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Task Force Tarawa Marines Return to Bataan

Navy Newsstand

Story Number: NNS030515-07

Release Date: 5/15/2003 3:46:00 PM

By Journalist 1st Class (SW) Sonya Ansarov, USS Bataan Public Affairs

ABOARD USS BATAAN, At Sea (NNS) -- Four and-a-half months ago when the order came to deploy to the Arabian Gulf on short notice, USS Bataan (LHD 5) and the embarked Marines of Task Force Tarawa, headed East not knowing exactly what their mission was, nor when they would return.

Now, after the successful completion of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the long anticipated wait of "when are we going home?" is over. The beginning to the end is here.

April 30 marked the beginning of the end when the combat cargo officers of Amphibious Task Force 51 held a meeting to discuss how to get the Marines and their equipment from their various positions in Iraq back South to Kuwait Naval Base for the backload.

Now that the Marines and their equipment are in Kuwait, it's one big coordinating effort to get them back aboard Bataan. "It's between Bataan's Operations and Combat Cargo departments talking to the beachmaster units ashore to find out how many Marines and which cargo are ready to come back," said Master Sgt. Greg Stimmell, Bataan's combat cargo assistant. "Once we have that figure it's then decided how many LCAC's (Landing Craft Air Cushion) are needed to pick them up and bring them back to Bataan."

Before the Marines' equipment can come back to Bataan it must first be completely washed down and pass an agricultural inspection.

"That's what makes this backload unique," said Stimmell. "Usually the equipment comes on dirty and we travel to Rota, Spain, for the wash down. This time through a joint-international venture involving the Kuwaitis and the four branches of the U.S. military, wash racks were constructed at Kuwait Naval Base to complete the washdown of the Marines' equipment. The equipment is coming on already clean and inspected, which is saving a tremendous amount of time and man-hours for the trip home."

This week is a busy one for Bataan with the majority of the backload taking place to get around 1,200 Marines and 153 vehicles back aboard. Some Marines are coming back by helicopter, but the majority are coming via LCAC.

"We're doing two to three runs per day - it could be more in a few days," said Operations Specialist 1st Class (SW/AW) Andy Sutter, navigator LCAC 70 of Assault Craft Unit (ACU) 4. "This is the most important job we have right now - making sure we get the Marines back onboard as safely and expeditiously as possible. It's good to see them and they are happy to see us here to take them back to the ship."

"We are ready for the Marines to come back and will welcome them with open arms," said Hull Maintenace Technician 2nd Class Ingrid Olvera, ACU-4 Maintenance Det. "All three of our crafts are running to get the Marines and we are ready to work throughout the night, if necessary, to ensure they are up and running the next day."

The ship and embarked Marines are components of Commander Task Force 51. The ship and crew left its homeport of Norfolk, Va., in January, for an unscheduled deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This is the ship's third deployment since its commissioning in September 1997.