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thedrifter
11-12-07, 08:53 AM
'911 force' trains for any possible mission

JENNIFER HLAD
November 12, 2007 - 1:04AM
DAILY NEWS STAFF

FORT PICKETT, Va. - For many Marine units, deployment means one thing: Iraq.

Predeployment training focuses on the mission they will likely face in-country, even if they are scheduled to be part of the few hundred Marines serving in Afghanistan or even Africa.

But for Marine Expeditionary Units, the destination and mission are unknown - sometimes even after the unit leaves Camp Lejeune.

"I absolutely believe we will leave without knowing where we're going," said Col. Peter Petronzio, commanding officer of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which will deploy in early spring when the 22nd MEU returns from its tour.

"Our mission in life is to be the combatant commander's strategic reserve, and he (may not) know what he's going to do with us," Petronzio said.

Since the MEU is a "911 force," tasked with responding to any mission that comes up, the 2,200 Marines and sailors must train for a slate of possible tasks.

The training cycle began a few months ago, but the missions truly integrating the MEU's air, ground and logistics elements began just two weeks ago at this Army National Guard Base in southcentral Virginia.

The idea, Petronzio said, is to get the troops out of their comfort zone and make them rely on their basic skills.

"There's not a Marine here who doesn't know Camp Lejeune like the back of their hand," he said. "We need to get them somewhere where they're forced to navigate, forced to do things they don't do every day."

During the two-week period, the Marines and sailors have run a variety of missions. They gathered intelligence information, then went into a mock village to recover a weapons cache or a hostage. Information gathered from those raids was applied to the next mission.

Corpsmen and Marines worked together on a mass casualty evacuation. Pilots practiced navigating and landing in difficult situations - even flying Marines to a mission roughly 150 miles away from the forward operating base.

Capt. Brandon Whitfield, a CH-46 pilot, was with the 24th MEU last year when the unit helped evacuate American citizens from Lebanon. There was only one spot where he could land in Beirut, he said, which meant some of the evacuation had to be done by ground.

Practicing scenarios in which the only available landing zone has power lines nearby, only enough room for a helicopter or two to squeeze in and other variables is important, he said.

In Thursday night's air raid mission, helicopters swooped into a dark landing area to drop off Marines. When the pilots are wearing night-vision goggles, it's easier if the area is completely dark, Whitfield said. But that is not always the case.

Lights from houses, roads and other nearby structures could make it nearly impossible to see the landing zone, he said.

Still, what made the raid and other exercises the most difficult was simply the amount of people involved. While the individual units have trained together, the various MEU elements are just learning to work together as a team.

Some of the helicopter Marines have never worked with a ground element, said Capt. Ryan Lynch, a CH-53 pilot. Add to that the unfamiliar terrain, communications challenges and other variables, and the Marines and sailors have a lot to work through.

"It takes you back to the basic skill set," said Capt. Dan Grooms, a Huey pilot.

Capt. Matthew Downs, also a Huey pilot, agreed.

"The fundamentals are always the same," he said. "Being in an environment like this forces us to focus on that."

And in addition to the Marines out in the field, there are many Marines back at the base practicing support operations, said Lt. Mark Matzke, executive officer for Charlie Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 6th Marines.

"It's a continual process," he said.



Contact military reporter Jennifer Hlad at jhlad@freedomenc.com or 353-1171, ext. 8467.

Ellie