thedrifter
07-12-04, 08:41 AM
Local Marine unit may get new boss
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
July 9, 2004
WASHINGTON – Maj. Gen. Richard Natonski, who led the Marine force that fought the tough battles through Nasiriyah during Operation Iraqi Freedom last year, is expected to be nominated to command the Camp Pendleton-based 1st Marine Division, Marine Corps sources said yesterday.
The Pentagon has yet to announce a replacement for Maj. Gen. James Mattis, who is leading the division during its second tour in Iraq, but a senior Marine and other sources said Natonski has been selected. Mattis has been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general and command of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, Va.
Natonski is deputy commander of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C., but last year he led Task Force Tarawa, which fought in Iraq as part of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton.
The task force followed the 1st Division from Kuwait, then plunged into Nasiriyah to secure two vital bridges. In that attack, Tarawa rescued the remnants of the Army supply unit that had been ambushed, resulting in the capture of Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch.
Eighteen Tarawa Marines were killed and dozens were wounded in that fight. The task force then guarded the division's flank during the drive to Baghdad.
Commissioned in 1973, Natonski was a platoon leader in the Marine force that aided the evacuation of U.S. and allied personnel from Cambodia and Vietnam the next year. He served at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego from 1975-78 and was operations officer for the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines at Camp Pendleton in 1982.
Natonski was part of the U.N. truce observer team in the Middle East, led the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines in humanitarian missions in Haiti and Somalia, and later commanded the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit during operations in Bosnia and Kuwait. As a brigadier general, he commanded the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, which became the core of Task Force Tarawa for the attack into Iraq.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20040709-9999-6m9command.html
Ellie
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
July 9, 2004
WASHINGTON – Maj. Gen. Richard Natonski, who led the Marine force that fought the tough battles through Nasiriyah during Operation Iraqi Freedom last year, is expected to be nominated to command the Camp Pendleton-based 1st Marine Division, Marine Corps sources said yesterday.
The Pentagon has yet to announce a replacement for Maj. Gen. James Mattis, who is leading the division during its second tour in Iraq, but a senior Marine and other sources said Natonski has been selected. Mattis has been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general and command of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, Va.
Natonski is deputy commander of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C., but last year he led Task Force Tarawa, which fought in Iraq as part of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton.
The task force followed the 1st Division from Kuwait, then plunged into Nasiriyah to secure two vital bridges. In that attack, Tarawa rescued the remnants of the Army supply unit that had been ambushed, resulting in the capture of Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch.
Eighteen Tarawa Marines were killed and dozens were wounded in that fight. The task force then guarded the division's flank during the drive to Baghdad.
Commissioned in 1973, Natonski was a platoon leader in the Marine force that aided the evacuation of U.S. and allied personnel from Cambodia and Vietnam the next year. He served at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego from 1975-78 and was operations officer for the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines at Camp Pendleton in 1982.
Natonski was part of the U.N. truce observer team in the Middle East, led the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines in humanitarian missions in Haiti and Somalia, and later commanded the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit during operations in Bosnia and Kuwait. As a brigadier general, he commanded the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, which became the core of Task Force Tarawa for the attack into Iraq.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20040709-9999-6m9command.html
Ellie