thedrifter
08-16-05, 12:39 PM
August 22, 2005
Return to Iraq
Thousands to deploy soon; reservists may see 2nd tours
By Christian Lowe and Laura Bailey
Times staff writers
Thousands of leathernecks are about to get another taste of Iraqi operations. As part of a regular seven-month rotation, two battalions from the Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based 2nd Marine Division are deploying to Iraq “in the coming weeks,” a II Marine Expeditionary Force spokesman said. Another, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines, deployed in late July.
Units from Marine Forces Reserve and the Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based 1st Marine Division will augment the force, according to the II MEF spokesman, Maj. Cliff Gilmore.
Overall, the Corps expects to maintain about 23,000 troops in Iraq, the same level as the past seven months, Corps spokesmen said.
Details of the I MEF units joining the fall rotation were not available as of Aug. 12.
There is no plan to boost Marine forces beyond 23,000 during the upcoming Iraqi national vote on the constitution in October, nor for the parliamentary elections scheduled for mid-December, said Maj. Doug Powell, a spokesman at Marine Corps headquarters.
Third tours
The leathernecks of 2/2 replaced 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, under Regimental Combat Team 8 based at Camp Fallujah. This is the third deployment to Iraq for 2/2, which was part of the invasion force in spring 2003 and redeployed to Iraq in 2004, taking part in the first battle for Fallujah in April.
Another Camp Lejeune unit, 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines, will replace 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, by the end of August. This also will be the third deployment to the region for 2/6, which provided security for the fledgling U.S. Embassy in Baghdad in fall 2004 and had previously helped secure Camp Commando in Kuwait in spring 2003.
The second Lejeune unit deploying in the weeks ahead is 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, which will replace 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines, which during its deployment this summer fought pitched battles along the Syrian border to stem the flow of foreign fighters crossing to join the Iraqi insurgency.
This will be 3/6’s first Iraq tour. The unit deployed to Afghanistan in May 2004 and worked to root out Taliban and al-Qaida holdouts near the Pakistan border.
There will be no major changes to the Marine aviation element in Iraq, Gilmore said. Marine Aircraft Group 26, MAG 27 and MAG 28 all have assets deployed there and will rotate personnel as needed.
The same is true for the logistics elements of the 2nd Force Service Support Group; most units will stay for another seven-month rotation in Iraq, swapping out individual Marines as needed.
“The guidance from the commandant is that personnel should stay with the MEF unless they have [orders] to leave or have reached their [end of active service],” Gilmore said.
The infantry battalions are rotating every seven months because of their high combat operational tempo, he added.
II MEF (Forward) assumed command of Marine forces in Iraq in March and is due to hand over control to I MEF early next year.
Reserve rotations
The majority of the Corps’ Reserve units have yet to see a second deployment to Iraq, but amid ongoing deployment commitments, the Corps may soon need to begin recycling its Reserve infantry battalions into the war zone.
About 9,000 reservists are currently mobilized, and a similar number will be mobilized during the fall rotation to Iraq, said Sgt. Maj. Joseph Staudt, the senior enlisted Marine with Reserve Affairs at Quantico, Va.
All nine Reserve infantry battalions have been mobilized at least once since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, so some are likely to be mobilized a second time in the next year, leading some to question whether the increased time away from home and civilian jobs will affect retention.
Although a recent Defense Department study suggested that reservists who deployed to Iraq are less likely to stay in the service, the proof of that has yet to materialize in the form of a mass exodus.
The rules governing how often reservists can be mobilized are somewhat vague.
While spokesmen for Marine Corps Reserve in New Orleans did not answer requests for specific information on the rules, Staudt said the Reserve commander “typically had wanted units to spend twice as much time out of the deployment cycle as they were in Iraq.”
Defense Department mobilization guidelines say reservists are supposed to get “as large of a break as possible based on operational requirements,” with the goal of 24 months between call-ups. However, reservists can be mobilized for up to two continuous years for one contingency, and more if called for duty in a second contingency, according to a July 2002 memorandum containing guidelines from David S.C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness issues.
The Reserve’s contribution to the ground combat element for the fall rotation will consist of a patchwork of units, many from headquarters companies that have been retrained to serve as provisional military police, small craft or truck companies.
Staudt said one or two infantry units may be headed out for a second deployment in spring 2006. “They’re ready and standing by if they get the word,” he said.
Those would include 1st Battalion, 25th Marines, and 1st Battalion, 24th Marines, which could be mobilized in January for a March rotation, he said. Elements of 1/24 were deployed to the Horn of Africa and Iraq in fall 2003, while 1/25 was activated after the Sept. 11 attacks to serve at Camp Lejeune and Okinawa.
Hectic pace
So far, civil affairs and aviation units have carried the burden of the heaviest deployment tempo, Staudt said.
For example, one wing unit mobilized for 24 months, while the 4th Civil Affairs Group and the 3rd Civil Affairs Group will both head back soon for a third deployment to Iraq.
For September’s troop rotation, 4th Maintenance Battalion of Marietta, Ga., was retrained and redesignated as the provisional 6th CAG.
Staudt said that other than the civil affairs units, reservists are getting the required amount of downtime between deployments.
“In 2006, we’ll be starting the fifth year since Sept. 11, so units are getting the time that they need to reconstitute the force, work for their employers and spend time with their families.
“There may be a few exceptions to that — the civil affairs units will be one of those exceptions,” he said.
Ellie
Return to Iraq
Thousands to deploy soon; reservists may see 2nd tours
By Christian Lowe and Laura Bailey
Times staff writers
Thousands of leathernecks are about to get another taste of Iraqi operations. As part of a regular seven-month rotation, two battalions from the Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based 2nd Marine Division are deploying to Iraq “in the coming weeks,” a II Marine Expeditionary Force spokesman said. Another, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines, deployed in late July.
Units from Marine Forces Reserve and the Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based 1st Marine Division will augment the force, according to the II MEF spokesman, Maj. Cliff Gilmore.
Overall, the Corps expects to maintain about 23,000 troops in Iraq, the same level as the past seven months, Corps spokesmen said.
Details of the I MEF units joining the fall rotation were not available as of Aug. 12.
There is no plan to boost Marine forces beyond 23,000 during the upcoming Iraqi national vote on the constitution in October, nor for the parliamentary elections scheduled for mid-December, said Maj. Doug Powell, a spokesman at Marine Corps headquarters.
Third tours
The leathernecks of 2/2 replaced 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, under Regimental Combat Team 8 based at Camp Fallujah. This is the third deployment to Iraq for 2/2, which was part of the invasion force in spring 2003 and redeployed to Iraq in 2004, taking part in the first battle for Fallujah in April.
Another Camp Lejeune unit, 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines, will replace 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, by the end of August. This also will be the third deployment to the region for 2/6, which provided security for the fledgling U.S. Embassy in Baghdad in fall 2004 and had previously helped secure Camp Commando in Kuwait in spring 2003.
The second Lejeune unit deploying in the weeks ahead is 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, which will replace 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines, which during its deployment this summer fought pitched battles along the Syrian border to stem the flow of foreign fighters crossing to join the Iraqi insurgency.
This will be 3/6’s first Iraq tour. The unit deployed to Afghanistan in May 2004 and worked to root out Taliban and al-Qaida holdouts near the Pakistan border.
There will be no major changes to the Marine aviation element in Iraq, Gilmore said. Marine Aircraft Group 26, MAG 27 and MAG 28 all have assets deployed there and will rotate personnel as needed.
The same is true for the logistics elements of the 2nd Force Service Support Group; most units will stay for another seven-month rotation in Iraq, swapping out individual Marines as needed.
“The guidance from the commandant is that personnel should stay with the MEF unless they have [orders] to leave or have reached their [end of active service],” Gilmore said.
The infantry battalions are rotating every seven months because of their high combat operational tempo, he added.
II MEF (Forward) assumed command of Marine forces in Iraq in March and is due to hand over control to I MEF early next year.
Reserve rotations
The majority of the Corps’ Reserve units have yet to see a second deployment to Iraq, but amid ongoing deployment commitments, the Corps may soon need to begin recycling its Reserve infantry battalions into the war zone.
About 9,000 reservists are currently mobilized, and a similar number will be mobilized during the fall rotation to Iraq, said Sgt. Maj. Joseph Staudt, the senior enlisted Marine with Reserve Affairs at Quantico, Va.
All nine Reserve infantry battalions have been mobilized at least once since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, so some are likely to be mobilized a second time in the next year, leading some to question whether the increased time away from home and civilian jobs will affect retention.
Although a recent Defense Department study suggested that reservists who deployed to Iraq are less likely to stay in the service, the proof of that has yet to materialize in the form of a mass exodus.
The rules governing how often reservists can be mobilized are somewhat vague.
While spokesmen for Marine Corps Reserve in New Orleans did not answer requests for specific information on the rules, Staudt said the Reserve commander “typically had wanted units to spend twice as much time out of the deployment cycle as they were in Iraq.”
Defense Department mobilization guidelines say reservists are supposed to get “as large of a break as possible based on operational requirements,” with the goal of 24 months between call-ups. However, reservists can be mobilized for up to two continuous years for one contingency, and more if called for duty in a second contingency, according to a July 2002 memorandum containing guidelines from David S.C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness issues.
The Reserve’s contribution to the ground combat element for the fall rotation will consist of a patchwork of units, many from headquarters companies that have been retrained to serve as provisional military police, small craft or truck companies.
Staudt said one or two infantry units may be headed out for a second deployment in spring 2006. “They’re ready and standing by if they get the word,” he said.
Those would include 1st Battalion, 25th Marines, and 1st Battalion, 24th Marines, which could be mobilized in January for a March rotation, he said. Elements of 1/24 were deployed to the Horn of Africa and Iraq in fall 2003, while 1/25 was activated after the Sept. 11 attacks to serve at Camp Lejeune and Okinawa.
Hectic pace
So far, civil affairs and aviation units have carried the burden of the heaviest deployment tempo, Staudt said.
For example, one wing unit mobilized for 24 months, while the 4th Civil Affairs Group and the 3rd Civil Affairs Group will both head back soon for a third deployment to Iraq.
For September’s troop rotation, 4th Maintenance Battalion of Marietta, Ga., was retrained and redesignated as the provisional 6th CAG.
Staudt said that other than the civil affairs units, reservists are getting the required amount of downtime between deployments.
“In 2006, we’ll be starting the fifth year since Sept. 11, so units are getting the time that they need to reconstitute the force, work for their employers and spend time with their families.
“There may be a few exceptions to that — the civil affairs units will be one of those exceptions,” he said.
Ellie