thedrifter
12-09-03, 06:22 AM
Strike group flexible, but in harm's way
Marines, sailors handle wide range of operations, dangers
By Rick Rogers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
December 8, 2003
The telephone call crackled, but the message from the Camp Pendleton Marines steaming off the Horn of Africa was clear enough – don't forget about us or what we're doing.
About 2,200 Marines from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit and 2,500 San Diego-based sailors are testing the effectiveness of a strike force created to handle a wide range of operations.
Traditionally, Marine expeditionary units deploy aboard three-ship contingents known as amphibious ready groups that include the kinds of ships needed to get Marines to a fight on shore and help them win.
But such groups are slow, vulnerable to attack and lack firepower to sufficiently support Marines once ashore.
The new expeditionary strike group aims to solve those problems by including an attack submarine, a cruiser, a frigate and a destroyer to create a more nimble and lethal force that bristles with cruise missiles, sophisticated defense systems and naval artillery.
The Marines and sailors are capitalizing on that flexibility to perform diverse missions. Before leaving San Diego in August, they rehearsed 29 mission scenarios ranging from capturing pirates to taking beaches.
In October, the Marines landed at the al-Arab peninsula to stop oil and copper smuggling while Navy ships used their surveillance gear to watch from sea. As a result, several smugglers and their ships were captured.
Col. Michael Regner, commander of the 13th MEU, said in the telephone interview the expeditionary strike group has fostered the closest working relationship between the two sea services he's seen in his 27 years in the Marine Corps.
"Based on what we've seen so far, the ESG concept is working very well," Regner said. "Having the additional intelligence support and ship support increases my options as a land-force commander.
"The expeditionary strike group is designed specifically to be able to respond to the type of threats we face in the global war on terrorism," he said, "and that's bad news for the terrorists."
The greater firepower, however, doesn't change the fact that Camp Pendleton Marines and San Diego sailors are doing a dangerous job and won't be home until April.
"We recently spent two and a half weeks on the southern Iraq peninsula," Sgt. Jose Cerca Jr., a mechanic, said from the amphibious assault ship Peleliu, the group's flagship. "And I would rather walk in any neighborhood in the United States then drive around there. It's pretty scary, that is for sure.
"Driving in a convoy is the most dangerous because they draw attention to themselves," said Cerca, 24, who lives at Camp Pendleton with his wife and three children.
Cerca said being away is difficult, but morale is good because the Marines and sailors believe in one another.
"We talk to each other, keep each other up," he said. "We know our training, and if something happens, we have each other's backs."
With the 13th MEU's many missions, supply administrator Cpl. Raymond Weckmann, 21, of Oceanside has been busy making sure parts for tanks, trucks and assault weapons are available.
Weckmann's father, a Marine sergeant major assigned to a helicopter squadron at Camp Pendleton, offered his son some advice before he left four months ago.
" 'Keep your head down and keep running,' is all he said," Weckmann said. "It's a dangerous world out there."
sometimes it is a little lonely.
"Don't forget about us; eight months is a long time, but don't forget about the Marines and sailors out here protecting the United States," Weckmann said. "Letters mean a lot. We love getting them from little kids. It means a lot."
If all goes well, two expeditionary strike groups – one in the Atlantic Ocean or Mediterranean Sea, the other in the Pacific or Indian ocean – will ply the seas every day of the year.
Including the Peleliu, San Diego-based ships deployed in the strike group are the dock landing ship Germantown, transport dock Ogden, frigate Jarrett and destroyer Decatur. The other ships are the cruiser Port Royal and the submarine Greeneville, both out of Hawaii.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rick Rogers: (760) 476-8212; rick.rogers@uniontrib.com
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20031208-9999_1m8strike.html
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
Marines, sailors handle wide range of operations, dangers
By Rick Rogers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
December 8, 2003
The telephone call crackled, but the message from the Camp Pendleton Marines steaming off the Horn of Africa was clear enough – don't forget about us or what we're doing.
About 2,200 Marines from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit and 2,500 San Diego-based sailors are testing the effectiveness of a strike force created to handle a wide range of operations.
Traditionally, Marine expeditionary units deploy aboard three-ship contingents known as amphibious ready groups that include the kinds of ships needed to get Marines to a fight on shore and help them win.
But such groups are slow, vulnerable to attack and lack firepower to sufficiently support Marines once ashore.
The new expeditionary strike group aims to solve those problems by including an attack submarine, a cruiser, a frigate and a destroyer to create a more nimble and lethal force that bristles with cruise missiles, sophisticated defense systems and naval artillery.
The Marines and sailors are capitalizing on that flexibility to perform diverse missions. Before leaving San Diego in August, they rehearsed 29 mission scenarios ranging from capturing pirates to taking beaches.
In October, the Marines landed at the al-Arab peninsula to stop oil and copper smuggling while Navy ships used their surveillance gear to watch from sea. As a result, several smugglers and their ships were captured.
Col. Michael Regner, commander of the 13th MEU, said in the telephone interview the expeditionary strike group has fostered the closest working relationship between the two sea services he's seen in his 27 years in the Marine Corps.
"Based on what we've seen so far, the ESG concept is working very well," Regner said. "Having the additional intelligence support and ship support increases my options as a land-force commander.
"The expeditionary strike group is designed specifically to be able to respond to the type of threats we face in the global war on terrorism," he said, "and that's bad news for the terrorists."
The greater firepower, however, doesn't change the fact that Camp Pendleton Marines and San Diego sailors are doing a dangerous job and won't be home until April.
"We recently spent two and a half weeks on the southern Iraq peninsula," Sgt. Jose Cerca Jr., a mechanic, said from the amphibious assault ship Peleliu, the group's flagship. "And I would rather walk in any neighborhood in the United States then drive around there. It's pretty scary, that is for sure.
"Driving in a convoy is the most dangerous because they draw attention to themselves," said Cerca, 24, who lives at Camp Pendleton with his wife and three children.
Cerca said being away is difficult, but morale is good because the Marines and sailors believe in one another.
"We talk to each other, keep each other up," he said. "We know our training, and if something happens, we have each other's backs."
With the 13th MEU's many missions, supply administrator Cpl. Raymond Weckmann, 21, of Oceanside has been busy making sure parts for tanks, trucks and assault weapons are available.
Weckmann's father, a Marine sergeant major assigned to a helicopter squadron at Camp Pendleton, offered his son some advice before he left four months ago.
" 'Keep your head down and keep running,' is all he said," Weckmann said. "It's a dangerous world out there."
sometimes it is a little lonely.
"Don't forget about us; eight months is a long time, but don't forget about the Marines and sailors out here protecting the United States," Weckmann said. "Letters mean a lot. We love getting them from little kids. It means a lot."
If all goes well, two expeditionary strike groups – one in the Atlantic Ocean or Mediterranean Sea, the other in the Pacific or Indian ocean – will ply the seas every day of the year.
Including the Peleliu, San Diego-based ships deployed in the strike group are the dock landing ship Germantown, transport dock Ogden, frigate Jarrett and destroyer Decatur. The other ships are the cruiser Port Royal and the submarine Greeneville, both out of Hawaii.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rick Rogers: (760) 476-8212; rick.rogers@uniontrib.com
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20031208-9999_1m8strike.html
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: