Marine Team Deploys to Haiti

American Forces Press Service ^ | Feb. 23, 2004 | By Jim Garamone

[Calpernia]

A team of 50 Marines has departed the United States to beef up security for the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, U.S. Southern Command confirmed today.

The Marines are part of the Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team out of Naval Base Norfolk, Va. The team is under the operational control of U.S. Southern Command based in Miami.

The team will assist the Marine security detachment at the embassy. In addition, a Southern Command assessment team continues its work in Haiti, Pentagon officials said.

U.S. Ambassador to Haiti James B. Foley requested the assessment team last week.

Rebel groups opposed to Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide have taken the country's second largest city, Cap Haitien, according to news reports. The groups, many formerly allied with Aristide, blew up the police station and ransacked the airport, the news reports said.

The four-man assessment team is in the country to check on the security of the embassy and its staff. Pentagon officials said the team and the FAST deployment is not a prelude to a noncombatant evacuation order, but is a prudent course, given the situation in the Caribbean nation.

A State Department travel advisory "strongly urged" all American citizens to leave Haiti while commercial flights are still available. About 20,000 Americans live in the nation.

The State Department has also ordered the departure of all family members and nonessential personnel from the embassy in Port-au-Prince. Some international aid organizations have already left the country, State Department officials said, and others are closing their operations now.

State Department officials said pro-government and anti-government groups are fighting in the northern part of the country. Americans could become caught between the groups, and the ability of U.S. embassy officials to intervene is very limited, State Department officials said.

The United States, European Union and Caribbean nations are involved with negotiations to end to the unrest in Haiti.

Haiti is acknowledged as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The United States led a U.N.-sponsored multinational force to the country in 1994. The mission was to get Haiti's military dictatorship to step down and restore to power Haiti's constitutionally elected government – led by President Jean- Bertrand Aristide.

On Sept. 19, 1994, with U.S. troops already airborne, Haitian military dictator Gen. Raul Cedras and other top leaders agreed to step down. The intervening force, became an overseeing force and more than 21,000 service members from a number of countries helped with the restoration of the constitutional government. Aristide and other elected officials in exile returned to Haiti Oct. 15.

[Calpernia]

Pro Military News!

A team of 50 Marines has departed the United States to beef up security for the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, U.S. Southern Command confirmed today.

The Marines are part of the Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team out of Naval Base Norfolk, Va. The team is under the operational control of U.S. Southern Command based in Miami.

Private Mail to be added to or removed from the GNFI (or Pro-Coalition) ping list.

[Alamo-Girl]

Bump!

[kellynla]

God bless them. Embassy duty can be very deadly. Semper Fi, Kelly

[Hand em their arse]

Does anyone think this could be a disastrous endevour? It seems like sending only 50 marines into an area that looks as though all of these rebels are heading towards could be a suicide mission. Maybe I'm overlooking something regarding their mission, I do hope that is true.

God Bless Them!!!

[jocko12]

HAS THE HUMAN SHIELD LEFT YET.THE MARINES SHOULD HAVE SOME CANNON FODDER IN FRONT OF THEM.

[SICSEMPERTYRANNUS]

It seems like sending only 50 marines into an area that looks as though all of these rebels are heading towards could be a suicide mission.

Remember there are already Marines there that make up the embassy guard detachment. This deployment is to beef up the security but it is also a show of force which should be sufficient to keep troublemakers away from the embassy. Just my .02


SIC

[reagandemocrat]

Yes. Where are the Human Shields? And let's not forget U.N approval.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I thought Jimmah Cahtah and Bill Clinton had this place cleaned up ?

[tet68]

God Speed Marines!

[OldFriend]

Prayers for our marines, and prayers too for the long suffering people of Haiti.

Hope they aren't waiting for the French or the UN to take care of them.

[Alamo-Girl]

I join with you in your prayers for our heroes!

[MEG33]

May God go with the Marines and keep them safe.

[Rocky Mountain High]

Do you think they're going in with pretty heavy firepower, i.e. mortars and .50's?

[archy]

Do you think they're going in with pretty heavy firepower, i.e. mortars and .50's?

I don't expect they'll need them. But it's a Marine Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Teams, particularly trained and equipped with MP5 submachineguns and shotguns, as well as the usual novelties in the Marine toybox. And if it's firepower they need, it's as close by as the Air Force Special Operations AC 130 Spectres based at Hurlburt Field in Florida, with REAL firepower available....and bet on every one of those Marine reinforcements to have radio communications available to him.

[archy]

Do you think they're going in with pretty heavy firepower, i.e. mortars and .50's?

Small arms, mostly, up to and including M249 SAWs and maybe some M14/M25 snipers rifles. Interestingly, they've got the new MarPat camo utilities and tan *hushpuppy* desert boots.

Hope somebody's got a Javelin or something with a little extra punch, just in case a stray armoured vehicle or technical- of either side- chooses to cause problems. But possibly they figure an M203 with HEDP can handle anything they're likely to encounter.

U.S. Marines arrive at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti Monday, Feb. 23, 2004. Fifty U.S. Marines arrived in Haiti to protect the U.S. Embassy and its staff, while government loyalists set flaming barricades to block the road from rebels threatening to move on Port-au-Prince.

(AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Mon Feb 23, 9:40 PM ET A guard and a U.S. Marine (background) stand watch outside of the U.S. Embassy in Port Au Prince, Haiti, February 23, 2004. Rebels set their sights on the rest of Haiti on Monday after swooping in to take the country's second-largest city in an escalation of a bloody rebellion against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, prompting the United States to send in Marines to protect its embassy. About 50 U.S. Marines arrived in Haiti to protect its embassy in the capital of Port-au-Prince, a U.S. official said on Monday. REUTERS/Daniel Aguilar

Mon Feb 23, 7:27 PM ET A U.S. Marine stands guard outside of the U.S. Embassy in Port Au Prince, Haiti, February 23, 2004. The United States sent about 50 Marines to Haiti to protect its embassy and other facilities on Monday and pressed the opposition to accept a power-sharing plan to end an armed revolt against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

REUTERS/Daniel Aguilar

[Rocky Mountain High]

Awesome! Thanks for the photos. The MarPat fatigues are designed to make it harder for the enemy to read a Marine's profile at close range, right?

[archy]

Awesome! Thanks for the photos. The MarPat fatigues are designed to make it harder for the enemy to read a Marine's profile at close range, right?

Maybe in part. A tiny Eagle, Globe and Anchor is a component of the *digital* graphic design, so there's no doubt about what outfit is involved. The MARPAT boonie hat, reminiscent of the Australian *slouch hat,* has turned into a prime item of trade goods.

More on the development of the MARPAT and earlier Canadian CADPAT camo patterns *here.*

[windchime]

Bump!