How often do you sit at work and think about home? For the Marine Security Guards attached to American Embassy, La Paz, Bolivia, they are home. All the Marines are new to this detachment of Delta Company, from the lowest working Lance Corporal to the Detachment Commander, BUT each has successfully found his or her niche in La Paz.

Each Marine has their own ambitions and objectives. But collectively, those ambitions are similar. For the most part, these Marines volunteered for this special assignment to explore the world. They knew that this program would give them ample time to work on school as well. Currently, all but one Marine has college in their training history and all are seeking to build on their education.

La Paz is the Highest Detachment in the world with the embassy sitting at over 13,000 feet above sea level, and these Marines are anxious to explore Bolivia and surrounding countries. One of their objectives is to go explore the many landscapes and the customs of every culture they can. These cultures include the Aymara and Quechua Pedres. The Marines get together and take spontaneous ventures to some of the most extreme and amazing locations Bolivia has to offer. Sgt Leavell and Cpl Soltess went on one of the world's most adventurous trips you can get into. The trail that they went on is called Coroico Bike Trip, which takes you on the “The Road of Death”. Who would have known that they would find such great brothers and sisters in South America? To this detachment, ‘family' has become a broad term. The Marines have even reached to expand that family by volunteering in the community. Which includes the softball family. In the months of July and August, the embassy had organized a team, which included the Marine Security Guards and the RSO section. In August, the MSG-American Team won the championship! The morale and cohesion of this detachment has definitely helped the Embassy Community. The Marines have been invited to several events sponsored by the Foreign Service Nationals and the harmony among the embassy has amplified. In September, the Marines helped the local Habitat For Humanity and also helped promote a gift package full of books. The Marines helped out by reading Spanish books to the local children. “These children have so much potential, but limited possibilities. Anything we can do to help make a difference in their lives and their future,” said Sgt Hill. In October, the Marines hope to provide Self Defense Training for many of the women and FSN's that want the training.

Surrounding the city of La Paz, there are snow-covered mountains covered by glaciers. Beyond the mountains, there are deep tropical forests of the Amazon. The highest Lake in the World, Lake Titikaka, is in Bolivia. The country is very poor and inexpensive. Some days you can find locals at the sides of the rivers washing clothes, or taking baths themselves. The natives sit on city curbs and sell their produce and merchandise.

At the beginning of September, the Company Commander and Company First Sergeant came to La Paz for the Command Visit. We arranged some local activities into their schedules, which included mountain hiking, local folklore entertainment, a trip to Lake Titikaka, and a city tour to the down-town area . This gave the Marines an opportunity to share the local sites with each other, 1 st Sergeant, and the Company Commander. Which is rare. We also got to spend two extra days with 1 st Sergeant and Company Commander because of Hurricane Frances.