Photo By Sgt. Theodore Ritchie | Petty Officer 2nd Class Jeremy L. Grisham, a mass communication specialist aboard USS...... read more read more
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MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - As civilization seems to crumble around them, the frightened American citizens head for the one remaining portal to a safe haven - an American embassy defended by U.S. Marines.
Rioting crowds of locals close in around the Americans, but the Marines holding the security line wade in to save them. Once safely through the line, the civilians are in the trained and trusted care of a Marine Expeditionary Unit.
During its 27-year-history, the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit has conducted more non-combatant evacuation operations than any other MEU. To this day, the 22nd MEU still holds the record for the longest-running NEO, where it evacuated more than 1,600 U.S. citizens and designated third-country nationals from the coast of Liberia in 1990.
With strife and conflict in so many regions of the world, the need to be able to conduct a NEO is as important as it ever has been.
"NEOs are a core MEU mission because the Marine Corps designates the MEU with such missions," said Chief Warrant Officer Steven F. Dancer, the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear officer for the MEU and native of New Egypt, N.J.
From the start of the 22nd MEU's pre-deployment training program, the unit was tasked with executing steadily more elaborate NEO training missions to ensure it is ready should the call to action come during its deployment.
During the MEU's culminating Certification Exercise, Marines and sailors from the MEU and USS Bataan conducted a fully realized NEO training mission which evaluated the unit's ability to evacuate American citizens from a hostile environment and safely transport them to designated safe havens.
As the riot-control-trained Marines of Sierra Battery, Battalion Landing Team, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 22nd MEU, pulled the Americans into friendly lines, those citizens were met by Marines and Sailors from the MEU's Logistics Combat Element, Combat Logistics Battalion 22.
"The biggest difference with the NEO during CERTEX is the Marines are more focused on what they have been trained to do than during any other NEO," said Gunnery Sgt. Gabriel Rowland Jr., the supply operations chief of CLB-22. "All other NEOs were trial-basis learning experiences on what to do, what not to do, and how to improve the situation."
Dozens of Marines from East-Coast Marine units volunteered to role-play as both local protesters and American citizens for the exercise.
"The role players are most important of all; they play all the scenarios that SOTG tasks them to do," said Rowland, a native of Charlotte, Texas. "They are the ones who get our Marines focused on what they need to do for any type of NEO mission."
The Marines on-site performed a hasty processing, checking for medical ailments, searching bags for weapons and verifying people's citizenship with assistance from State Department Foreign Service Officers.
"When we're screening non-combatants during a hasty process, it is more challenging to identify their medical needs because we are trying to move quickly," said Petty Officer 1st Class Chanda S. English, a corpsman with CLB-22, 22nd MEU, and native of Beemer, Neb. "We have to make sure we are checking everyone thoroughly before they move on to the next screening process."
Once the citizens' basic information was verified and logged, they were transported on seven-ton trucks to the beach where they rode in style on military hovercraft known as Landing-Craft, Air-Cushioned, to the USS Bataan, flagship of Bataan Amphibious Ready Group.
Marines and sailors of the MEU and Bataan searched and screened evacuees as they came aboard ship to ensure they were not armed or injured and offered them food and beverages.
"Processing evacuees allows the receiving ship to evaluate the basic needs of the evacuees from a medical as well as social perspective," said Navy Lt. Joseph A. Nellis, the 22nd MEU surgeon and native of Philadelphia. "Medically, it is also important to screen for any contagious diseases that may be brought aboard shipping that could affect other evacuees as well as the Marines and Sailors on board."
This NEO was part of the MEU's Certification Exercise, which is the final exercise before the coming deployment.
"Overall, I believe that the Marines and Sailors of this unit are ready to deploy," said English. "We've been through training that tested us both mentally and physically, and it has been hard. I didn't think we would get through the pre-deployment training, but we're finished, and I look forward to the deployment."
The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit is a scalable, multipurpose force of more than 2,200 Marines and Sailors. Commanded by Col. Gareth F. Brandl, it consists of its Ground Combat Element, BLT 3/2; Aviation Combat Element, Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263; Logistics Combat Element, CLB-22; and its Command Element.
| Date Taken: | 03.16.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 03.26.2009 15:16 |
| Story ID: | 31648 |
| Location: | CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 215 |
| Downloads: | 165 |
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