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thedrifter
04-01-03, 06:54 AM
Article ran : 04/01/2003
6th Marines on duty in Kuwait, Iraq
By ERIC STEINKOPFF
DAILY NEWS STAFF
Members the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, who left Camp Lejeune three weeks ago with no announced mission, have arrived in the Middle East.



When the nearly 1,000-person force arrived is unclear, but according to U.S. military reports they have been pulling guard duty for the West Coast’s I Marine Expeditionary Force staff at Camp Commando and Camp Justice in northern Kuwait, as well as I MEF forward command posts in Iraq.



Recently, the battalion became a supporting force for the West Coast’s 2,300-member 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit built around reinforced versions of 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment and Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 166.



The 11th MEU left Camp Pendleton in mid-June aboard amphibious assault ships Belleau Wood, Denver and Mount Vernon and now, with the 2/6, represent more than 3,000 Marines and sailors of Task Force Yankee likely on the move somewhere in Iraq.



Monday was a busy day in Iraq for Marines and sailors based in eastern North Carolina, but it’s sometimes difficult to keep track of the players because the teams keep changing.



Sometimes there are West Coast units working with East Coast counterparts, and other times units are simply described by the overall Marine command staff from Camp Pendleton, I Marine Expeditionary Force.



Here is a summary of recent activity by Lejeune troops.



24th MEU



Late last week, the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit went ashore in Kuwait and is expected to move north into Iraq.



The 2,200-member force includes reinforced versions of 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, and Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263, as well as command and combat service support elements that left eastern North Carolina aboard amphibious assault ships Nassau, Austin and Tortuga in late August.



Originally scheduled to return home in mid-March, the unit has had its deployment extended indefinitely.



2nd MEB



The more than 7,000-member 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, also known as Task Force Tarawa, has been busy in “Ambush Alley,” an area near the city of An Nasiriyah where members of the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment; 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment; and 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment have seen heavy fighting.



Over the weekend, the 2nd MEB seized two large caches of weapons and chemicals from the Iraqi 11th Division with the help of Cobra gunships likely from their Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 269, one of at least four helicopter and two Harrier squadrons with Marine Aircraft Group 29.



According to televised press reports, Task Force Tarawa came under fire briefly Monday until artillery elements of 1st Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment returned a barrage that silenced the attackers.



“There are scenes of joy and jubilant reunion (from Iraqi civilians),” one embedded reporter said, describing Marine forces distributing food and water captured at the Iraqi division headquarters to the local townspeople.



Elements of 2/8 also provided medical attention to those civilians in need.



CBS reports showed members of Camp Lejeune’s 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion of Task Force Tarawa temporarily paused at an undisclosed position, passing out yellow packs of humanitarian rations similar to military MREs, without the pork and western spices.



But in an undisclosed town north of An Nasiriyah, advancing U.S. forces encountered the body of a dead Marine “put hideously on display,” a tactic used to cause shock and panic.



2nd Battalion,



25th Marine Regiment



Roughly 1,000 Marines and sailors from the reserve 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, left Camp Lejeune last weekend for the Middle East.



This is their second 12-month activation since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and their unit includes troops from Headquarters and Service and Weapons Companies from Garden City, N.Y.; Echo Company from Harrisburg, Pa.; Fox Company from Albany, N.Y.; Golf Company from Dover, N.J.; and TOW section, Weapons Company, out of Broken Arrow, Okla.



2nd FSSG



Several thousand troops from Camp Lejeune’s 2nd Force Service Support Group headquartered at Camp Fox in Kuwait continue to send long lines of supplies and vehicle maintenance crews out into the desert with what organizers said was “significant security measures” to keep them safe.



26th MEU



It is unclear what part Camp Lejeune’s 2,300-member 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit will play in the mix.



They left Lejeune in early March aboard the amphibious assault ships Iwo Jima, Nashville and Carter Hall and are in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.



Their force is built around reinforced versions of 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment and Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 264, complete with Harriers from Cherry Point Air Station’s Marine Attack Squadron 22.



Officials said that they have their normal complement of logistical experts ashore ready to move people, supplies and equipment on land, sea and air, but have not yet entered into a combat role.



In addition to their transport helicopters, such MEUs typically have Marine KC-130 Hercules transport aircraft forward deployed at bases around the world at their disposal to quickly move their troops where they are needed.



“We are closely monitoring the situation and actions in Iraq as, of course, the rest of the world is,” said 26th MEU commander Col. Andy Frick.







Contact Eric Steinkopff at esteinkopff@jdnews.com or at 353-1171, Ext. 236.





Sempers,

Roger