CAS3
01-29-04, 09:28 AM
Local Marines head to Iraq
By Sgt. Salju K. Thomas
Marines from various commands aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico are getting ready to deploy in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II.
As of Jan. 14, 29 Quantico Marines are either in theater or getting ready to head out.
“That number changes almost daily,” said Capt. Brian Rush, the base utilization officer, G1.
“Our Marines will deploy to Iraq for six to seven months,” he added. They will join the 5,000 Marines from Camp Lejeune, N.C., and the 20,000 from the West Coast.
A recent Department of Defense projection calls for more than 100,000 United States service members with “boots on the ground” in Iraq in the coming months, a reduction from the current 130,000.
Last week, military officials announced that II Marine Expeditionary Force headquarters and elements of its 2nd Marine Division and 2nd Force Service Support Group, all located at Camp Lejeune, would be involved in troop rotations and augment forces from I MEF in Camp Pendleton, Calif., to relieve the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division near Baghdad. Elements of 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing from Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C.; MCAS Cherry Point, N.C., and MCAS Beaufort, S.C., will also participate in the augmentation.
Quantico Marines will be attached to several commands to include Combined Joint Task Force Seven, Coalition Military Advisory Training Team, and I MEF. Included in the CMATT will be a prior recruiter who will perform hands on recruiting with Iraqis and assist with training them to be recruiters.
Marines will also be attached to the Enduring Freedom Combat Assessment Team, whose mission is to assess the Marine Corps’s ability to organize, train, equip, and provide forces to the combat commander. An advance party of EFCAT Marines left Wednesday stated 1st Lt. Darlan Harris, base media officer.
Although Quantico is primarily a training base and does not deploy units, individuals are sent as augmentees with units that are deployed.
By Sgt. Salju K. Thomas
Marines from various commands aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico are getting ready to deploy in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II.
As of Jan. 14, 29 Quantico Marines are either in theater or getting ready to head out.
“That number changes almost daily,” said Capt. Brian Rush, the base utilization officer, G1.
“Our Marines will deploy to Iraq for six to seven months,” he added. They will join the 5,000 Marines from Camp Lejeune, N.C., and the 20,000 from the West Coast.
A recent Department of Defense projection calls for more than 100,000 United States service members with “boots on the ground” in Iraq in the coming months, a reduction from the current 130,000.
Last week, military officials announced that II Marine Expeditionary Force headquarters and elements of its 2nd Marine Division and 2nd Force Service Support Group, all located at Camp Lejeune, would be involved in troop rotations and augment forces from I MEF in Camp Pendleton, Calif., to relieve the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division near Baghdad. Elements of 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing from Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C.; MCAS Cherry Point, N.C., and MCAS Beaufort, S.C., will also participate in the augmentation.
Quantico Marines will be attached to several commands to include Combined Joint Task Force Seven, Coalition Military Advisory Training Team, and I MEF. Included in the CMATT will be a prior recruiter who will perform hands on recruiting with Iraqis and assist with training them to be recruiters.
Marines will also be attached to the Enduring Freedom Combat Assessment Team, whose mission is to assess the Marine Corps’s ability to organize, train, equip, and provide forces to the combat commander. An advance party of EFCAT Marines left Wednesday stated 1st Lt. Darlan Harris, base media officer.
Although Quantico is primarily a training base and does not deploy units, individuals are sent as augmentees with units that are deployed.