Marine: A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary Unit

2006

The Marine Force Reconnaissance platoon had been in place for two days reporting back over a secure satellite link to Colonel Newman in the LFOC. Now they had just cut the phone lines to the power plant and prepared the causeway for demolition, should anyone try and come down the road. They were armed with Javelin anti-tank missiles to maul anyone who tried. This platoon was one of two covering access routes from the town of Bushehr, and the sergeants leading them prayed that the extraction plan worked as planned. The alternative was a very long walk to Pakistan.

Bushehr Airport, Bushehr, Iran, 0205 Hours, December 28th, 2006

The loss of signals from the data links was noticed immediately by Security Control at Bushehr airport. Like military personnel everywhere, the duty section called the maintenance section and poured another cup of tea to stay awake. Overhead, four bat-shaped B-2A Spirit stealth bombers from the 509th Wing at Whitman AFB, Missouri, silently took position for what had to be a perfect strike. They had staged out of Anderson AFB on Guam, refueling from K.C-10A Extenders based at Diego Garcia. At 2007 hours, sixteen GBU-29 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) precision-guided bombs dropped from each bomber's weapons bays. Each bomb was guided by a GPS receiver to fall within five meters of a pre-surveyed aim point. The most important targets got a pair of bombs, the rest received a single JDAM. The first weapons struck the hardened concrete of the security center as planned, slicing through overheads with the penetrating power of 2,000-lb/909.1-kg warheads. Within thirty seconds, the command center, post office, telephone exchange, runways, hardened aircraft shelters full of MiG-29s, and other targets around Bushehr had been neutralized.

Two minutes behind the B-2s came eight B-1B Lancers from the 7th Wing at Dyess AFB, Texas, also launched from Anderson AFB and refueled from KC-10As at Diego Garcia. Their targets were two battalions of troops in barracks adjacent to Bushehr airport. Each unloaded twelve AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapons (JSOWs) from their weapons bays, well outside Iranian airspace. Following a two-minute gliding flight, the ninety-six JSOWs, guided by onboard GPS receivers, unloaded their payloads of BLU-97/B Combined Effects Munitions (CEMs). They blanketed over a hundred acres of troop billeting and vehicle-parking areas with thousands of CEMs, and the effects were horrific. The two minutes since the bombs from the B-2 strike had given the troops time to throw on their boots, grab their weapons, and rush outside to be shredded into hamburger by exploding cluster munitions. After a few minutes, the Bushehr garrison could no longer defend itself, much less the power plant to the south.

Ra's-e Hhalileh Mud Flats, Southeast of Bushehr Power Plant, Iran, 0210 Hours, December 28th, 2006

Captain Hansen and his fifteen AAAVs were crawling across the mud flats south of the power plant. They had swum ashore minutes earlier, having crawled out of Trenton's well deck, some 25 nm/45.7 km offshore. Hansen had seen the flashes from the bombs in Bushehr, and was waiting for the radio signal that would send his pack of armored vehicles into a headlong cavalry charge. Nothing like this had been seen since Eagle Troop of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment had charged an Iraqi brigade at the Battle of 73 Easting back in 1991. He just hoped that he was not leading his men into another Battle of the Little Bighorn.

The snipers of the 22nd MEU (SOC)'s BLT had broken into four teams, each armed with a Barrett .50-caliber sniper rifle. Each team sat in a spider hole, a mile from the guard posts of the power plant. As the spotters sighted the guards in the corner towers and passed them to the shooters, they awaited a signal at 0210 to go into action. The signal for each team came over a miniature satellite communications terminal, and all four fired their first shots within seconds of each other. Each weapon spat out a total of ten rounds, taking out the guards, radar and communications antennas, and power lines. Within a minute, all four teams flashed their 'success' code back to Colonel Newman in Bataan's LFOC. With a murmur of, 'Dear Lord, don't let me screw up,' Hansen ordered the AAAVs into action.

The fifteen AAAVs spread out in a wide line and charged forward at over 40 mph/65.5 kph across the mud. When they came within 1,500 meters of the garrison perimeter, they opened up with 25mm cannons, spewing high-explosive incendiary (HEI) shells into the compound. Buildings began to burn and soldiers ran about wildly. Ragged return fire fell around the fast-moving AAAVs. Captain Hansen's men fired an occasional Javelin missile against anyone who got too accurate. The vehicles churned up the mud east of the compound, generally raising hell and making noise. Captain Hansen hoped it would be enough diversion to cover the rest of the Marines coming in from the sea.

Delivery Pier and Ramp, Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, Iran, 0220 Hours, December 28th, 2006

The rigid raider craft had disembarked from an LCAC about 10 nm/18.3 km off the coast, and had come the rest of the way on muffled engines. When Colonel Newman sent out his 'go' signal, the raiders made their dash for the loading ramp at full speed. They came ashore at almost the instant Captain Hansen's attack began, and were covered almost perfectly. Out of the rigid raiders came Charlie Company, which split into three teams. One platoon disposed of the guards at the security posts, and then set up a security cordon inside the razor-wire fence, just in case the Iranian guard force remembered its real job. The rest of the company headed into the plant for the hard part, the assault on the assembly and reactor control rooms. As they went in, a pair of LCACs headed into the dock area, loaded with trucks, LAVs, and other equipment.

Ra's-e Hhalileh Mud Flats, South of Bushehr Power Plant, Iran, 0220 Hours, December 28th, 2006

Captain Hansen had ordered his AAAVs into defilade behind some low rises, to reload their 25mm ammunition and Javelin launchers and draw the Iranians out of their barracks. It worked like a charm. About four hundred Iranians moved out of their compound, escorted by light trucks and scout vehicles armed with machine guns and recoilless rifles. They had closed within one thousand yards/meters of his line of vehicles when he made a radio call. Seconds later, two pairs of AH-1W Cobra attack helicopters rose on either flank of the Iranians and opened fire with 20mm cannons and 2.75-in. rocket pods. At the same time, the AAAVs began to fire again. It was a slaughter. Under fire from three directions, the Iranians could not even retreat. In a matter of moments, white flags began to appear, and Hansen was forced to order a 'cease-fire.' He then ordered the Cobras to hold them there, and ordered his vehicle towards the power plant, the sea, and, he hoped, safety. He had to make sure the rest of the security battalion was kept busy, but he doubted there was much left to occupy.

Over the Power Plant, Bushehr, Iran, 0222 Hours, December 28th, 2006

Lieutenant Colonel Colleen Taskins thumbed the 'tilt' control on the throttle column and flared her MV-22B Osprey to a hover over the roof of the weapons assembly building. As the aircraft shuddered to a halt, she jammed the intercom button, and called, 'Let 'em go, Chief!' Just behind her, the crew chief lowered the rear ramp and Marines began to fast-rope out of the side exits and the rear ramp. In less than thirty seconds, all twenty were on the roof, working their way down into the building. Scanning left and right, she saw that the other five Ospreys of her flight had offloaded their Marines. Punching the radio transmit button, she ordered them to head back over the Gulf to orbit and wait. She would return for the pickup in under an hour.