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thedrifter
10-25-03, 07:33 AM
Marines' ships come in, but none go out in policy change
By DENNIS O'BRIEN, The Virginian-Pilot
© October 24, 2003

NORFOLK -- The Iwo Jima's return to port this morning signals not just the end of a deployment, but also the end of an era in Navy doctrine:

Routine six-month deployments by three-ship amphibious ready groups are officially a thing of the past.

And for the first time in years, no sizable Atlantic Fleet Marine Corps force will be at sea. Traditionally, when one Marine-laden amphibious group returns, another has recently sailed to replace it.

It's part of a sea change in Navy-Marine Corps strategy -- from having a small, forward-deployed force to maintaining a larger group of Marines that is ready to surge to global hotspots. A similar model was used with a pair of seven-ship amphibious task forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Even when East Coast Marines deploy from now on -- the next scheduled sailing is in February -- the flotilla carrying them won't be just amphibious assault ships.

The group still will be built around three ``gator freighters'' -- the Wasp, Shreveport and Whidbey Island -- but those troop carriers will be backed by substantial Tomahawk missile firepower from the Norfolk-based cruisers Leyte Gulf and Yorktown and destroyer McFaul, and the attack submarine Connecticut from Groton, Conn.

``They're going out for a planned six months, but things can change,'' said Surface Fleet Atlantic spokesman Master Chief Petty Officer Kevin Copeland. ``Their presence out there depends on what's going on.''

The seven-ship package is an expeditionary strike group, part of a broader transformation in the way the Navy operates.

The theory behind both the ``surge'' mentality and the restructuring of amphibious groups is based on Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vern Clark's desire to give theater commanders more -- and more powerful -- options than were available in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and subsequent wars.

The expeditionary strike group concept was drafted specifically to take the fight to terrorists, according to the Office of Naval Research, which helped develop the model.

Coupling a special operations-capable amphibious group with the firepower of surface ships and an attack sub creates a formidable force able to gather intelligence, execute covert missions, launch a guided missile attack and put troops hundreds of miles inland.

A three-ship amphibious assault group like the one returning to Hampton Roads today -- the Iwo Jima, Carter Hall and Nashville -- has 1,800 sailors and carries 2,200 Marines, about 20 transport helicopters to fly them inland, four attack helicopters and six Harrier attack jets to back them up. A small number of tanks, light-armored vehicles and artillery muscle-up the landing force.

The expeditionary strike group adds to that mix cruiser, destroyer and sub missile tubes carrying more than 200 Tomahawks, according to the Office of Naval Research. That's about half the number launched in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. About 700 were launched in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Conventional precision-guided Tomahawks carry munitions ranging from cluster bombs that can shred exposed enemy troops to 1,000-pound warheads capable of flattening buildings.

``Now you're talking about going out there with a bunch of land-attack missiles and the stealth-loiter capability of an attack submarine, and it adds a lot of capabilities to what the ready group already has,'' said Atlantic Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Dave Werner.

Part of the expeditionary strike group concept calls for merging its ships, if and when needed, with a seven-ship carrier strike group, essentially doubling the missile firepower and adding 50 strike jets capable of flying 100 combat missions per day.

The strike force concept gives theater commanders greater flexibility and a cohesive force capable of conducting small raids or making all-out war.

The grand plan calls for replacing the old model of 12 carrier battle groups of about 10 ships each with 12 carrier strike groups, 12 expeditionary strike groups and a smaller number of surface-ship strike groups.

By June 2002, the expeditionary strike group concept had taken enough shape that Clark directed the Navy to make a plan of action to deploy one expeditionary group this year and another in 2004.

The Pacific Fleet fielded its strike group in August. The initial West Coast and East Coast strike groups will have different command-and-control elements. The East Coast-based Wasp group will keep the current Navy-leads-the-ships/Marines-lead-the-troops structure, while the West Coast-based Peleliu group has an admiral running the whole show.

``We're kind of going to compare notes and further refine'' the expeditionary strike group concept, Werner said.

Unlike some naval plans rolled out in the past and mothballed after a change in command, the strike force doctrine is unlikely to fade away because Clark has been reappointed for a third term as chief of naval operations. If he completes the two-year extension, Clark will be the longest-serving CNO ever.

The Iwo Jima group dropped off its Marines, the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Thursday off the coast of Camp Lejeune, N.C. Reach Dennis O'Brien at dennis.obrien@pilotonline.com or 446-2355.


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Sempers,

Roger
:marine: