— the occasional low announcements from the 1MC system, the hum of generators and the air-conditioning/CPS system, and personnel walking through the passageways.
Aboard USS Wasp (LHD-1) in Onslow Bay, 0600 Hours, June 14th, 1995
Reveille came over the 1MC at 0600 (6:00 A.M.) that morning. Within seconds, there was a bustle of activity in the passageways. Having traveled light for this visit, I only had to freshen up and head to breakfast in the officers' mess to start the day. By 0800 hours, Wasp had gone to Flight Quarters, and had the stern gate down to launch the LCACs that had been loaded in the wee hours of the morning. Since we were only about 15 nm/27.4 km off Onslow Beach, the LCACs did not have to launch until about 0830. As they backed out of the well deck, flight operations on the deck above were temporarily suspended, so that the jet wash from the LCACs would not interfere with the helicopters taking off and landing just a few yards/meters above. Once clear of the ship, the three LCACs formed up and headed for Onslow Beach and the armored unit that was already there to escort them into Combat Town. I was slated to go in shortly with the helicopters.
The day was heating up rapidly, but the deck crews were kind enough to let me stroll about the flight deck for a few minutes before the helicopters started engines. Then, it was time to board the choppers for the ride to the LZ near Combat Town. Donning my helmet and life preserver, I strapped in and we lifted off. It was a beautiful summer day, and as we passed over
Combat Town, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, 0900 Hours, June 14th, 1995
As I arrived in Combat Town, the PAOs warned me to stay in a nearby grove of pines, and to quietly observe what was happening. Precisely at 0900, I heard the distinctive sound of twin-rotor CH-46Es landing in a LZ about a thousand yards/meters away. Within a few minutes, the first scouts for the security force were moving forward to find the evacuee unit. The security force unit was built around 'G' or Golf Company of BLT 2/6, which is commanded by Captain Andrew 'Andy' Kennedy. As the security force formed a perimeter around Combat Town, Captain Kennedy made contact with the members of the evacuee unit, then made arrangements to get them on the trucks and back to the beach and safety. Around the perimeter, an opposing force (OPFOR), played by Marines from the 2nd Marine Division, harassed the security force. They even fired an occasional blank round to keep things interesting. Meanwhile, the security force commander had finished his coordination with the commander of the evacuee unit (also played by 2nd Marine Division personnel) on the procedures for the move. By this time, Lieutenant Colonel Allen had arrived with his headquarters detachment and set up a satellite communications relay back to Colonel Battaglini in the LFOC on Wasp. Overhead, a pair of Cobra attack helicopters prowled and watched. Soon the trucks and HMMWVs arrived, loaded up, and began to move out to the beach where the LCACs would take them back to the Shreveport. So far, everything had gone according to plan, and seemed to be proceeding well.
Then, a message came through that something was wrong in a nearby meadow. Quickly jumping into a van, the PAOs and I headed there to have a look at what was happening. The folks from the SOTG like things lively in training exercises. So they always throw in a few surprises — to imitate Clausewitz's 'friction.' What they had done was to orchestrate some 'friction' in the meadow for the Marines of BLT 2/6. When I arrived, I saw that SOTG had arranged for one of the 5-ton trucks of the evacuation force to 'suffer' an accident. The passengers were spread around the ground nearby, with prosthesis and makeup to make them appear severely injured. With the SOTG judges watching, things began to happen.
Within a few minutes, the first Marines from the security unit arrived. They instantly called into Lieutenant Colonel Allen that an emergency situation had developed, that personnel were 'down' and suffering severe trauma, and that personnel from the MEU (SOC) medical team were needed at the site immediately. Since medical evacuation to the Wasp would be required, with at least three CH-46s needed to carry the load, John Allen quickly relayed the request to Colonel Battaglini in the LFOC, and the helicopters were airborne within minutes. In the meantime, the Marines of Golf Battery (the unit of M198 155mm howitzers, already ashore from a previous mission) formed a security perimeter and applied first aid to the accident victims. A few minutes later Navy corpsmen arrived in a HMMWV, and things began to look up for the 'injured.'
Less than half hour after the first call from Lieutenant Colonel Allen, the three Sea Knights arrived in the meadow, escorted by a pair of AH-1Ws. As the Cobras moved to an overwatch position, the three transport choppers landed and made ready to take aboard their cargo of injured evacuees. That was when when a SOTG observer strode out to one of the CH-46Es and declared it 'down' with a mechanical failure. Lieutenant Colonel Allen made another call back to Wasp LFOC, this time to ask for the TRAP team on Alert status, as well as a spare CH- 46E to finish the evacuation of the injured.
While the new flight of Sea Knights flew in from the sea, the injured were triaged according to the severity of their injuries. The worst cases were loaded onto the two 'good' CH-46s, and the choppers lifted off to take them to
While this was going on, the remaining 'injured' personnel were loaded onto the replacement medical evacuation chopper and flown out of the LZ. With the last of the SOTG-inflicted 'friction' dealt with, Lieutenant Colonel Allen began to pull his forces together and withdraw them back to the safety of the sea and the ARG. After the trucks and HMMWVs were loaded onto the landing craft, together with the armored vehicles of the security force, all that was left was to get Golf Company aboard their helicopters and back to the Wasp. With the ever- present Cobras overhead, Captain Kennedy and his men returned to their LZ, boarded the helicopters, and headed home. One of the last units out was Lieutenant Colonel Allen and his command team, careful to make sure that nobody was left behind. It had been a good day.
The SOCEX final examination came the following month.
Final Exam: The SOCEX
The second week of July 1995 was terribly hot and muggy. It was the kind of heat designed to break men — and even Marines. Hot or not, for the members of the 26th MEU (SOC) and PHIBRON 4, it was final examination time. I didn't have a chance to observe this exercise, but word filtered back that they had performed 'superbly' and were now ready to head out to relieve Marty Berndt and his 24th MEU (SOC) from their vigil in the Adriatic. But before that, they had one more hurdle to clear — an exercise tacked onto the end of their SOCEX called Joint Task Force Exercise 1995 (JTFEX-95).
