Marine: A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary Unit

I was already awake when the 1 MC blared its wake-up greeting at 0600, a sign that I was getting into the routine aboard ship. After a quick breakfast, I headed down to the LFOC one last time to see how things were going. It turned out that I was too late. By midday, the main Red force units had been engaged and defeated by BLT 2/6. The battle would continue for another twenty-four hours to completely secure the objectives, but it was a total victory for the 26th MEU (SOC). Everything was over before the sun set the next day. Despite problems with the close air support at H-Hour, and a breakdown in communications with the R&S teams, all the landings had gone as planned. Early on contact with the Koronan forces had been surprisingly light. We learned later that many of the Red force artillery pieces, tanks, and other armored vehicles had been knocked out by the last-minute air strikes and offshore destroyer gunfire. The airdrop by the 82nd Airborne's 1/325th had also gone well.

By 0800, it was time to get ready to board a CH-46 for a ride into the landing beach area. Before I left, I took a small side trip to the logistics center, where an extremely fatigued Dennis Arinello was trying to stay awake for the six hours he needed to get the ships unloaded. Wishing him good luck and a good night's sleep, I headed upstairs, and boarded the Sea Knight for the ride in. As I passed over Whidbey Island and Shreveport, I could see the LCACs and one of the LCUs moving in and out from the beach to unload the ships of the ARG. As the Bullfrog landed, I was picked up again by the Camp Lejeune PAOs. With the taking of the airfield by the airborne troopers and the seizure of the port facility and beach by the Marines, a hypothetical liberation of Kartuna would now be possible.

By noon the next day, the JTFEX-95 observers would issue a 'change of mission' order, and the exercise would be concluded. While it had not been pretty, the 26th had performed superbly, adapting well to the many problems thrown at them. Best of all, the 26th MEU (SOC) and PHIBRON 4 could now concentrate on getting ready for their deployment to the Mediterranean, some five weeks away. Before I left, I made a promise to Colonel Battaglini to visit his unit while they were deployed.

Monday, August 28th, 1995, Norfolk Naval Station and Amphibious Base, Little Creek, Virginia

Less than a month after the end of JTFEX-95, I was back at Camp Lejeune, N.C. to witness the culmination of six months work for Jim Battaglini, C.C. Buchanan, John Allen, and all the other members of the 26th MEU (SOC)/PHIBRON 4 team: deployment. It was planned to occur just prior to Labor Day. Deployment is a process that sees the men and women of the ARG and the MEU (SOC) severing their ties from the land and their families, and boarding their 'second home,' the ships of the ARG. The day dawned rainy and decidedly ugly as the warships of the USS America (CV-66) carrier battle group (CVBG) and PHIBRON 4 got underway. A heavy thunderstorm was moving up from the south, and just getting under way was becoming quite a challenge. For the ships of the ARG, it involved heading out over the underwater automobile tunnels of the Chesapeake Bay, taking a hard right at the Virginia Capes, and heading south for Onslow Bay. During the transit, Captain Buchanan had the ships' crews stow everything possible away, because in the morning, they would be taking aboard the entire aircraft, vehicle, equipment, and personnel load of the 26th MEU (SOC).

Tuesday, August 29th, 1995, 0500 Hours, Marine Corps Air Station, New River, North Carolina

Deployment day for the 26th MEU (SOC) started early, even before the sun rose. In the hangar bay of HMM-264, Lieutenant Colonel Kerrick and his Marines had risen early to be the first element of the 26th to be loaded aboard the ships. Seeing that this was to be the largest ACE ever deployed by an MEU (SOC), some thought had gone into the effort, and now HMM-264 would get a chance to see if their plan would work. Around the HMM-264 hangar that morning, Marines and their families began the ritual of separation, usually over Egg McMuffins and coffee. Wives, girlfriends, parents, and children tried (sometime unsuccessfully) to hold back the tears that come with the start of a six-month cruise. It is a gut-wrenching thing to watch, and brings home the price that we ask of the sailors and Marines that serve our interests around the world.

Unlike the day before, August 29th had dawned clear and cool, a perfect summer day in North Carolina. As the first pink glow of sunrise appeared in the eastern sky over Onslow Bay, things swung into high gear. At 0545, the order was given for engine start of the first group of aircraft that would be launched. This would be a flight of three CH-46E Sea Knights that would start the cruise aboard the Shreveport (LPD-12), which was proceeding separately across the Atlantic. The helicopters began their taxi roll at 0613, and were airborne just five minutes later. At almost the same moment, the six AV-8B Harrier IIs of VMA-231 started launching from MCAS Cherry Point, N.C., some miles to the north. The idea was that the six Harriers would be taken aboard the Wasp (LHD-1) first, and lashed down to their parking spots aft of the island. Then, the other helicopters of the ACE would be brought aboard and carefully tucked into every space that could be found.

For the next hour, helicopters continued to leave MCAS New River in threes and fours, gradually emptying the ramp in front of the hangar. By 0715, quiet had returned to the HMM-264 ramp, and the crowd of ground and maintenance crews made their good-byes to their loved ones, loaded their gear onto trucks, loaded themselves into buses, and headed up to Morehead City for the boat ride out to the Wasp and Shreveport.

Tuesday, August 29th, 1995, 0800 Hours, BLT 2/6 Headquarters and Barracks Area, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina

Back at Camp Lejeune, Lieutenant Colonel Allen and his headquarters team were doing their own version of what had just occurred at MCAS New River. Down at the barracks for BLT 2/6, the various companies were sorting themselves out, and loading up. Amid crying women and children, last hugs and kisses, the Marines loaded up onto their buses, and began the trip up to Morehead City, where they would ride out to the Wasp and Shreveport. When the last of the buses was loaded, Lieutenant Colonel Allen walked over to his office one last time, and loaded up his briefcase. Wishing good luck to the remaining office staff closing up BLT 2/6 headquarters that day, he happily grabbed his bags and headed down the stairs, commander of his own battalion for one last cruise before heading up to Washington, D.C., to become General Krulak's aide in the Spring of 1996. All around Camp Lejeune, there was the bustle that comes with deployment day for a unit. Over in the headquarters of the 26th MSSG, Lieutenant Colonel Cooper had already pre- loaded much of his equipment, personnel, and supplies on the ships up in Norfolk, so this day was a little less manic for him than his GCE and ACE counterparts.

Tuesday, August 29th, 1995, 0900 Hours, 26th MEU (SOC) Headquarters, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina

^{Marines of the 26th MEU (SOC)'s headquarters unit ride out to the USS Wasp (LHD-1) on an ACU-2 LCU. They were preparing to leave for the Mediterranean on August 29th, 1995.}

^{JOHN D. GRESHAM}

Among the last of the components of the 26th to deploy was the headquarters. Behind the headquarters building, four large charter buses were being loaded along with some of the special communications equipment that the 26th MEU (SOC) would take with it. Sergeant Major Creech was busy kicking butts, and generally making life easier on officers, who had their own families to deal with. At 0955, the move to the ships kicked into high gear when one of the HMM-264 UH-1N Iroquois helicopters landed in front of the headquarters building to pick up Colonel Battaglini. Wishing us a hearty farewell, as well as an invitation to visit the 26th 'on cruise,' Jim Battaglini climbed