Posted on 09/10/2005 10:14:28 AM PDT by SandRat
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (Sept. 8, 2005) -- Marines from two Camp Pendleton-based units are participating in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in the devastated Gulf Coast region, joining the thousands of other U.S. servicemembers ordered to the disaster area this past week by the President of the United States.
A detachment of Marines from the base's Communications and Information Systems unit arrived at the Naval Air Station and Joint Reserve Base in Belle Chasse, La., Monday.
The detachment of nine Marines, one civilian contractor, and two civilian truck drivers from CIS were dispatched to provide communications support to military personnel there, as well as local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and other Katrina first responders.
Meanwhile, the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit is deploying more than 440 Marines to help in the relief efforts, according to a press release. More than 400 Marines from the 11th MEU's Battalion Landing Team, 1st Bn., 4th Marine Regiment, and 29 Marines from the 11th MEU's Command Element left this week from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar to join Joint Task Force Katrina in Gulfport, Miss.
These Camp Pendleton-based Marines join more than 60,000 Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and National Guard personnel throughout the Gulf Coast region already supporting Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
The communications Marines clamored into several recreational vehicles and left the base Saturday afternoon in a four-vehicle convoy.
The Marines escorted a large, flatbed truck, which hauled the large communication support system being used to bolster communications capabilities among military and civilian authorities and relief workers in Belle Chasse.
"With the damage that's been done to the infrastructure there, the ability to communicate is paramount," said 1st Lt. John C. Akalaonu, the CIS detachment's officer-in-charge and 24-year-old Chicago native. "We're going to give them the ability to talk."
The Marines' communication system, called a Rapid Response System, is a mobile, self-sustaining system, which runs off an electrical generator, according to Dane Lesch, an infrastructure specialist for CIS.
The RRS will enhance the military's command and control capabilities there by serving as a central hub and linking together communications capabilities of military, local, state and federal authorities, said Akalaonu.
Additionally, the Marines will provide 300 hand-held radios for military personnel to use in conjunction with the RRS.
Pvt. Christian B. Zeitler, a 21-year-old from Queen Creek, Ariz., and one of the detachment's 10 Marines, said he's excited to be a part of the relief efforts, especially since the disaster is "right in our own backyard."
"You see a lot of stuff on TV, but we're getting to go out there to see what's really going on," said Zeitler, one of Camp Pendleton's radio operators, before the trip.
Before the Marines departed the base Saturday, Brig. Gen. Michael R. Lehnert, Camp Pendleton's commanding general, spoke of the importance of the detachment's mission.
"You may say, 'what are 10 people going to do?' Well, you're going to do a lot," said Lehnert. "The mission you are on is one to help the American people. You'll be the focus of a lot of attention."
After a final good-bye to family and loved ones, the Marines left for the nearly 1,900-mile trip to Louisiana. One Marine's girlfriend, Cristine Robinson, said although saying good-bye was hard, she's happy the Marines are being sent to help those in need after Katrina's wake.
"It's a good miss," said Robinson of Cpl. Mark A.R. Kreitzer's departure. Kreitzer is a two-time Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran. "Him going to Iraq was hard, but the best part of this is that he's going to help those who haven't received help lately. He's going to love it."
While Camp Pendleton communications Marines are assisting in Belle Chasse, a detachment of Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based communications Marines were dispatched to New Orleans on a similar mission, according to Camp Pendleton officials.
As of Wednesday, more than 1,800 Marines from units around the U.S. - most of which are from the east coast - have arrived in the Gulf Coast region since this past weekend. The Marines are part of a "specially tailored task force formed to aid rapidly expanding relief efforts," according to a II Marine Expeditionary Force press release.
The Marines in the region are conducting search and rescue operations. Several Marine Corps reserve units, along with Camp Lejeune's 1st Bn., 8th Marine Regiment, are searching three critical areas in New Orleans isolated by the flooding, according to a 24th MEU press release.
The Marines are using a "hub-and-spoke" approach to the search, pushing out in multiple directions from Slidell and Picayune, just north of Lake Pontchartrain, and from Michoud - in New Orleans' eastern sector, according to the release. The Marines are using amphibious vehicles, called "amtracs," to navigate through certain flood-ridden portions of New Orleans to locate survivors and deliver food and water.
Additionally, two major Marine Corps commands based at New Orleans - 8th Marine Corps Recruiting District and Marine Forces Reserve - have had to relocate due to the disaster. The 8th Marine Corps Recruiting District, the headquarters element for the Corps' recruiting operations in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Arkansas and parts of Louisiana and Kansas, relocated to offices throughout Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, area. Marine Forces Reserve, which is the headquarters for all Marine Corps reserve units throughout the country, relocated to Naval Air Station/Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas.
Marines and sailors who may have had families affected by Hurricane Katrina and wish to return to their home state to assist their families need to refer to Marine Admin message 410/05 which sets guidelines for requesting leave and permissive temporary additional duty orders.
For more information on how to request leave or permissive TAD orders to go to New Orleans, contact your command's S1 or administrative office.
Caption: Cpl. Mark A. R. Kreitzer, 21, kisses his girlfriend, Cristine Robinson, good-bye before heading to Belle Chasse, La., Sept. 3. Kreitzer is part of a Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based detachment of nine Marines and one civilian contractor dispatched to provide communications support to military personnel at the Naval Air Station/Joint Reserve Base in Belle Chasse, as well as local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and other Katrina first responders. Photo by: Staff Sgt. Jim Goodwin
Great article. Bet that sweety pie is glad her Marine is going to the swamp instead of the sand pit. Surely the addition of these fine Marines shall enhance the over all effectivness to restore sanity to NO. I like the "hub and spoke approach", sounds so Marine like, when one thinks about it a moment.
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