Takedown! 15th MEU steps out for diverse missions
April 20th, 2012 | Anti-piracy Blue-Green operations Maritime Raid Force MEU operations | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
Members of 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit's maritime raid force aboard the destroyer Dewey during training April 9 at San Diego Naval Base, Calif. (Lance Cpl. Timothy Childers/USMC)
It’s a big ocean out there. The Marine Corps’ push to return to its maritime roots and get more leathernecks out to sea on Navy ships means a brighter spotlight on some of those missions that haven’t routinely been done by units more attuned to the sandbox of combat. While the public might be more aware of operations to track and capture gun-toting hijackers and pirates or terrorists at sea, such visit-board-search-seize training (above photo) aren’t the only high-speed training Marines are getting to do.
Just this month, after some training in San Diego, Calif., members of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit headed north to Ventura County to practice taking down gas and oil platforms off the coast of Carpinteria. The strategic and economic value of such energy-producing gas and oil platforms found around the world – from the Persian Gulf to the coast of Africa, South China Sea and off Australia’s northern shores – make them lucrative targets and places to hide for militants, terrorist groups and enemy forces. So protecting them becomes critical, and MEUs are among military units that are training for these missions.
Such GOPLAT missions, as they are called, are among the variety of specialty operations that MEUs do, and by nature these raids assume an element of close-quarters combat. Much like VBSS missions, the maritime raid force can reach their targets by sea or by air, and much like the ships they assault, they encounter challenging confines in the shifting environment aboard the moored platforms at sea. These missions can become quite complex, and they rarely get much public attention or spotlight as stealth and covertness are usually key to success. Marines joined in GOPLAT missions back in the late 1980s during Operation Earnest Will, the mission that had warships escorting commercial vessels through the Persian Gulf to protect them against Iranian attacks. Some of these operations are noted in the book, No Higher Honor, written by Armed Forces Journal editor Bradley Peniston, and here by Marine Corps historian David Crist. Those operations, with names like Nimble Archer and Praying Mantis, the latter which involved Recon Marines and CH-46 and AH-1 helicopters, drew little attention, much like some GOPLAT operations after the invasion of Iraq.
Elements of the MRF are drawn from Battalion Landing Team 3/5, which includes the combat-tested “Darkhorse” men of 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines. The 15th MEU, commanded by Col. Scott D. Campbell, includes the “Purple Foxes” of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 364 (Reinforced) and Combat Logistics Battalion 15. The MEU is slated to deploy later this year aboard amphibious assault ship Peleliu (pictured above), transport dock Green Bay and dock landing ship Rushmore.
One last meal before you go
April 2nd, 2012 | Food Life at sea MEU operations | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
Marines aboard ship find a variety of meal choices, from baked chicken, fish and beef to burgers and salad bars. Some days bring themed meals, like the Tex-Mex lunch aboard USS Peleliu off California last week. (Photo by Gidget Fuentes)
Last week, some 4,000 Marines and sailors on the East Coast furiously worked to get themselves and their units and ships ready for a scheduled deployment overseas. The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and its 2,300 Marines and sailors headed out March 30 from Camp Lejeune, N.C., aboard amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima, dock landing ship Gunston Hall and dock transport ship New York. It will be an eight-month deployment to the Mediterranean and the Middle East for the U.S. European and Central Command regions.
You can bet during that last weekend home, just about every Marine and sailor made the most of every single free minute. The 24th MEU asked its Facebook fans for their must-have favorite food they’d want to eat before deploying on ship. More than three-dozen responded with choices ranging from pizza, meatloaf and steak to even sushi. Other favorites:
- Louisiana gumbo.
- Ribeye steak, baked potato and fresh corn on the cob.
- Lasagna.
- Pumpkin pie.
- Chicken and dumplings from Cracker Barrel.
The chain restaurant must be a popular stop – Sam Tate wrote that he would enjoy its meatloaf and accompanying side dishes. Diane Brankley Zimmerman relayed that she made her son’s favorites before he left home: Corned beef and cabbage and beef stroganoff. Hmmm, yummy. Andy Warren brought back memories of a timeless comfort food: Grilled ham and cheese with a bowl of tomato soup. Craig Babich was open to most any meal with one caveat: “Anything but chicken.” But Christopher Olinger and James J. Hayes must have been kidding with this suggestion: An M.R.E. We hope.
24th MEU preps to deploy overseas
March 23rd, 2012 | Blue-Green operations Camp Lejeune Marines MEU operations | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
The 24th MEU took to the sea in December for visit-board-search-seize training. (USMC photo by Lance Cpl. Michael Petersheim)
This weekend, more than 4,000 Marines and sailors on the East Coast are grabbing some last-minute liberty before they leave home for a scheduled deployment overseas. The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and its 2,300 Marines will depart Camp Lejeune, N.C. on Monday and head to Norfolk, Va. There, they will board amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima, dock landing ship Gunston Hall and dock transport ship New York, which will be making its maiden operational deployment. Col. Frank Donovan, a veteran infantry and reconnaissance officer, commands the 24th MEU, which includes Battalion Landing Team 1/2 (1st Battalion, 2nd Marines), Combat Logistics Battalion 24 and Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261, a reinforced aviation combat element.
The 24th MEU is one of seven expeditionary units, which with very rare exception deploy overseas aboard Navy ships as part of an amphibious ready group. Their departure is another in the regular deployment of these expeditionary, sea-going “911” forces trained to respond to crises and contingencies overseas. The MEU/ARG mission as the “theater reserve” for the regional geographic commander makes them the go-to force when you need combat boots, firepower or just a helping hand or two. MEUs have kept busy and operational when they’re out at sea, like taking down pirates that hijack ships (as the 15th MEU did) or supporting spec-ops forces to rescue hostages (13th MEU), helping victims of earthquakes or natural disasters (24th MEU in Haiti) or striking at targets to protect civilians (26th MEU’s jets in Libya).
With so many Marines shaking off their desert cammies after a decade of two ground wars, the Marine Corps is refocusing its forces toward the sea, with MEUs at the front at the expeditionary force-in-readiness. Or, as Brig. Gen. David Coffman put it, in 2009: “If there’s a sword to be drawn at sea, shouldn’t a Marine be wielding it?”
Bold Alligator a lesson for Marines in cramped quarters
February 8th, 2012 | Blue-Green operations Embedded journalism Life at Sea MEU operations | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Marines squeeze by each other in a narrow passageway aboard the amphibious assault ship Wasp on Monday. It has served as the command ship during Bold Alligator 2012, an amphibious exercise involving more than 14,000 personnel. (Mike Morones/Staff)
When it comes to a large-scale amphibious operation like Bold Alligator, it isn’t just the movement to shore that can provide learning lessons.
The thousands of personnel who deployed off the coast of North Carolina for the exercise also got a first-hand lesson in life at sea. That may not be new to most of the sailors and some of the Marines on board, but for thousands more, it certainly was.
Point in case: the photograph above shows how tight the passageways aboard the amphibious assault ship Wasp are. It takes a mindful eye to avoid collisions, spills and other hassles while maneuvering the vessel, and many service members underway weren’t aware of that until they arrived.
There’s also the matter of berthing. Like many ships, the 41,000-ton Wasp has bunks that are packed tightly together in stacks between three and five high. There is less than three feet between the stacks, and not enough room to roll over in a bunk without rapping your knees on the bunk above. And that’s to say nothing of the bathrooms, one of which flooded while we were there.
None of this was news to the folks planning Bold Alligator, but it was to many of the rank-and-file personnel on board. I listened with amusement over the weekend as two staff sergeants had an animated debate over whether it was more comfortable to be sleeping on a cot in Afghanistan, or on a bunk on the Wasp. One Marine advocated the merits of having more space in large tent, while the other noted that at least they weren’t sleeping somewhere with a dirt floor.
Sailors and Marines line up for chow on the mess deck aboard the amphibious assault ship Wasp on Sunday. (Mike Morones/Staff)
There’s also the logistical headaches. On Monday, we hopped a CH-53 helicopter with several other members of the media and a few Marines expecting to reach the amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima for additional news coverage. Following original plans, the helo made its way back to the shore in North Carolina at the air stations in New River and Cherry Point to pick up more supplies.
When it returned to sea, however, the pilot ran into unexpected complications. He had anticipated landing on the amphibious assault ship Kearsarge, but the flight deck was full, we were told. We moved on to the Iwo Jima, only to discover that its flight deck had been “fouled,” meaning something on its surface prevented landings. We returned to the Wasp at dusk, after more than two hours of flying in a circle.
Those are the breaks, to a large extent. They’re similar to transportation headaches I’ve seen in Afghanistan, in that schedules can shift rapidly and affect personnel on the ground.
For folks who expected everything to go smoothly, however, it simply wasn’t going to happen.
Operation Bold Alligator 2012 underway
February 5th, 2012 | Battle Rattle Blue-Green operations Embedded journalism Life at sea Life at Sea MEU operations Training | Posted by Dan Lamothe
A Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) approaches the well deck of the amphibious assault ship Wasp on Saturday as part of rehearsals for an amphibious landing during Bold Alligator 2012. (Mike Morones / Staff)
ABOARD THE AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT SHIP WASP — Greetings from the Atlantic Ocean, where we’re covering the largest amphibious exercise on the East Coast since the beginning of the Iraq war.
Bold Alligator 2012 involves at least 14,000 personnel from the U.S., France, Great Britain and other countries, and at least 25 ships. The majority of them are American, but Canada and France have both chipped in with their own hardware, as well.
Conceptually, the forces at sea are currently in the early stages of planning an attack on enemy forces from the fictional country of Garnet, a common enemy in what military officers call the “Treasure Coast” scenario. A mechanized Garnetian division has invaded the neighboring country of Amber, and is pushing north toward Amberland, which has asked for coalition assistance to stop advance. Garnet already has mined several harbors and established anti-ship missiles on the coastline, military officials said.
In reality, Bold Alligator will require naval officers to think on their feet to develop strategy and defeat their fictional enemy. They’ll be tested on how they do, and be forced to adapt to real-world changes ranging from scheduling mishaps to bad weather. An amphibious raid will be launched from several ships and coordinated from the Wasp over the next couple of days.
Exploring the ship, it’s clear that many of the Marines on board have been to sea only a few times until Bold Alligator, if ever. For example, Sgt. Michael McDaniel told me that he deployed with 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., to Iraq for both the initial push to Baghdad in 2003 and urban combat in Fallujah in 2004-05. He’s still with the unit, and has never participated in an amphibious exercise on this scale.
“We’re down here for quite a few hours every day doing maintenance,” he said in Wasp’s well deck, over the clanks, scrapes and groans of Marines moving and cleaning vehicles and weapons. “As long as we stay on top of maintenance, everything should be pretty good.”
Bold Alligator has significant attention from some of the top officers in the Navy and Marine Corps. On board Saturday was Adm. Jonathan Greenert, the chief of naval operations; Gen. Joseph Dunford, the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps; Lt. Gen. John Paxton, commanding general of II Marine Expeditionary Force; and Lt. Gen. Dennis Hejlik, commander of Marine Corps Forces Command; and Vice Adm. David Buss, deputy commander of Fleet Forces Command. That’s in addition to Rear Adm. Kevin Scott and Brig. Gen. Christopher Owens, who are leading the exercise from the Wasp.
The exercise also has attracted attention in Congress. At least four members of the House were here Saturday, including Rep. Buck McKeon, R.-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
To the extent possible, photographer Mike Morones and I will keep posting updates from the exercise, which we’ll be covering for the next several days. As you might expect at sea, Internet service has been spotty. However, a “Super Bowl Bash” is listed on the ship’s plan of the day Sunday. As a Massachusetts native and Patriots fan, that suits me just fine.
Are Marines of 24th MEU in for a longer deployment?
December 2nd, 2011 | Camp Lejeune MEU operations | Posted by Gina Cavallaro
Marines with 24th MEU drop their gear aboard amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima on Nov. 28. (Photo by Lance Cpl. Michael J. Petersheim)
When the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit comes home to Camp Lejeune, N.C., in February, it will have been gone more than 10 months, a longer-than-usual deployment for a MEU, but not so rare anymore.
Deployments have gotten longer. And now, as the 24th MEU conducts its own pre-deployment work-up and prepares to replace the 22nd MEU at sea, it’s still kind of a toss up as to whether its own deployment will exceed the traditional seven-month pump.
As of now, the deployment is scheduled to be seven months, according to MEU spokesman Capt. Robert Shuford.
Some 2,100 Marines with the 24th MEU linked up over the past several days off the coast of North Carolina with Amphibious Squadron 8 for the second of their three-part work up before they deploy early next year.
The Marines and sailors loaded their tanks, artillery pieces, helicopters and vehicles aboard amphibious assault ships USS Iwo Jima, USS New York and USS Gunston Hall using Navy hovercraft at Morehead City Port.
Their current exercise — composite training unit exercise — will take them between North Carolina and Florida for several scenario-based missions, before it concludes on Dec. 21. In January, the 24th MEU will do realistic urban training exercises at Fort Pickett, Va.
At sea, a place of their own
November 11th, 2011 | Blue-Green operations Food Life at Sea Marine Raiders MEU operations | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
Marines heading out to sea in any of the Navy’s fleet of amphibious ships get quickly and acutely familiar with a few spaces inside those large gray warfighting hulls: their berthing space, the ship’s gym and the enlisted mess decks.
Carlson Cafe aboard amphibious assault ship Makin Island, was busy at lunchtime during at-sea training last month. The cozy section of the much-larger enlisted mess decks is named after a legendary Marine Raider. (Gidget Fuentes/staff)
There’s usually nothing spectacular about those spaces, which are often crowded and offer little in the way of physical privacy or familiar comforts of home. But aboard Makin Island, the Navy’s newest big-deck amphibious assault ship and homeported in San Diego, what would have been some storage area off the main mess decks has been remade into a cozier space with a more intimate “cafe” feel.
Unlike the fluorescent-lit, Navy-blue color schemes more typical of ships’ mess decks, this area called “Carlson Cafe” features walls wrapped in paneling, blue vinyl-covered bar stools and booths and tables topped with the Mandarin phrase of “Gung Ho” on red vinyl.
The cafe, which is opened during the ship’s meal hours for E-6s and below, is named for the late and innovative Lt. Col. Evans F. Carlson, one of the more colorful leaders among the Marine Corps’ small but elite World War II force known as Marine Raiders. Carlson had served in China and adopted the phrase “gung ho,” which means “working together” in Mandarin, for his men of 2nd Raider Battalion known as Carlson’s Raiders. They and another group of men – “Edson’s Raiders” of 1st Raider Battalion led by Col. Merritt Edson – were formed in February 1942 and quickly deployed to fight in the island campaigns in the Pacific. Their legacy was short-lived – the Marine Corps disestablished its four Raider battalions two years after their formation – but the more than 8,000 men who earned the title were pivotal to the Marine Corps’ development of its unique amphibious warfare capabilities and its reconnaissance, force recon and special operations communities.
The Carlson Cafe includes a growing collection of Raider memorabilia. News clips and movie posters, including of the 1943 flick “Gung Ho” that told the story of Carlson’s Raiders, hang on the wall. Wooden cases display Carlson’s combat medals and a period uniform. “They’ve got room to grow,” noted Navy Senior Chief (SW/AW) Donnie Ryan, the ship’s public affairs chief. “Gung Ho” is designed into the table coverings. Sconces on the walls can provide some “mood” lighting, an improvement on a ship where glaring overhead fluorescent lights are the norm.
That may be welcomed once Makin Island leaves San Diego Nov. 14 on its maiden deployment, leaving a force of three amphibious ships, including dock landing ship Pearl Harbor and amphibious transport dock New Orleans with Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit for the Persian Gulf and Western Pacific regions.
Give me liberty – but where?
September 2nd, 2011 | Life at sea MEU operations Off-duty The Pacific | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
Sailors, Marines aboard USS Boxer man the rails as the ship entered Hong Kong harbor on Aug. 31./Photo by Lance Cpl. Jesse Witten
Will it be Hong Kong? Or Australia?
For some 4,000 Marines and sailors aboard three amphibious ships on the homestretch of an overseas deployment, liberty this holiday weekend means they will get to spend their days, nights and dollars in Hong Kong and Australia.
The crew of amphibious transport dock Green Bay is making its maiden operational deployment, and embarked Marines with 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit get to stretch their legs in Darwin, Australia. Darwin sits in the continent’s north-central coast. It’s a tropical city on the Timor Sea and the capital of the Northern Territory, a sparse region most known for Uluru, or Ayers Rock, the famous red-sandstone mound that rises above the outback. The city of 127,000 is familiar with sailors and Marines, as it recently hosted service members during joint training exercises this summer.
Two other San Diego-based ships with their amphibious ready group – amphibious assault ship Boxer and dock landing ship Comstock – are hanging for a few days in Hong Kong, some 2,600 miles northwest of Darwin. Hong Kong is notable for its super-sized, neon-lit, elbow-crowding urbaneness. It’s part of China, but the harbor-front city remains quite the hub of capitalism, so there will be lots of the usual shopping and partying, and likely some volunteerism with community relations projects that units organize when visiting liberty ports.
The Boxer ARG/MEU force left the 5th Fleet region in mid-August and is making the trek back to their California bases – but not before a little time to get on dry land and take a short break. ”Our sailors and Marines are looking forward to enjoying the richness and diversity of the Chinese culture,” Boxer’s skipper, Capt. Kevin Flanagan, said in a news release.
And what about “down under” in Australia? Green Bay, which along with Comstock last month visited the popular city of Phuket, Thailand, pulled into Darwin’s harbor on Sept. 2. “The crew has been asking to visit Australia ever since we sailed on deployment, and it’s great that we get to spend a few days here experiencing the local culture,” Green Bay’s skipper, Cmdr. Kevin Meyers, said in a release.
Get some…air (with a dash of sea salt)
August 16th, 2011 | Anti-piracy Life at sea MEU operations Training | Posted by Gidget Fuentes
There’s nothing like that spray of salty air, open seas and several hundred horsepower to make one think: And they pay me to do this??
Just a thought looking at some images released this month as the California-based 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit and the Navy’s Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group boarded a pair of ships and got underway for their first at-sea integration exercises ahead of a scheduled overseas deployment later this year. The boat crews supporting the training mission against mock pirates on a vessel near San Clemente Island operated off the transport dock ship New Orleans, which will deploy with dock landing ship Pearl Harbor and big-deck amphibious assault ship Makin Island (preparing for its maiden operational deployment). The exercise is the first of a trio of blue-green training geared to getting the MEU’s 2,200 Marines their sea legs and the shipboard sailors used to working, operating and living alongside their greenside partners.
While last year’s takedown of gun-toting pirate hijackers by the 15th MEU’s raid force cast a bright public spotlight on counter-piracy missions, such maritime interdiction operations are far from new missions for leathernecks, or sailors (and SEALs) for that matter. But they remain a curiosity for many who aren’t part of the maritime force that includes the sailors operating the boats (special warfare combatant craft crewmen) along with supporting air and sniper coverage.
An AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter takes off from the deck of amphibious assault ship Makin Island Aug. 14 to support anti-piracy training off Southern California with the 11th MEU. (Photo by Gunnery Sgt. Scott Dunn/Marine Corps)
3/4 Marines replace BLT 3/8 in Afghanistan
April 23rd, 2011 | Afghanistan Infantry MEU operations Sangin | Posted by Dan Lamothe
Cpl. Chris Skaggs, left, a squad leader with India Company, Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion 8th Marines, briefs Marines from Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, as they prepare for an April 18 joint security patrol west of the Nahr-e Saraj canal in Helmand province, Afghanistan. (Photo by Gunnery Sgt. Bryce Piper)
Happy Saturday, everyone. Battle Rattle is typically pretty quiet on the weekend, but a news release just came through this morning that I didn’t want to leave until Monday.
Many readers have been wondering where 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif., would fit into the picture in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. Now we know: They’ll be replacing Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, according to announcement released by BLT 3/8′s parent command, the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Marines with 3/4 assumed command of several outposts held by BLT 3/8 in the last two weeks, Marine officials said. They include Combat Outpost Ouellette, which has served as the BLT’s headquarters downrange since they pushed into the upper Gereshk Valley, south of violent Sangin district, after landing in Afghanistan in January.
From COP Ouellette and several other patrol bases, BLT 3/8 has provided security for a variety of development projects, including the completion of Highway 611, the second major paved highway in Afghanistan.
It hasn’t always been safe, either, as our good friend “Headshot” can attest.
Marine officials said BLT 3/8 will meet the rest of the 26th MEU at Lejeune, meaning they won’t be reunited with Marines still deployed with the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group until after the 26th MEU returns home. One would assume that will occur soon.