thedrifter
08-23-03, 07:13 AM
Deploying Marines eager to see action
Ship leaves today on a 9-month tour
By Jeanette Steele
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 22, 2003
Standing aboard the ship where he will live through May, Marine Sgt. Samuel Hansen is happy to finally get a crack at the fight – maybe.
"I'm kind of ticked that we're the last people – you know, that we missed all the action" in Iraq, said Hansen, 24, a Marine mechanic helping prepare his unit's CH-53E cargo helicopters for travel aboard the amphibious assault ship Peleliu.
"I just hope we get some kind of action, and not just sit on the boat off the coast," he said.
Hansen is part of the next Marine contingent slated to leave on a regularly scheduled tour to the Persian Gulf. The 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit departs San Diego Bay today with 2,200 Marines and 2,800 sailors.
With some frustration, these Marines sat out the Iraq war, reduced to watching on their television screens as their friends fought.
Now comes their time for sacrifice: They will spend more time away than most Marines who saw combat. Their deployment will be nearly nine months – three months longer than normal – because the war wrought havoc on Corps troop rotations.
"It's our turn," said Col. Michael Regner, expeditionary unit commander, who said his troops trained hard but restlessly at home, knowing they were slated to be the next wave out.
Regner won't say where the unit will go, but a typical Western Pacific deployment includes stops in the Persian Gulf, parts of Africa, Asia and Australia. Iraq is a possibility, he said, if they are needed.
"If that operational commander wants Marines anywhere in the region, especially in Iraq, no one will be more excited than this MEU commander," said Regner, 50, a veteran of the 1991 Gulf War and operations in Somalia and the former Yugoslavia.
"Now the Marines and sailors of the 13th MEU would be able to say to their buddies ... 'We went in. We finished what you started,' " he said.
This unit also will test a new "expeditionary strike group" concept, which increases the number of ships that sail with a Marine expeditionary group.
While the Marines seem itching for action, their families appear less excited about the idea.
Sgt. James Johnston, a 23-year-old helicopter crew chief, said his mother lately started calling him daily. His family already sweated through the Afghanistan war in late 2001, when Johnston fought with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
"They are worried, of course. I mean, they are worried, my mother especially," said the unmarried Marine from Spencer, Mass.
"I just don't tell them the bad stuff, is what I do. I only tell them the good stuff."
No matter where the MEU goes, the Marines will be gone a long time. Still, the expected timeline is shorter than the one-year commitments Army divisions have been handed in Iraq.
The extended tour hits hard at Lance Cpl. Ryan Jones, 21, who got married last month.
"I'm definitely not happy about it," said Jones, a helicopter mechanic from Ashland, Ore. But, he said, "You can't say anything really ... It's all rotation, so you have to do it."
Jones is arming himself with a stack of books to fill the empty time.
"I'm not much of a reader," he said. "But I guess I'll start."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeanette Steele: (760) 476-8244; jen.steele@uniontrib.com
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20030822-9999_1m22deploy.html
Sempersa,
Roger
:marine:
Ship leaves today on a 9-month tour
By Jeanette Steele
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 22, 2003
Standing aboard the ship where he will live through May, Marine Sgt. Samuel Hansen is happy to finally get a crack at the fight – maybe.
"I'm kind of ticked that we're the last people – you know, that we missed all the action" in Iraq, said Hansen, 24, a Marine mechanic helping prepare his unit's CH-53E cargo helicopters for travel aboard the amphibious assault ship Peleliu.
"I just hope we get some kind of action, and not just sit on the boat off the coast," he said.
Hansen is part of the next Marine contingent slated to leave on a regularly scheduled tour to the Persian Gulf. The 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit departs San Diego Bay today with 2,200 Marines and 2,800 sailors.
With some frustration, these Marines sat out the Iraq war, reduced to watching on their television screens as their friends fought.
Now comes their time for sacrifice: They will spend more time away than most Marines who saw combat. Their deployment will be nearly nine months – three months longer than normal – because the war wrought havoc on Corps troop rotations.
"It's our turn," said Col. Michael Regner, expeditionary unit commander, who said his troops trained hard but restlessly at home, knowing they were slated to be the next wave out.
Regner won't say where the unit will go, but a typical Western Pacific deployment includes stops in the Persian Gulf, parts of Africa, Asia and Australia. Iraq is a possibility, he said, if they are needed.
"If that operational commander wants Marines anywhere in the region, especially in Iraq, no one will be more excited than this MEU commander," said Regner, 50, a veteran of the 1991 Gulf War and operations in Somalia and the former Yugoslavia.
"Now the Marines and sailors of the 13th MEU would be able to say to their buddies ... 'We went in. We finished what you started,' " he said.
This unit also will test a new "expeditionary strike group" concept, which increases the number of ships that sail with a Marine expeditionary group.
While the Marines seem itching for action, their families appear less excited about the idea.
Sgt. James Johnston, a 23-year-old helicopter crew chief, said his mother lately started calling him daily. His family already sweated through the Afghanistan war in late 2001, when Johnston fought with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
"They are worried, of course. I mean, they are worried, my mother especially," said the unmarried Marine from Spencer, Mass.
"I just don't tell them the bad stuff, is what I do. I only tell them the good stuff."
No matter where the MEU goes, the Marines will be gone a long time. Still, the expected timeline is shorter than the one-year commitments Army divisions have been handed in Iraq.
The extended tour hits hard at Lance Cpl. Ryan Jones, 21, who got married last month.
"I'm definitely not happy about it," said Jones, a helicopter mechanic from Ashland, Ore. But, he said, "You can't say anything really ... It's all rotation, so you have to do it."
Jones is arming himself with a stack of books to fill the empty time.
"I'm not much of a reader," he said. "But I guess I'll start."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeanette Steele: (760) 476-8244; jen.steele@uniontrib.com
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20030822-9999_1m22deploy.html
Sempersa,
Roger
:marine: