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2/3 returns from supplemental MEU operations

United States Marine Corps

Submitted by: MCB Hawaii
Story Identification #: 2004716194234
Story by Sgt. Joseph A. Lee

MCB HAWAII, KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii(July 16, 2004) -- A battalion from 3rd Marine Regiment deployed in November on what was to be a "normal" Unit Deployment Program to Okinawa, but soon wound up aboard ship.

Then 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, was tasked in December - just one month after arriving in Okinawa on its UDP - to supplement the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit as its Battalion Landing Team for a series of training exercises stretching across the Far East.

According to Capt. Daniel Kalson, Fox Company commander, Marines from 1st Marine Division in California normally supplement the 31st MEU, but because of current operations in the Gulf, Marines from 2/3 were needed to assist.

"Normally on a UDP, we spend the whole time on the island of Okinawa, involved in jungle warfare and other somewhat conventional training, but our Marines were more than happy to supplement the MEU instead," said Kalson.

The MEU rapidly brought 2/3 Marines up to speed on MEU operations. First, 2/3 participated in several exercises to prepare the battalion for its Special Operations Capable qualification test, or "SOCEX". As well, 2/3 participated in training in preparation for the TRUEX and MEUEX exercises.

Their first, TRUEX, took place in Guam. While Fox Company executed airfield seizures and urban training at the Barrigada Training Facility, the Maritime Special Purpose Force platoon honed its tactical skills at Anderson Airfield.

According to Kalson, SOCEX was a weeklong series of missions developed by the Special Operations Training Group to evaluate the unit's special operations capabilities.

"We never know what the mission is going to be," said Kalson. "It's a continuous evolution where the Marines being evaluated get very little sleep and are engaged in a series of surprise missions."

Marines from 2/3 performed airfield seizures, noncombatant evacuations, and tactical recoveries of aircraft and personnel in the Republic of South Korea, and mechanized vehicle and boat raids in Okinawa, while continuing to play a part in larger exercises like Foal Eagle, taking place in the same region.

"We were SOC-qualified faster than any unit has ever been qualified before," said Kalson. "We completed a six-month training regimen in approximately six weeks."

After successfully accomplishing its SOCEX, 2/3 continued on to Thailand for exercise Cobra Gold, then stopped by Singapore for some welcomed liberty before returning to Okinawa, and eventually arriving back home to Hawaii.

During the past eight months, 2/3 has developed expeditionary skills it rarely has the opportunity to attain. Further, the battalion may develop future training on Oahu to adhere more closely to the structured specialties found in the MEU, according to Kalson.

"I think it [the MEU] was very exciting for the Marines. It gave the Marines from Hawaii the chance to do something they haven't or may not ever have had the chance to do," Kalson continued, "and that is being assigned on ship, able and ready to respond to any contingency at hand."

"The MEU splits the three rifle platoons into three specialties: helicopters, boats, and mechanized vehicles," Kalson explained. "We will probably start to implement that more here, to be more prepared for attachment to a MEU. He emphasized, "The MEU is the tip of the spear, and that is where all Marines want to be."