thedrifter
12-26-04, 07:26 AM
December 27, 2004
The Lore of the Corps
‘Forgotten’ MEU’s combat history dates to Vietnam
By Keith A. Milks
Special to the Times
Since the war on terrorism began in late 2001, the Corps’ stable of Marine Expeditionary Units has combated terror in such far-flung locales as Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, Iraq and Pakistan.
While the six MEUs stationed in the United States have garnered a great deal of media attention, the only foreign-based MEU had served in relative obscurity until being thrown into the front lines during the savage fighting in Fallujah, Iraq.
Stationed on Okinawa, Japan, the 31st MEU began life as Special Landing Force Alpha, or SLFA, on March 1, 1967, and just over a month later arrived off the Vietnamese coast as a strategic reserve for the U.S. Military Assistance Command in Vietnam. The unit’s combat baptism came in late April of that year, when it sent its forces ashore in the Quang Nam province for Operations Beaver Café and Union 1. Over the next six years, the unit repeatedly deployed from Okinawa to the coastal waters and jungles of South Vietnam. In the midst of these deployments, SLFA was redesignated as the 31st Marine Amphibious Unit on Nov. 24, 1970. In the spring of 1975, the 31st MAU, then under the command of Col. John F. Roche, took part in Operation Eagle Pull in Cambodia.
With communist Khmer Rouge forces converging on the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, Roche led a robust security force ashore on April 12 to secure the U.S. Embassy and planned evacuation sites.
After Vietnam, the 31st MAU provided the United States with a forward-deployed amphibious force-in-readiness in the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia regions. In the fall of 1983, the MAU made an unheard-of sortie through the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean Sea to serve as a reserve for the embattled 24th MAU fulfilling peacekeeping duties in Beirut, Lebanon. This was the first and last time that a MAU/MEU not from Camp Lejeune, N.C., would serve west of the Suez Canal.
In May 1985, the 31st MAU was deactivated and responsibility for its area of operations was given to MAUs from Camp Pendleton, Calif. With the end of the Cold War causing a surge in hot spots across the globe, the unit was reactivated on Sept. 9, 1992, as the 31st MEU.
When tensions over Iraq’s refusal to support United Nations weapons inspectors boiled over in late 1998, the 31st MEU participated in Operation Desert Fox.
In late 1999, the 31st MEU again found itself in harm’s way when the unit supported peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts on the Indonesian island of East Timor.
With its most recent deployment into Iraq,the “forgotten” MEU continues to enhance its time-honed combat reputation.
The writer is a gunnery sergeant assigned to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit at Camp Lejeune, N.C. He can be reached at kambtp@aol.com.
Ellie
The Lore of the Corps
‘Forgotten’ MEU’s combat history dates to Vietnam
By Keith A. Milks
Special to the Times
Since the war on terrorism began in late 2001, the Corps’ stable of Marine Expeditionary Units has combated terror in such far-flung locales as Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, Iraq and Pakistan.
While the six MEUs stationed in the United States have garnered a great deal of media attention, the only foreign-based MEU had served in relative obscurity until being thrown into the front lines during the savage fighting in Fallujah, Iraq.
Stationed on Okinawa, Japan, the 31st MEU began life as Special Landing Force Alpha, or SLFA, on March 1, 1967, and just over a month later arrived off the Vietnamese coast as a strategic reserve for the U.S. Military Assistance Command in Vietnam. The unit’s combat baptism came in late April of that year, when it sent its forces ashore in the Quang Nam province for Operations Beaver Café and Union 1. Over the next six years, the unit repeatedly deployed from Okinawa to the coastal waters and jungles of South Vietnam. In the midst of these deployments, SLFA was redesignated as the 31st Marine Amphibious Unit on Nov. 24, 1970. In the spring of 1975, the 31st MAU, then under the command of Col. John F. Roche, took part in Operation Eagle Pull in Cambodia.
With communist Khmer Rouge forces converging on the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, Roche led a robust security force ashore on April 12 to secure the U.S. Embassy and planned evacuation sites.
After Vietnam, the 31st MAU provided the United States with a forward-deployed amphibious force-in-readiness in the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia regions. In the fall of 1983, the MAU made an unheard-of sortie through the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean Sea to serve as a reserve for the embattled 24th MAU fulfilling peacekeeping duties in Beirut, Lebanon. This was the first and last time that a MAU/MEU not from Camp Lejeune, N.C., would serve west of the Suez Canal.
In May 1985, the 31st MAU was deactivated and responsibility for its area of operations was given to MAUs from Camp Pendleton, Calif. With the end of the Cold War causing a surge in hot spots across the globe, the unit was reactivated on Sept. 9, 1992, as the 31st MEU.
When tensions over Iraq’s refusal to support United Nations weapons inspectors boiled over in late 1998, the 31st MEU participated in Operation Desert Fox.
In late 1999, the 31st MEU again found itself in harm’s way when the unit supported peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts on the Indonesian island of East Timor.
With its most recent deployment into Iraq,the “forgotten” MEU continues to enhance its time-honed combat reputation.
The writer is a gunnery sergeant assigned to the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit at Camp Lejeune, N.C. He can be reached at kambtp@aol.com.
Ellie