Posted on 07/02/2003 10:53:28 AM PDT by LavaDog
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.(June 20, 2003) -- Marines have always been known as the few and the proud. But on Friday, the Marine Corps took its first steps toward assembling a group of warriors even fewer and prouder as part of the U.S. Special Operations Command.
Operating under the name Detachment One, this elite 86-man unit "if it passes muster" will be in a league of its own alongside the Navy Seals, Army Green Berets and Rangers, and the Air Force's Special Operation Command.
The commando unit, housed at the Camp Del Mar Boat Basin, will consist of a headquarters, reconnaissance, intelligence and fire-support elements organized, trained and equipped to carry out special reconnaissance, direct-action, limited foreign internal defense and coalition support missions, much like their sister special operations forces. Although the missions are similar throughout the armed forces, Detachment One will take advantage of Marine-specific strengths in task organization, small-unit leadership and the application of combined arms, officials said.
Last fall, top Pentagon officials began pouring through more than 500 record books, ultimately hand-picking 81 Marines and five Navy corpsmen to form the detachment. The unit consists of seasoned sergeants, staff noncommissioned officers and officers. Lt. Col. Robert J. Coates, a highly regarded infantry officer with a reconnaissance background, will command Detachment One.
"This is a phenomenal group of Marines," said Lt. Col. Giles Kyser, head of the Marine Air Ground Task Force special operations section of Plans, Policy and Operations at Headquarters Marine Corps. "This is the pinnacle of their military professions."
When the Pentagon formed the U.S. Special Operations Command in 1987, the Marine Corps chose to march to the beat of its own drum, developing a training program to make their amphibious Marine Expeditionary Units "special operations capable." After six months of rigorous training, those units are tested on each MEU-specific mission to earn their "SOC" qualification months before their six-month deployment, certifying them for roughly two dozen specialized missions, including embassy evacuations, airfield seizures and downed pilot rescues within six hours of notice.
But ultimately, the need for a smaller, more permanent special force in the spirit of the World War II Raiders gave birth to Detachment One.
The Raiders were banded together to seize key hills and beaches in guerrilla-style strikes against Japanese forces. Disbanded two years after they were created, the Raiders wrote an important page in the history of what are now known as Special Operations forces.
Members of the Raiders were on hand for Friday's activation ceremony.
"I'm ecstatic that we are living and watching the rebirth of the Marine Raiders," said Chuck Meacham, president of the Marine Raiders Association, proudly sporting the Raiders skull insignia.
Detachment One has begun its rigorous training regime and will be "closely watched and evaluated along the way," said Kyser.
"In this profession, second place is last place, so we are going to make sure we do it right," he said.
After the evaluation period, Detachment One will fall under Naval Special Warfare Squadron One. The detachment is expected to begin training with a Navy SEAL team in October and subsequently deploy in April.
After the ceremony, family members and visitors got hands-on with the specialized gear Detachment One will use.
Members say they can't wait to get cracking on their new assignment.
"When I got the call and found I was chosen to be a part of Detachment One, I was so excited to get on the ground and start running," said Sgt. Branden W. Barnett, a topographic intelligence analyst. "I'm striving to give the detachment the real time intel they will need."
let me give you the same advice I was given as a young 2nd Lieutenant going off to my Officer's Basic Course there: Don't worry about the folks there for airborne training....'cause they just think they're BAD but STAY AWAY from the Rangers because THEY ARE BAD!
Keep your mouth shut around other recruits about having any college....especially if you think you might wind up in OCS someday or they will make your life a living hell. I have seen this done.
Stay out of trouble, pay attention to the "OFF LIMITS" list in the barracks. These are businesses that have been known to abuse soldiers. This is especially true of the "adult entertainment" on good old "Victory Drive" the main drag in front of the gate.
There is a large store near the main gate at Benning called "RANGER JOE'S" and it has all the high speed gear to make life in the field more comfortable. They'll even sew the "cat's eyes" on your patrol cap which gives a soft glow in the dark spot so you can spot your buddy on a night patrol and if he suddenly falls off a cliff, you won't immediately follow him to the same fate. Anyway, it's got a lot of cool stuff. Now I'm not suggesting you actually buy gear here without first consulting the chain of command. I was an officer, and pretty much had a free hand in my personal field gear as long as it blended with the issue stuff.
Amen.
(You've got the best tagline I've ever seen on FR!)
Thanks, but I can't take the original credit, it was something I once saw on a bumper sticker, at a gun show.
hello, i was reading this forum and i was wondering if anyone might be willing to give suggestions for joining the USMC scout/snipers and then Force Recon
-I understand that both are extremely difficult to admit into, but nonetheless, any suggestion would be appreciated
Thank God it's the Marines.
I was worried for a moment that it was the Corps of Engineers, all set to replicate the fine work they did for flood control in and around New Orleans!
Damn this thread is almost FOUR YEARS OLD! This guy might have served a full tour and been discharged by now. Or he could be DEAD for all I know. wow.
"Don't ever tell anyone in the Army you didn't have the balls to be a Marine".
We had a guy (A screwup commonly referred to as a "Shitbird" in the Corps) in Boot Camp at Parris Island that, when asked sarcastically by our Sr. D.I., why he joined the Marine Corps and "come down here and make my life miserable". He replied "because the Army wouldn't have me, Sir". Then the fun began.
Not dead, thankfully. Successfully completed my obligation, went from PV1 to SGT in 3 1/2 years and regretfully medically discharged. Now a DA Civilian, FYI.
Welcome home and thank you for your service!
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