- Reaction score
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Contingency planning is underway. I think its safe to speculate that the 2d MEB will deploy to Afghanistan sometime this year. My guess would be sooner than later with the need to get ahead of any taliban spring offensive.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/01/marine_afghanistan_brigade_010709w/
Lejeune brigade may be Afghanistan bound
By Trista Talton - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jan 7, 2009 21:08:41 EST
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — The 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade may be headed to Afghanistan later this year, diverting thousands of troops once headed to Iraq.
Planning for the potential MEB deployment is underway at Camp Lejeune, N.C., said one person familiar with the process, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Details, including which units from II Marine Expeditionary Force would be tapped to go, are not being released until an official decision is made.
“There is not much we can say at this point,” said Maj. Eric Dent, a Marine spokesman at the Pentagon, in an e-mail. “There has been no decision to send additional Marine forces to Afghanistan. We routinely conduct contingency planning that would enable us to respond rapidly should additional forces be required.”
For more than a year, Commandant Gen. James Conway has been pressing for a greater Marine presence in Afghanistan, hoping to move his troops out of Iraq’s now-stable Anbar province and onto the other front. Last year, the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and elements of 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, deployed to Afghanistan to provide a surge of forces against the Taliban.
Currently, the Corps has a Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force in Afghanistan composed of various units from across the service. Lejeune’s 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment serves as the infantry leg of that unit.
Elements of II MEF’s Regimental Combat Team-6 and RCT-8 began deploying earlier this week to Iraq. The teams, together with II MEF, are scheduled to serve as the command element for other units, including 2nd Marine Logistics Group and 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, in Anbar.
Specific units deploying to Iraq this year as part of the scheduled rotation have not been identified.
Larger than a Marine Expeditionary Unit, but smaller than a full MEF, the MEB is a scalable, mid-sized option for the Corps. The brigade can swell to as many as 20,000 Marines, and is usually built around a reinforced rifle regiment — similar to the regimental combat teams currently deployed to Iraq — plus a composite Marine Air Group and a combat logistics regiment.
The command structure for the MEB is embedded within its parent MEF, as the deputy MEF commander also serves as the MEB commander. That position is currently held at II MEF by Brig. Gen. John E. Wissler.
Lejeune’s 2nd MEB has a history dating back to 1936, when it was activated in San Diego only to be deactivated later. On Nov. 10, 1999, the unit was brought back to life.
The brigade deployed in February 2003 to Kuwait, where it was reorganized as Task Force Tarawa and commanded by now-Lt. Gen. Richard Natonski. During operations in Iraq, the MEB lost 23 Marines.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/01/marine_afghanistan_brigade_010709w/
Lejeune brigade may be Afghanistan bound
By Trista Talton - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jan 7, 2009 21:08:41 EST
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — The 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade may be headed to Afghanistan later this year, diverting thousands of troops once headed to Iraq.
Planning for the potential MEB deployment is underway at Camp Lejeune, N.C., said one person familiar with the process, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Details, including which units from II Marine Expeditionary Force would be tapped to go, are not being released until an official decision is made.
“There is not much we can say at this point,” said Maj. Eric Dent, a Marine spokesman at the Pentagon, in an e-mail. “There has been no decision to send additional Marine forces to Afghanistan. We routinely conduct contingency planning that would enable us to respond rapidly should additional forces be required.”
For more than a year, Commandant Gen. James Conway has been pressing for a greater Marine presence in Afghanistan, hoping to move his troops out of Iraq’s now-stable Anbar province and onto the other front. Last year, the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and elements of 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, deployed to Afghanistan to provide a surge of forces against the Taliban.
Currently, the Corps has a Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force in Afghanistan composed of various units from across the service. Lejeune’s 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment serves as the infantry leg of that unit.
Elements of II MEF’s Regimental Combat Team-6 and RCT-8 began deploying earlier this week to Iraq. The teams, together with II MEF, are scheduled to serve as the command element for other units, including 2nd Marine Logistics Group and 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, in Anbar.
Specific units deploying to Iraq this year as part of the scheduled rotation have not been identified.
Larger than a Marine Expeditionary Unit, but smaller than a full MEF, the MEB is a scalable, mid-sized option for the Corps. The brigade can swell to as many as 20,000 Marines, and is usually built around a reinforced rifle regiment — similar to the regimental combat teams currently deployed to Iraq — plus a composite Marine Air Group and a combat logistics regiment.
The command structure for the MEB is embedded within its parent MEF, as the deputy MEF commander also serves as the MEB commander. That position is currently held at II MEF by Brig. Gen. John E. Wissler.
Lejeune’s 2nd MEB has a history dating back to 1936, when it was activated in San Diego only to be deactivated later. On Nov. 10, 1999, the unit was brought back to life.
The brigade deployed in February 2003 to Kuwait, where it was reorganized as Task Force Tarawa and commanded by now-Lt. Gen. Richard Natonski. During operations in Iraq, the MEB lost 23 Marines.
