thedrifter
07-07-07, 06:41 AM
Published July 07, 2007 12:06 am - TULSA, Okla. — More than 100 Marines will leave for Iraq next week in what officials say is the largest deployment from Oklahoma City since Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s.
Oklahoma: Largest Marine deployment since Desert Storm leaving OKC next week
The Associated Press
TULSA, Okla. — More than 100 Marines will leave for Iraq next week in what officials say is the largest deployment from Oklahoma City since Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s.
Marine 1st Sgt. Scott Baker said 131 reservists with the Fox Battery of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Marines, 4th Marine Division at the Armed Forces Reserve Center will fly to Riverside, Calif., on Monday or Tuesday, and head to the al-Anbar Province in western Iraq.
The reservists will be based at the al-Asad Air Base, the second-largest in Iraq, during their seven-month tour of duty.
Baker said the Marines will be the first in the history of the Marine Corps to use the HIMARS, or High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.
“The Army has been using this system, but this will be the first time for the Marines,” Baker said. “We’re really excited.”
The rockets can hit a mailbox from 60 miles away, he said.
The unit trained on the system last summer at Fort Sill, and others received additional training at the Marine base at Twentynine Palms, Calif.
The first rocket fired in Iraq by the Oklahoma Marines will be in honor of Lance Cpl. Trevor Roberts, 21, of Oklahoma City, Baker said.
Roberts, who was assigned to the Marine Forces Reserve’s 2nd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division at Oklahoma City, was killed March 24 in a roadside bomb attack in the al-Anbar Province.
Baker said about 40 Marines from the Oklahoma City reserve center have gone to Iraq, but they went with other units.
The 131 Marines leaving next week will be the largest mass deployment from Oklahoma City.
Most of those who are leaving are from Oklahoma City, but others are from elsewhere in Oklahoma, along with a few from Kansas and Texas.
———
Information from: Tulsa World, www.tulsaworld.com
Ellie
Oklahoma: Largest Marine deployment since Desert Storm leaving OKC next week
The Associated Press
TULSA, Okla. — More than 100 Marines will leave for Iraq next week in what officials say is the largest deployment from Oklahoma City since Operation Desert Storm in the early 1990s.
Marine 1st Sgt. Scott Baker said 131 reservists with the Fox Battery of the 2nd Battalion, 14th Marines, 4th Marine Division at the Armed Forces Reserve Center will fly to Riverside, Calif., on Monday or Tuesday, and head to the al-Anbar Province in western Iraq.
The reservists will be based at the al-Asad Air Base, the second-largest in Iraq, during their seven-month tour of duty.
Baker said the Marines will be the first in the history of the Marine Corps to use the HIMARS, or High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.
“The Army has been using this system, but this will be the first time for the Marines,” Baker said. “We’re really excited.”
The rockets can hit a mailbox from 60 miles away, he said.
The unit trained on the system last summer at Fort Sill, and others received additional training at the Marine base at Twentynine Palms, Calif.
The first rocket fired in Iraq by the Oklahoma Marines will be in honor of Lance Cpl. Trevor Roberts, 21, of Oklahoma City, Baker said.
Roberts, who was assigned to the Marine Forces Reserve’s 2nd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division at Oklahoma City, was killed March 24 in a roadside bomb attack in the al-Anbar Province.
Baker said about 40 Marines from the Oklahoma City reserve center have gone to Iraq, but they went with other units.
The 131 Marines leaving next week will be the largest mass deployment from Oklahoma City.
Most of those who are leaving are from Oklahoma City, but others are from elsewhere in Oklahoma, along with a few from Kansas and Texas.
———
Information from: Tulsa World, www.tulsaworld.com
Ellie