Marines Deployed to Northern Iraq

[n2doc]

The Pentagon on Monday confirmed it has set up a small Marine base in northern Iraq to protect a nearby Iraqi military base, in the wake of a weekend attack that left one Marine dead and several others injured. The new outpost was attacked again Monday, but no Marines were hurt, the Pentagon said. The Marines returned fire, killing at least two ISIS militants, according to Col. Steve Warren, a U.S. military spokesman in Iraq. Col. Warren also insisted the Marines are there to provide “force protection” and not to serve as combat forces. An estimated 100 to 200 Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit are stationed at the outpost.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2016/03/22/marines-deployed-to-northern-iraq.html

[CTyankee]

1. I'd like to know more about the Marines. My sense is that their "expeditionary" force

is not what I thought the word meant. I thought it meant "tip of the sword" not "force protection." I know they also serve as our Embassy guards in world capitals.
That's about the extent of my knowledge about them.

Don't they also serve navy captains as "gunnies"?

[Lurks Often]

2. A Marine Expeditionary Unit is a composite force

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_expeditionary_unit

Most US Navy vessels have a Marine detachment aboard and on some larger ships Marines stand guard outside of the captain's or admiral's quarters and/or office.

A composite unit in the US Army is called a Task Force, although units assigned a task force is unlikely to be quite so specific as a marine expeditionary force.

[Solly Mack]

3. Expeditionary, in this sense, means a self-sufficient group that brings with it all its own support.

Means they don't have to attach to other units or co-locate with other units. IOW, they bring their own logistics. (seasbees, MPs, medical, etc.)

There are detachments, defensive units, and expeditionary forces. Detachments and defensive units attach to other units.


Force protection is the protection of other soldiers/troops against hostile action and physical security protects against outside physical circumstances

Simplistically, making sure the doors are locked is physical security, but it involves a lot more than that. Force Protection will protect combat troops from aggressive forces while the combat troops are doing their jobs. Someone tries to enter a combat troop area unauthorized, force protection will stop them - because that's a hostile circumstance. Theft is an example of a physical circumstance.

If that helps any.

[CTyankee]

7. I once dated a man who was a captain in the seabees, He was an engineer.

He always talked about his gunny and I didn't know what the hell he was talking about...

[malaise]

4. One was killed on the weekend

[bluedigger]

5. It sounds like we put in an artillery battery to support the Iraqi Army.

On Saturday morning Marine Staff Sgt. Louis Cardin, a 27-year old artilleryman, was killed by a ISIS rocket attack on a previously secret forward fire support base in northern Iraq. Eight other marines were wounded by the onslaught. The news comes as the long awaited and extremely high-stakes “Mosul Offensive” is slowly taking shape.

The fact that Marines were forward-deployed to a fire base in northern Iraq had not been previously disclosed by the Pentagon. What is known is that American advisers and about 5,000 Iraqi soldiers and their equipment are massing in the farming village of Makhmour, about 60 miles south of Mosul, in preparation for the long-awaited attempt to take back the city from ISIS control.

The base is described as in an austere location with a “couple hundred” Marines living in tents, according to CNN’s sources. The site is said to be an artillery fire base setup to support allied forces heading toward Mosul and to protect Makhmour and the base, known as the Nineveh Operations Center, from ISIS attack.

Makhmour is not known to be a highly secure location in the first place. ISIS fired artillery shells filled at least partially with mustard gas last year at the city when Kurdish forces were present there. Recently they were planning for another similar assault using chlorine gas.

CNN also reports that Marines are said to have moved from their bases aboard ships that are part of the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group to the area to set up the base about two weeks ago. It had only been operational for a few days before the deadly attack occurred. The Pentagon now says that they planned on disclosing the existence of the fire base this week.

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/death-of-marine-artilleryman-in-iraq-unveils-previously-1766108556

A typical artillery battery has six guns, and will include about a couple hundred men. Whoever told them to go out there and sit in one spot for two weeks needs to lose his job. They could have set up less than 24 hours before the main assault, if they wanted to. Maybe they wanted them to draw fire.

[Bigmack]

6. One of the traditional roles of small Marine units in hostile territory... "live bait". nt