ABOARD THE USS BELLEAU WOOD -- Family and friends watched anxiously as warriors with packed bags boarded warships docked in San Diego June 15.
Emotional goodbyes and hugs hinted at the difficulty of long separations - and the heightened stakes of military patrols in a world where terrorists are intent on targeting the United States and its operatives.
More than 2,200 members of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) left their homes, family and friends Saturday, beginning a regularly scheduled six-month deployment to the Western Pacific and Arabian Gulf regions aboard the USS Belleau Wood (LHA-3), USS Denver (LPD-9) and the USS Mount Vernon (LSD-39).
Prior to their departure, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. James L. Jones, spoke words of encouragement to the Marines and sailors aboard the three warships of the Belleau Wood Amphibious Ready Group.
"You are going into a world that is full of challenge ... You are the most ready force the Navy and Marine Corps has to offer ... You will do well, there is no doubt," Jones said.
During his speech, Jones said Navy and Marine Corps deployments underscore the nation's bold response during times of uncertainty and conflict around the world.
"We should consider ourselves at war, and I think it is appropriate to say good hunting," Jones said.
Col. Anthony M. Haslam, the MEU's commanding officer, said his Marines are ready for anything. He noted that they're fresh off a rigorous six-month training cycle that groomed them for everything from room-by-room assaults to ridding buildings of enemy gunmen to setting up working parties to distribute aid to refugees of war or disaster.
"These Marines and sailors are well-trained and ready for any mission that we could be ordered by higher headquarters to support while forward deployed," Haslam said. "I am very pleased with the amount of effort, teamwork and dedication everyone has put into our preparation to deploy."
While deployed, the Marines and sailors of the 11th MEU (SOC) are scheduled to conduct various training exercises while awaiting orders from higher headquarters in response to international contingencies.
The MEU (SOC) departs with the full complement of expeditionary power -- including ground forces (Battalion Landing Team 3/1); an aviation combat element (Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 166 (reinforced)); a combat service support element (MEU Service Support Group 11) and a command element.
The 11th MEU's (SOC) deployment carries on Marine Corps support of Operation Enduring Freedom that started with the 15th MEU (SOC), whose conventional ground forces were the first U.S. troops to land and fight in Afghanistan since OEF began in October. The 13th MEU (SOC) also played an active role in the fight against terrorism. Its ACE was a primary player in Operation Anaconda, an air campaign to flush out and capture or kill enemy fighters holed up in remote mountains in eastern Afghanistan.
The 11th MEU (SOC) is scheduled to return to Southern California in December.