular, having internalized the secularist interpretation of state–religion affairs practiced in the Republic of Turkey since its foundation in 1923. Moreover, the fact that the Turkmen mainly live in urban areas, where they deal with trade and commerce, and their tendency to acquire higher education, the power of religious and tribal factors inherent in Iraq's political culture does not significantly affect the Turkmens. A small minority of the Iraqi Turkmens are Catholics, it is estimated their number at about 30,000.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: The Iraqi Turkmens are the third largest ethnic group in Iraq. According to 2013 data from the Iraqi Ministry of Planning the Iraqi Turkmens have a population of about 3 million out of the total population of about 34.7 million (approximately 9% of the country's population).


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: According to Mesut Yeğen, documents from the British Foreign Office claim that the Turkmens made a majority in the city of Erbil in 1919 The 1957 Iraqi census (which is recognized as the last reliable census, as later censuses were reflections of the Arabization policies of the Ba'ath regime) recorded 567,000 Turks out of a total population of 6.3 million, forming 9% of the total Iraqi population. This put them third, behind Arabs and Kurds. However, due to the undemocratic environment, their number has always been underestimated and has long been a point of controversy. For example, in the 1957 census, the Iraqi government first claimed that there was 136,800 Turks in Iraq. However, the revised figure of 567,000 was issued after the 1958 revolution when the Iraqi government admitted that the Iraqi Turkmen population was actually more than 400% from the previous year's total. Scott Taylor has described the political nature of the results thusly:


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: Subsequent censuses, in 1967, 1977, 1987 and 1997, are all considered highly unreliable, due to suspicions of manipulation by the various regimes in Iraq. The 1997 census states that there was 600,000 Iraqi Turkmen out of a total population of 22,017,983, forming 2.72% of the total Iraqi population; however, this census only allowed its citizens to indicate belonging to one of two ethnicities, Arab or Kurd, this meant that many Iraqi Turkmen identified themselves as Arabs (the Kurds not being a desirable ethnic group in Saddam Hussein's Iraq), thereby skewing the true number of Iraqi Turkmen.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: In 2004 Scott Taylor suggested that the Iraqi Turkmen population accounted for 2,080,000 of Iraq's 25 million inhabitants (forming 8.32% of the population) whilst Patrick Clawson has stated that the Iraqi Turkmen make up about 9% of the total population. Furthermore, international organizations such as the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization has stated that the Iraqi Turkmen community is 3 million or 9–13% of the Iraqi population. Iraqi Turkmen claim that their total population is over 3 million. It is estimated to be 2.7% of total Iraqi population at 2015 by Gulf/2000 Project of Columbia University.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: The Iraqi Turkmen primarily inhabit northern Iraq, in a region they refer to as "Turkmeneli" which stretches from the northwest to the east at the middle of Iraq. Iraqi Turkmen consider their capital city to be Kirkuk. Liam Anderson and Gareth Stansfield describe the Turkmeneli region as follows:


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: The Iraqi Turkmen generally consider several major cities, and small districts associated with these cities, as part of Turkmeneli. The major cities claimed to be a part of their homeland include: Altun Kupri, Badra, Bakuba, Diala, Erbil, Khanaqin, Kifri, Kirkuk, Kizilribat, Mendeli, Mosul, Salahaldeen, Sancar, Tal Afar, and Tuz Khurmatu. Thus, the Turkmeneli region lies between the Arab areas of settlement to the south and Kurdish areas to the north.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: According to the 1957 census the Iraqi Turkmen formed the majority of inhabitants in the city of Kirkuk, with 40% declaring their mother tongue as "Turkish". The second-largest Iraqi Turkmen city is Tel Afar where they make up 95% of the inhabitants. The once mainly Turkoman cities of the Diyala Province such as Kifri have been heavily Kurdified and Arabized.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: Some Iraqi Turkmen also live outside the Turkmeneli region. For example, there is a significant community living in Iraq's capital city of Baghdad.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: Most Iraqi Turkmens migrate to Turkey, followed by Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. There are also Iraqi Turkmen communities living in Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Greece, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: According to Professor Suphi Saatçi, in 2010 approximately 1,000 Iraqi Turkmen were living in Canada, 2,000 in Denmark, and 4,000 in the Netherlands. Since the European migrant crisis (2014–19) the number of Iraqi Turkmen has continued to increase in Europe.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: There are many established Iraqi Turkmen diaspora communities, such as the Canadian Iraqi Turkmen Culture Association, based in Canada.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: The position of the Iraqi Turkmen has changed from being administrative and business classes of the Ottoman Empire to an increasingly discriminated against minority. Since the demise of the Ottoman Empire, the Iraqi Turkmen have been victims of several massacres, such as the Kirkuk Massacre of 1959. Furthermore, under the Ba'th party, discrimination against the Iraqi Turkmen increased, with several leaders being executed in 1979 as well as the Iraqi Turkmen community being victims of Arabization policies by the state, and Kurdification by Kurds seeking to push them forcibly out of their homeland. Thus, they have suffered from various degrees of suppression and assimilation that ranged from political persecution and exile to terror and ethnic cleansing. Despite being recognized in the 1925 constitution as a constitutive entity, the Iraqi Turkmen were later denied this status; hence, cultural rights were gradually taken away and activists were sent to exile.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: In 1924, the Iraqi Turkmens were seen as a disloyal remnant of the Ottoman Empire, with a natural tie to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's new Turkish nationalist ideology emerging in the Republic of Turkey. The Iraqi Turkmen living in the region of Kirkuk were perceived as posing a threat to the stability of Iraq, particularly as they did not support the ascendancy of King Faisal I to the Iraqi throne. On May 4, these tensions boiled over into violence when soldiers from the Iraq Levies —a levied force raised by the British government after the First World War and consisting primarily of Assyrian — clashed with Turkmen in a Kirkuk market square after a dispute between an Assyrian soldier and a Turkmen shopkeeper. In the ensuing fracas, 200 Turkmen were killed by Assyrian soldiers.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: Around 20 Iraqi Turkmen civilians were killed by Iraqi policemen including women and children on 12 July 1946 in Gavurbağı, Kirkuk.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: The Kirkuk massacre of 1959 came about due to the Iraqi government allowing the Iraqi Communist Party, which in Kirkuk was largely Kurdish, to target the Iraqi Turkmen. With the appointment of Maarouf Barzinji, a Kurd, as the mayor of Kirkuk in July 1959, tensions rose following the 14 July revolution celebrations, with animosity in the city polarizing rapidly between the Kurds and Iraqi Turkmen. On 14 July 1959, skirmishes broke out between the Iraqi Turkmen and Kurds, leaving some 20 Iraqi Turkmen dead. Furthermore, on 15 July 1959, Kurdish soldiers of the Fourth Brigade of the Iraqi army mortared Iraqi Turkmen residential areas, destroying 120 houses. Order was restored on 17 July by military units from Baghdad. The Iraqi government referred to the incident as a "massacre" and stated that between 31 and 79 Iraqi Turkmen were killed and some 130 injured.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: Over 135 Turkmen civilians were killed on 28 March 1991 during the Gulf War by Iraqi forces, in the Turkmen town of Altun Kupri.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: In 1980, Saddam Hussein's government adopted a policy of assimilation of its minorities. Due to government relocation programs, thousands of Iraqi Turkmen were relocated from their traditional homelands in northern Iraq and replaced by Arabs, in an effort to Arabize the region. Furthermore, Iraqi Turkmen villages and towns were destroyed to make way for Arab migrants, who were promised free land and financial incentives. For example, the Ba'th regime recognised that the city of Kirkuk was historically an Iraqi Arab city and remained firmly in its cultural orientation. Thus, the first wave of Arabization saw Arab families move from the centre and south of Iraq into Kirkuk to work in the expanding oil industry. Although the Iraqi Turkmen were not actively forced out, new Arab quarters were established in the city and the overall demographic balance of the city changed as the Arab migrations continued.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: Several presidential decrees and directives from state security and intelligence organizations indicate that the Iraqi Turkmen were a particular focus of attention during the assimilation process during the Ba'th regime. For example, the Iraqi Military Intelligence issued directive 1559 on 6 May 1980 ordering the deportation of Iraqi Turkmen officials from Kirkuk, issuing the following instructions: "identify the places where Turkmen officials are working in governmental offices [in order] to deport them to other governorates in order to disperse them and prevent them from concentrating in this governorate [Kirkuk]". In addition, on 30 October 1981, the Revolution's Command Council issued decree 1391, which authorized the deportation of Iraqi Turkmen from Kirkuk with paragraph 13 noting that "this directive is specially aimed at Turkmen and Kurdish officials and workers who are living in Kirkuk".


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: As primary victims of these Arabization policies, the Iraqi Turkmen suffered from land expropriation and job discrimination, and therefore would register themselves as "Arabs" in order to avoid discrimination. Thus, ethnic cleansing was an element of the Ba'thist policy aimed at reducing the influence of the Iraqi Turkmen in northern Iraq's Kirkuk. Those Iraqi Turkmen who remained in cities such as Kirkuk were subject to continued assimilation policies; school names, neighbourhoods, villages, streets, markets and even mosques with names of Turkic origin were changed to names that emanated from the Ba'th Party or from Arab heroes. Moreover, many Iraqi Turkmen villages and neighbourhoods in Kirkuk were simply demolished, particularly in the 1990s.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: The Kurds claimed "de facto" sovereignty over land that Iraqi Turkmen regards as theirs. For the Iraqi Turkmen, their identity is deeply inculcated as the rightful inheritors of the region as a legacy of the Ottoman Empire. Thus, it is claimed that the Kurdistan Region and Iraqi government has constituted a threat to the survival of the Iraqi Turkmen through strategies aimed at eradicating or assimilating them. The largest concentration of Iraqi Turkmen tended to be in Tal Afar. The formation of the Kurdistan Region in 1991 created high animosity between the Kurds and Iraqi Turkmen, resulting in some Iraqi Turkmen being victims of Kurdification, according to the Liam Anderson. The largest concentration of Iraqi Turkmen tended to be in the de facto capital of Erbil, a city which they had assumed prominent administrative and economic positions. Thus, they increasingly came into dispute and often conflict with the ruling powers of the city, which after 1996 was the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Massoud Barzani.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: According to Anderson and Stansfield, in the 1990s, tension between the Kurds and Iraqi Turkmen inflamed as the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) were institutionalized as the political hegemons of the region and, from the perspective of the Iraqi Turkmen, sought to marginalize them from the positions of authority and to subsume their culture with an all-pervading Kurdistani identity. With the support of Ankara, a new political front of Turkmen parties, the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF), was formed on 24 April 1995. The relationship between the Iraqi Turkmen Front and the KDP was tense and deteriorated as the decade went on. Iraqi Turkmen associated with the Iraqi Turkmen Front complained about harassment by Kurdish security forces. In March 2000, the Human Rights Watch reported that the KDP's security attacked the offices of the ITF in Erbil, killing two guards, following a lengthy period of disputes between the two parties. In 2002, the KDP created an Iraqi Turkmen political organization, the Turkmen National Association, that supported the further institutionalization of the Kurdistan Region. This was viewed by pro-ITF Iraqi Turkmen as a deliberate attempt to "buy off" Iraqi Turkmen opposition and break their bonds with Ankara. Promoted by the KDP as the "true voice" of the Iraqi Turkmen, the Turkmen National Association has a pro-Kurdistani stance and has effectively weakened the ITF as the sole representative voice of the Iraqi Turkmen. Beginning in 2003, there were riots between Kurds and Turkmen in Kirkuk, a city that Turkmen view as historically theirs. According to United Nations reports, the KRG and Peshmerga were "illegaily policing Kirkurk, abducting Turkmen and Arabs and subjecting them to torture". Between 2003 and 2006, 1,350 Turkmens in Tal A'far died mainly from sectarian violence and war and thousands of houses were damaged or demolished, resulting in 4,685 displaced families.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: Between ten and twelve Turkmen individuals were elected to the transitional National Assembly of Iraq in January 2005, including five on the United Iraqi Alliance list, three from the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF), and either two or four from the Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: In the December 2005 elections, between five and seven Turkmen candidates were elected to the Council of Representatives. This included one candidate from the ITF (its leader Saadeddin Arkej), two or four from the United Iraqi Alliance, one from the Iraqi Accord Front and one from the Kurdistani Alliance.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: Iraqi Turkmen have also emerged as a key political force in the controversy over the future status of northern Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. The government of Turkey has helped fund such political organizations as the Iraqi Turkmen Front, which opposes Iraqi federalism and in particular the proposed annexation of Kirkuk to the Kurdistan Regional Government.


title: Iraqi Turkmen

text: Tensions between the two groups over Kirkuk, however, have slowly died out and on January 30, 2006, the President of Iraq, Jalal Talabani, said that the "Kurds are working on a plan to give Iraqi Turkmens autonomy in areas where they are a majority in the new constitution they're drafting for the Kurdistan Region of Iraq." However, it never happened and the policies of Kurdification by KDP and PUK after 2003 (with non-Kurds being pressed to move) have prompted serious inter-ethnic problems.


title: Peritoneal mesothelioma

text: Peritoneal mesothelioma is the name given to the cancer that attacks the lining of the abdomen. This type of cancer affects the lining that protects the contents of the abdomen and which also provides a lubricating fluid to enable the organs to move and work properly.


title: Peritoneal mesothelioma

text: The peritoneum is made of two parts, the visceral and parietal peritoneum. The visceral peritoneum covers the internal organs and makes up most of the outer layer of the intestinal tract. Covering the abdominal cavity is the parietal peritoneum.


title: Peritoneal mesothelioma

text: Symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma include weight loss and abdominal pain and swelling due to a buildup of fluid in the abdomen. Other symptoms of peritoneal mesothelioma may include bowel obstruction, blood clotting abnormalities, anemia, and fever. If the cancer has spread beyond the mesothelium to other parts of the body, symptoms may include pain, trouble swallowing, or swelling of the neck or face.


title: Peritoneal mesothelioma

text: A 1975 study of three small villages in central Cappadocia, Turkey—Tuzköy, Karain and Sarıhıdır—found that peritoneal mesothelioma was causing 50% of all deaths. Initially, this was attributed to erionite, a zeolite mineral with similar properties to asbestos, but detailed epidemiological investigation demonstrated that the substance causes the disease mostly in families with a genetic predisposition to mineral fiber carcinogenesis. The studies are being extended to other parts of the region.


title: Peritoneal mesothelioma

text: Peritoneal mesothelioma has two clinical types which can be differentiated with the help of CT findings, the "dry" type, and the "wet". It is classified as "dry" when there are multiple tiny masses or one dominant localized mass and generally little or no ascites. The "wet" type has widespread small nodules, no dominant mass, and a presence of ascites.


title: Peritoneal mesothelioma

text: If fluid is found, the process of eliminating it is through paracentesis; however, the analysis of this fluid has limited diagnostic significance. Normally, a definitive diagnosis may be obtained through tissue biopsy.


title: Peritoneal mesothelioma

text: Given its rarity, there are no established guidelines for the treatment of peritoneal mesothelioma. The modern approach to malignant peritoneal mesothelioma includes cytoreductive surgery, hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC), intraperitoneal chemotherapy, and intravenous chemotherapy. These are often used in conjunction and in a complementary fashion, and this multifaceted approach has significantly improved outcomes when compared to intravenous chemotherapy alone. For instance, the reported median survival time for patients with stage IV mesothelioma as reported by the American Cancer Society is 12 months; however, with adequate cytoreduction, intraperitoneal, and intravenous chemotherapy combined, some authors report 10-year survival rates projected at nearly 75%.


title: Peritoneal mesothelioma

text: Multiple factors have been shown to be significant in predicting the outcome and overall survival. Age greater than 60 at surgery, more overall disease burden (defined as a PCI greater than 15), complete cytoreduction (no visible disease), and epitheliod subtype pathology have all been shown to be predictors of both mortality and disease progression. These known predictors notwithstanding, many patients with advanced peritoneal mesothelioma are still surgical candidates, and even patients with the highest possible score on the peritoneal carcinomatosis index (39) can be completely reduced to a PCI of 0 with adequate surgery.


title: Peritoneal mesothelioma

text: This article includes text from the U.S. National Cancer Institute's public domain Dictionary of Cancer Terms.


title: Ramon Dekkers

text: Ramon Dekkers (4 September 1969 – 27 February 2013) was a Dutch kickboxer and an eight-time Muay Thai world champion. Dekkers was a favourite with fight fans due to his fast-paced, aggressive fighting style. Dekkers was also renowned for his willingness to go abroad to fight the Thai champions in their own country.


title: Ramon Dekkers

text: Dekkers was born on 4 September 1969 in Breda, Netherlands. He began learning martial arts at age 12, studying judo for half a year. He then switched to boxing. After a couple of years Dekkers started practicing Muay Thai under Cor Hemmers. After finishing his baker education Dekkers joined Maeng Ho Breda Gym. During Dekkers' early days of training his mother was at the gym every day and eventually she and Hemmers fell in love and got married.


title: Ramon Dekkers

text: In the beginning of his career Dekkers' manager was Clovis Depretz, the manager of legendary Rob Kaman. This was the reason why Kaman was at ringside during many of Dekkers' matches, including his farewell fight. They often trained together and became good friends. Dekkers and Kaman were dubbed by fight fans in Thailand as "The Double Dutch duo".


title: Ramon Dekkers

text: In his first fight at 16 years of age, Dekkers won in a spectacular knockout against a well-established older boxer. Although, only weighing about 55 kg, his opponents found out sooner rather than later he was much stronger than he looked. As Dekkers kept on winning his matches by knockout, his reputation of an up-and-coming fighter spread in the Muay Thai community. He was awarded his first title at age 18, when he won the MTBN Dutch Championship on 15 November 1987. Dekkers defeated Kenneth Ramkisoen by knockout with a high kick. Previous to this fight the Dutchman had his first international contest against the reigning European champion, Richard Nam of France. Dekkers lost the fight on points. They would rematch each other a year later for the EMTA European Championship. This time Dekkers won the fight by knockout with a left hook, cross to body combination in the fourth round.


title: Ramon Dekkers

text: Dekkers challenged for the NKBB European Super featherweight Championship against Kevin Morris on 14 April 1988. He defeated his overmatched English opponent by unanimous decision. Over the next year the Dutchman would win a number of fights before defeating Mungkordum Sitchang for the IMTA World Lightweight title. Towards the end of 1988 he faced Gilbert Ballantine from the respected Chakuriki Gym in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Dekkers lost by decision after being outworked by Ballantine over five rounds. This match would spark the beginning of a fierce rivalry between the two men—they would fight two more times with both of them splitting wins.


title: Ramon Dekkers

text: On 18 February 1990, Dekkers truly moved onto the world stage. In Amsterdam, he faced the reigning Lumpinee champion Namphon Nongkeepahuyuth. He inflicted a rare defeat on Namphon after five rounds, taking the IMF World Light Welterweight title. The two fighters would meet again two months later in a rematch in Bangkok, Thailand. This time the Dutchman, who just had knocked out the number 1 ranked Lumpinee fighter Cherry S. Wanich in Amsterdam, was unable to defeat Namphon and lost a close decision. He returned to Thailand the same year to meet Issara Sakkreerin in a losing bid for Sakkreerin's Lumpinee Stadium Lightweight title.


title: Ramon Dekkers

text: The most notable rival of Dekkers was multiple Lumpinee champion and living legend Coban Lookchaomaesaitong. In their first encounter on 21 April 1991, Dekkers was knocked out with a left hook. This would be the first of four meetings between the men from 1991 to 1993, in what became one of the biggest rivalries in Muay Thai history. In the rematch, Dekkers won in highlight worthy fashion via devastating knockout. In the third outing of their rivalry, Dekkers was defeated by decision after five gruelling rounds, but he won the fourth and final fight, evening his score against Coban. The Coban vs. Dekkers fights have been rated as the best by any standards, by Muay Thai fans worldwide.


title: Ramon Dekkers

text: Dekkers ended 1991 with two wins by knockout over French champion Joel Cezar and a decision loss against Sakmongkol Sitthichok. Between 1992 and 1996, Dekkers would take part in a number of high-profile bouts, defeating fighters such as Joe Prestia, Rittichai Tor. Chalermchai, Mehmet Kaya and Hector Pena. He would also suffer a few defeats, losing his second fight against Joe Prestia as well as failing to defeat among others Jaroenthong Kiatbangchon, Dida Diafat, Orono Por Muang-Ubol and Den Muangsurin.


title: Ramon Dekkers

text: On November 16, 1996, Dekkers defeated Hassan Kassrioui via unanimous decision in Amsterdam, Netherlands to win the World Professional Kickboxing League (WPKL) World Super Welterweight Championship. By this point, despite the victory, injuries were taking their toll and his career was winding to a close. A month later, he faced Jomhod Kiatadisak in Bangkok, Thailand for the vacant WMTA World Super welterweight title. Dekkers lost the bout by decision. In a memorable match against Rayen Simson in Roosendaal, Netherlands in 1997 both fighters went to the canvas at the same time from a left hook. Dekkers injured his eye in the process and had to give up, losing the fight by technical knockout at the end of the second round. He would go back to winning ways by defeating Saengtiennoi Sor. Rungrot, avenging his two losses against the "Deadly Kisser".


title: Ramon Dekkers

text: On 18 March 2001, Ramon Dekkers fought his farewell fight against Marino Deflorin in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The fight ended in the fourth round with Dekkers knocking a game Deflorin out with a left hook. After the fight, Dekkers joined his Golden Glory team members center stage for a finale, Rob Kaman came down the rampart, presenting a Golden Glory torch to Dekkers, who in turn passed it to each team member, as video clips of his victories were shown on the display screens.


title: Ramon Dekkers

text: After his retirement Dekkers kept himself busy training his two teams, Team Dekkers and Golden Glory. In 2005, however, Dekkers surprised the fighting world by agreeing upon a contract with K-1. He was, however, to fight under MMA rules against Genki Sudo. Dekkers, who never had fought MMA and took the fight on a few days' notice, lost by heel hook.


title: Ramon Dekkers

text: However, his management arranged another regular K-1 rules fight. Dekkers fought American Duane Ludwig in a superfight during the K-1 Max 2005 event. A few days before the fight Dekkers injured himself, tearing a ligament in his right shoulder. The entire fight he could only punch with his left arm. Nevertheless, Dekkers knocked Ludwig down in every round, and won the fight by decision. His final retirement was a superfight against Joerie Mes at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Amsterdam event on 13 May 2006, this event was organised by Dutch organisation It's Showtime in collaboration with the Japanese K-1 organisation. After both fighters suffered a knockdown in the second round, it was Mes who earned the decision victory. Immediately after the fight Dekkers announced his final retirement.


title: Ramon Dekkers

text: Ramon Dekkers fought some of the best fighters Thailand had to offer. Especially in the beginning it was hard for Dekkers to fight at full Thai rules. The scoring methods were different from what he was used to in Europe. "In Thailand it is very difficult to win other than by knocking your opponent out. It has happened to me in many of my fights that I have lost on "points" while fighting in Thailand. It's normal over there losing on points but it can be very frustrating," Dekkers stated in an interview in 1993. Dekkers also blamed some of his losses to his many injuries. Despite his defeats the Thai fight fans had a great respect for Dekkers' determination and ability.


title: Ramon Dekkers

text: On the occasion of the 85th anniversary of the King of Thailand, Dekkers received a royal award from the Thai Royal Family for his services to the sport. The Dutchman was also appointed ambassador of all foreign fighters in Thailand. "This is very important to me. It is the greatest recognition that I can get for what I have achieved in this sport," said Dekkers, after the presentation by the Thai princess Ubolratana Rajakanya, the eldest daughter of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.


title: Ramon Dekkers

text: On 27 February 2013, Dekkers died at the age of 43, after reportedly feeling light-headed while training in his hometown Breda. He was riding his bike when he collapsed. A few bystanders attempted to assist him before emergency services arrived and attempted to revive him to no avail. It was reported that myocardial infarction (heart attack) was the cause of death. Hundreds of family members and friends farewelled Dekkers at his funeral at the Zuylen cemetery. The funeral procession was accompanied by dozens of members of the Motorbike Club Satudarah, as well as an airplane with a banner reading: the Diamond is 4ever, rest in peace.


title: Nathan East

text: Nathan Harrell East (born December 8, 1955) is an American jazz, R&B, and rock bass player and vocalist. With more than 2,000 recordings, East is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of music. East holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from the University of California, San Diego (1978). He is a founding member of contemporary jazz quartet Fourplay and has recorded, performed, and co-written songs with performers such as Bobby Womack, Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, Joe Satriani, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Phil Collins, Stevie Wonder, Toto, Kenny Loggins, Daft Punk, Chick Corea, and Herbie Hancock.


title: Nathan East

text: Nathan Harrell East was born on December 8, 1955 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Thomas and Gwendolyn East. He is one of eight children (five boys and three girls) raised Catholic in San Diego, where the family moved when he was four. He is the younger brother of Msgr Ray East of St Teresa of Avila Church in DC.


title: Nathan East

text: East first studied cello from seventh through ninth grade and played in local Horace Mann junior high school's orchestra. At age fourteen he developed an interest in the bass guitar, playing in church with his brothers Raymond and David. He was active in his (Crawford) high school's music programs along with a local top 40 band called "Power". He has said his early influences included Charles Mingus, Ray Brown and Ron Carter on upright bass; and James Jamerson, Paul McCartney and Chuck Rainey on electric bass. He studied music at UC San Diego. Nathan East is also an accomplished amateur magician member of The Magic Castle and the Academy of Magical Arts.


title: Nathan East

text: East is a founding member of the contemporary jazz band Fourplay with Bob James (keyboards), Lee Ritenour on guitar (later replaced by Larry Carlton and Chuck Loeb) and Harvey Mason (drums).


title: Nathan East

text: He has worked with Bobby Womack (on the album "The Poet"), Babyface, Anita Baker, The Bee Gees, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, Gail Ann Dorsey, Bryan Ferry, Daft Punk, Herbie Hancock, George Harrison, Michael Jackson, Al Jarreau, Elton John, Quincy Jones, Earth, Wind & Fire, B.B. King, Kenny Loggins, The Love Unlimited Orchestra, The Manhattan Transfer, Ed O'Brien, Laura Pausini, Savage Garden, Sting, Barry White, and Stevie Wonder. He co-wrote the song "Easy Lover" for Phil Collins and Philip Bailey. In 2013, he recorded the bass line for the 2013 hit "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk, which won Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance (2014). Since the 1980s, East has been a member of Eric Clapton's studio and touring bands. East was invited to play at in Washington, D.C. in 2009.


title: Nathan East

text: In early 2010, he was invited to join American Grammy Award-winning rock band Toto on their reunion tour to benefit member Mike Porcaro, who had been diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. East later joined Toto for their 2011 and 2012 tours as well. He joined Eric Clapton's band for concerts in Japan, Singapore, Thailand, and Dubai in February and March 2014 and again for the Madison Square Garden and Royal Albert Hall concerts of May, 2015.


title: Nathan East

text: East's debut self-titled solo album "Nathan East" was released on March 25, 2014. During recording, he was joined by several of his longtime associates, including Stevie Wonder, Michael McDonald, Eric Clapton, Ray Parker Jr., and Greg Phillinganes.


title: Nathan East

text: With Yamaha, East developed a custom 5-string bass guitar signature model, the BBNE (modeled after his early 1980s BB5000 5-string bass). The second signature bass, the BBNE2, was released in 2001. A limited edition 30th Anniversary version (the BBNE2 LTD) was released in 2011. He has also used custom 6-string prototypes of his BBNE2 bass guitar between 2003 and 2005, along with his black 1980s LB-1 Motion 5-string bass and a pair of 6-string TRB6P models. Yamaha introduced the NE1 Parametric EQ Pedal, otherwise known as the "Magic Box" in the early 2000s. This pedal essentially gives the player the ability to use the "Nathan East EQ curve" on any bass they choose. East also plays a Yamaha SLB200 Silent Upright Bass.


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: Mega Man X is an action-platform video game developed and published by Capcom for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It was the first "Mega Man" game for the 16-bit console and the first game in the "Mega Man X" series, a spin-off to the original "Mega Man" series that began on the SNES's predecessor, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). "Mega Man X" was released in Japan on December 17, 1993 and was released in both North America and Europe the following year. Taking place a century after the original "Mega Man" series, "Mega Man X" is set in a futuristic world populated by both humans and "Reploids", robots capable of thinking, feeling, and growing like their human creators. Because of these complex attributes, many Reploids are prone to destructive, renegade activity and are thereafter referred to as "Mavericks". The plot of the game follows the protagonist X, an android member of a military task force called the "Maverick Hunters". With the help of his partner Zero, X must thwart the plans of Sigma, a powerful Maverick leader wishing to bring about human extinction.


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: With the transition to more advanced gaming hardware, series artist Keiji Inafune explained that the development of "Mega Man X" involved reinventing "Mega Man" through gameplay expansion and a more mature storyline while still maintaining the basic concepts on which the franchise was built. Much like the NES "Mega Man" games that came before it, "Mega Man X" is a standard action-platform game where the player takes control of the eponymous character and must complete a set of eight, initial stages in any order desired. Defeating the boss character at the end of each stage grants the player one new weapon that can then be toggled and used at will for the remainder of the game. However, "Mega Man X" adds a number of new features and makes radical changes to the original gameplay mechanics of previous releases in the series. These include allowing the player to dash along the ground, scale walls, and obtain armor attachments which grant special abilities.


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: "Mega Man X" has met with positive reviews for its gameplay, sound, and graphics, as well as its attempt to augment the aging "Mega Man" franchise. It is considered one of the greatest video games ever made. A longterm commercial success on the SNES, "Mega Man X" has since been ported to personal computers (PCs) and mobile devices, included in the North American "Mega Man X Collection" for the Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2 (PS2), and released on the Virtual Console download service for the Wii, the Wii U, and the New Nintendo 3DS. The game also received a remake on the PlayStation Portable (PSP) titled Mega Man Maverick Hunter X. Nintendo re-released "Mega Man X" in September 2017 as part of the company's Super NES Classic Edition, and a limited physical re-release for the SNES in celebration of "Mega Man"'s 30th Anniversary due for release in September 2018 and published by iam8bit. The game is also included in the "Mega Man X Legacy Collection" for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: "Mega Man X" takes place in an unspecified time during the 22nd century (21XX) and approximately 100 years after the original "Mega Man" series. A human archaeologist named Dr. Cain discovers the ruins of a robotics research facility that had once been operated by the legendary robot designer Dr. Thomas Light. Among the ruins, Cain finds a large capsule which contains a highly advanced robot with human-level intelligence and emotions, and even free will, the likes of which the world has never seen before. Light had wished to instill within his creation reasonable sanity, good nature, and an understanding of the more controversial aspects of human morality. The robot was buried while running a 30-year diagnostic program to ensure these features. Cain spends the next several months studying the robot, who is named "X". Cain decides to duplicate X and, within several months, completes the first "replicate android" or "Reploid", a robot who can think, feel, learn, and grow exactly like a human. Within the year, the design is standardized and Reploids are mass-produced. However, with the free will given to a Reploid comes the possibility of criminal activity; such rogue Reploids are branded as "Mavericks" by law-abiding citizens.


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: As the public outcry against the few Maverick incidents becomes too great to deny, the government steps in, and under the advice of Dr. Cain, forms an elite military police organization called the "Maverick Hunters". The Hunters are to capture or disable any Reploids that pose a threat to humans, provide damage control at Maverick uprisings, help with disaster recovery, and perform other tasks as needed. To lead this group, Cain designs a very advanced Reploid, thought to be immune to whatever defect causes Mavericks. This robot, named Sigma, heads the Hunters for some time before ultimately becoming a Maverick himself, alongside the vast majority of the other Hunters, most of whom join him out of loyalty. Sigma seizes control of a small island, driving out all human occupants. Claiming that the humans are inferior and that they are limiting the growth and potential of Reploids, he calls for his followers to begin a massive extinction effort. X, guilt-ridden at having helped design such a dangerous race, joins forces with the only other remaining Hunter, Zero, in order to stop Sigma at any cost.


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: While on a mission involving a Maverick attack on a highway, X encounters Vile, a mercenary Maverick working for Sigma who pilots a mechanized tank called "Ride Armor". Unable to defeat Vile, X is saved at a critical moment by Zero, forcing Vile to retreat. Zero then offers encouragement to the less combat-savvy X after the battle. X proceeds to track down and exterminate eight of Sigma's most powerful Mavericks, then rendezvous with Zero outside Sigma's stronghold. Inside the compound, X finds that Zero has been captured by Vile. Another battle ensues, ending similar to their first meeting with X at Vile's mercy. Zero suddenly breaks free of his restraints, latches onto Vile, and self-detonates, destroying his own body and the Maverick's Ride Armor. Shocked over Zero's sacrifice, X regains his strength and finishes off Vile. Zero encourages his comrade once again, and succumbs to his damage. Now more determined than ever, X fights his way to Sigma, destroys the Maverick leader, and escapes the island fortress as it explodes and sinks. As he returns to base, X reflects on the events that have unfolded, questioning Zero's sacrifice, his own decision to fight, and the ongoing war with the Mavericks. After the credits, a message from Sigma reveals that X merely destroyed a temporary body, and that Sigma's spirit lives on. Sigma then says that he would gather new, stronger bodies to do his bidding, and he would see X soon.


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: The original "Mega Man" series on the NES consisted of 2D platform games that focus on run-and-gun gameplay. "Mega Man X" uses the same basic principles as its precursors but with many added options. The player takes control of the protagonist X, and, after completing an introductory stage, is presented with a stage selection screen that depicts eight boss characters. Each stage is littered with various enemies and hazards and ends with a boss battle against its respective Maverick. Defeating a Maverick allows X to use that Maverick's signature weapon. The player may attempt these eight levels in any order, using weapons gained in one level to overcome challenges in the others, although some bosses will be much easier if challenged after having beat another boss and obtaining their signature weapon.There are certain orders to challenge the eight levels that make it easier for the player. For example, clearing Storm Eagle's aircraft carrier stage will cause electrical outages in Spark Mandrill's power plant stage which removes several hazards throughout the stage. The player can return to the game at a later point using a password system; the password will retain any number of the eight stages cleared and most power-ups. In certain stages, X can hop inside Ride Armors to fight enemies; ride Armors are bipedal tanks capable of powerful punches.


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: X's abilities are similar to those in previous "Mega Man" games, such as running, jumping, and a chargeable arm cannon named the "X-Buster". However, "Mega Man X" introduces a number of elements not present in the original "Mega Man" titles. One prominent feature is the ability to scale, slide down, or jump off nearly any wall. Certain stages contain Armor Part Capsules, which display a holographic message from Dr. Light when approached. Each capsule upgrades one of X's body parts—his legs, armor, or helmet, granting the player improved defense (armor), as well as new abilities, like a dash upgrade (legs) and the ability to smash blocks (head). The player can also collect hidden "Heart Tanks" that extend X's maximum life energy and "Sub-Tanks" that can store extra energy for later use. When certain conditions are met, a secret capsule can be unlocked which gives X the ability to perform the "Hadouken", an attack used by characters (Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Sakura, Gouken) from Capcom's "Street Fighter" series.


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: "Mega Man X" was developed by a team at Capcom which had worked on the long-running "Mega Man" series for the NES. Lead artist Keiji Inafune (credited as a planner as Inemuryar) recounted that the development of "Mega Man X" required a lot of brainstorming for its storyline and content where the team's goal was to branch out from original "Mega Man" games while still maintaining their fundamentals. In the original "Mega Man" series, Inafune typically designed the protagonist while his protégé Hayato Kaji handled the supporting characters. However, their roles were reversed for "Mega Man X". Kaji (credited as Rippa H.K) illustrated the protagonist X, but had a difficult time with the initial design. He was presented with much more freedom than he was accustomed with the SNES's larger palette of colors when compared to the NES. Inafune and Kaji worked simultaneously on the various designs for X with different pieces of armor attached. The idea for the armor parts came about because the game was planned during a time when role-playing video games were becoming extremely popular. Inafune felt that "Mega Man" had always represented a classic action game formula in which the hero earns his defeated enemies' abilities; the armor parts were added to supplement this concept.


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: Inafune created the character Zero, whom he originally intended to be the game's main, playable protagonist. "When the "X" series came out, I really wanted to redesign Mega Man," Inafune explained. "I wanted a totally different Mega Man. I’m a designer, a creator; I wanted something new. I didn’t want to use the same old Mega Man." Fearing a negative reaction from fans, Zero was ultimately reduced to a role secondary to X. The development team additionally wanted the world of "Mega Man X" to be much more sophisticated than in the first "Mega Man" series. They wanted to accomplish this with Zero's "hardcore" personality and the game's antagonist Sigma. As stated by Inafune, the original series' villain Dr. Wily had "a side to him you couldn't really hate". Sigma, however, was written as a once-good character suffering an "unforeseen error" that leads him to be completely evil. The game's story went through several changes during development. Two allies of X, named RX and RY, appeared in previews for the game, but were later taken out. "Mega Man X" altered the franchise tradition of having themed boss characters with a "Man" moniker by replacing them with anthropomorphic animal-like androids. The art and pixelization for these eight bosses were divided among three illustrators: Inafune did Storm Eagle and Chill Penguin; Kaji did Spark Mandrill, Launch Octopus, and Sting Chameleon; and Kazunori Tazaki (credited as Ikki) did Flame Mammoth, Armored Armadillo, and Boomer Kuwanger. The team was careful in making the bosses distinct from one another in both stature and coloring. Tatsuya Yoshikawa (credited as Tatsunoko), a fourth artist who had recently been hired by Capcom, was given the task of assisting the rest of the team by designing, illustrating, and creating the sprites for the game's minor enemies.


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: The musical score for "Mega Man X" was composed by Capcom's Alph Lyla group. Setsuo Yamamoto (credited as Setsuo) was initially the sole composer assigned to the game, and contributed the vast majority of the soundtrack, but four other composers, Yuki Iwai (credited as Sato), Toshihiko Horiyama (credited as Kirry), Yuko Takehara (credited as Yuko) and Makoto Tomozawa (credited as Tomozou), were brought in late in production to help finish the soundtrack. The first three were responsible for one track each. These tracks were Chill Penguin, Password Screen, and Boomer Kuwanger, respectively. Tomozawa wrote two songs, these being Storm Eagle and Spark Mandrill. Iwai and Horiyama would later compose the soundtracks for "Mega Man X2" and "X4" respectively. The Japanese division of Sony Records published an arranged album featuring ten songs on March 9, 1994. Music using the SNES instrumentals was included as part of the "Capcom Music Generation: Rockman X1 ~ X6" soundtrack released by Suleputer in 2003.


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: The success of the "Mega Man" series allowed Capcom to continue releasing NES titles well into the 16-bit era. A teaser for an SNES incarnation of the "Mega Man" series first made its way into a preview of "Mega Man 6" in the spring 1993 issue of the Japanese "Club Capcom" fan magazine. "Mega Man X" was announced in North America in a March 1993 "Game Players" magazine interview with Capcom's Senior Vice President Joseph Morici. The tentatively titled "Super Mega Man" was originally to have a "fairly large memory configuration and a battery backup". The autumn 1993 issue of "Club Capcom" announced "Rockman X" for a December 1993 release in Japan, divulged several plot and gameplay details, and showed Zero as a silhouetted "Blues-like character". Leading up to its release, the game was covered by the North American press surrounding the summer 1993 and winter 1994 Consumer Electronics Shows.


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: "Mega Man X" has been widely acclaimed by critics since its release. Gaming magazines in the United States and Europe including "Electronic Gaming Monthly" ("EGM"), "GamePro", "Game Players", "Nintendo Power", "Super Play", and the German version of "Total!" consistently lauded the game's visuals, audio, control, and overall gameplay. "Game Players" summarized "Mega Man X" as "a near-perfect cart with classic gameplay, excellent graphics and sound and tons of hidden items and power-ups". "Nintendo Power" stated that the game had "great control and fun" along with "challenging play".


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: Websites such as IGN, GameSpot, GamesRadar, and 1UP.com retrospectively held "Mega Man X" as a successful milestone in transitioning the "Mega Man" series from its increasingly stale existence on the NES to the SNES. Brett Elston of GamesRadar stated, ""X" was a total reinvention of the series, a perfectly executed update that had fans anticipating its release with a fervor the franchise hadn't seen since the "Mega Man 2" and "3" days."


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: "Mega Man X" received criticism from some publications as well. Ed Semrad, Danyon Carpenter, and Al Manuel of the "EGM" review panel all noted that the game may have too low a difficulty level; Semrad disliked the introductory stage and felt that the game was too short as well. "Super Play" editor Zy Nicholson lowered his review score of the game because he found the levels were neither large nor challenging. "A few elementary tricks like repeating easy sections to recoup energy and weapon power will see you through the harder bits," Nicholson explained. "Within the level you'll also find restart points, extra lives, and no harsh time limit to put pressure on your performance. Couple this with a password system that records your level completion, status and weapon accumulation and you'll see we're not looking at a lasting challenge for the experienced player." "Nintendo Power" criticized how little the game had changed stating that "the theme remains the same as the Game Boy and NES Mega Man titles."


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: The game's title initially proved a source of some confusion; the gaming media reported that many gamers mistook the "X" for the roman numeral 10.


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: "Mega Man X" was ranked number 58 in "Nintendo Power"'s "100 Best Nintendo Games of All Time" in its 100th issue in September 1997, number 103 in the publication's "Top 200 Games" list for its 200th issue in February 2006, and the 11th best SNES game of all time in its August 2008 issue. Both GamesRadar and ScrewAttack listed "Mega Man X" as the eighth best game in the SNES library. "GamePro" similarly listed it as the eighth greatest 16-bit video game. "Game Informer" considered it the 120th best game of all time in its own 200th issue in December 2009. IGN named it the twelfth-best on its own top 100 SNES games list in 2011. In 2018, Complex listed the game 15th on their "The best Super Nintendo Games of All Time." They felt the game was one of the best Mega Man X games in the series. In 1995, Total! rated the game 28th on its Top 100 SNES Games.


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: "Mega Man X" was a commercial success. The SNES version sold 1.165 million copies worldwide , making it the 41st best-selling Capcom game of all time. IGN's Jeremy Dunham speculated that the game's more mature storyline and its inclusion of numerous gameplay extensions over the original "Mega Man" series helped create a "unique cadre of fans". The game was followed by seven direct sequels and three related titles: "Mega Man Xtreme", "Mega Man Xtreme 2", and "Mega Man X Command Mission". Another video game spin-off series, "Mega Man Zero", began in 2002 on the Game Boy Advance handheld as a result of the immense popularity of the character Zero.


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: After the SNES version debuted, "Mega Man X" was ported by Rozner Labs to the IBM PC in 1995 and was packaged with a six-button game controller. "Mega Man X" received a separate PC release in Japan in 1996. Majesco Entertainment republished the SNES version of the game in 1997. Nintendo also republished the game in Japan on its Nintendo Power cartridge service in 1998. "Mega Man X", alongside its next five direct sequels and "", was compiled and made available on the "Mega Man X Collection" in North America for the Nintendo GameCube and PS2 in 2006.


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: An enhanced remake titled "Mega Man Maverick Hunter X", or in Japan, was released worldwide for the PSP between 2005 and 2008. With the launch of the PSP, Keiji Inafune and his team debated on whether or not to create a "Mega Man X9". "So, we decided that instead of going the "X9" route, let's go back to the series' roots and rediscover what makes the "X" series so classic," Inafune concluded. "We felt that the best way to do that would be to make an "X" remake." Although the remake stays true to the original game in both gameplay and basic storyline, "Maverick Hunter X" features a total graphical overhaul with 3D character models and backgrounds, a remixed soundtrack, voice acting, and anime cutscenes. According to Yoshikawa, the character illustrations were updated to resemble both toys and the designs of "Mega Man X8".


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: In addition to these changes, many power-ups in "Maverick Hunter X", such as the armor capsules, are relocated to different levels. The remake also has a few extras including an original video animation titled "The Day of Sigma" (which serves as a storyline prequel) and an unlockable mode to play through the game as the character Vile. Inafune implemented this mode to offer players a new perspective on the game through the eyes of a villain, feeling it would be "too obvious and boring" given an option to play as Zero.


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: Like the original game, "Maverick Hunter X" has received very positive reviews from critics, accumulating aggregate scores of 82% on GameRankings and 79 out of 100 on Metacritic. Although the game did not meet sales expectations, it was later made available as a download from the PlayStation Network. The Japanese and North American versions were also bundled in a special compilation with "", a remake of the original "Mega Man".


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: Capcom released a port of "Mega Man X" onto FOMA and i-mode compatible mobile phones in Japan in 2007. "Mega Man X" has also been made available for purchase on the Virtual Console service in Japan and North America in 2011 for the Wii, and later in Europe in 2012, as well as for the Wii U in 2013 and the New Nintendo 3DS in 2016. The game was ported to the Android operating system in Japan as a free download on November 18, 2011. Another remake of "Mega Man X" was released on the Apple iOS (iPhone and iPod Touch) on December 21, 2011. This version is based on the mobile phone version of the game and features touch controls, Game Center support, and a challenge mode with 80 levels. However, this version removed extra life power-ups, and separated the levels into chunks by black screen transitions, as opposed to the continuous scrolling of the original. Weapon and armor upgrades could also be purchased with actual money to ease the game's difficulty.


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: Nintendo re-released "Mega Man X" in September 2017 as part of the company's Super NES Classic Edition.


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: "Mega Man X" was announced for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch as part of "Mega Man X Legacy Collection" ("Rockman X Anniversary Collection" in Japan) which was released on July 24, 2018 worldwide and July 26, 2018 in Japan and also possesses an optional high-resolution filter to create higher-resolution graphics for this game. In addition, the Day of Sigma OVA from "Maverick Hunter X" is available as part of this release, which is also available on "Mega Man X Legacy Collection 2" as well.


title: Mega Man X (video game)

text: A limited physical cartridge re-release was announced in May 2018 published by iam8bit in celebration of "Mega Man"'s 30th Anniversary. The release will be limited to 8,500 copies, with 7,500 produced in opaque light blue cartridges 1,000 in glow-in-the-dark translucent blue, with each color in a random box. The game's instruction booklet will include a foreword by Jirard "The Completionist" Khalil and packaging restoration by Jango Snow Art & Design.


title: Tony Maudsley

text: Tony Maudsley (born 30 January 1968) is an English actor. He is best known for his portrayal of hairdresser Kenneth Du Beke in the hit ITV sitcom "Benidorm", a role he played from 2011 to 2018. His other notable credits include Martin in the BBC One sitcom "Eyes Down" (2003–2004), Graham in the ITV2 sitcom "The Job Lot" (2013–2014), and George Shuttleworth in the ITV soap opera "Coronation Street" (2020–present).


title: Tony Maudsley

text: Maudsley made his panto debut in 2016 as Dame Trott in Jack and the Beanstalk, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham. He returned to pantomime the year after, playing a completely different part – the Genie of the Lamp, in Aladdin, at the Swansea Grand Theatre. In 2020 he made another panto appearance as Kenneth the Cabin Boy in Peter Pan at the Liverpool Empire.


title: Tony Maudsley

text: His film career started when he landed a role in, "A Life for a Life", in 1998 where he played the part of Stefan Kiszko. He also played many small parts on television in between acting in films.


title: Tony Maudsley

text: He played the character of Joshua in the BBC Radio 4 situation comedy "Revolting People" and also appeared in series 3, episodes 5 & 6 of the popular ITV series "Doc Martin" as a postman. From 2011 until 2018, when the series was cancelled, Maudsley appeared in the ITV award-winning comedy "Benidorm", playing hairdresser Kenneth Du Beke. He also appeared in series 18, episode 14 of the popular award-winning ITV police drama "Heartbeat".


title: Tony Maudsley

text: Tony Maudsley appeared in two episodes of Sky Living's series "The Spa" as Stephen/Stephanie. He also appeared in ITV's "Northern Lights" as the character "Doddy", in 2006.


title: Tony Maudsley

text: In 2016 he performed the role of Edna Turnblad in the touring season of "Hairspray". In late 2017 he featured as "Kenneth the Hairdresser/Part-time slave" in Swansea Grand Theatre's production of "Aladdin".


title: Rex Airlines

text: Regional Express Pty. Ltd., trading as Rex Airlines (and as Regional Express Airlines on regional routes), is an Australian airline based in Mascot, New South Wales. It operates scheduled regional and domestic services. It is Australia's largest regional airline outside the Qantas group of companies and serves all 6 states across Australia. It is the primary subsidiary of Regional Express Holdings.


title: Rex Airlines

text: The airline was established in 2002 when the Australiawide Airlines consortium (set up by former Ansett Australia employees) acquired Hazelton Airlines and Kendell Airlines, before merging the companies and starting operations as Rex in August 2002. In 2005, Australiawide Airlines was renamed Regional Express Holdings and partially floated on the Australian Securities Exchange. On 30 November 2005, Rex announced the acquisition of the Dubbo-based Air Link, another regional airline.


title: Rex Airlines

text: In October 2007, Rex expanded into Queensland when it commenced operations between Brisbane and Maryborough. This exacerbated an existing problem within the company of not having enough pilots to crew its flights (due to the expansion of larger airlines, especially Jetstar and Virgin Blue), and Rex suspended operations out of Brisbane (and from Sydney to Cooma during the summer "low season" for this route to the NSW ski fields) in November 2007. To provide a medium-term solution to the pilot shortage, Rex announced that it was establishing a cadet-pilot flight-training programme.


title: Rex Airlines

text: In November 2015, Rex announced the resumption of services to the NSW Snowy Mountains in conjunction with Snowy Mountains Airport Corporation, with the flights resuming in March 2016. In December 2015, Rex announced that it would be commencing operations in Western Australia in February the following year after being selected by the Government of Western Australia to be the operator of regulated RPT routes after a tender process. Initially operating between Perth to Albany and Esperance, in July 2018 the Western Australian operations expanded to include Carnarvon and Monkey Mia. It brought Rex's weekly flights to roughly 1,500 across 60 destinations.


title: Rex Airlines

text: Starting on 6 April 2020, Rex significantly scaled back all its regional services due to the COVID-19 pandemic, continuing to only offer Government subsidised services within Queensland and Western Australia and one flight a week between all 54 regional and remote communities within its route network. Services including Adelaide to Port Augusta, Sydney to Newcastle and Sydney to Armidale were suspended.


title: Rex Airlines

text: In June 2020, eyeing the demise of Tiger Airways, Rex announced interest in expanding into the domestic airline market, with operations to commence in 2021 between Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Rex leased six Boeing 737-800s previously leased by Virgin Australia to operate the new services, with the first delivered in November 2020. The first jet operations began on 1 March 2021 on the Melbourne to Sydney route. Also in June 2020, Rex announced that it had entered into a memorandum of understanding with ATR to explore options for replacing the Saab 340 fleet with ATR 42 and ATR 72 aircraft. Following the airline's launch of jet services in March 2021, Rex replaced the announced Brisbane jet services in early April with services to Adelaide and Gold Coast, with the start of services occurring between 29 March and 1 April.


title: Rex Airlines

text: On 15 July 2022, Rex announced its intent to purchase the Fly-In, Fly-Out/Charter division of Cobham Aviation Services Australia National Jet Express.


title: Rex Airlines

text: Regional Express Holdings Limited is the parent company of a number of airline and associated companies in Australia. It is based in Mascot, New South Wales (a suburb of Sydney) and is a public listed company on the Australian Stock Exchange. Regional Express Holdings arose from the 2001 collapse of Ansett Airlines, which was the parent company of Kendell Airlines and Hazelton Airlines. A group of Singaporean investors and a collection of Australian private investors purchased the Hazelton and Kendell businesses, which were profitable entities before they were taken over by Ansett. The investors formed Australiawide Airlines, which was officially incorporated on 12 February 2002. The assets of the two airlines were purchased by Australiawide and merged to form the airline Regional Express, known as Rex. In 2005 Australiawide offered a percentage of the owners' shares (35 million out of 115 million shares, or 30.43%) to the public in a float. At the same time an agreement was reached with the owners of Pel-Air that Australiawide would purchase Pel-Air.


title: Rex Airlines

text: As part of the public float process, Australiawide Airlines' name was changed to Regional Express Holdings. Regional Express Holdings is the owner of a number of other companies. The main asset is Regional Express Pty. Ltd.. Another company is Rex Freight and Charter Pty. Ltd., which is the company that owns Pel-Air. The third subsidiary company is Rex Investment Holdings Pty. Ltd., which owns the Australian Airline Pilot Academies in Wagga Wagga and Ballarat.


title: Rex Airlines

text: Rex Airlines initially offered regional flights from various bases across Australia using turboprop aircraft, but in March 2021 began flying between its bases using jet aircraft with flights between Melbourne and Sydney. Their current domestic flights consist of destinations in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Gold Coast and Adelaide.


title: Rex Airlines

text: Rex operates the world's largest fleet of Saab 340 aircraft. The delivery of 25 ex-American Eagle Airlines Saab 340B "Plus" aircraft started in mid-2007 and enabled the expansion of services and the phase-out of the airline's Saab 340As, and some older B models. The 340B "Plus" has a quieter and more comfortable interior.


title: Rex Airlines

text: In July 2008 the company announced that all of its 340As would be phased out; however one rejoined the fleet in July 2015 after a 7-year stint with Rex's subsidiary airline Pel-Air and remains in service as of January 2020.


title: Rex Airlines

text: The airline also previously operated some Fairchild Metro 23 aircraft seating 19 passengers, but the aircraft were later phased out.


title: Rex Airlines

text: By October 2020, the airline operated an all-Saab 340 fleet with three variants of the type, though prior in the year during June 2020, Rex announced it was leasing six Boeing 737-800s with the first delivered in November 2020, and the further five to be delivered by March 2021 in order to begin operations with jet aircraft.


title: Rex Airlines

text: In November 2007, Regional Express Airlines and Mangalore Airport Pty Limited created a joint venture pilot academy called the Civil Aviation Training Academy, based at Mangalore Airport in Victoria. In April 2008, Regional Express Airlines fully acquired the Civil Aviation Training Academy and it was renamed to Australian Airline Pilot Academy.


title: Rex Airlines

text: On 18 February 2009, Regional Express Airlines announced that the Australian Airline Pilot Academy (AAPA) would be relocated from Mangalore Airport to Wagga Wagga Airport in partnership with the City of Wagga Wagga starting in April 2009.


title: Rex Airlines

text: On 27 May 2010, the AAPA campus at Wagga Wagga Airport was officially opened by Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Anthony Albanese.


title: Rex Airlines

text: On 19 November 2019, AAPA purchased ST Aerospace Academy Australia at Ballarat Airport in Victoria, taking it over as a second campus.


title: Rex Airlines

text: In addition to training aircraft, the flight school has five flight simulators, including a full motion Saab 340 simulator. There is also one retired Saab 340B at Wagga Wagga used as a training aid.


title: Plini

text: Plini Roessler-Holgate, also known mononymously as Plini, is an Australian guitarist and songwriter. He began his career by releasing music under the name Halcyon, before switching to the use of his first name. Steve Vai described him as "the future of exceptional guitar playing", and the website MusicRadar named Plini the best prog guitarist of 2017.


title: Plini

text: Plini has released a trilogy of extended plays ("Other Things" and "Sweet Nothings" in 2013, "The End of Everything" in 2015).


title: Plini

text: His debut album, "Handmade Cities", which Vai described as "one of the finest, forward-thinking, melodic, rhythmically and harmonically deep instrumental guitar records [he has] ever heard", was released in 2016. "Sunhead", an EP, was released in 2018, followed by his second full-length album, "Impulse Voices", in 2020.


title: Plini

text: One of Plini's influences has been Joe Satriani. Plini stated in an interview, "What I found different in Joe's playing is his ability to craft simple and catchy melodies and phrase them so perfectly that he doesn't have to rely on (but can still bust out) flashy passages and cool tricks to keep the instrumental song format interesting. I hope we get to jam some day!" In another interview, Plini stated that Satriani has "been hugely inspirational to me so it's very cool when I'm told people can hear that in there.”


title: Plini

text: Doja Cat's 2020 performance of "Say So" at the MTV Europe Music Awards ceremony was criticized when some viewers noted that the guitar solo in the performance was identical to the one in Plini's 2016 song "Handmade Cities". The next month, Plini reported that Doja Cat left him an apologetic message through social media.


title: Plini

text: The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016.


title: Peyton Alex Smith

text: Peyton Alex Smith (born June 18, 1994) is an American actor, best known for his role as Damon Sims in the TV series as well as Rafael Waithe in the CW series "Legacies" and Cedric Hobbs in the TV series "The Quad".


title: Alex Drake (Pretty Little Liars)

text: Alexandra “Alex” Drake is a fictional character created by I. Marlene King and portrayed by Troian Bellisario in the American television series "Pretty Little Liars". Officially introduced in the series finale, Alex Drake is both the identical twin of main character Spencer Hastings and the previously anonymous identity known as "A.D."


title: Alex Drake (Pretty Little Liars)

text: In childhood, Drake was adopted by a wealthy British family that later abandoned her, forcing Alex to bounce around foster homes and orphanages. Because of this, Alex would frequently impersonate Spencer in adulthood due to jealousy over her happier upbringing.


title: Alex Drake (Pretty Little Liars)

text: Alex Drake is considered the deadliest antagonist of the series. As "A.D.", she blackmailed, stalked and tortured the main characters in an attempt to discover Charlotte Drake's murderer.


title: Alex Drake (Pretty Little Liars)

text: The character's twin storyline pays tribute to Alison and Courtney DiLaurentis, characters of the "Pretty Little Liars" book series.


title: Alex Drake (Pretty Little Liars)

text: Bellisario was cast as Spencer Hastings, in November 2009. Alex is Spencer's identical twin sister, whose existence was unknown until the series' final episode. During an interview to "Elle", Bellisario disclosed that Marlene King, the show's creator, was planning to introduce Spencer's twin since 2014, when the show's fifth season began airing. She also commented that King was initially doubtful towards the storyline since Freeform wasn't decided if the show was going further forward. However, by the end of the sixth season, Marlene warned Bellisario they were staying true to the plan, so they began working on the character's history and characteristics.


title: Alex Drake (Pretty Little Liars)

text: According to Bellisario, the difference between Alex and Spencer is that "Spencer approaches things with her head and her heart, and Alex approaches things with her head and her groin. That's not to say she doesn't have a heart or feelings, but she's gotten really good at putting a thick coat of armor over her heart." Referred to as the series' "ultimate villain," Alex is an "Essex girl" whose portrayal was influenced by late singer Sid Vicious. She is a manipulative woman who can easily disguise and pass herself off as Spencer. Alex is desperate to take over her twin sister's life since Spencer has a supportive cycle of friends and family, while Alex was twice abandoned and forced to live on her own terms.


title: Alex Drake (Pretty Little Liars)

text: Alex is the third and last child born to Mary Drake after Mary posed as her twin sister Jessica DiLaurentis to sleep with Peter Hastings whom Jessica previously had an affair with.


title: Alex Drake (Pretty Little Liars)

text: Mary later gave birth to identical twins at Radley Sanitarium, a mental institution where she was frequently a patient. The oldest child, Spencer Hastings, was taken from Mary (much like her first born Charlotte) and placed in the care of Peter and his wife, Veronica. Alex was born minutes after Spencer, and her existence was unknown to Peter and Veronica. Mary, desperate to escape Radley, allowed Doctor Cochran to arrange Alex's adoption in exchange for $500,000 and a resignation from the psychiatric hospital.


title: Alex Drake (Pretty Little Liars)

text: Alex was later adopted by a wealthy British couple but eventually got stripped of her adoptive name and placed in an orphanage when she started to develop mental health problems. Drake bounced around foster homes and orphanages for a large portion of her childhood and, on her tenth birthday, ran away from the Ambrose Home for Wayward Children.


title: Alex Drake (Pretty Little Liars)

text: She later obtained a job bartending where she met Wren Kingston, Spencer Hastings' ex-boyfriend. After originally mistaking her for Spencer, Wren and Alex began a romantic relationship. After Wren told Alex about her blood relations to the Hastings and DiLaurentis families, Alex even met her half-sister Charlotte. The two grew extremely close, and after Charlotte was murdered, Alex took over her reign as "A" to find the culprit.


title: Alex Drake (Pretty Little Liars)

text: While never making an actual physical appearance, Alex Drake indirectly appears throughout the sixth season as "A.D" while wearing various disguises to stalk the Liars (Aria Montgomery, Spencer Hastings, Hanna Marin, Emily Fields and Alison DiLaurentis).


title: Alex Drake (Pretty Little Liars)

text: Alex makes her first appearance during the Season 7 premiere, "Tick-Tock, Bitches." After holding Hanna in captivity and torturing her, Alex poses as Spencer to have a conversation with Hanna with the latter assuming the talk to be a dream. Alex’s second appearance comes in "Exes and OMGs" where she looks at a Hastings family photo album.


title: Alex Drake (Pretty Little Liars)

text: Alex makes three more appearances, all while pretending to be Spencer - In "The DArkest Knight," “Spencer” gives a book to Spencer's ex, Toby, in "In the Eye Abides the Heart," “Spencer” bumps into Ezra Fitz at an airport while she talks to Wren and I n "Choose or Lose," “Spencer” sleeps with Toby.


title: Alex Drake (Pretty Little Liars)

text: In the season and series finale, "Till Death Do Us Part," a year has passed since A.D. went under the radar after discovering Mona Vanderwaal as Charlotte's killer. Mary Drake receives a visit in prison from Alex posing as Spencer. Later that night, Mona knocks the real Spencer Hastings unconscious at A.D.'s request. Spencer wakes up in a cell and looks at what she believes to be a mirror before it is revealed to be Alex. Alex shares her entire past with Spencer, including her previous moments that she posed as her. Alex reveals that she had once forced Wren to shoot her in order to match Spencer's gunshot wound and that the plan was to physically replace Spencer, but she later murdered Wren when she realized he would always see her as Alex.


title: Alex Drake (Pretty Little Liars)

text: Alex poses as Spencer to attend Aria and Ezra's wedding. However, Ezra is missing, and it is revealed that Alex is holding him prisoner in the same bunker Spencer's trapped in. Once Alex returns to the bunker, Ezra and Spencer attempt to convince Alex they understand her motives for becoming "A.D." However, Alex, who has fallen in love with Toby, remains determined to take Spencer's place in life. Pretending to be Spencer in public, Alex bumps into Toby at a barn. Toby is concerned after Spencer's horse, recognizing that Alex isn't Spencer, refuses to be ridden by her. Toby's stepsister, the blind Jenna Marshall, also has a run in with Alex. She is unable to recognize Alex's scent and calls Toby to warn him that there's an impostor posing as Spencer. Toby, the Liars and Caleb Rivers are able to determine Spencer and Ezra's location. After rescuing them, Toby is able to determine the real Spencer between her and Alex, and Alex and Mary are arrested. Sometime later, Mona is running a doll store in France where she holds Alex and Mary hostage.


title: Alex Drake (Pretty Little Liars)

text: It is implied during the of "" that Alex and Mary escaped from Mona's dollhouse and are now on the run.


title: Alex Drake (Pretty Little Liars)

text: The character's introduction and subsequent reveal as the series' final antagonist was met with a deeply polarizing response. Many viewers expressed considerable dissatisfaction in regards to Alex's backstory and motives. Moreover, Troian Bellisario's performance also faced mixed reviews, with her attempt at a British accent being singled out for criticism.


title: Alex Drake (Pretty Little Liars)

text: Some television critics were welcoming towards the twist. Gavin Hetherington of "SpoilerTV" enjoyed Alex's reveal as "A.D." and her connection to Spencer, stating it was "actually well done." Yana Grebenyuk of "TVFanatic" echoes the same sentiments of praise, writing that "Alex delivered above and beyond what a Spencer twin could have actually turned out to be. She was truly everything A.D. should have been, including ruthless and ready to kill anyone in her way."


title: Alex Drake (Pretty Little Liars)

text: However, several other critics shared opinions similar to most target audience members. Isabella Biedenharn of "Entertainment Weekly" was unhappy towards some of Alex's characteristics, asking herself: "did she really need to have a Cockney accent?! Couldn’t she just be regular British, if she had to be British at all?" While writing for "Vulture", Jessica Goldstein gave the character introduction an unfavorable review, saying: "For me, it came way too late in the game to pack any punch, except for the punch she used to knock Spencer out. The idea that Alex wants to single white female Spencer because she’s jealous that Spencer won the parent lottery — which is really saying something about that lousy orphanage, considering Mr. Hastings’s whole deal — is not exactly all that original or exciting of a concept."


United States Marine Corps Recruit Training (commonly known as "boot camp") is a 13-week program, including in & out-processing, of recruit training that each recruit must successfully complete in order to serve in the United States Marine Corps.


title: United States Marine Corps Recruit Training

text: Most enlisted individuals entering the Marine Corps, regardless of eventual active or reserve duty status, will undergo recruit training at one of the two Marine Corps Recruit Depots (MCRD): Parris Island, South Carolina or San Diego, California. Male recruits from the 8th, 9th and 12th recruiting districts (areas west of the Mississippi River except Louisiana and including parts of Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan) are sent to MCRD San Diego. All recruits from the 1st, 4th and 6th recruiting districts and, until 2021, all female recruits were sent to Parris Island. Those desiring to become officers attend training at Officer Candidates School at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia.


text: The only Marine Corps recruits not required to undergo training are those selected for the United States Marine Band. Upon passing an audition and satisfying security and physical fitness requirements, they are granted the rank of Staff Sergeant and assigned exclusively to the band for a four-year enlistment.


text: In the earliest years of the Corps, training was performed by the individual Marine barracks where the individual was recruited before being assigned to a permanent post. Marine non-commissioned officers were responsible for instructing privates in discipline, drill, weapons handling and other skills. Commandant Franklin Wharton established a formal school for recruits at Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C. in approximately 1808, but no records indicate that this served as a centralized recruit depot, and the training regimen remained inconsistent and primitive because of manpower shortages and lack of funding. For example, recruits at Washington were hastily formed into a battalion in July 1861 and drilled as they marched on their way to the First Battle of Bull Run.


text: In 1911, Commandant William P. Biddle standardized a mandatory two-month recruit training schedule (including drill, physical exercise, personal combat and intensive marksmanship qualification with the M1903 Springfield rifle) and set up four depots at Philadelphia, Norfolk, Puget Sound and Mare Island. In 1915, the Norfolk depot was shifted to its current location at Parris Island, while the Philadelphia and Puget Sound depots were closed and merged with the two remaining depots. As the United States entered World War I, the number of recruits being trained surged from 835 at any given time to a peak of 13,286, while follow-on training was provided at Quantico and in France. During the summer of 1923, the West Coast recruit depot was moved from Mare Island to its current location in San Diego, and the training program was modified to include three weeks of basic indoctrination and three weeks on the rifle range; the final two weeks were occupied in bayonet drill, guard duty, drill and ceremonies.


text: With the September 1939 Nazi German invasion of Poland, Congress authorized an increase in manpower in preparation for a possible entry of the United States into World War II and the Marine Corps recruit training syllabus was halved to four weeks to accommodate the influx of personnel. After standards and marksmanship plummeted as a result, the seven-week schedule was returned and additional training was given at Camp Lejeune or Camp Pendleton, based on specialties, before being assigned to a unit. An additional segregated depot was established at Montford Point for roughly 20,000 African American recruits; integration occurred by 1949. Overall, half a million recruits were trained by the end of the war at the three depots.


text: During the Korean War, training was shortened from ten weeks to eight but was returned afterward to ten. The Ribbon Creek incident in 1956 led to considerable scrutiny and reform in recruit training, such as an additional layer of command oversight. During the early 1960s, the training period was increased to 13 weeks, including three weeks of marksmanship training at the Rifle Range. The Vietnam War-era syllabus was shortened to nine weeks and again saw infantry recruits attend follow-on training at Lejeune and Pendleton.


text: In "Helmet for My Pillow", his World War II memoir, journalist Robert Leckie writes of Marine Corps Recruit Training:


text: Leckie adds: "If you are undone in Parris Island, taken apart in those first few weeks, it is at the rifle range that they start to put you together again".


text: An average day typically begins at 0400 hours, or 4:00 AM. Reveille is sounded, and all recruits present themselves for accountability. After personal hygiene and morning clean-up, recruits perform physical training (on Monday through Saturday). After the morning meal, the recruits begin the day's scheduled training, which may include classes, drills or martial arts. On Sundays, recruits are offered the morning to attend various religious services and take personal time ("square-away time"); the latter may be used to engage in personal activities such as writing letters, working out, doing laundry, or preparing uniforms and equipment.


text: After the noon meal, the day's training continues until the evening meal, typically around 17:00 to 18:00 (5:00 to 6:00 pm). After this time, recruits will have hygiene time to shower and clean their weapons and the barracks. Recruits are then given approximately one hour of square-away time, during which they remain under the supervision of their drill instructors (DIs) and may not leave the squad bay. In preparation to sleep, recruits may hydrate, pray together for five minutes, ensure footlockers and rifles are locked and often recite the Rifleman's Creed or Marines' Hymn before lights-out. Lights-out can range from 20:00 to 22:00 (8:00 to 10:00 pm), depending on the next day's activities. Throughout all of recruit training, a guard, or ”firewatch", is posted for the entire night. Four recruits at a time stand one-hour shifts, during which they keep order in the squad bay, clean, or carry out any tasks assigned by the DIs. Extra firewatch is frequently assigned as punishment for minor infractions.


text: Recruits are organized by regiment, battalion, company, platoon, squad and often fireteam. A Recruit Training Regiment is composed of three recruit training battalions for males and one battalion to train female recruits. All three of the male battalions are made up of four companies, while the female battalions comprise three companies. Each company is broken down into two series, designated as Lead and Follow, which may have between one and four platoons, depending on the number of recruits in the company at the time the training cycle begins. Each company is much like a class at a civilian education institution; each company begins and finishes recruit training together (with the exception of those who are dropped for medical or personal reasons to a different company), thus each of the companies will be at a different stage in the thirteen-week training cycle.


text: Each series is broken down into a number of platoons, usually from two to four in each. These platoons will be the basic unit for recruit training, assigned a four digit number as identification. Drill instructors are assigned to each platoon and will usually stay from the beginning to the end of training. The senior drill instructor of each platoon will select recruits to billets of responsibility, to mimic command and staff positions of a Marine unit. The selections often change on the whims of the drill instructors and can include:


text: Central to the training of Marine recruits is the drill instructor (DI). The tough treatment of Marine recruits by DIs is legendary. As one magazine describes it:


text: In his World War II memoir "With the Old Breed", Eugene Sledge describes Corporal Doherty, his DI, as having:


text: Sledge describes an incident in which several of the recruits is his platoon left their quarters to observe the aftermath of a nearby plane crash: "When we got back to our area, Corporal Doherty delivered one of his finest orations on the subject of recruits never leaving their assigned area without the permission of their DI. We were all impressed, particularly with the tremendous number of push-ups and other exercises we performed instead of going to noon chow." He writes: Sledge concludes "I disliked [Doherty], but I respected him. He had made us Marines".


text: Each platoon is assigned three or more DIs, sometimes informally referred to as "hats" because of their distinctive Campaign hat. The DIs of a platoon are responsible to the series commander, a level of command added below that of the company commander, as a safety measure put into place following the Ribbon Creek incident. Drill instructors are trained at the DI schools at each MCRD. Those DIs who successfully complete three years or a total of 30 months of duty are eligible to receive the Drill Instructor Ribbon.


text: By 2021, the two U.S Marine Corps depots in Parris Island and San Diego each had female drill instructors training female recruits.


text: The United States Marine Corps requires each recruit to pass the Initial Strength Test (IST) upon arriving to the Marine Corps Recruiting Depots. The three tests consist of pull-ups/push-ups, crunches/ planks, and a 1.5-mile run. The minimum requirements are as follows:


text: Throughout recruit training, recruits will run the Physical Fitness Test (PFT) 2-3 times. The PFT requires higher standards on each of the three tests. Pull-ups/push-ups and crunches/planks are the same as the IST, but the run is increased to 3 miles. The requirements for each test varies depending on which group an individual fall under depending on age. Prior to 2017, women did flexed arm hangs instead of pull-ups. As a result of the change, the option of push-ups instead of pull-ups was included in the fitness tests. Any individual that chooses to do push-ups will only be able to score a maximum score of 70, compared to a maximum of 100 on all other tests.


text: Before arriving at recruit training, all prospective recruits undergo a physical examination by a doctor at a Military Entrance Processing Station. Recruits receive their initial weigh-in during the forming phase. If the recruit is under or over the height and weight standards, the recruit is placed on double rations if underweight or in a "diet" status if overweight. Recruits on double rations, or "double rat recruits", are given twice the usual amount of food. Conversely, diet recruits are put on a strict diet composed of fewer calories and lower-fat foods such as baked fish and rice.


text: All recruits receive three meals per day (also known as "chow time"), except during the Crucible. These are either served at the mess facility while in garrison, a boxed A-ration when traveling to a mess facility is not practical, or a Meal, Ready-to-Eat during field training. Meal time can last 30 minutes or less, depending on how quickly the platoon gets in line at the chow hall. Recruits are mandated a minimum of 20 minutes to consume each meal.


text: In some cases, recruits may fail to meet certain physical fitness standards or may inadvertently suffer an injury which prevents them from continuing training. These two types of recruits are moved from their initial training platoon and company to the Special Training Company (STC), which retains a disciplined, "boot camp" style environment while being oriented to the improvement of the individual recruit's physical and mental ability to train. The STC is divided into three platoons. While platoons in normal U.S. military parlance denote a group of around 15-20 personnel, each STC platoon is as large as necessity dictates and may often contain 500 or more recruits along with their assigned drill instructors and other personnel.


text: Recruits who fail the initial fitness test, as well as those who fail to perform adequately later in training, are dropped to the Physical Conditioning Platoon (PCP) at STC, informally known as the "Pork Chop Platoon" or "Donut Brigade". Recruits in PCP are engaged in a vigorous regimen of physical exercise to prepare them for re-entry into training. Recruits who are injured become part of the Medical Rehabilitation Platoon (MRP), in which they are closely monitored and treated by naval medical personnel while receiving implicit instruction about the Marine Corps and performing whatever small tasks, such as cleaning, they may be capable of. In some cases, it may be necessary for a recruit who has recovered from illness or injury in MRP may need to be moved to PCP to regain an appropriate level of physical fitness and avoid further injury or illness before they eventually rejoin a training platoon.


text: Finally, there is the Evaluative Holding Platoon (EHP). This is a generalized platoon that encompasses all recruits who for any reason are unable to continue with their training platoon and are being evaluated for possible discharge. This platoon may include recruits who have failed to adapt to the conditions of the Marine Corps' boot camp or have refused to continue training. Any recruit in Special Training Company is carefully assessed for physical, mental and moral fitness and when he or she is considered to be prepared to resume training will generally be placed with a platoon at the last training level the recruit had completed.


text: The intense nature of recruit training lends itself to competition and rivalry between recruits at every level, from squads and platoons up to the rivalry between the two recruit depots. Each platoon in a given company competes to win trophies for having the highest collective scores in marksmanship, close order drill, academic testing and the final physical fitness test. Platoons that do poorly are sometimes nicknamed the "booger" platoon. In addition to the formal tests, platoons will continuously compete in everyday activities. The most frequent competitions involve seeing which platoon can recite knowledge the loudest. While each company will be at a different point in the training cycle at a given time and thus not able to compete directly, graduates and drill instructors foster an atmosphere of friendly rivalry. However, the rivalry between MCRDs Parris Island and San Diego is much more pronounced. Marines trained at San Diego are often referred to as "Hollywood Marines" because of the base's location in Southern California.


text: Recruit training is 13 weeks, which includes a week of receiving followed by 12 rigorous weeks of training. In February 2018, the Marine Corps added a 4th phase to the matrix that previously only have 3 phases. This 4th stage allowed for an additional week after the Crucible. This week allows new Marines to adjust from being a recruit to actually being a Marine. Both MCRD Parris Island and San Diego follow the outline of a 4 phase matrix, however, individual weeks and days vary. The following schedule breakdown is of recruit training at MCRD San Diego.


text: The initial period of Marine Corps Recruit Training is called the Receiving Phase, which begins as the new recruits are on the bus en route to their Recruit Depot. Recruits arrive at the depot late at night and are received by a drill instructor, who acquaints them with the Uniform Code of Military Justice, to which they are now subject. Disembarking from the bus, they line up on rows of yellow footprints painted on the concrete, their first formation, and learn how to stand at attention.