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thedrifter
08-05-03, 05:32 AM
Peleliu, ESG 1 Support Mock Terrorist Camp Assault
Story Number: NNS030804-19
Release Date: 8/4/2003 3:49:00 PM


By Journalist 2nd Class Brian Brannon, Naval Media Center San Diego

NAVAL WEAPONS STATION SEAL BEACH, Calif. (NNS) -- When U.S. Marines recently staged an attack on a mock terrorist camp in the quiet beach community of Seal Beach, Calif., they were supported offshore by a large contingent of Navy ships and Sailors.

Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 1 was on station to support elements of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, (MEU) as they took part in an urban training scenario using abandoned buildings that were once part of a radar range complex at Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach.

The San Diego-based Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), comprised of USS Peleliu (LHA 5), USS Germantown (LSD 42) and USS Ogden (LPD 5), recently became ESG 1 with the addition of the guided-missile cruiser USS Port Royal (CG 73), guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur (DDG 73), guided-missile frigate USS Jarrett (FFG 33) and fast-attack submarine USS Greeneville (SSN 772).

The additional assets supplement the war-fighting ability of the traditional ARG by providing surface and submarine warfare capabilities, as well as increasing the options available to the Navy-Marine Corps team.

"The ships and Sailors of the ESG were closely integrated with the MEU forces throughout the land-based operation," said Lt. Dwayne Barnett of Amphibious Squadron 3’s Operations Department. "Balanced with the concern for seaward threats, such as potentially hostile ships and submarines, is the commitment to support forces operating ashore."

While the Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based 13th MEU trained to become certified as Special Operations Capable (SOC), ESG 1 ensured the safety of the Marines through every phase of the exercise, including transit, movement ashore and movement back to the ESG to await follow-on tasking.

According to Barnett, the ESG also provided force protection to the Marines as they conducted operations ashore.

"Naval surface units not only act as launch and recovery platforms for the attacking Marines, they also are standing by for contingencies, such as the need for additional fire support and emergency medical evacuation," said Barnett.

Before the assault began, Marines went ashore June 11 to collect intelligence on the numbers of enemy forces and locations of equipment, to assist in planning the eventual strike on the site.

The attack began at about 10 p.m., June 13, when a raiding force of about 60 Marines came ashore in small boats to assault the mock encampment. Pilots in AH-1 Sea Cobra attack helicopters orbited overhead, training to provide fire support for the Marines on the ground.

During the assault, Marines used a measured amount of plastic explosive to blow the doors off their hinges; in a real-life scenario, the resulting explosions would also give the assaulting force a tactical advantage by stunning anyone inside. By midnight, the encampment was secure and the exercise was complete.

Following the exercise in Seal Beach, Marines of the 13th MEU will undergo a final test before being certified as Special Operations Capable. In addition to proving their ability to assault a land-based encampment, the Marines, supported by ESG 1, must also prove their ability to perform maritime interdictions, evacuate non-combatants from embassies or other locations, provide humanitarian assistance and recover pilots downed over enemy lines.

"Missions like this give the ESG the opportunity to exercise teamwork, and practice balancing the unique requirements that exist when an operation encompasses elements both on land and at sea," Barnett said.

http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=8850


Sempers,

Roger
:marine: