22nd MEU better trained, equipped
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| Don Bryan/Daily News |
| Saying goodbye: Cpl. Larry Currie and his wife, Shekinah, left, spend time together while Sgt. Eddie Williams plays with his son, Elijah, as his fiance Lisa Parsley watches. |
February 19,2004
Eric Steinkopff
DAILY NEWS STAFF
Col. Kenneth Frank McKenzie Jr. stood near Risley Pier on Wednesday and watched with a mixture of pride and satisfaction. The commander of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit was watching his old battalion prepare for another six-month deployment.
"I was the commander of that battalion the last time 1/6 left for a float, from November 1998 to May 1999 with the 24th MEU," McKenzie said.
But there are differences in the way that they do business now, since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"It has a profound impact on our deployments," McKenzie said. "We operate farther inland, and the main battery is the MEU capability."
The 2,200 members of the 22nd MEU braved bone-chilling temperatures Wednesday in their third day of loading up before they leave Camp Lejeune and New River Air Station on a Mediterranean Sea deployment and eventual patrol east of the Suez Canal.
Lines of teenage Marine troops dressed in green camouflage marched across Goettge Memorial Field House parking lot, stacking their bags and packs in orderly rows to load on transport trucks bound for the port in Morehead City and Camp Lejeune's Onslow Beach.
Later at Onslow Beach air cushioned landing craft were used to scoot across the shimmering water to the waiting amphibious assault ship USS Wasp. The USS Shreveport and USS Whidbey Island would be joining the armada after loading personnel and equipment at the state port in Morehead City.
McKenzie said the journey ahead was what the MEU had trained the past nine months to do. During its extended work-up, the unit was the first to use Eglin Air Force Base in Florida to practice some of the things it can no longer do in the Caribbean Sea since the Puerto Rican island of Vieques was closed to naval gunfire.
"Eglin worked for us as a new and different training environment," said McKenzie, but he pointed out that subsequent MEUs might have to consider costs for future work-ups.
McKenzie said the MEU is taking improved optical sights, have reinforced the armor on their infantry fighting vehicles and they have what leaders are calling a "robust explosive ordnance disposal" capability to remove mines and booby traps they might encounter.
In addition to the three ships the MEU will call home, they are joining forces with two Ticonderoga class guided missile cruisers USS Yorktown and USS Leyte Gulf, Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS McFaul and Seawolf class nuclear powered attack submarine USS Connecticut in a concept called an Expeditionary Strike Group.
"This gives us a critical capability to hit them where they live," McKenzie said. "We can protect ourselves and look far inland."
And some in the MEU also know the terrain troops might see over the next six months. Lt. Col. Asad "Genghis" Khan, commander of 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, of Avon, Conn., was born in Pakistan. Kahn's family moved to America in 1972 when he was 12 years old. After growing up in New England, he went to college in Boston and joined the Marine Corps in 1984.
After the terrorist attacks in 2001, he was sent to U.S. Central Command and helped Task Force 58 when it went ashore in Pakistan and later pushed up into Afghanistan.
"I was in Khandhar when 3/6 seized the airfield," Khan said. "Unfortunately, it's the changing nature of the enemy that we must operate in uncertain environments and among unfamiliar cultures."
He was eventually selected as a foreign area officer by the Marine Corps, someone who receives specialized training and has a unique knowledge of cultures, languages and the layout of the land in a specific area.
Contact Eric Steinkopff at esteinkopff@jdnews.com or 353-1171, Ext. 236.
Going back, more than a few years now, I deployed three times from Camp Lejeune ... that's what FMF (Fleet Marine Force) Marines do with some frequency. In my almost three years at Lejeune I spent over half my time being deployed overseas, three times to the Med area & twice to the Caribbean. Great experience for a young man ... not to be missed if you have what it takes. Semper Fi ...
We need more of these :
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Amphibious Assault Ships
LHA/LHD/LHA(R)
Updated: 30 December 2003
Description: The largest of all amphibious warfare ships; resembles a small aircraft carrier; capable of Vertical/Short Take Off and Landing (V/STOL), Short Take Off Vertical Landing (STOVL), Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) tiltrotor and Rotary Wing (RW) aircraft operations; contains a welldeck to support use of Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) and other watercraft.
Features: : Modern U.S. Navy Amphibious Assault Ships project power and maintain presence by serving as the cornerstone of the Amphibious Readiness Group (ARG) / Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG). A key element of the Seapower 21 pillars of Sea Strike and Sea Basing, these ships transport and land elements of the Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) with a combination of aircraft and landing craft.
The Tarawa-class LHA provides the Marine Corps with a superb means of ship-to-shore movement by helicopter in addition to movement by landing craft. Three LHAs—which have extensive storage capacity and can accommodate both LCUs and LCACs—were unusually active during Operations Desert Shield/Storm. Since that time, LHAs (and, later, LHDs) have been participants in major humanitarian-assistance, occupation, and combat operations in which the United States has been involved. Such operations have included providing support to NATO forces engaged in keeping the peace in Bosnia, taking part in rescue operations in the offshore waters of African countries ravaged by civil war, and in Kosovo in 1999, and participating in Operation Enduring Freedom in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in 2001 and 2002. Also, during 2000, USS Essex (LHD 2) swapped forward-deployed naval force assignments with USS Belleau Wood (LHA 3) as the “big-deck” amphibious ship in Sasebo, Japan. USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) was commissioned in June 2001, and had her first deployment in 2003.
In April 2002 a construction contract was awarded for LHD 8 (Makin Island) with contract delivery to the Navy scheduled no later than 31 July 2007. In 2003, the majority of the amphibious assault ships participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom, conducting concurrent Well Deck and Flight Deck operations as an integral part of the multi-national forces operations. In 2003, USS Peleliu (LHA 5) deployed as centerpiece of an Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG), introducing a new concept of operations, replacing the Amphibious Ready Groups (ARGs). With delivery of LHD 7, the Navy and Marine Corps has a flexible force of ships—LHAs/LHDs, LPDs, and LSD 41/49s—that can provide 12 fully capable Expeditionary Strike Group forces to fulfill anticipated Marine Corps Lift and forward-presence requirements. The amphibious capability of the fleet will be improved with construction of LHD 8 and the replacement of the Austin-class LPDs by San Antonio-class LPDs.
Background: Amphibious warships are designed to support the Marine Corps tenets of Operational Maneuver From the Sea (OMFTS) and Ship to Objective Maneuver (STOM). They must be able to sail in harm’s way and provide a rapid buildup of combat power ashore in the face of opposition. Because of their inherent capabilities, these ships have been and will continue to be called upon to also support humanitarian and other contingency missions on short notice. The United States maintains the largest and most capable amphibious force in the world. The WASP-class are currently the largest amphibious ships in the world. The lead ship, USS Wasp (LHD 1) was commissioned in July 1989 in Norfolk, Va. LHA Replacement or LHA(R) is the next step in the incremental development of the “Big Deck Amphib”. She is being designed to accommodate the Marine Corps’ future Air Combat Element (ACE) including F-35B Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) and MV-22 Osprey, provide additional vehicle and cargo stowage capacities and enable a broader, more flexible Command and Control capability.
Program Status: All LHAs are in-service; LHDs 1-7 are in-service, LHD 8 is under construction and expected to deliver in July 2007. LHAR program is in the early stages. The lead LHAR is planned for delivery to the Fleet in 2013.
Point of Contact:
Public Affairs Office
Naval Sea Systems Command
Washington, DC 20362
General Characteristics, LHA(R) Class
Builder: TBD (currently undergoing functional design)
Power Plant: Two marine gas turbines, two shafts, 70,000 total brake horsepower
Length: 921 feet (280.7 meters)
Beam: 116 feet (35.4 meters)
Displacement: Approx. 50,100 long tons (50,905 metric tons) full load
Speed: 20+ knots
Aircraft, Depending on mission:
a mix of: F-35B Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) STOVL aircraft; MV-22 Osprey VTOL tiltrotors; CH-53E Sea Stallion helicopters; UH-1YHuey helicopters; AH-1Z Super Cobra helicopters; MH-60S Seahawk helicopters.
Date Deployed: Scheduled for delivery to the fleet in 2013
General Characteristics, Wasp Class
Builder: Northrop Grumman Ship Systems Ingalls Operations, Pascagoula, Miss
Power Plant: (LHDs 1–7) two boilers, two geared steam turbines, two shafts, 70,000 total shaft horsepower; (LHD 8) two gas turbines, two shafts; 70,000 total shaft horsepower, two 5,000 horsepower auxiliary propulsion motors
Length: 844 feet (253.2 meters)
Beam: 106 feet (31.8 meters)
Displacement:
LHDs 1-4: 40,650 tons full load (41,302.3 metric tons)
LHDs 5-7: 40,358 tons full load (41,005.6 metric tons)
LHD 8: 41,772 tons full load (42,442.3 metric tons)
Speed: 20+ knots (23.5+ miles per hour)
Aircraft, depending on mission:
12 CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters; 4 CH-53E Sea Stallion helicopters; 6 AV-8B Harrier attack aircraft; 3 UH-1N Huey helicopters; 4 AH-1W Super Cobra helicopters. (planned capability to embark MV-22 Osprey VTOL tiltrotors)
Ships:
USS Wasp (LHD 1), Norfolk, Va.
USS Essex (LHD 2), Sasebo, Japan
USS Kearsarge (LHD 3), Norfolk, Va.
USS Boxer (LHD 4), San Diego, Calif.
USS Bataan (LHD 5), Norfolk, Va.
USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), San Diego, Calif.
USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), Norfolk, Va.
Makin Island (LHD 8) (planned)
Crew:
Ships Company: 104 officers, 1,004 enlisted
Marine Detachment: 1,894
Armament: Two RAM launchers; two NATO Sea Sparrow launchers; three 20mm Phalanx CIWS mounts (two on LHD 5-7); four .50 cal. machine guns; four 25 mm Mk 38 machine guns (LHD 5-7 have three 25 mm Mk 38 machine guns).
Date Deployed: July 29, 1989 (USS Wasp)
General Characteristics, Tarawa Class
Builders: Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Miss.
Power Plant: Two boilers, two geared steam turbines, two shafts, 70,000 total shaft horsepower
Length: 820 feet (249.9 meters)
Beam: 106 feet (31.8 meters)
Displacement: 39,400 tons (40,032 metric tons) full load
Speed: 24 knots (27.6 miles per hour)
Aircraft, depending on mission:
12 CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters; 4 CH-53E Sea Stallion helicopters; 6 AV-8B Harrier attack aircraft; 3 UH-1N Huey helicopters; 4 AH-1W Super Cobra helicopters
Ships:
USS Tarawa (LHA 1), San Diego, Calif.
USS Saipan (LHA 2), Norfolk, Va.
USS Belleau Wood (LHA 3), San Diego, Calif.
USS Nassau (LHA 4), Norfolk, Va.
USS Peleliu (LHA 5), San Diego, Calif.
Crew:
Ships Company: 82 officers, 882 enlisted
Marine Detachment 1,900 plus
Armament: Two RAM launchers; two Phalanx 20 mm CIWS mount; three .50 cal. machine guns; four 25 mm Mk 38 machine guns
Date Deployed: May 29, 1976 (USS Tarawa)
How long are Carribean floats? Is that a normal 6 month deployment like a Med float would be? I did one Westpac and one UDP to Okinawa, each for 6 months while with 1/1 out in camp pendleton.
I enjoyed my time out west but always thought I would have enjoyed the East a little better.
The LHA and LHD classes are only semi-gators. It's been my experience they usually operate like CV wanna-bes when they can. See my profile page for some examples of real gators ;-)
Stay safe guys, we'll be thinking about you.
