thedrifter
02-06-07, 08:39 AM
Spec ops command sends Marines to Afghanistan
By Sean D. Naylor - Staff writer
Posted : February 12, 2007
A Marine special operations company is due to move from Djibouti to join the fight in Afghanistan on Feb. 3, the head of Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command told Congress.
The command, headed by Maj. Gen. Dennis Hejlik, was established last year, making it the newest of the four services’ special operations component commands.
But the Marines assigned to the command have hit the ground running and are busy on a variety of fronts, Hejlik told the House Armed Services terrorism, unconventional threats and capabilities subcommittee at a Jan. 31 hearing.
Hejlik’s command is divided between foreign military training units and special operations companies, such as the one that is deploying to Afghanistan, that have a “direct action” mission aimed at killing or capturing enemy forces.
The foreign military training teams deploy for “anywhere between 60 to 120 days,” Hejlik said.
One such training team recently gained experience through a recent tour of duty in the African nation of Chad, he said.
The Chadian regime of President Idriss Deby has been battling Islamist rebel groups based across its eastern border with Sudan. Late last year, the rebels launched an attack that nearly reached the capital of N’Djamena before they were driven back by Chadian troops.
U.S. special operations Marines who deployed to Chad in November trained the Chadian government forces that repelled the rebel offensive, Hejlik told lawmakers.
“The [Chadian] teams that we trained ... were the same two battalions that pushed the forces back in east Chad, on the border,” Hejlik said. “That in itself — to bring that force up to that level — was absolutely amazing.”
The team that trained the Chadian forces is now in Yemen. Other Marine Foreign Military Training Unit teams are in Tajikistan and Colombia, he said. Teams will also deploy soon to Saudi Arabia and back to Chad, he added.
Hejlik spelled out the benefits gained by the team deployed to Chad.
“What we get out of it is language skills,” he said, noting that Marines who deployed to Chad speaking basic French or Arabic drastically improved their fluency.
“We get retention out of it, because those young Marines go in there and go, ‘Wow, this is exactly what I signed up to do,’” he added.
In discussion with Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., Hejlik acknowledged that forming the special operations companies had required the Corps to gut its force reconnaissance units.
“We took basically all of the Marine Corps’ force reconnaissance capability,” Hejlik said, noting that only a couple of force recon platoons are left on each coast.
“What we took from the Marine Corps is really that more experienced Marine,” he said.
Asked by Kline how the Marines in the special operations companies compared with the force recon Marines of three years ago, before MarSOC was created, Hejlik said the standard of the special operations companies was “quite a bit higher.” He attributed this higher standard to three factors:
•The special ops Marines get to shoot about “five times as much.”
•The special ops units have additional “enablers,” such as intelligence personnel.
•Marine special operators have the opportunity to work alongside — and learn from — their counterparts in the other three services’ special operations forces.
Ellie
By Sean D. Naylor - Staff writer
Posted : February 12, 2007
A Marine special operations company is due to move from Djibouti to join the fight in Afghanistan on Feb. 3, the head of Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command told Congress.
The command, headed by Maj. Gen. Dennis Hejlik, was established last year, making it the newest of the four services’ special operations component commands.
But the Marines assigned to the command have hit the ground running and are busy on a variety of fronts, Hejlik told the House Armed Services terrorism, unconventional threats and capabilities subcommittee at a Jan. 31 hearing.
Hejlik’s command is divided between foreign military training units and special operations companies, such as the one that is deploying to Afghanistan, that have a “direct action” mission aimed at killing or capturing enemy forces.
The foreign military training teams deploy for “anywhere between 60 to 120 days,” Hejlik said.
One such training team recently gained experience through a recent tour of duty in the African nation of Chad, he said.
The Chadian regime of President Idriss Deby has been battling Islamist rebel groups based across its eastern border with Sudan. Late last year, the rebels launched an attack that nearly reached the capital of N’Djamena before they were driven back by Chadian troops.
U.S. special operations Marines who deployed to Chad in November trained the Chadian government forces that repelled the rebel offensive, Hejlik told lawmakers.
“The [Chadian] teams that we trained ... were the same two battalions that pushed the forces back in east Chad, on the border,” Hejlik said. “That in itself — to bring that force up to that level — was absolutely amazing.”
The team that trained the Chadian forces is now in Yemen. Other Marine Foreign Military Training Unit teams are in Tajikistan and Colombia, he said. Teams will also deploy soon to Saudi Arabia and back to Chad, he added.
Hejlik spelled out the benefits gained by the team deployed to Chad.
“What we get out of it is language skills,” he said, noting that Marines who deployed to Chad speaking basic French or Arabic drastically improved their fluency.
“We get retention out of it, because those young Marines go in there and go, ‘Wow, this is exactly what I signed up to do,’” he added.
In discussion with Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., Hejlik acknowledged that forming the special operations companies had required the Corps to gut its force reconnaissance units.
“We took basically all of the Marine Corps’ force reconnaissance capability,” Hejlik said, noting that only a couple of force recon platoons are left on each coast.
“What we took from the Marine Corps is really that more experienced Marine,” he said.
Asked by Kline how the Marines in the special operations companies compared with the force recon Marines of three years ago, before MarSOC was created, Hejlik said the standard of the special operations companies was “quite a bit higher.” He attributed this higher standard to three factors:
•The special ops Marines get to shoot about “five times as much.”
•The special ops units have additional “enablers,” such as intelligence personnel.
•Marine special operators have the opportunity to work alongside — and learn from — their counterparts in the other three services’ special operations forces.
Ellie