Two branches work as one

[thedrifter]

Two branches work as one
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Marine-Navy relationship demonstrated in exercise
July 29, 2008 - 12:55AM
JENNIFER HLAD
DAILY NEWS STAFF

ABOARD THE U.S.S. IWO JIMA - The Marine Corps and the Navy have a unique relationship: separate, but more closely connected than any other two armed forces. In the amphibious model of warfare - a model that Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway has stressed in his recent guidance to Marines - the two services must work together seamlessly to deploy troops and get them into battle.

The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit is nearing the end of training with its Navy counterparts as it prepares for an amphibious deployment, and commanders on the "blue" side and the "green" side say the integration is going smoothly.

Chief Petty Officer Jerrod Morgan, an LCAC (landing craft air cushioned) navigator with the Little Creek, Va.-based Assault Craft Unit 4, said Navy-Marine Corps teamwork is "essential."

Since the war in Iraq began, the services have gotten away from the traditional expeditionary warfare, in which Navy ships bring Marines into battle.

"It's a very unique construct," Morgan said. "Our jobs are different, but we have to have each other."

Lt. Col. John Capdepon, executive officer of the 26th MEU, compared the Marine Corps-Navy integration to an extended family coming together over a holiday. While each command has its own idiosyncrasies and different ways of doing things, they can learn to work together well, he said.

Capt. Brian Smith, commodore of the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group, understands both sides of the equation. Smith is a former aviation ordnance Marine who now commands all the ships in the Iwo Jima ESG.

One of the Navy side's primary roles is providing a "secure maritime environment" and supporting missions ashore, he said.

"It's hard to support the mission if you don't understand the mission," Smith said.

For example, Marines must coordinate with sailors to get on the ship or off the ship - by aircraft or by landing craft. They also rely on the sailors to keep the ship running properly.

Though there are challenges, working together is "a labor of love," Smith said. Any mission the Marines plan, the Navy side is involved in, from beginning to end.

In addition to Smith's Marine background, the U.S.S. Iwo Jima's captain deployed previously with the commander of the 26th MEU, Col. Mark Desens.

The cooperation and strength of the Navy-Marine Corps team gives the Marines and sailors more capabilities, Capdepon said, because they can cover more distance. Still, working with the space constraints of the ship and learning to live on a ship are some of the biggest hurdles, he said.

"It's a very large machine," Capdepon said - and the inner workings of that machine are 3,000-plus Marines and sailors.

For Petty Officer 1st Class James Ward, the leading petty officer of the ship's medical department, it doesn't matter what uniform a service member wears.

"We're just one big team, all working together with whatever needs to be taken care of," Ward said.

Interactive content editor Jennifer Hlad is embedded with the 26th MEU aboard the USS Iwo Jima. Contact her at jhlad@freedomenc.com or visit her blog at http://26meu.encblogs.com.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

USS Iwo Jima is the last of its kind
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Steam-powered vessel can get its Marines ashore in two hours
July 29, 2008 - 12:42AM
JENNIFER HLAD
DAILY NEWS STAFF

ABOARD THE USS IWO JIMA - It's a floating city, all propelled by steam.

The Iwo Jima, an amphibious assault ship and the largest craft in the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group, houses about 1,200 Marines and roughly 1,000 sailors. But the ship doesn't just provide a place to sleep. It also has work, living and eating space for all those service members and additional space for their gear.

Near the bottom of the ship, engineers work to power the ship using steam propulsion. When the sailors on the bridge give the order to move, Chief Petty Officer Larry Jones and the other sailors in the engine room get to work. They control the steam to make the ship move, working in hot, humid conditions with steam that can get up to 850 to 900 degrees - on the last ship in the Navy to use steam technology.

Nearby, other sailors work to de-salinate seawater to create fresh water for the boilers and for drinking.

The water machine - called the "evap" for evaporator - collects sea water, then flash steams the water in six stages, condenses it and collects it. The ship can make 100,000 gallons of water a day, said Petty Officer 2nd Class Daniel Bobo.

The water feeds the boilers and also provides potable water for the people who live on the ship - aiming for about 35 gallons per day per person, Bobo said.

A few levels up, sailors and Marines staff a full medical facility - second in size only to Navy hospital ships. The medical wing boasts dental exam rooms and operating rooms, a dental prosthetic lab, digital X-ray capability, full trauma capabilities, a pharmacy, a laboratory, a walk-in blood bank, an emergency room and four operating rooms.

The ship is considered a casualty receiving ship, said Petty Officer 1st Class James Ward, leading petty officer of the medical department. The medical staff can receive injured patients on the flight deck or hangar deck, then move them via elevator to the triage area in the hospital.

The post-operation facility/intensive care unit can hold 15 patients, while the "primary ward" has 45 beds. Nearby troop sleeping areas can serve as overflow for up to 650 patients, Ward said.

In addition to the sleeping and dining facilities, the ship has a workout room for sailors and Marines - they separate the hours so the Marines can't take over the gym all day long - and a show room with artifacts and other reminders of its namesake, the Battle of Iwo Jima.

The Suribachi room, named after the mountain on the Pacific island, hosts a memorial with the names of every service member who died during the bloody World War II battle, as well as photos of each service member to earn a Medal of Honor from the battle. A display case includes canteens, helmets and sand from the island, and signatures of veterans dot a Japanese flag taken on the field of battle.

Up top, the 2.2-acre flight deck hosts CH-53E "Super Stallions," CH-46E "Sea Knights," AH-1W "Super Cobras" and the AV-8B Harrier.

The basic mission of the ship is to "take Marines and put them into the fight," by sea and by air, said Chief Petty Officer Scott Boyle. And while everything on ship has a specific role, the capabilities combine for what may be the most impressive statistic on the enormous craft - they can launch all the Marines onto the shore for battle in two hours.

Interactive content editor Jennifer Hlad is aboard the U.S.S. Iwo Jima with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Contact her at jhlad@freedomenc.com or visit her blog at http://26meu.encblogs.com

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Coordinating firepower ballet
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July 28, 2008 - 12:39AM
JENNIFER HLAD
DAILY NEWS STAFF

Using a combination of 81-mm mortars, artillery, naval guns, helicopters and jets to attack a target is not quite as easy as ready, aim, fire.

The mortar Marines can't always see where they're firing. The men on the ground can't be shooting when the helicopters and jets are flying overhead. And the aircraft have to drop their bombs on the enemy while avoiding their fellow Marines and any civilians on the ground.

"It's a well-coordinated ballet of fires," said Capt. Matt Markham, air officer for Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Markham and other members of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit staged that "ballet" Sunday at Camp Lejeune, conducting a combined arms exercise as part of the MEU's pre-deployment training.

The point of using different types of weaponry is to "put bad guys in the horns of a dilemma," Markham said. Simply put: the enemy is in trouble whether he stands still or tries to run.

Cpl. Nick Ingmire is a fire support man with BLT 2/6. His job is to watch where the artillery rounds hit, then tell the Marines how to adjust to better hit their targets. They use a technique called "bracketing," first striking on either side of a target, then moving gradually inward as they zero in.

The combined arms training helps the Marines become faster and more efficient, Ingmire said, which becomes crucial when they deploy.

"There's a lot of parts to it," he said. "The smaller parts come together to paint one big picture."

Working with the various units can be a challenge, but the Marines have improved and progressed each time they've trained, said 1st Lt. Kyle Wolfe, 81-mm mortar platoon commander. For the mortar Marines, that means getting their timing down.

The mortar platoon has eight guns, each manned by four or five Marines. But they try to shoot all the guns at the same time so the enemy can't determine the position of an individual squad.

Once they get going, it is "one big bang," said Cpl. Derrick Terrell, a squad leader in the mortar platoon.

The mortars are flexible - they can shoot at a distance of 200 meters up to 4-and-a-half miles and they have 360-degree capabilities. The platoon also serves as the tactical recovery of aircraft and personnel (TRAP) team, going out to rescue Marines and sailors if a helicopter or other aircraft goes down.

Practice is key, Wolfe said, because the mortar platoon didn't do much mortar shooting during its last deployment in Iraq. The infantry battalion returned from Fallujah in October.

"You never know when you'll be called. It's good to be prepared," Terrell said.

Though the combined arms process may sound simple, Markham said working with so many Marines and different squads can be challenging - hence why they must train together, multiple times, before they deploy.

"The devil's really in the details," he said.



Interactive content editor Jennifer Hlad is embedded with the 26th MEU aboard the U.S.S. Iwo Jima. Contact her at jhlad@freedomenc.com or read her blog from the ship at http://26meu.encblogs.com.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Landing with precision
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Military pilot says attention to detail is key
July 30, 2008 - 12:10AM
JENNIFER HLAD
DAILY NEWS STAFF

ABOARD THE USS IWO JIMA - The engine roar announces the arrival of the AV-8B Harrier while the jet is still just a speck in the sky. Soon, the plane comes into clear view. It seems to stop in mid-air, hovering for a moment next to the ship before moving neatly to the side and landing on the windy flight deck with a bounce.

Seconds later, another arrives, bouncing onto the deck just a few feet behind the first. The pilots have practiced landing in a small space many, many times. But actually landing on the deck of a moving ship - rather than a field designed to mimic a ship - has its own unique set of challenges.

Attention to detail is key, said Capt. Matthew Seavitte, "because things can go very bad very fast."

Seavitte is one of nine Harrier pilots with HMM-264, the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit's aviation combat element.

The aviation element also includes CH-46E "Sea Knight," CH-53E "Super Stallion" and AH-1W "Super Cobra" helicopters.

The ACE's role is to provide air support and transport for the other parts of the 26th MEU.

"Pretty much everything we do revolves around the other parts of the MEU," said Capt. Pete Foradori, a CH-53 pilot.

For the helicopters, the biggest challenge of working from a ship is dealing with the flight deck cycle and schedule. The limited space means only a certain number of aircraft can launch or land at a time, Foradori said.

The ACE Marines must work closely with the Navy for that flight deck scheduling, as well as maintenance and other tasks, said Lt. Col. Mike Snyder, commanding officer of HMM-264.

"Everything we do, we have to coordinate with the Navy," he said. "Everything we do as a squadron is integrated and tied in with them."

But working with the sailors to schedule flight operations and maintenance has gone relatively smoothly, Snyder said.

"The relationship has developed a lot faster than it has in the past," he said. Seavitte, who will be serving his first deployment, said he loves ship operations.

Though working from a ship can be difficult, Seavitte said he enjoys the fact that the Harrier contingent is integrated with the other parts of the ACE and the MEU. In Iraq deployments, air units generally contain only one type of aircraft, and the Marines tend to focus on one specific type of mission.

In the MEU, there is a relationship between the elements, and a chance to look at how different types of aircraft can support the different operations, Snyder said.

This will be Foradori's third deployment, and he said he appreciates the opportunity to perform a variety of missions.

He has previously served in Iraq, as well as with the 22nd MEU - which was called to help provide humanitarian aid in Bangladesh after Cyclone Sidr. Missions like that, he said, are "always really rewarding (and) a lot of fun."

Contact interactive content editor Jennifer Hlad at jhlad@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8467. Visit her 26th MEU blog at http://26meu.encblogs.com.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Troops prepare for life at sea
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The 26th MEU deploys on ship in the early fall
July 29, 2008 - 11:19PM
JENNIFER HLAD
DAILY NEWS STAFF

ABOARD THE USS IWO JIMA - The first time Cpl. Chris McNeal was on a Navy ship, the rocking got to him.

The movement on the USS San Antonio - a new amphibious transport dock ship in the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group - didn't make McNeal sick, but it did make his mood take a nosedive. And it doesn't help that the beds and passageways don't seem to have been designed with a 6-foot-1-inch Marine in mind. But he got used to the rocking, and is dealing with the cramped conditions on the Iwo Jima.

"I'm not as miserable as I was the first time," McNeal said.

McNeal, an operations clerk and Marine air-ground task force planner with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, is one of about 2,200 Marines and sailors getting used to living on ship in preparation for a deployment in early fall.

For Cpl. Cris Kulikowski, the key is staying busy.

Kulikowski, assistant team leader, Sniper Team 2, Battalion Landing Team 2/6, 26th MEU, said he and the other members of his unit are excited about deploying on ship because it is something new, different than their previous deployment to Iraq.

"The uncertainty is kind of exciting for us," Kulikoswski said, referring to the fact that the MEU can be called into action, when needed, for a variety of missions.

In the meantime, Kulikowski attends intelligence briefs, maintains his gear and takes classes. And there's always the gym, he said.

Living in close quarters with so many other Marines and sailors can be stressful, he said, but his unit has adapted well.

"We're used to being together," Kulikowski said. "Our whole platoon is really tight."

It's Cpl. Miguel Mendoza's job to make sure every Marine on ship has a place to sleep and work. Mendoza, the MEU's Headquarters Commandant police sergeant, said he hasn't had much trouble adjusting to ship life.

But the dinner line can get pretty long, he said.

"When everybody's on board, it is about an hour and a half," he said. "The chow's pretty good, though."

Cpl. Daniel Moreno deployed on a similar ship once before.

"It gets kind of boring sometimes, but now we have new faces," said Moreno, a multi-channel radio operator.

Some days, he said, he never sees the sky. But in his down time, he often will go to the well deck, "just to get outside and get some fresh air."

Pfc. Bobby Hoover, also a multi-channel radio operator, is also finding ways to adjust.

"This is my first float," he said. "You just adapt, live day to day. Find things that get you through the day."

For Hoover, that means e-mailing his wife, going to the gym, playing cards or watching movies - all common ways Marines pass the time in the limited space of the ship.

McNeal also will watch movies or play cards, and said he feels like he lives in the gym. Others try to find a bit of time to themselves - something in short supply aboard the busy ship.

And much of the time is taken up by training and other work, which McNeal said comes naturally.

"It's like a rhythm," he said. "You don't even think about it, you just do it."

Contact interactive content editor Jennifer Hlad at jhlad@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8467. Visit her 26th MEU blog at http://26meu.encblogs.com.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

Marines get Hornet buzz
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200 troops practicing their skills out at sea
July 29, 2008 - 12:39AM
JANNETTE PIPPIN

MOREHEAD CITY - The view for Marine Lance Cpl. T.J. Moose was a bit different Monday as he peered out over the railing of the USNS Wright from its berth at the Morehead City port.

His crash, fire and rescue duties at Cherry Point Air Station typically keep him on dry land rather than at sea, making his latest assignment both a break from his normal routine and training under different circumstances.

"I'm normally on an airfield," Moose said. "It's the same duties but the main difference is I'm a little bit out of my element (being on ship)."

Moose, who serves with Marine Wing Support Squadron 271, is one of about 200 Marines from units in North and South Carolina putting their skills to test aboard the USNS Wright as part of the Carolina Hornet exercise now under way.

The ship was being loaded Monday at the port in preparation for offshore operations for the exercise in providing aviation supply and maintenance for Marine aircraft when deployed.

It's a floating aircraft maintenance shop with just about all the parts and supplies needed to keep aircraft in service, from parts for communication and navigation systems to electronic countermeasures.

"They are all things to keep aircraft mission ready," said Lt. Col. Chuck Dunne, commanding officer of Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron from Beaufort, S.C., and commanding officer of the Marine detachment serving aboard the Wright.

Dunne said Carolina Hornet has been a multi-facility, multi-unit effort, with seven units involved, including Marine Aviation Logistics Squadrons from Cherry Point, New River and Beaufort, S.C.

Filling the Wright on Monday were large containers that did more than store parts and supplies needed. Each one, known as mobile maintenance facilities, is equipped for use as a self-contained repair shop. Some handle work such as welding, while others may be devoted to hydraulics or other aspects of aviation maintenance.

But Dunne said it's not the repairs or maintenance of aircraft that makes the exercise aboard the Wright different. Planning offshore operations and working shipboard are not what the Marines participating in Carolina Hornet do on a regular basis.

"Planning and loading and unloading (a ship) is so challenging because they don't do it every day," Dunne said. "But it's important because we never know when our nation will need us to do it."

Charlie Doyle, a retired Marine now stationed at Cherry Point with Headquarters Marine Corps, said experience in aviation logistics doesn't necessarily equate with shipboard experience.

"There are very limited people here with shipboard knowledge, but it is important they know it," he said.

Doyle said that in the case of rapid deployment, that basic knowledge would be needed to accomplish the mission.

"We may not get it precisely right, but we have to get it done quickly," he said. "Building that knowledge base is important so that we know that when the time comes we have it there."

Home-ported in Baltimore, Md., the Wright is not typically a Department of Defense vessel. It and a sister vessel, the USNS Curtiss on the West Coast, are activated every two years on rotating years.

When activated, they set sail on exercises such as Carolina Hornet, providing valuable training and deploying for active duty as needed. When not in military use, the ships are maintained by the U.S. Maritime Administration under the Department of Transportation.

The Wright deployed during Desert Storm in 1991 and during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

Cpl. David Wells, a food service specialist with Marine Wing Support Squadron 271 of Cherry Point, was aboard the Wright providing what support he could, from the kitchen to helping guide media on a tour of the ship.

Cherry Point is his first duty station, and he saw the experience aboard the Wright as an opportunity to work with Marines from other units.

"Even though we don't always know each other, we get the job done," he said.

Contact Carteret County reporter Jannette Pippin at jpippin@freedomenc.com or 252-808-2275. Visit www.jdnews.com to comment on this report.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

On the Brink

7/29/2008 By Cpl Aaron Rock , 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit
ABOARD USS IWO JIMA OFF THE COAST OF JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — Six months after the Major Subordinate Elements of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit formed together into the 2,200-strong Marine Air-Ground Task Force, the unit has now completed the last of its major training exercises, the Composite Training Unit Exercise, aboard the ships of the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group.



In a departure from an ordinary predeployment workup period, COMPTUEX served as the certification exercise for the 26th MEU. Normally that role would have been fulfilled by another at-sea period, the Certification Exercise or CERTEX.



The compressed schedule put pressure on leaders and equipment of the MEU, but was nothing the MEU couldn't handle, said Col. Mark J. Desens, commanding officer of the 26th MEU.



"Our approach to the certification piece of COMPTUEX was simple. Our primary focus is on improving ourselves at every opportunity. If you do that right, an evaluation takes care of itself. We continuously seek opportunities to train aggressively, with leaders controlling the pace and complexity of how we train so that we don't get people hurt or equipment needlessly damaged along the way," said Desens.



Despite the fact that two exercises were merged into one, Desens stressed that it was business as usual for the warriors in the MEU, and the unit coped quite handily with the added stresses.



"In what we want to achieve, COMPTUEX was no busier than the norm. It was a chance to exercise all of the missions we have trained for from the sea and to further strengthen our relationship with our Navy counterparts," he said.



In addition to the logistical movements and skills necessary to operate as a fully functional expeditionary unit, the MEU practiced a wide spectrum of combat and humanitarian operations with which it may be tasked during its deployment, scheduled for late August, 2008.



Among the missions completed were multiple amphibious and helicopter-borne raids, a simulated embassy reinforcement and Noncombatant Evacuation Operation, a Humanitarian Assistance Operation, several Mass Casualty scenarios, and a host of other skills unique to a MEU which can only be practiced while embarked aboard the Marines' future home for six months, the Iwo Jima ESG, according to Desens.



Almost all Marines and Sailors belonging to the 26th MEU, including the Command Element; the Aviation Combat Element, Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron-264 (Rein); the Ground Combat Element, Battalion Landing Team 2/6; and the Logistics Combat Element, Combat Logistics Battalion-26, were loaded aboard the USS Iwo Jima, USS San Antonio and USS Carter Hall, along with all their equipment, in order to properly simulate a deployed environment.



"You can't simulate the environment of living and operating from the sea, you have to actually do it. We have safely, yet aggressively, exercised each of our units in ship-to-shore movements, employed our assets in a tactical environment, and returned to shipping so that we are ready for follow-on missions. We have exercised live-fire operations, to include naval gunfire and aviation and the shifting of control of those fires from the ship to the (Battalion Landing Team Fire Support Coordination Center) ashore," Desens said.

Ellie

[thedrifter]

USS Iwo Jima is the last of its kind
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Steam-powered vessel can get its Marines ashore in two hours
July 29, 2008 - 12:42AM
JENNIFER HLAD
DAILY NEWS STAFF

ABOARD THE USS IWO JIMA - It's a floating city, all propelled by steam.

The Iwo Jima, an amphibious assault ship and the largest craft in the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group, houses about 1,200 Marines and roughly 1,000 sailors. But the ship doesn't just provide a place to sleep. It also has work, living and eating space for all those service members and additional space for their gear.

Near the bottom of the ship, engineers work to power the ship using steam propulsion. When the sailors on the bridge give the order to move, Chief Petty Officer Larry Jones and the other sailors in the engine room get to work. They control the steam to make the ship move, working in hot, humid conditions with steam that can get up to 850 to 900 degrees - on the last ship in the Navy to use steam technology.

Nearby, other sailors work to de-salinate seawater to create fresh water for the boilers and for drinking.

The water machine - called the "evap" for evaporator - collects sea water, then flash steams the water in six stages, condenses it and collects it. The ship can make 100,000 gallons of water a day, said Petty Officer 2nd Class Daniel Bobo.

The water feeds the boilers and also provides potable water for the people who live on the ship - aiming for about 35 gallons per day per person, Bobo said.

A few levels up, sailors and Marines staff a full medical facility - second in size only to Navy hospital ships. The medical wing boasts dental exam rooms and operating rooms, a dental prosthetic lab, digital X-ray capability, full trauma capabilities, a pharmacy, a laboratory, a walk-in blood bank, an emergency room and four operating rooms.

The ship is considered a casualty receiving ship, said Petty Officer 1st Class James Ward, leading petty officer of the medical department. The medical staff can receive injured patients on the flight deck or hangar deck, then move them via elevator to the triage area in the hospital.

The post-operation facility/intensive care unit can hold 15 patients, while the "primary ward" has 45 beds. Nearby troop sleeping areas can serve as overflow for up to 650 patients, Ward said.

In addition to the sleeping and dining facilities, the ship has a workout room for sailors and Marines - they separate the hours so the Marines can't take over the gym all day long - and a show room with artifacts and other reminders of its namesake, the Battle of Iwo Jima.

The Suribachi room, named after the mountain on the Pacific island, hosts a memorial with the names of every service member who died during the bloody World War II battle, as well as photos of each service member to earn a Medal of Honor from the battle. A display case includes canteens, helmets and sand from the island, and signatures of veterans dot a Japanese flag taken on the field of battle.

Up top, the 2.2-acre flight deck hosts CH-53E "Super Stallions," CH-46E "Sea Knights," AH-1W "Super Cobras" and the AV-8B Harrier.

The basic mission of the ship is to "take Marines and put them into the fight," by sea and by air, said Chief Petty Officer Scott Boyle. And while everything on ship has a specific role, the capabilities combine for what may be the most impressive statistic on the enormous craft - they can launch all the Marines onto the shore for battle in two hours.

Interactive content editor Jennifer Hlad is aboard the U.S.S. Iwo Jima with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Contact her at jhlad@freedomenc.com or visit her blog at http://26meu.encblogs.com

Ellie

[thedrifter]

26th MEU completes its training
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Deployment this fall; destination undeclared
July 31, 2008 - 12:51AM
JENNIFER HLAD
DAILY NEWS STAFF

After six months of training, the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit is ready to deploy.

"At this point in time, we're just ready to load up the ship and head east," said Lt. Col. John Capdepon, executive officer of the 26th MEU.

The MEU - made up of a command element, an aviation combat element, an infantry battalion landing team and a combat logistics element - went through a compressed predeployment period, training in three at-sea periods instead of the traditional four. Because of operational requirements, the unit extended its composite training unit exercise by about a week, using the training period to also complete what normally would be a separate certification exercise.

But the Marines "are prepared, both mentally and operationally, to deploy," Capdepon said.

The last North Carolina-based MEU to deploy also went through just three at-sea periods. The 24th MEU canceled its last at-sea training when commanders learned the unit would deploy to Afghanistan, traveling by air.

The 26th MEU still plans to deploy by sea in the early fall, and no specific destination has been announced.

During the predeployment training period, Marines with II Marine Expeditionary Force Special Operations Training Group give the MEU situations, and they must take action. The training exercises test the unit's ability to carry out various types of missions. Some included conducting a raid, recovering a downed unmanned aerial vehicle and dealing with a mass casualty situation.

"They have to learn to operate within the constraints of the ship's capabilities," said Maj. Ron Jones, operations officer for II MEF SOTG. "If they don't do it now, they will have to figure it out later."

Marines with the special operations training group observe the training and evaluate the MEU over the six-month period to determine if the unit can be certified "special operations capable."

During the 26th MEU's urban training exercise in Indiana, the Marines were tested with a real-life humanitarian aid mission. The MEU was called into action when heavy floods threatened levees in Elnora, Ind. Marines from Battalion Landing Team 2/6 filled and laid sandbags to protect the community from the rising water.

The 26th MEU also faced a challenge other MEUs have not encountered - the commanding officer and the sergeant major both changed during the training cycle. But Col. Mark Desens, the current commanding officer, said the transition has gone smoothly.

"We're in really good shape," Desens said. "I think we're ready."

Contact interactive content editor Jennifer Hlad at jhlad@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8467. Visit her 26th MEU blog at http://26meu.encblogs.com.

Ellie