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thedrifter
02-02-06, 06:08 PM
Posted on Thu, Feb. 02, 2006
Camp Lejeune Marines plan urban training in Virginia
Associated Press

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - A Marine unit plans two weeks of urban warfare training in southeastern Virginia as it prepares for deployment later this year to the Middle East.

The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit's 2,100 troops plan to operate from bases in the Hampton Roads area - Norfolk, Newport News and Virginia Beach - between Feb. 27 and March 12, the unit said Thursday.

Marine units prepare for deployment with six-month exercises that include urban warfare, such as firing weapons, patrolling, running vehicle checkpoints, responding to mass casualties and dealing with roadside bombs.

The unit was deployed for seven months last year in Iraq. The MEU expects to return, although it hasn't received orders, a statement said.

The MEU, which includes helicopters and jets, will travel aboard three ships in the Iwo Jima Strike Group from the Norfolk, Va., Navy base.

"We have unfinished business over there, and we expect that's where we'll be needed most," said MEU commander Col. Ronald J. Johnson. "But we'll be ready for anything."

Three MEUs stationed at Camp Lejeune have used cities in the Southeast for urban training since 1985. The 24th MEU conducted training at Morgantown, W.Va., in May 2004.