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thedrifter
12-07-06, 08:58 AM
Legacy of 'Mortalis' Battalion Walks in Iraq

by 2nd Lt. Lawton King

The hallowed verses of the 23rd Psalm, incanted in the archaic yet lyrical English of the King James Bible, resonated in the frigid, pre-dawn darkness.

Huddled together around the chaplain in a tight scrum, the elite Marines of 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion received the chaplain's benediction before departing on a convoy that would take them through formidable territory south of Fallujah.

"Being a part of the Recon community is an honor," Navy Lt. Harvey C. Macklin, the 38-year-old battalion chaplain from Holyoke, Colo., said later. "This is where the rubber meets the road."

Macklin, who has served with the battalion since June, commands quite a bit of respect and reverence from the Marines. But it is he who often finds himself awed by the professional performance of the Recon Marines, which is why he opted to accompany them on a several-day-long outing to provide onsite spiritual guidance and prayer services.

"The determination is a step more intense with these guys," he said. "Being able to be there with them as they walk out the door is the perfect match between the chaplain community and the Recon community."

As the Marines dispersed and entered their vehicles to embark on yet another mission, they resembled any other infantry unit that quits Camp Fallujah everyday to scour Fallujah and its environs for insurgent snipers and bomb makers.

But this initial impression, like many of the perceptions that orbit the reconnaissance community, can prove to be deceptively simple.

"The bread and butter of reconnaissance is to find the enemy," said Lt. Col. William Seely, the 39-year-old battalion commander from Saigon, Vietnam. "Find, fix, destroy: it's very simple."

Consequently, the Marines of 3rd Recon continue to launch reconnaissance patrols, not unlike their forefathers in Vietnam, in order to confirm or deny the presence of the enemy, but they now operate within a framework that has evolved tremendously since the time of Hue City and Khe Sanh.

"We are one of many components that gets synergized by the regiment on the modern battlefield," Seely said. "We provide enhanced flexibility to the regimental commander and provide a variety of missions across the spectrum."

Winding through small townships on the outskirts of Fallujah en route to Ferris, a relatively affluent community constructed on the orders of Saddam Hussein to house his engineers, the Marines trained their eyes on anyone who appeared to be overly interested in the convoy.

As they finally entered the gated community, unscathed and intact, a Marine observed in a radio transmission that the town "looks like a Donald Trump project."

Marines dismounted from their vehicles, and beneath the overwatch of their fellow sharpshooters, filed into their patrol base and prepared for the subsequent operations.

Appreciating the respite, some of the Marines knifed open their Meals, Ready to Eat and slipped into brief catnaps. But before long, the call to action came, and the marching orders were soon thereafter issued.

"(We're) trying to get the Iraqi people back on their feet," said Sgt. Chris Davis, a 21-year-old data networking specialist attached to the battalion from Prattville, Ala.

While one of the reconnaissance teams waited for the final word to roll out, Cpl. Jeremy Schmidt discussed the motivations that prompted him to enter the ranks of the swift, silent and deadly.

"I joined the Marine Corps with the intention of becoming a recon," said the 21-year-old point man from Monticello, Minn. "It's not something everyone can do. I do not want to be average."

The following day, Cpl. William Kessler, a 22-year-old assistant radio operator from Austin, Texas, reinforced Schmidt's sentiments.

"It's a good feeling considering that we have a history of 'getting some,'" he said.

History has certainly bestowed her coveted approval upon the battalion and knighted its heroes.

The unit traces its genesis to a scout company assembled during World War II that landed on Iwo Jima in the renowned battle that forged the identity of the modern Marine Corps, according to Seely.

"The battalion did not come into its own until Vietnam," said Seely after mentioning that it "is one of the most decorated battalions from the Vietnam War." In Vietnam alone, he continued, the battalion laid claim to four Medal of Honor recipients.

Though it deployed in support of Coalition Forces in the first Gulf War, the battalion is currently on its first combat tour since the Vietnam conflict, so the Marines are conscious of their contributions to the battalion's impressive resume.

It has a pretty glorious history, said Sgt. Maxwell Scott. But he was more interested in upholding and perpetuating the tradition than extolling it.

"We do the whole variety, the whole gamut (of operations)," said Scott, a 23-year-old team leader from Fort Walton Beach, Fla. At the moment, his team was "checking up on the security of municipal buildings."

For several days, Scott and his team walked the streets of Ferris to gather intelligence regarding the vibrancy of the insurgency or lack thereof and interviewed locals to gauge popular sentiment. Additionally, the Marines "set up OPs and do counter IED missions," Scott said, with designs to neutralize elements hostile to the population and Marines.

Scott, as did Seely, underscored the value of small-unit leadership in reconnaissance operations, a style of decentralized leadership imbued in Marines from the time they cycle through boot camp and officer candidates' school.

"It is the small-unit leader that is the hallmark of the Marine Corps," said Seely. "It is the NCO (noncommissioned officer) that is out there engaging the local populace, meeting with them. When he is faced with the enemy, he knows what to do."

The "strategic corporal" concept, as it was billed by a former commandant, was clearly evident a couple of days later when Marines led by fellow NCOs raided a house in Fuhaylat, rescued a hostage and detained three insurgents, largely proving Cpl. Samuel Meek's forecast correct.

"I think (the Marines) will flush out a few insurgents, and hopefully we will wrap them up," said the prescient 23-year-old nuclear, biological, chemical specialist from Darien, Conn., the night before.

And so, after a successful trip through the valley of the shadow of death, the Reconnaissance Marines demonstrated they fear no evil and returned to Camp Fallujah.

Like small pools of mercury coalescing with each other, the Marines piled out of vehicles and congregated in small groups to conduct their vehicle and weapons maintenance so the next convoy could respond at a minute's notice. Their business finished for the day, they then migrated over to one of the chow halls for their first appealing dinner in days.

"The unit is small by nature, and because of that, there is a very strong sense of camaraderie, brotherhood, teamwork," Seely said.

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Ellie