thedrifter
04-06-07, 09:20 AM
6,000 sailors, Marines ready for deployment
Staff report
Posted : Friday Apr 6, 2007 6:21:35 EDT
SAN DIEGO — More than 6,000 Marines and sailors will leave home next week on a scheduled deployment to the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean regions, Navy officials said.
The 2,200-member 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) will deploy April 10 on three amphibious ships — the big-deck assault ship Bonhomme Richard, dock landing ship Rushmore and amphibious transport dock Denver.
Navy Capt. Bradley D. Martin, who commands the San Diego-based Amphibious Squadron 7, will lead the Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group, which also includes the guided-missile cruiser Chosin and guided-missile destroyers Chung-Hoon and Milius, on the overseas deployment.
Milius and the three amphibious ships are scheduled to leave their home piers at the San Diego Naval Base on April 10, Navy officials said. The strike group will rendezvous with Chosin and Chung-Hoon, which are based in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
In March, Third Fleet certified the expeditionary strike group ready for deployment after the final joint training exercises off the Southern California coast. Unlike other ESGs that have deployed from San Diego in recent years, the Bonhomme Richard ESG will go forward without a flag-rank commander
For the Marines with the Camp Pendleton-based 13th MEU, commanded by Col. Carl E. Mundy III, the deployment will mark a couple of “firsts.”
The first West Coast-based group of highly-trained Marine commandos will deploy with the 13th MEU but will fall under the operational control of the theater special operations commander in the region. The artillery battery with Battalion Landing Team 3/1 is equipped with the Corps’ newest artillery system, the lightweight M998 155-millimeter cannon.
The Bonhomme Richard strike group includes a search-and-rescue detachment with Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 23, Beachmaster Unit 1, Assault Craft Units 1 and 5, and Tactical Air Control Squadron 12.
Along with BLT 3/1, its ground combat element, the 13th MEU includes Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 163 (Reinforced) and Combat Logistics Battalion 13.
Ellie
Staff report
Posted : Friday Apr 6, 2007 6:21:35 EDT
SAN DIEGO — More than 6,000 Marines and sailors will leave home next week on a scheduled deployment to the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean regions, Navy officials said.
The 2,200-member 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) will deploy April 10 on three amphibious ships — the big-deck assault ship Bonhomme Richard, dock landing ship Rushmore and amphibious transport dock Denver.
Navy Capt. Bradley D. Martin, who commands the San Diego-based Amphibious Squadron 7, will lead the Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group, which also includes the guided-missile cruiser Chosin and guided-missile destroyers Chung-Hoon and Milius, on the overseas deployment.
Milius and the three amphibious ships are scheduled to leave their home piers at the San Diego Naval Base on April 10, Navy officials said. The strike group will rendezvous with Chosin and Chung-Hoon, which are based in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
In March, Third Fleet certified the expeditionary strike group ready for deployment after the final joint training exercises off the Southern California coast. Unlike other ESGs that have deployed from San Diego in recent years, the Bonhomme Richard ESG will go forward without a flag-rank commander
For the Marines with the Camp Pendleton-based 13th MEU, commanded by Col. Carl E. Mundy III, the deployment will mark a couple of “firsts.”
The first West Coast-based group of highly-trained Marine commandos will deploy with the 13th MEU but will fall under the operational control of the theater special operations commander in the region. The artillery battery with Battalion Landing Team 3/1 is equipped with the Corps’ newest artillery system, the lightweight M998 155-millimeter cannon.
The Bonhomme Richard strike group includes a search-and-rescue detachment with Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 23, Beachmaster Unit 1, Assault Craft Units 1 and 5, and Tactical Air Control Squadron 12.
Along with BLT 3/1, its ground combat element, the 13th MEU includes Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 163 (Reinforced) and Combat Logistics Battalion 13.
Ellie