2,000 Marines, on one Navy vessel, cruising around the Mediterranean, just off shore of Egypt and Gaza?
Sounds like a massacre begging to happen.
Three ships, not one.
Sorry - my mistake.
The Marines have been hung out to dry in ME before.
There is always a MEU cruising in the Mediterranean. One always in the Caribbean as well. I was in the Marine Corps in the early 1960’s. The MEU’s had two names, the Med Cruise and the Caribbean Cruise. Med Cruise is a six month rotation. Caribbean a three month rotation. When a cruise time is up there is another on sent to relieve them.
I was on two different Caribbean Cruises. The Marines are always on station. This is simply a shift in the location of the ships in the Med, nothing out of the ordinary.You can bet my Marine Corps are ready to go.