Marines change strategy to cope with terrorism

[thedrifter]

Marines change strategy to cope with terrorism

Editor's Note: James J. Criste, the son of Woodland resident John Criste and Colleen Daugherty, is a lance corporal with the First Battalion, First Marine Regiment,currently attached to the 13th MEU/(SOC), Battalion Landing Team (BLT) 1/1. BLT 1/1 is a Strike Warfare Component for ESG-1. James is also a member of his unit's special operations, TRAP team. He deployed with ESG-1/13th MEU(SOC) in August, aboard the USS Peleliu. He is a June 2002 graduate of Woodland Christian High School.

By CHRIS TOMLINSON The Associated Press

ARTA BEACH, Djibouti - A new U.S. strategy of sending the Navy's most powerful weapons and sophisticated surveillance ships on joint operations with Marine combat units was successful in an anti-smuggling operation in Iraq and could help the war against terrorism, military officials told The Associated Press.

The change in tactics and training for U.S. Navy ships and Marines forces, which have long worked in tandem but not as a combined unit in the world's hotspots, come as part of a revamping of U.S. security services after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

In the Iraq operation, the Marines went ashore on the al-Arab peninsula and searched for smugglers' hideouts as crews on Navy ships exchanged intelligence with the Marines on the ground, resulting in both teams capturing smugglers at sea and on land, said Col. Michael Regner, commander of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit based near San Diego.

The 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit is part of the first-ever Expeditionary Strike Group, which combines the three ships that carry the Marines with a cruiser, a destroyer, a frigate and a submarine to create a flexible force that can act independently. ESG-1 set sail on Aug. 22 and has been trying out new tactics in the past few months.

In the past, the Marines only traveled with the three troop carriers and was known as an Amphibious Ready Group.

"The Amphibious Ready Group did not provide the lethality you need to be effective in the global war on terror," Regner said. "For the first time in my 27 years in the Marine Corps, we have worked this closely with the Naval forces still out at sea."

The 2,000 Marines under Regner's command have trained for 29 scenarios, including everything from evacuating a besieged embassy to feeding victims of a disaster to capturing a strategic beach. But to help fight terrorism, Regner said he has given his Marines extra training in dealing with smugglers and boarding ships at sea.

"In my opinion, many terrorists are moving by sea routes at this time," he said.


http://www.dailydemocrat.com/articl...news/news6_.txt

Sempers,

Roger