thedrifter
03-11-06, 07:23 AM
Marines deactivate experimental Special Operations unit
By: BARBARA HENRY - Staff Writer
CAMP PENDLETON ---- In a simple ceremony Friday, the Marines deactivated a 3-year-old experimental unit that helped establish a national Marines special operations program.
The Camp Pendleton unit was essentially a pilot project ---- the Marines' first contribution to the U.S. Special Operations Command, an elite fighting force that is sent in to handle special, high-risk tasks. The Navy, the Army and Air Force have contributed to the force for years, but the Marines have resisted, saying they didn't want to lose control of their top fighters.
However, after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Marine's position shifted and the Camp Pendleton unit was established as a trial program.
"We were proof of a concept," said Col. Robert J. Coates, the unit's commanding officer, after Friday's ceremony in which the unit's flags were lowered and then covered with long, olive green bags.
Lt. Gen. John F. Goodman, commander of the Corps' Pacific region, praised the 85-member unit for accomplishing what he called a "pretty robust task" in an "extraordinarily effective" manner.
During their deployment in Iraq, the unit known as Detachment One handled efforts to reduce insurgent attacks and provided security for high-ranking Iraqi officials, including the country's prime minister.
Within nine months of the unit's creation, it was deployed into battle. Goodman said the unit was ready to go amazingly quickly, and Coates said the proof of how well the unit worked can be told in one simple story.
He then described how two members of the unit ---- Staff Sgt. William Parker and Gunnery Sgt. James Crawford ----- fought off an attack by a mass of Iraqis in northern Baghdad in August 2004. They were atop a building when the attack began, and "at the end there were 30 men dead at the bottom ... and the others had fled," he said.
Speaking after Friday's ceremony, Parker said he and Crawford were on a mission at the time with four Navy SEALs and a squadron of Army Special Forces. Their goal was to reduce insurgent activity in the area and they were paired with a regular patrol as it made a sweep.
"When they withdrew they left us behind ... so we could look and listen for the bad guys in the neighborhood," Parker said. "While we were there a police station was attacked."
Then, the insurgents came back and discovered the Special Operations fighters. The U.S. force found itself fighting people on all four sides of the building, Parker said.
"It got a little crazy," he said simply.
Parker was injured ---- fragments from a grenade launched by a neighborhood kid hit him "everywhere my gear didn't cover" including into one eye. He wasn't surprised that a child was responsible for his injuries ---- the insurgents regularly paid children $50 for each grenade they were willing to toss, he said.
The U.S. military sent in tanks to provide backup and the Special Operations group was able to leave the building, but Parker and the others returned to the area two more times that night. Things calmed down after a soccer game broadcast began ---- "everybody was watching that," he said.
Detachment One served in Iraq until October 2004. A year later, the Defense Department agreed that a permanent Marine special operations component should be established within the U.S. Special Operations Command.
With Friday's deactivation ceremony, Detachment One was folded into that permanent group. Based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., the group includes some 2,600 Marines.
Parker won't be reporting there, though. A communications specialist who speaks Arabic, Parker said he is headed to the military's language training facility in Monterey to learn the Persian language Farsi.
"I'll be there a year, and then we'll see what happens," he said.
Contact staff writer Barbara Henry at (760) 901-4072 or bhenry@nctimes.com.
Ellie
By: BARBARA HENRY - Staff Writer
CAMP PENDLETON ---- In a simple ceremony Friday, the Marines deactivated a 3-year-old experimental unit that helped establish a national Marines special operations program.
The Camp Pendleton unit was essentially a pilot project ---- the Marines' first contribution to the U.S. Special Operations Command, an elite fighting force that is sent in to handle special, high-risk tasks. The Navy, the Army and Air Force have contributed to the force for years, but the Marines have resisted, saying they didn't want to lose control of their top fighters.
However, after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Marine's position shifted and the Camp Pendleton unit was established as a trial program.
"We were proof of a concept," said Col. Robert J. Coates, the unit's commanding officer, after Friday's ceremony in which the unit's flags were lowered and then covered with long, olive green bags.
Lt. Gen. John F. Goodman, commander of the Corps' Pacific region, praised the 85-member unit for accomplishing what he called a "pretty robust task" in an "extraordinarily effective" manner.
During their deployment in Iraq, the unit known as Detachment One handled efforts to reduce insurgent attacks and provided security for high-ranking Iraqi officials, including the country's prime minister.
Within nine months of the unit's creation, it was deployed into battle. Goodman said the unit was ready to go amazingly quickly, and Coates said the proof of how well the unit worked can be told in one simple story.
He then described how two members of the unit ---- Staff Sgt. William Parker and Gunnery Sgt. James Crawford ----- fought off an attack by a mass of Iraqis in northern Baghdad in August 2004. They were atop a building when the attack began, and "at the end there were 30 men dead at the bottom ... and the others had fled," he said.
Speaking after Friday's ceremony, Parker said he and Crawford were on a mission at the time with four Navy SEALs and a squadron of Army Special Forces. Their goal was to reduce insurgent activity in the area and they were paired with a regular patrol as it made a sweep.
"When they withdrew they left us behind ... so we could look and listen for the bad guys in the neighborhood," Parker said. "While we were there a police station was attacked."
Then, the insurgents came back and discovered the Special Operations fighters. The U.S. force found itself fighting people on all four sides of the building, Parker said.
"It got a little crazy," he said simply.
Parker was injured ---- fragments from a grenade launched by a neighborhood kid hit him "everywhere my gear didn't cover" including into one eye. He wasn't surprised that a child was responsible for his injuries ---- the insurgents regularly paid children $50 for each grenade they were willing to toss, he said.
The U.S. military sent in tanks to provide backup and the Special Operations group was able to leave the building, but Parker and the others returned to the area two more times that night. Things calmed down after a soccer game broadcast began ---- "everybody was watching that," he said.
Detachment One served in Iraq until October 2004. A year later, the Defense Department agreed that a permanent Marine special operations component should be established within the U.S. Special Operations Command.
With Friday's deactivation ceremony, Detachment One was folded into that permanent group. Based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., the group includes some 2,600 Marines.
Parker won't be reporting there, though. A communications specialist who speaks Arabic, Parker said he is headed to the military's language training facility in Monterey to learn the Persian language Farsi.
"I'll be there a year, and then we'll see what happens," he said.
Contact staff writer Barbara Henry at (760) 901-4072 or bhenry@nctimes.com.
Ellie