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Corps to study progress in war
Submitted by: MCB Quantico
Story Identification Number: 200221151631
Story by 1stLt. Bill Pelletier
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va.(Jan. 18, 2002) -- About 20 Marines from the northern Virginia area, including several from Headquarters Marine Corps and Marine Corps Base Quantico, have been assigned to the Marine Forces Central Command Combat Assessment Team, or MCAT.
The team, which includes Marines from Yuma, Ariz., Camp Pendleton, Calif., Marine Corps Materiel Command, Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Ga., and Navy medical personnel and civilian analysts, is en route to areas in and around Afghanistan. Assessment duties include interviewing Marines from operational units and finding out what higher headquarters can do to enhance the mission capability of those units, according to LtCol. Kathleen Harrison, MCAT executive officer.
"Our purpose is to go over and see what's working for the Marines who are in-theater," said Harrison, an intelligence officer assigned to the Doctrine Division at Marine Corps Combat Development Command. "Identifying areas in which we are successful, as well as areas that are proving to be challenges, will help the Marines and Sailors on the ground, as well as those assigned to future missions in this operation as well as other ops."
The team is broken down into assessment cells that will study the main functional areas of the Marine Corps Air-Ground Task Force: the command element, ground combat element, aviation combat element and combat service support element. In addition, Combat Camera Marines and Marine historians will document the Corps' participation in Operation Enduring Freedom, which began after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The team deploying to the Afghanistan region will report its data back to a rear-area team at MCCDC. Col. Philip Exner, officer in charge of the Rear Support Detachment, said the effort could prove to be a great asset.
"We don't know how long this effort will go on, and we are continually preparing the next Marine units to go over," said Exner. "We want to find out how to better organize, train, and equip them for this type of mission, as well as the other missions they may face. For example, if we don't have the right mix of helicopters to support operations, the sooner we know about it, the sooner we can fix the problem.
"The benefits extend beyond the operators. We could have the next Iwo Jima photo waiting for us over there. But if Combat Camera can't capture or transmit those images back to the United States, the greatest photo in the world may be missed or wasted sitting over in-country."
The team, headed by Col. Mark Broin, director of MCCDC Doctrine Division, includes a diverse mix of ranks and experience, including Marines with backgrounds in infantry, artillery, Naval aviation, NBC, communications, embarkation, supply, logistics, combat engineers, combat camera, and combat illustration, and consists of commissioned and warrant officers and SNCOs. Cpl. Bryant Cox is the lone NCO on the team.
"At first, I thought I was going to be doing all the dirty work," said Cox of his status as junior Marine on the MCAT. "But the officers have been great about the distribution of tasks."
Cox, a combat photographer whose previous deployment experiences Northern Ireland, Saipan, Okinawa and Ground Zero in New York, said the opportunity to deploy from Quantico is rare and welcome.
"Being at Quantico, you feel like you're kind of stuck here, but then this comes up, and it changes things real fast."
This is not the first time a team has gone into a combat zone to assess operations. In 1990, during Operation Desert Shield and later Desert Storm, senior Marines realized that large-scale combat operations provide an excellent opportunity for observation and assessment of operations as they occur, instead of relying on after-action reports that sometimes do not get completed until days, weeks or months after an operation ends.
By gathering the information from Marines while they are still on the ground or off the coast of Afghanistan, senior Marines hope to be able to gather data about personnel levels, training, equipment and conduct of operations that is timely and accurate and can begin to make a difference even while the same operation is ongoing. Operational tempo is a factor that's not lost on the team, according to Harrison.
"We fully recognize that they're the warfighters over there," she said. "We're coming to gather information based on their experiences and report it back. These are the Marines who are in the thick of things every day. It's important that their input be heard as soon as possible."
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