Shaffer
04-28-03, 09:12 AM
After helping secure the airport at Mosul and restoring order among the civilian population in northern Iraq, Marines with Camp Lejeune’s 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit are preparing to leave Iraq, military officials said Friday.
The announcement is another sign that the mission is winding down for Lejeune and New River Air Station-based troops involved in the war. Earlier this week the military said the 24th MEU from Lejeune would be heading home after a nearly eight-month deployment.
Where the Marines and sailors with the 26th MEU will head next, however, was not released by military officials Friday. The MEU still is on a regular deployment cycle to the Mediterranean Sea. It was not known when it would return to the amphibious assault ships USS Iwo Jima, Nashville and Carter Hall.
“It’s hard to say when we will be getting back on the ships,” said 26th MEU spokesman Capt. James Jarvis. “We are doing repairs and equipment checks.”
The six CH-53E Super Stallion and six CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters the MEU used in Iraq already are out of the country, and the remaining Marines and sailors were in the process of leaving Friday. The MEU is not scheduled to return to Lejeune until August.
http://www.jdnews.com/Details.cfm?StoryID=12061
The announcement is another sign that the mission is winding down for Lejeune and New River Air Station-based troops involved in the war. Earlier this week the military said the 24th MEU from Lejeune would be heading home after a nearly eight-month deployment.
Where the Marines and sailors with the 26th MEU will head next, however, was not released by military officials Friday. The MEU still is on a regular deployment cycle to the Mediterranean Sea. It was not known when it would return to the amphibious assault ships USS Iwo Jima, Nashville and Carter Hall.
“It’s hard to say when we will be getting back on the ships,” said 26th MEU spokesman Capt. James Jarvis. “We are doing repairs and equipment checks.”
The six CH-53E Super Stallion and six CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters the MEU used in Iraq already are out of the country, and the remaining Marines and sailors were in the process of leaving Friday. The MEU is not scheduled to return to Lejeune until August.
http://www.jdnews.com/Details.cfm?StoryID=12061