• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

---

Saturday, September 23, 2000

MP colonel takes command
of U.S. contingent in E. Timor

By Jan Wesner Childs
Okinawa bureau

CAMP FOSTER — A military policeman has taken over command of the small U.S. contingent in East Timor.

Army Col. Louis Traverzo took command Sept. 16 of the U.S. Support Group East Timor, a headquarters element that organizes ship visits and community relations projects in the developing country.

Traverzo replaced Marine Col. Michael E. Williams, who is returning to his job as assistant chief of staff for the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force on Okinawa.

Traverzo is on a 90-day rotation to East Timor from his job as military police brigade commander in Hawaii, under the U.S. Army Pacific.

The appointment of an MP to the post coincides with rising tensions on the island of Timor, divided between independent East Timor and the Indonesian territory of West Timor.

"U.S. Army Pacific’s decision to send a military police commander was based on the force protections needs here, and they felt an MP officer would have the best background for the mission," Army Maj. Curtis Manchester, a spokesman for USGET, said Thursday via e-mail.

Manchester and other U.S. officials will not discuss specifics of security or force protection measures for units deployed to East Timor.

Violence has escalated in West Timor and along the border that separates it from East Timor in recent months. Three U.N. workers and two peacekeepers have been killed.

The United States is not part of the U.N. peacekeeping force in East Timor and does not participate in patrols along the border.

In a new role, the United States instead provides humanitarian assistance and logistical support in coordination with the U.N. and other agencies

The number of U.S. personnel in or near East Timor varies from a few dozen to several thousand, depending on whether a ship is in port and what type of community relations projects are taking place.

Most recently, the amphibious assault ship USS Tarawa and three other ships with about 4,000 Marines and sailors on board delivered food and building supplies to remote areas of East Timor.

A group of Marines from the 9th Engineer Support Battalion on Okinawa arrived in East Timor last week. They will spend three months helping rebuild schools and other buildings in the country, nearly destroyed after its residents voted overwhelmingly to become independent from Indonesia.

USGET was established in February when the United Nations took over leadership of the peacekeeping operation from the Australian military.

Traverzo’s change of command ceremony was held aboard the USS Tarawa, and included more than 300 East Timorese, U.N. and Australian aid workers and peacekeepers.