MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Marines and sailors from the Camp Pendleton-based I Marine Expeditionary Force
have begun deploying to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom to relieve
the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division in the Al Anbar Province in western Iraq,
I MEF announced Friday.
Some Marines interviewed say this is why they joined the Marine Corps.
"This will be my second tour. It doesn't phase me, it is my job to be ready
to go," said Sgt. Beau B. Gyllenswan, chief boat driver, amphibious section,
with 1st Force Reconnaissance Company.
Gyllenswan, a single Marine, says his parents aren't so upbeat about it.
"My family does not want me in harms way, but they know what I do,"
he said.
This rotation of forces includes approximately 25,000 Marines and sailors, mostly from Camp Pendleton, but including Marines stationed in Twentynine Palms and at
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. The force is built around a division-sized Marine
Air Ground Task Force. The I MEF will include units from the 1st Marine Division,
the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing and the 1st Force Service Support Group and will
be augmented by units from the II Marine Expeditionary Force, headquartered at
Camp Lejeune, N.C., and Marine Forces Reserve, headquartered in New Orleans.
Although some Marines say their families are nervous about redeployment, Marines
interviewed had positive attitudes.
"My family doesn't want me to go," said Lance Cpl. Patrick W. Payne,
an administrative clerk with 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, who also is going
to Iraq for the second time. "But we've got to do what we've
got to do."
Marine forces will primarily deploy to Iraq in two, seven-month rotations. The
first rotation is expected to extend from March to September. The second rotation
is expected to be from September to February 2005.
Marines have undergone months of training to get ready for this deployment. Now
the training will be put to the test.
"I am very confident in my training — it is when we are coming home, not if we are coming home," said Lance Cpl. Matthew T. Kohout, a mortarman with Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, a reserve unit from Springfield, Mo. "I am absolutely ready, in every way — spiritually, psychologically and physically. This is the real deal; we are ready to knock it out.
Major Marine units to deploy under the command of I MEF for the first rotation:
I MEF Command Element
- elements of the 9th Communication Battalion
- elements of the 8th Communication Battalion
- elements of the 1st Intelligence Battalion
- elements of the 3rd Radio Battalion
- 1st Force Reconnaissance Company
- 3rd Force Reconnaissance Company
- 1st Air and Naval Gunfire Liaison Company
Ground Combat Element
- Regimental Combat Team 1
- Regimental Combat Team 7
- 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment
- 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment
- 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment
- 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment
- 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment
- 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment
- 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment
- 3rd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment
- 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment
- 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion
- elements of the 1st Tank Battalion
- elements of the 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion
Air Combat Element
- elements of the Marine Aircraft Group 16
- elements of the Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 16
- Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 161
- Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 261
- Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 466
- Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 775
- elements of the Marine Aerial Refeuler Transport Squadron 352
- elements of the Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 234
- Marine Wing Support Group 37
- elements of the Marine Air Control Group 38
- elements of the Marine Wing Communications Squadron 38
- elements of the 3rd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion
- Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 2
Combat Service Support Element
- the headquarters element of Combat Service Support Group 3
- elements of the Combat Service Support Group 11
- elements of the Combat Service Support Group 15
- Combat Service Support Company 111
- Combat Service Support Company 121
- elements of the Combat Service Support Battalion 1
- elements of the Combat Service Support Battalion 7
- Combat Service Support Company 117
- Combat Service Support Company 123
- elements of the 1st Medical Battalion
- elements of the 7th Engineer Support Battalion
- elements of the 8th Engineer Support Battalion
- elements of the Brigade Service Support Group 1
- elements of Headquarters and Service Battalion, 1st Force Service Support Group