Marine: A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary Unit

aboard for the start of his first MEU (SOC) command deployment. Having already said good-bye to his teenage son, he was able to get on with the business at hand with a minimum of distractions, and you could see the confidence and pride that he had in himself and his Marines. Around the back of the headquarters, the last of the farewells were going on, and the buses were starting up. Our good friend from the 26th's S-4 (logistics) shop, Major Dennis Arinello, was saying good-bye to his wife Kathy and his kids, doing his best to set a good example. Then, with a final set of waves, the bus convoy pulled out of the base, and headed north to Morehead City.

Tuesday, August 29th, 1995, 1100 Hours, Morehead City Harbor, North Carolina

Around noon, the bus convoy pulled into Morehead City. Pulling off to a large concrete beaching ramp, the buses unloaded, and the headquarters personnel joined other members of the unit for their ride out to the Wasp. This job was being done by a quartet of LCUs from ACU-2. In the distance, we could see Shreveport completing her loading farther up the harbor. Supervising the effort on the ramp was Captain C.C. Buchanan in his ever-present blue coveralls. Right now, he was as happy a man as could be imagined, because the loading of his ARG was going perfectly, and everything was on schedule. It was, by any standards, a perfect summer day in the sun. After a short wait, we were ordered aboard one of the LCUs, and headed out on a short journey to the Wasp. With us were members of the detachment which would control the landing craft and beachmaster parties for the ARG. Pulling along steadily, we soon pulled alongside Wasp. As we did, helicopters from the ACE were still coming aboard and being stowed, giving the flight deck the look of a power line full of birds.

As the LCU beached in the well deck, a chief warned us that we would need to be back aboard in thirty minutes if we did not want an all-expense-paid trip to the Adriatic! Properly forewarned, I helped Dennis Arinello with his baggage, and started the long climb up the loading ramps and ladders to his cabin on the O2 level. We slowly trekked around the ship, as over 1,400 other Marines were doing, and could see the transition going on between the land and the 'second home' of the ship. Emotions were easing and calm determination seemed to be settling over the Marines and sailors all over the ship. Despite the favorable conditions this day, they were under no illusions as to what the sea could do to them if things got rough.

^{An ACU-2 LCU enters the flooded well deck on August 29th, 1995. The landing craft was transporting personnel and their gear to the ship just prior to deploying to the Mediterranean.}

^{JOHN D. GRESHAM}

Then it was time to leave. Bidding Dennis and the others good luck and farewell, we headed back to the well deck. Getting back to the LCU just in time, we headed back to shore. As we did, Shreveport passed us on the way out of the harbor, headed rapidly out into the Atlantic. She looked like a gypsy wagon, loaded to the gunnels with men, vehicles, equipment, and the three of the CH-46s that we had watched take off from New River just eight hours earlier. By the time that we reached the loading ramp, the job was almost done. Before sundown that afternoon, Whidbey Island had joined up with her, and they headed east, over the horizon, to start their 1995/96 deployment. It was hard not to shed a tear, and wish that we were going alone with them. It had been a long, sweltering summer, and we had come to know these people so well.

Thursday, September 21st, 1995, 1100 Hours, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina

The final act of the 26th's outbound deployment cycle came some three weeks later with the return of now-Brigadier General Marty Berndt's 24th MEU (SOC). They were coming home flush from their rescue of Captain O'Grady some three months earlier. The process, almost the reverse of how a deployment begins, is something you have to see to believe. Each unit is staged into their barracks, where an open-air picnic is laid on. Everywhere, bedsheet banners decorated the building and fences around Camp Lejeune, proclaiming the joy and relief of family members waiting for their Marines to come home.

We chose to join in the reunion of the Marines of the 3/8 BLT, which had made up the GCE of the 24th, led by their commander, Lieutenant Colonel Chris Gunther. Their return was a triumph. What said it all was when Gunther, a veteran of over twenty years in the Corps, saw and hugged his wife and kids for the first time in six months. At moments like this, you feel almost guilty about intruding, but the sight is so compelling that you just have to watch. For the next couple of hours, there was a feeling that was like a decompression. With the pressure of a six-month cruise behind them, the Marines began to become human beings again. When things calmed down, we had a few minutes to visit with Lieutenant Colonel Gunther and discuss the deployment. He confirmed that the handover to the 26th had gone well, although not exactly to plan. Normally, the two units would meet at the naval base in Rota, Spain, and spend a couple of days conducting equipment exchanges and data transfers. This time, though, the handoff had been done while under way, and the 24th's port visit had been dedicated to getting ready to come home.

^{Lieutenant Colonel Chris Gunther, the commander of BLT 3/8 at the moment of his reunion with his family, following the memorable 1995 Mediterranean cruise of the 24th MEU (SOC).}

^{JOHN D. GRESHAM}

Wednesday, February 14th, 1996, Naval Station Rota, Spain

I kept my promise…but only at the last possible moment.

The previous day, the ARG had 'chopped' out of the Mediterranean Sea and 6th Fleet command and had started the long voyage home. But before they could do that, they had to stop and clean up after a hard six months on cruise. The stop was at the Spanish Naval Base at Rota (near Cadiz), on the Atlantic coast just north of Gibraltar. The U.S. Navy uses Rota as a rest and inspection stop for units coming home from Europe. Here all the equipment can be washed down, everyone can rest for a few days before the Atlantic crossing, and U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors can check for pests or unwanted plants.

Wasp was moored on the north side of the bay, with Shreveport and Whidbey Island on the south side. All three ships had their vehicles out on the concrete piers; sailors and Marines were washing them down with freshwater. On the nearby beaches, the LCACs and LCUs were beached, also getting cleaned up after a busy cruise. In between was a sizable chunk of the Spanish Navy, including their small aircraft carrier, Principe de Asturias. Off the coast, the America battle group was exercising with a British force based around HMS Invincible. Aircraft came and went from the Naval Air Station. There was a buzz in the air from all the activity. As I marched up the brow, I was greeted by a host of smiles. Keeping promises, even little ones, means a lot to military personnel.

Thursday, February 15th, 1996, Naval Station Rota, Spain

The next day after dinner, I was invited to join Colonel Battaglini, Lieutenant Colonel Allen, and other members of the staff for a detailed briefing on the deployment. It should be noted that I have left out some details that relate to operations security issues, but I think you will understand the basic story. The 1995/96 cruise started with a series of joint international exercises around the Mediterranean. These included:

• COOPERATIVE PARTNER—Shreveport and her embarked units conducted this exercise with the armed forces of Bulgaria between September 14th and 18th, 1995.

• ATLAS HINGE—At the same time as Cooperative Partner (September 17th thru 21st, 1995), Wasp and Whidbey Island ran a series of force-on-force engagements with elements of the Tunisian military. This operation proved the validity of Colonel Battaglini's decision to include the platoon of M1A1 heavy tanks in the TO&E of the 26th. Of particular note was a