thedrifter
03-12-08, 10:32 AM
Marine unit gets call for Iraq duty
Many in Echo Company to serve 2nd tour in war-torn country
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
BY REGGIE SHEFFIELD
Of The Patriot-News
Echo Company, 2nd Battalion is on the move again.
The Harrisburg-based Marine Corps unit is to be activated in May for training in California and then head back to Iraq in the fall
"For many of these guys, it's a second, and I'm sure we got a couple third-time deployers," Maj. Bill Cook of Harrisburg said.
The unit is training in Quantico, Va., but is expected to return to Harrisburg toward the end of the week.
Cook said training at Quantico is made as realistic as possible to prepare the 120 or so Marines for duty in Iraq.
"So they've been doing a lot of combat training and live-fire shoots down at Quantico," Cook said.
Echo Company, 2nd Battalion is part of the 25th Marine Regiment. As part of the mobilization, they are to join the 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, based in Garden City, N.Y.
Cook said security concerns prevented him from discussing what the unit will do in Iraq.
"We're an infantry company, so something infantry-related," is all he would say.
While it is training in California, the until will be at Twenty-nine Palms, where it will take part in a 30-day combat exercise called Mojave Viper, he said.
Echo Company served in combat in Iraq as part of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in 2003 and was reactivated in 2005.
In December 2005, 75 Marines from Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 25th Marines were deployed to Iraq as augmenting forces for 1st Battalion, 25th Marines.
The Marines returned to Harrisburg in November 2006.
Last month, an additional 1,200 National Guard soldiers who were training at Fort Indiantown Gap -- about half of them from the midstate -- were told they might be sent to Iraq in a year. There are about 1,300 Pennsylvania Guard soldiers in Iraq.
REGGIE SHEFFIELD: 255-8170 or rsheffield@patriot-news.com
Ellie
Many in Echo Company to serve 2nd tour in war-torn country
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
BY REGGIE SHEFFIELD
Of The Patriot-News
Echo Company, 2nd Battalion is on the move again.
The Harrisburg-based Marine Corps unit is to be activated in May for training in California and then head back to Iraq in the fall
"For many of these guys, it's a second, and I'm sure we got a couple third-time deployers," Maj. Bill Cook of Harrisburg said.
The unit is training in Quantico, Va., but is expected to return to Harrisburg toward the end of the week.
Cook said training at Quantico is made as realistic as possible to prepare the 120 or so Marines for duty in Iraq.
"So they've been doing a lot of combat training and live-fire shoots down at Quantico," Cook said.
Echo Company, 2nd Battalion is part of the 25th Marine Regiment. As part of the mobilization, they are to join the 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, based in Garden City, N.Y.
Cook said security concerns prevented him from discussing what the unit will do in Iraq.
"We're an infantry company, so something infantry-related," is all he would say.
While it is training in California, the until will be at Twenty-nine Palms, where it will take part in a 30-day combat exercise called Mojave Viper, he said.
Echo Company served in combat in Iraq as part of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in 2003 and was reactivated in 2005.
In December 2005, 75 Marines from Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 25th Marines were deployed to Iraq as augmenting forces for 1st Battalion, 25th Marines.
The Marines returned to Harrisburg in November 2006.
Last month, an additional 1,200 National Guard soldiers who were training at Fort Indiantown Gap -- about half of them from the midstate -- were told they might be sent to Iraq in a year. There are about 1,300 Pennsylvania Guard soldiers in Iraq.
REGGIE SHEFFIELD: 255-8170 or rsheffield@patriot-news.com
Ellie