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New unit will handle wartime activations

USMC News

Story Identification Number: 200336173940
Story by Cpl. Lana D. Waters

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.(March 6, 2003) -- The Marine Corps is maneuvering to make sure Reserve call-ups and integration during wartime go as smoothly as during peacetime - a push that begins with a new Reserve unit.

That unit, the Mobilization Support Battalion, based at Camp Talega, "stood up" in a ceremony here Friday. The unit ultimately will consist of 450 Marines activated from the Individual Ready Reserves to in-process other IRRs bound for warfighting units. The new unit will be complemented by another new unit consisting of IRRs here who will offer combat-refresher training for IRR call-ups.

Dozens of Marines and sailors witnessed the activation, which included the unfurling of the American and the Marine Corps flags. "The purpose of the ceremony is to designate the MSB," said Col. Harry T. Williams, the new unitÕs commanding officer. "It's like a reserve unit being activated, only the unit doesn't exist -it's being created for the first time."

The MSB's creation stems from lessons learned in past conflicts. The Marine Corps has had two, large-scale mobilizations - one during the summer of 1950 for the Korean War and one when Operation Desert Storm started 12 years ago. During these mobilizations, the Marine Corps found its processing of IRR Marines inadequate.

"There needed to be a designated organization," Williams said.

The Reserve Support Unit was the only vehicle available at the time to assist in the activation of Marines. But the RSU wasn't designed for that purpose.

"The RSU has a mission of facilitating all reserve activities for all branches of the military," Williams said. "It is a peacetime organization to facilitate peacetime training."

After Operation Enduring Freedom started and sparked the need for a third mobilization, the Marine Corps decided to create the MSB, a venture designed specifically for mobilization.

"The role of the MSB is to process, equip and facilitate the training of individual Marines and sailors recalled to active duty as individual augmentees or combat replacements," Williams said.

So far, about 120 to 150 activated IRR Marines are working at the MSB; that number is expected to grow to more than 200 Marines shortly, said Williams.

Once the MSB is up to full capacity with 450 Marines, it could process from 1,000 to 1,500 combat replacements a week, he said. The first wave of IRR Marines could come through in the next several weeks, he added.

IRR personnel are non-drilling service members who've already fulfilled their active-duty commitments but can be activated for large-scale mobilizations. They differ from Selected Marine Corps Reserve Marines, who drill one weekend a month and two weeks a year.

The MSB will process combat replacements bound for Mobilization Training Battalion, where they will relearn combat skills taught at boot camp and Marine Combat Training.

Once the two-week check-in/training process is complete, the newly activated Marines will deploy to combat zones as needed.

The MTB is still being assembled and will fall under the School of Infantry here.

Friday's ceremony came two weeks after a similar one at Camp Lejeune, N.C., where the Marine Corps' other MSB is now stationed.