II Marine Expeditionary Force Now in Jordan

Global Security.org ^ | March 26, 2003 | US Forces 'Order of Battle' staff memo

[Harp]

The part about them already being in Jordan would certainly be a shock. The King of Jordan doesn't seem to have the stones for that.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

What do you think that they have been doing with them, setting up golf courses?

If the Air Force is involved, yes.

[Carolina]

Thanks for the ping!

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

Several Iraqi officers captured by Marine units during Desert Storm said during their interrogations that it was a common belief that in order to join the Corps one had to have killed one of their parents.

[Always A Marine]

I also remember seeing the other day a report about some Marine General running around in nothern Iraq meeting with the Kurds.....

He is MajGen Osman, and his presence has been well (as in intentionally) publicized. As CG, II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF), he fills a 3-star command which includes the 2d Marine Division, 2d Marine Aircraft Wing, and 2d Force Service Support Group. MajGen Osman has been widely photographed in recent talks with Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq.

That said, we should understand that the Marine Corps is all about task organization and flexibility, and some elements of II MEF units are now operating under I MEF command in southern Iraq. What has already been published is the long-ago deployment of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB), which is a composite slice of II MEF, including a Regimental Landing Team (taken from 2d MarDiv), a composite Marine Air Group (taken from 2d MAW) and a Brigade Service Support Group (taken from the 2d FSSG). 2d MEB is a heavy brigade (MEB), commanded by a brigadier general, and not a much larger MEF as mentioned in this thread.

Normally, a Regimental Landing Team includes a nucleus of a Marine infantry regiment, reinforced with a tank company, AAV company, LAV company, engineer company, etc. However, the Marine Corps organizes such units to fit their particular missions, so 2d MEB might be heavier or lighter in some aspects. It is interesting to note that GlobalSecurity.org claims that 2d MEB includes two tank battalions, which is twice the armor of a Marine Division. That would be interesting.

[Cvengr]

Which one? The bad one or one of the good ones? ;^)

[ewing]

The Nazi's were terrified by General Patton and his army much the same way in WWII.

I believe Rommel refused to believe that the Allies would land at Normandy so he withheld critical Panzers because Patton was not leading the charge.

[mikegi]

I've been waiting for some clever actions from Rumsfeld, etc. Right now, it's not looking like a brilliant plan.

The 3rd ID is holding the IRG in place and the MEF is coming up from the SE. We haven't heard much of anything from out west. We took the airfield(s) out there early on. Maybe we're flying in tanks and armor. There were also reports of the 4th ID's equipment, originally intended for Turkey, being offloaded in Saudi and being trucked up to the border with Iraq (junction of SA, Jordan, and Iraq).

I'd love for another US division to pop up out of nowhere but I doubt it will happen.

[SENTINEL]

I heard that as well.

[Servant of the Nine]

They are perfectly positioned to lean on Syria too if necessary. Don't forget that Syria is controlled by the Bathists, just like Iraq.

SO9

[wardaddy]

American-born Queen Noor(born half Arab Christian, converted) is his step-mom....daddy's second wife.

Abdullah's wife Raina is from Kuwait and not too shabby in the looks department either. Kings and princes seem to often have a way with the ladies..lol...having a tiara always on hand to dole put seems to work magic.

No matter what he personally thinks of the US (I imagine he likes us), he has a lot of poor tribal easily agitated folks under his realm who are btw...not Hashemite like he is for the most part. He can get in serious trouble really quick.
He has a narrow path to follow with steep cliffs on either side. Enemies assasinated his grandpa and tried many times on his dad. I would think he is in their crosshairs as well.

[San Jacinto]

I have some concerns over this. Are 11,000 Marines enough to take over Jordan? Will we underestimate the resistance? Why not get Bin Laden first and worry about Jordan later? Are we sure this is okay with France?

[Dr. Eckleburg]

deceiving the media as a way to deceive the Iraqis

This all makes sense.

Jordan has played ball for decades, albeit night games; the "Where's Waldo the Refugee?" gambit is credible; there's been a lot of "humanitarian shipments" floating around lately that don't appear to be landing anywhere; and finally, it seemed awfully risky to embed reporters every 20 feet along the march to Baghdad.

But what better way to get everyone to look in the wrong direction? The airwaves have been so saturated with real-time bombing raids and troop advancements that lots could slip by unreported.

DiCaprio to Hanks, "Just tell them what you want them to see."

I have to think Rumsfeld is at least twice as smart as some generic Hollywood producer.

[faithincowboys]

Can we keep anything secret? we're not gonna be content until King Abdullah is overthrown. This is precisely why many countries don't want to assist us. Because everybody in the know has diarreah of the mouth, and our media would give out our nuclear codes if they could.

some people need to shut their fat pie holes!

[XJarhead]

I've been wondering about 2nd MarDiv as well. I know 2nd MEB is in theater, but what about the rest of the division? I mean, it can't be that much of a secret. Either they're in Camp Lejeune, or they're not.

[Always A Marine]

I've been wondering about 2nd MarDiv as well. I know 2nd MEB is in theater, but what about the rest of the division? I mean, it can't be that much of a secret. Either they're in Camp Lejeune, or they're not.

And Saddam is probably wondering about that very same thing.

[OldFriend]

I don't care about the feathers in the middle east. I just can't see killing people to save them. This butcher has tortured maimed and murdered his own citizens for sport......are we to rein bombs down on them now?

[cookcounty]

Somewhat related: I have a family member in Kfar Saba Israel. She says there has been an awful lot of fighter traffic overhead the last few days, which I take to be the 2 carriers in the Med launching sorties to Baghdad through the Israel-Jordan corridor.

[madison46]

big bump...101 has been quite as well. Wonder if this would force RG to move around a bit? Hey, new idea, show 101st and others coming from NW and see if RG moves and kill them better if do. If they do, then next drop should be from east..have 'em flood out like ants to cover THEIR rear...oh, just a pipe dream given logistics..........

[JSteff]

"I remember hearing that Jordan had closed off a large part of their country."

Remember, we have an air base in Jordan run jointly by the Jordainians, Israeli's, Egyptians, and Turks. It was referenced about a year ago on FR. It is supposedly for "Air Sea Rescue", but is I believe on the Eastern side of Jordan.
I have thought for some time that this was set up specifically for our action against Iraq. The Jordanians know where there bread is buttered, and it is NOT by the Arabs.