Marine Corps

[Dan]

2:03 p.m. November 1, 2005

WASHINGTON – After resisting for 20 years, the Marine Corps has agreed to contribute a force to the Special Operations Command, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced Tuesday.

Rumsfeld said the Marines will supply a 2,600-man force to the command of about 47,000 elite soldiers, sailors and Air Force personnel.

The new Marine Special Operations Command will be headquartered at Camp Lejeune, N.C., but part of its operational force will be based at Camp Pendleton.

The unit's first commander will be Brig. Gen. Dennis J. Hejlik, currently deputy commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton.

Creation of the dedicated Marine special operations unit was the result of negotiations between Gen. Michael Hagee, the Marine Corps commandant, and Army Gen. Bryan D. Brown, commander of the Special Operations Command. It was preceded by increased cooperation between the Marines and the special operations forces around the world and a Marine test unit that deployed with the Navy SEALs last year.

In announcing formation of the new special operations unit, Rumsfeld said, "in this complex and unconventional conflict, we are constantly looking for ways to strengthen our armed forces." That has included efforts to improve the special operations forces, he said.

Creation of the Marine Corps special operations component "will increase the number of special operations forces available for missions worldwide, while expanding their capabilities in some key areas," Rumsfeld told a Pentagon briefing.

When the Special Operations Command was created by Congress in 1986, the Marine Corps declined to commit troops, arguing that it had no operational forces to spare.

Instead, the Marines began training their Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs) to perform a variety of special missions. When the units passed their qualifications trials, they were designated "Special Operations Capable."

Those Marine units have always worked closely with the SEALs that usually are assigned to the amphibious task force carrying the MEU. A small number of Marines also have been assigned to the Special Operations Command headquarters at Tampa, Fla.

Hejlik was one of those, serving as chief of staff and director of special operations at Tampa.

The Marines also provided considerable support to the special operations forces (SOF) that help defeat the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and have replaced Army Special Forces in a number of missions training foreign military personnel, including in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

In 2003, the Marines formed an 85-man Special Operations Command Detachment at Pendleton and, after intense training, deployed it last year to Iraq with the SEALs as an experiment of what they could contribute to the elite units.

The new Marine command will have three elements: the Marine Special Operations Regiment, which apparently would be a direct combat unit; the Foreign Military Training Unit to continue the education of allied troops, and the Marine Special Operations Support Group, which would have specialists in communications, intelligence, naval gunfire and air support coordination and logistics.

Lt. Gen. John Sattler, commander of the 1st Expeditionary Force, endorsed the decision and the selection of Hejlik as the unit's leader, calling him "one of our most combat-experienced and SOF-focused officers."

Sattler noted how closely he had worked with special operations forces when he led the 1st MEF in Iraq a year ago.

"To me, this is the next step," he told reporters.

[freds4]

http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/...1101-5027.html

[The Reaper]

Originally Posted by freds4

http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/...1101-5027.html

Fred:

You need to keep up if you are going to post here.

This was put up yesterday in The Early Bird, I guess that you missed it.

I am moving it to the proper location now.

TR

[freds4]

Got it. I'm a little too busy out here to keep up right now so will go back to just reading.

[Seth]

Thought I'd update this thread, rather than start a new thread:

Marines join special-operations community with creation of
specialized units

By ESTES THOMPSON
Associated Press Writer

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) — The Marine Corps formally entered the
world of military special operations Friday by establishing a
separate command devoted to small-unit tactics and stealthy
reconnaissance.

It’s work they’ve done as far back as World War II, but never
before as part of the U.S. Special Operations Command. The change
means battalions of Marines will be focused on special ops work
just as Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets and Rangers are.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made the change official after
arriving at Camp Lejeune aboard an Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. He
said special ops Marines will help “seek new and innovative ways
to take the fight to the enemy.”

Demand for highly trained special operations forces has
increased as the U.S. war against terrorists continues.

“We face a ruthless enemy that lurks in shadows,” Rumsfeld
said. “It has become vital the Department of Defense and armed
forces arrange ourselves in new and unconventional ways to succeed
in meeting the peril of our age.”

The Marines plan to establish their first special operations
company in May and have the command fully staffed with about 2,500
troops by 2010. The command will recruit corporals, sergeants and
officers with reconnaissance experience and language training.

As part of the change, the Marine anti-terrorism brigade
headquartered at Lejeune will go out of business and shift some of
its troops to the special operations command. The command will have
combat battalions on both U.S. coasts, along with support units and
schools to teach special operations skills to U.S. and foreign
troops.

Units to train foreign military officers will deploy within
months, Marine Commandant Gen. Michael Hagee said. A special
operations company will deploy with an expeditionary unit aboard
ships by the end of the year, other military officials said.

The Tampa, Fla.-based U.S. Special Operations Command will
control the Marines’ special forces.

Special operations will give the Marines “a role they otherwise
would not be able to get, to do counterterrorism,” said military
analyst John Pike of Washington-based Globalsecurity.org.<QA>

“The struggle against evil doers is a growth industry and the
Marines want a piece of that,” Pike said. “The special operations
community is getting a lot larger and they need more people.”

AP-WS-02-24-06 1707EST