DOD Extends Deployment of Marines Near Gaza
Approximately 2,500 Marines to remain on station near Gaza for the final stages of Israel’s takedown of Hamas and rescue of its hostages
As we previously reported, USS Bataan (LHD-5) and its embarked Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), deployed to the Persian Gulf with approximately 2,500 United States Marines, was moved to the Gaza area following the October 7 massacre in Israel: U.S. Military Power Expands in Gaza Area of Operations – An Update:
[V]ery recent reporting suggests the Bataan and its marines are heading towards Gaza:
🚨JUST IN: U.S. Defense Officials Confirm 2,500 Marines Are En Route to Israel-Gaza-Lebanon Region
Currently En Route:
– Approx 2,500 Marines with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit
– USS Bataan
– USS Carter Hall
– USS Mesa Verde
Source: USNI News pic.twitter.com/pFK5XX31mE
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) October 16, 2023
This was a big deal, as Admiral James Stavridis, legendary in U.S. Navy circles for his many in-depth thought pieces on naval strategy and tactics over the years, and now retired and dean emeritus of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, explained:
The administration will want more than the direct combat power of the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group. That may explain why the warships and Marines were ordered to cut short a training exercise that was scheduled to run through Oct. 22 due to what the Pentagon called “emerging events.”
USS Bataan, at 40,000 tons and over 800 feet in length, is a smaller version of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. With conventional propulsion, she has a powerful airwing that typically includes six F-35 strike fighters (with vertical takeoff capability), alongside a dozen of the assault support tiltrotor MV-22 Ospreys to get Marines rapidly ashore in a crisis….
In addition to the attack aircraft on the ships, the real offensive punch of the force is the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit [MEU] with more than 2,000 Marines. The MEU is configured for special operations, including a significant element of the vaunted Marine special operators, whose training resembles that of the Navy SEALs or the Army Green Berets.
Overall, the MEU has over 2,000 combat-trained Marines organized into an infantry battalion, an airwing to transport them, and embedded logistics support – everything from water purification systems to big tactical trucks and fast Humvees.
With a couple of thousand Marines nearby at sea, the President’s options will include securing airports for military and chartered commercial evacuation of Americans; guarding concentration points to collect citizens preparing to evacuate; securing coastal bases if air evacuation becomes too dangerous; and providing emergency medical support.
And the key point from Admiral Stavridis:
Above all, the special operations elements of the 26th MEU could be part of finding, fixing, and rescuing American hostages. This would obviously be done in complete coordination with Israeli special forces, and with a recognition that such operations are inherently dangerous and very often end with tragic outcomes for innocent hostages. It would most likely include US tier-one special forces, the elite SEALs and Green Berets operating globally out of Fort Liberty, North Carolina.
This all sounds like the culmination of a Tom Clancy novel, and all of this will be controversial in terms of potentially having actual US boots on the ground and fighter jets and helicopters in the skies above the fight in Gaza. But the highest obligation of a President is to protect American lives, and if events spiral into an even higher level of violence in Israel, the presence of US Marines gives the administration more and better options to respond. Send in the Marines.
Of course we now know that those Marines did not go in to extract U.S. hostages, some of whom still remain in Hamas’ hands, even though the Israelis are rescuing their hostages: Israel Rescues Two Hostages In Rafah
But, recent reports suggest those Marines will be on hand for the final stages of the Gaza assault:
From military.com: Marines, Navy’s Bataan Group Officially Get Extended Deployment in Mediterranean Amid Middle East Turmoil:
The Pentagon has officially extended the deployment of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit and a Navy amphibious ready group headed by the USS Bataan in the Mediterranean Sea amid growing regional turmoil, according to a defense official.
The extension was being mulled by the department following a U.S. military buildup late last year aimed at stopping the Israel-Hamas War from spilling over. A Navy spokesperson said Wednesday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin directed the ships and Marines to remain in the region.
The 26th MEU, a special operations-capable Marine Corps unit, and the Bataan group originally deployed in July to deter Iranian aggression against commercial shipping vessels near the Persian Gulf. Now, after already being extended once before, the units will stay deployed as the Pentagon looks to keep Marines in the region as violence has escalated, with U.S. forces attacked by Iran-backed proxies more than 160 times in the last few months.
The defense official told Military.com on Friday that “the Bataan ARG and 26th MEU [have] been extended in the” U.S. European Command area of operations, which includes the Mediterranean. On the far east, the sea also borders the Gaza Strip, Israel, Lebanon and Syria, where violence has spiked since the war began in October.
Unfortunately, there is another reason for the deployment extension, one having nothing to do with Gaza or attacks on U.S. assets:
Military.com previously reported that the Pentagon was considering this extension for the Marines and sailors aboard the Bataan group. Lt. Gen. Karsten Heckl, who heads the Marine Corps’ modernization efforts, told Military.com late last month that the unit was then “looking at yet another extension” because of the unprepared state of the Navy’s amphibious ship fleet.
Heckl said that Marine expeditionary forces have been prevented from deploying on time because the amphibious ships they ride on are not ready to set sail due to a number of factors, including maintenance issues.
For example, the USS Boxer, an amphibious warship that will be the heart of the next Marine deployment, has been struggling with maintenance issues for months. The ship spent more than a year at the pier, despite having just completed a two-year overhaul. Then, when it finally did get underway, it belched black smoke outside San Diego harbor.
Two weeks ago, Navy officials told Military.com that the ship, which was scheduled to deploy in November, still needs “additional advanced training” before it is fully ready to deploy.
[emphasis added]
And, the extension may well have negative effects on downstream retention efforts:
“When you extend an ARG like that, it has a lot of ramifications, both material-wise and manpower,” Heckl said last month after Military.com reported that the extension was being considered. “Material-wise, that ship is now staying underway longer than it had been planned and is probably impacting some maintenance avail[ability] that was scheduled.
“And then the manpower — maintaining good faith and trust with our Marines,” he added. “What happens to those Marines that had an end-of-active-service date, and now they’re getting essentially involuntarily extended?”
But, Big Navy continues its rosy outlook:
In response to accusations of not being prepared to deploy on time, the Navy told Military.com that it was continuing “to maximize readiness and [is] able to fight and prevail when and wherever called upon.”
Oh brother. In any case, we will keep you updated as the Gaza military operations enter their final stages.
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Comments
This episode demonstrates the current state of US military capability. While the US still retains the ability to surge forces to a particular area the ability to rotate forces to maintain that presence has diminished. There are still lots of good, patriotic young men and women in our military. The problem is they are getting used up by the strain of operations. This is a result of high OP tempo, in some respects higher than in the two decade GWOT and the lack of investment in maintaining vessels, equipment or even livable barracks for the troops.
The lack of ability to recruit sufficient replacement numbers to our military has caused standards to drop and we still can’t get the minimum recruitment numbers. That causes a higher burden on the troops that are worth a damn resulting in many refusing to reenlist which compounds the recruiting shortfall. Not just in numbers but in the quality of the remaining force, the Services gonna promote folks to SGT and Petty Officer who otherwise wouldn’t be selected just to fill the slots. These poor quality first line leaders generally PO their subordinates via incompetence which causes even more troops to depart.
Add in the munitions shortage on top and the ability of the US military to adequately respond to a regional war/crisis of any significant duration is far.from certain. As an example tomahawk cruise missiles are being expended at a faster rate than our production lines can build them. In the last decade we purchased a little more than 1,200 tomahawk missiles but are using up these missiles at $2+ million EA to strike targets of dubious value. The last three defense budgets had purchases of tomahawk missiles of less than 150 combined over those three years.
The bottom line is the cupboard is getting close to bare in terms of the ability to respond and project power in a sustained manner. Keep that in mind the next time the neocons start their rhetoric that the US ‘must’ send forces to X or supply Z munition.
Enthusiastically agree with all this. The only thing that I would add is we’re seeing a significant increase in equipment that is in such a state of disrepair, it’s no longer combat-ready. For instance, ATM, the ENTIRE fleet of Ospreys is grounded. VMM-162, which is embarked with the 26th MEU mentioned above, is only allowed to fly during ’emergency situations’. While I’m not a fan of the Osprey and haven’t been since it came into service, the reality is the Marine Corps and Air Force has become hugely dependent on it. The mission cannot be accomplished without it.
So, while we’re approaching the point in time when Marines are going to have to swim ashore to engage the enemy, there isn’t any shortage of money to fly illegals all over the country in new clothes and walking around money or to ‘transition’ kids and expand DEI positions in government.
Yep. The issue is defered maintenance. The fact is a high quality military costs lots of money. The spending can’t stop with procurement of weapons and equipment. Run that equipment hard during deployment or training and things break, consumable parts get worn out. So do the troops and their families. It’s a question of priorities in spending. IMO the easiest way to see if a particular politician gives a crap is to look at their support for VA and $ proposed to care for the existing population of Veterans. If the VA and Veterans ain’t their priority when discussing military and national security issues they are pretending. Same for maintenance budgets for existing equipment fleet v procurement of entirely new systems. If they don’t demand the DoD take care of what they have, then allocate sufficient $ for that but instead want to buy new platforms which just happen to be sold by large campaign donors…..get a hand on your wallet.
And, of course, a 20 year long deployment will do even worse.
Commo chief,
I agree with every word you said.
Repeat deployments and extended deployments are hard on the troops.
However you omitted the number one reason reason good sailors are not re-enlisting.
The DEI training and promotion based on race and sex and sexual orientation are driving conservatives out of the military.
TBH, once in uniform the troops can and do put up with repeat deployments. They will more/less happily do so b/c that’s what they signed up for. They can and do tolerate the once a quarter lecture about diversity. Don’t ask don’t tell ended a long time ago and most troops don’t really care who does what to whom so long as they and their squad mates aren’t getting harassed and feel safe.
When we add barracks that are literally uninhabitable and DEI policies on base that impact their families such as at the post child care facilities and post hospital then it becomes far less tolerable. Take care of the troops and their families and folks will join up and a sufficient number will reenlist. Refuse to spend the money to do that and/or jam woke weirdos down their families throats…. not so much.
Training time has always been difficult to come by and if units actually did all the ‘required training’ directed by higher headquarters they would need 30 hour working days. Something is always going to get short shrift. The art of time management at the unit level is in making sure the truly important stuff gets covered and the art of monitoring from higher headquarters is to not look too closely at ‘required’ rock painting exercises.
Then along came the DEI zealots and they wield unbelievable power. They will have their pounds of flesh in both training time and morale-crushing social engineering. I pray we have not gone too far down that path as a military but I suspect that we have and are going to pay dearly for it.
It’s going to take a truly crushing major event, like losing a battle, or someone dropping a nuke on DC, to force a flushing out of the wokeness BS and a start to rebuilding our warrior culture and capability. Pray we have the strategic depth to trade for the time and resources to do that.
If the ship in the photo is a current pic of one of our ships, then I am dismayed. It is obviously not well-maintained, with rust showing everywhere, who knows what else is awry with it.
I don’t know exactly when that photo was taken. But, considering it looks like it might be Newport News (the homeport of the Bataan) and there are sailors in dress whites around the perimeter of the flight deck, I’m guessing we’re seeing the Bataan return to its home after a deployment. While USN ships usually sail from their homeport with a fresh coat of haze gray, there isn’t generally time to repaint during an actual deployment, particularly a combat deployment. So, when they return, they almost always look like that: weathered.
That is the ship in question (the big “5” on the superstructure tells us that) but it’s not known when that pic was taken. Given the sailors in whites lining the decks, it is coming into a port somewhere. If it is returning home after a deployment, then those particular areas of rust and soil aren’t particularly surprising. The one area looks like petroleum to me, since it’s under the one area – like it’s overflow and disposal. The other area looks like it might be one of the sea doors – which would be understandable corrosion in a long deployment.
But, no, that doesn’t look good.
The rust on the after starboard side is from the aircraft elevator. On a deployment, that equipment tends to suffer from exposure to the elements. Underway maintenance can moderate the corrosion somewhat, but it will take a yard visit to truly put it “shipshape”.
Correct, and given its position relative to the operating mechanisms of the elevator it may not be rust but grease from the elevator tracks.
Those are Moran tugs- the big “M” on the stacks is a dead giveaway. Which means it’s a US port. None of the ships I was on ever returned to port looking like that. Then again, the paints that were used were less environmentally friendly- meaning they were designed to do their job.
Also not talked about is how scores of American citizens were among the victims of the 10/7 Muslim terrorist murders, atrocities and hostage-taking, yet, vile Biden and the Dhimmi-crats haven’t lifted a finger to rescue them or otherwise substantively aid Israel in their rescue.
Apparently, the hostages’ American citizenship is deemed irrelevant, because of their Jewish faith. And, the restive, Jew-hating Muslim supremacists and Islamofascists living in Michigan and elsewhere, must be kowtowed to and appeased.
MILITARY FIRMLY UNDER KAMALA
Well thats at lest what the msm is going to be pushing as they are ramping up to show/PROVE SHE CAN AND IS THE LEADER
IM TELLING YOU ITS RAMPING UP
As I stated when Biden first sent in the military
THEY ARE MOSTLY THERE TO KEEP ISRAEL IN CHECK
have been proven correct with that
as no missiles sent to the Iranians homeland
everything else is for show
trump didnt need to b/c things were winding down relatively speaking
but biden has left it no doubt that the usa is in a full world war>>>sabing the nordstreram etc etc is in fact wartime
Maybe they are there to secure East Jerusalem for the Palestinians
That generally translates to “Failed their MEU(SOC) certification”, a grueling, tightly graded, week long pre-deployment evaluation. The time and resources required to fix the issues then reset and retake the evaluation after such a failure vary of course but would be no less than 2-3 weeks from my experience.
While these failures aren’t entirely unheard of they were incredibly rare in the past. A book could likely be written on the various factors which caused this one but I suspect the true origins boil down to radical social engineering forced on a captive audience and a complete lack of national focus on war fighting capability.
With the current state of leadership, I expect the military’s role in placing that ship where it is relates directly to needing to evacuate Gaza’s leadership ahead of Israel’s attacks and providing them safe transportation to a different terrorist homeland.
This is nonsense. SF is not going to rescue hostages. That is not their mission. SEAL’s, Recon, Delta (which is an actual hostage rescue force) and maybe Rangers who go in to secure the field ahead of action. Don’t forget the AF FAC’s. Mostly unknown those studs are respected by everyone that know what they do
I was remiss in not mentioning Pararescue. Its not called Superman School for nothing with a washout rate higher than Buds
It’s the 26th MEU floating in the littoral waters off Gaza. In addition to a Marine Battalion, attached to any SOC-capable MEU (as the 26th MEU is), is a squadron of SEALs and and depending on the mission brief, a FAST company and MARSOC elements. I don’t know what SEAL unit is currently attached to that MEU, but it wouldn’t be surprising if DEVGRU elements are onboard. If something goes down in Gaza, it will indeed be the MEU that responds.
I was not referring to the 26th. I was pointing out that the story was incorrect in stating that the Marine Recon Units training was similar to Army Green Berets. No, it’s not as I’m sure you know. They are totally different animals tasked with entirely different things. SEALS are not Recon who are not Green Berets who are not Delta, Rangers or Pararescuemen. I am quite sure there are SEAL’s on the boat or nearby along with the Marine Recon or whatever they call them now, didn’t they change their name or recently and I read elsewhere the Marines were going disband them.