treat every TRAP like the O'Grady rescue, just in case.
This mission is a variation of the TRAP mission, with the specialized requirement that it is done covertly with deniability. For instance, such an operation might be run in a short-of-war situation, where the National Command Authorities wish to avoid armed conflict. Under such conditions, stealth and patience will probably be more important than speed and firepower. In any case, if the mission is to be successful, the nation whose sovereignty is violated would have to remain blind and dumb.
In the last decade, evacuations have been probably the most common operations that MEU (SOC)s were called upon to execute. A crisis occurs in some far-off land like Liberia or Somalia — a civil war or some other event that breaks apart the fabric of local society. Nothing bad has happened to the Americans in the country yet, but clearly something can or will. With their organic transport helicopter force, hospital facilities aboard ship, and Marines for security, the MEU (SOC) becomes the perfect instrument to extract 'non-combatants' from the danger. 'Non-combatants' is the military term for civilians, be they tourists or embassy personnel (there are exceptions).
In addition to 'civilian' NEOs, we are sometimes asked to evacuate military forces from a hopeless situation in a civil war or other kind of armed insurrection. A good example was the evacuation of the UN peacekeeping force from Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1994. The National Command Authorities usually request this kind of operation after an official diplomatic request. The NEO force then inserts itself into the danger area, makes contact with the unit to be evacuated, and secures a safe perimeter. Once the unit to be evacuated has been reached, transportation is arranged, and the operation is concluded as quickly as possible.
Hostage rescue is probably the toughest operation that a MEU (SOC) can be asked to conduct. If this happens, it will be roughly like the planned rescue of the hostages in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran back in 1980. Though this kind of operation is usually the specialty of units like the Army's Delta Force, if time is critical, an MEU (SOC) may be the only unit that is forward-deployed. Marines therefore train for this mission, utilizing their big, long-legged CH-53E Super Stallions to provide transport. Should tanker support be available (such as a forward- deployed detachment of Marine KC-130Fs), then the mission can be run virtually non-stop thanks to in-flight refueling.
Security operations are like crowd control. You're trying to keep an area safe and operating normally. From the MEU (SOC) point of view, this kind of mission would normally involve the 'beefing up' of an existing Marine or other military detachment. Usually this would be a Marine embassy detachment or airfield security force. The ill- fated deployment to Beirut in the 1980s was just such an operation. The difference today is that such a job would probably not be so open-ended, with much more of a 'big dog' kind of presence out in the open, where everyone can see it.
Humanitarian operations are becoming a significant priority in the post-Cold War world. Given what a force like a MEU (SOC)/ARG team is capable of delivering in the way or food, water, and medical supplies and services, such a unit is the perfect mobile relief force. Of late, we have seen a host of such operations worldwide. And soon, disaster-relief operations in our own country may become one of the major missions of the MEU (SOC)/ARG teams. As we have seen, when they are in port, the LHDs of the Atlantic Fleet represent the sixth largest hospital facility in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Should a major disaster such as a hurricane or earthquake strike a coastal community in the next few years, don't be surprised if you see a MEU (SOC)/ARG team leading the relief effort.
Back in the Cold War, we used to call this 'winning hearts and minds.' This rather broad category of mission covers a range of activities designed to build better relations between the U.S. and other governments and peoples. For example, joint training and exercises with local military forces help promote understanding and goodwill with our allies. Or, while making a port call, the ARG commander might open the medical department of an LHD or LHA, with the support of the MEU (SOC) medical department, to the local population to provide inoculations or dental services. Other options include assisting in the building of bridges, roads, and other basic infrastructure and services.
Infantry hates fighting in built-up urban areas. House-to-house fighting is quite dangerous. It can tear the guts out of an infantry force if it is not extremely well trained and very methodical. Marines, with their considerable experience rooting enemies out of caves and urban areas, have a healthy respect for such operations. The Corps' predeployment training program is designed to teach MEU (SOC) Marines how to take an edge into such situations. Called Training in an Urban Environment (TRUE), it covers everything from demolishing walls between buildings to proper movement through built-up urban areas.
Once upon a time this used to be called a pathfinding or pioneer mission. In today's context, the Initial Terminal Guidance mission is designed to provide navigational support to another, larger mission. Usually the task involves inserting onto a beach or into a helicopter landing zone (HLZ) a small team carrying specialized direction finding and navigation gear that assists incoming landing craft or helicopters in making a safe and accurate approach and landing. Even in an era when GPS allows for pinpoint accuracy with split-second timing, there is nothing like someone coaching you in personally.
It goes without saying that having a tap on your enemy's phone is desirable in a war. For this reason, the ships of PHIBRON 4 and the 26th MEU (SOC) have a robust capacity to conduct intelligence gathering of communications and other electronic signals. But sometimes more information is needed. Both the SSES on the ships and SIGINT/EW teams deployed by the MEU (SOC) can generate a vast amount of useful intelligence for decision makers from the tactical level to the National Command Authorities. While much of their equipment and techniques are highly classified, the 26th MEU (SOC)/PHIBRON 4 team can listen to virtually the entire electromagnetic spectrum.
Because of its heavy complement of Marine Force Reconnaissance personnel, SEALs, and ship-based sensors (both active and passive), a MEU (SOC) is an extremely capable force for collecting intelligence. Covert missions of this type might include insertion of teams into hostile territory, perhaps in short-of-war conditions. When the mission is complete, these teams can be picked up without the hostile forces becoming aware that they have been watched. As currently configured, the MEU (SOC) is set up to collect information in any number of other ways. Among these: It can observe terrorist groups (through national intelligence sources); it can monitor enemy road convoys with the Pioneer UAV detachment of the ARG; or it can go in and take human sources.
Over the last half century, offshore facilities that exploit the resources of a continental shelf have become quite common around the world. Oil production platforms of various configurations have also been commonly used by nations like Iran and Iraq as sensor and weapons platforms. Luckily, offshore operations are a MEU (SOC) specialty. To provide a capability to hold these platforms at risk, MEU (SOC)s are trained to assault and, if necessary, render such a facility unusable. By the way, doing this is quite simple. Damage the well head assembly in such a way that it requires complete replacement (which takes time and money), but does not cause a spill of raw crude oil into the environment. It is a touchy job, but one that the Marines have already executed successfully in combat, where it really counts.
In the Marine Corps there is an old saying: 'There is no problem that can't be solved by an appropriately sized, placed, and fused charge of high explosive.' It is true. Marines have a gift for blowing things up, which makes this kind of mission one of their favorites. As with offshore platform operations, the key is to destroy a particular target without damaging the rest of the neighborhood…or the neighbors.
A MEU (SOC) must be able to accurately call down fire on targets of interest. Modern fire support involves
