Posted on 04/07/2004 3:17:43 AM PDT by bogdanPolska12
here is what is going now right now. Battle is tense and involves multiple coalition forces..
You guys need to give me some time before I post links, since this is still on going, and lot of info i am still sorting out...
so in short..
terrorist tried to surround polish area, they gut broken up by US Marines Tanks and air support, Grom was in action selecting targets inside feluja.... developing on that...
Italians were able to repel attack and kill about 20 without a loss...as far as I know ...battle still going
Coalition forces are backed by C-130, F-15 and F-16 and with Apache, reiforcement is being call from Kuwait..developing on that
There is strong links of uprising to Iran and Saudis...Al quada is fully invovle in this
US Marines with full armor support it by tanks, helicopters and air power are in full swing...12 marines go killed...as far as I know now about 200 enemy are killed and hundres wounded....
That is just in short. Give me more time.
God Bless Ameica Bogdan
This is straight from HQ Marine Corps Public Affairs:
...“We will deploy approximately 25,000 Marines and Sailors to Iraq,” said Col Doug Stilwell, Deputy Director of Operations Division, Plans, Policies and Operations, Headquarters Marine Corps. “We’re talking about nine maneuver battalions and required combat support and combat service support.”
As usual, the Marines will operate in an organic Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF). The Corps contribution to OIF-II will occur in two seven-month rotations. The first rotation is expected to be from March to September of 2004. The second rotation is expected to be from September 2004 to March 2005. The Corps will send a division-sized Marine Air Ground Task Force to Iraq with the preponderance of units coming from the I Marine Expeditionary Force, headquartered at Camp Pendleton, Calif. The Marines will primarily relieve the Army’s 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment and 82nd Airborne Division...
Wednesday, April 07, 2004
More on Sadr's insurgency
Sadr's aide and head of his office in Najaf, Qays Al-Khaz'ali, has declared the latest looting and killing spree going on in several Iraqi southern cities as an Intifada against the occupation. Speaking on behalf of Muqtada, he stated that they will certainly not calm down any soon because the Quran orders them not to; "Fight those who fight against you". And he has also made it clear that they stand united with their 'Sunni brothers' in Ramadi, Fallujah, and Adhamiya in the resistance.
Muqtada himself though doesn't seem as if he has made up his mind yet. I believe the fool senses that he has blundered seriously. Earlier yesterday he issued an announcement to his followers to cease the 'demonstrations', and that he had left the Kufa mosque and took refuge at Imam Ali's shrine in Najaf, typically hiding among civilians and holy sites like the coward he is. Later, however, he issued another written statement in which he reiterated his pledge to Hassan Fadhlallah, Hizbollah leader, adding to it that he will be the 'striking hand' for Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani. One of his aides claimed that a delegation from Sistani met with Sadr informing him that the leading Shi'ite cleric supports Sadr and his followers and that their cause is legitimate. This contradicts Shitstani's statements yesterday, indicating that the old wizard is either suffering from senility or is playing his own dirty tricks. None of Sistani's agents have either denied or confirmed this claim, but they say that he will personally meet with Sadr tomorrow.
IF true this could be a big problem.
They Army keeps changing the size of their units so it is a moving target, but it works something like this
A MEU is a forwardly deployed - generally amphibiously - Unit of roughly a large battalion size (1000+ riflemen,) plus there may be an Armor attachment, and there will be and organic air unit that may contain fixed wing elements plus an organic support unit ("organic" is a buzzword for "self contained.") The MEU is an expanded "battalion" with cross arms, air and support. Typically a deployed MEU will have 2000 to 2500 marine altogether, plus the sailors on the ships. I do not know the current size of an Army battalion but is used to be arond 1000 soldiers, with no organic support.
A MEB (Marine expeditionary Brigade) is the next larger unit and is composed of usually of 4 MEUs. MEBs can be deployed amhpibiouly or in a combination of Air, Land and Sea, deployement. A MEB is generally the largest unit that one can consider to be "Fleet Marines" (i.e. "deployed with the fleet.) They extrememly large Army brigade (again with organic cross arms, air and support) or a army division.
A MEF (Marine Expeditionary Force) is made up of three MEBs (I think that once upon a time there were 4 MEBs to a MEF.) Another way to think about it is that MEF is made up of a Marine Divsion (a MARDIV which is much larger that an Army Division) an Air wing (fixed and rotary,) a Armored full brigade and a support unit. I think that these days a MEF is around 45,000 all told.The USMC is made up of 3 MEFs and the size of the Corp is roughly 170,000 including reserves (MEFIII is a reserve MEF,) which would seem about right if you subtract out Marines on other duties like embassy work, etc. Each MEF at any one time has 1 active, generally deployed MEB, one MEB in training and one MEB refurbishing itself from the last deployement. Sadly, each MEF as only enough ships to sea deploy only one MEB at a time. So you see a MEF is larger than an Army Division
In combat the is a higher structure called a MAGTF (Marine Air Ground Task Force) which is quite mallebleable in deployment - It could be two MEUs or or it could be all three MEFs.
Some of this is hard to make out because the USMC is structured for very quick deployment and so has a very "adaptable force structure" It can "cut and paste" units for a particular mission. It may in fact draw from each MEF the Units that make up a deployed MAGTF. The USMC does not have the notion of "historical Units" that the army has, And infact one rarely seea unit patches r insignia for these units, and Marines do not wear unit patches on their uniforms.
It also gets complicated in that there are "administrator Units (Divisions, Brigades, Marine Regiments, etc) and deployed units (MEUS, MEBs Etc.)
The USMC is a quite unique military force, though some of the new organizational structures the army is thinking about are similar (I will not say that they are copying them because I do not want the flames.)
It worked.....
There are DOZENS of the TERRORISTS dead...
Yep! Had that discussion recently with an Army officer and a Marine Officer (my son).
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