BASRA, Iraq – In 2005, Admiral Michael Mullen, the Chief of Naval Operations at the time, challenged the Navy to become more involved in the battle in Iraq. He said the Navy should take the fight from the carriers and battleships at sea to the waterways and ports inland to support the fight.
Less than a year later, Riverine Squadron One was formed and deployed to patrol the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Iraq. Their mission, which included smuggling interdiction, counterinsurgency and the defense of trade routes, hearkened back to their missions in Vietnam, the last major conflict the Riverines took part in before they were disbanded.
So it was fitting that Riverine Squadron One was bidding farewell to Iraq during a ceremony in front of the unit’s Basra headquarters Oct. 30. The ceremony marked the end of more than four years of service in Iraq as the unit returns to Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, Va.
Brig. Gen. Ricky Gibbs, the 1st Infantry Division deputy commanding general for maneuver for the 1st Infantry Divison and United States Division – South, was invited as a guest speaker for the ceremony. Navy Capt. Vincent Martinez, the commander of Task Force 56, the riverines’ parent unit, was also in attendance.
In his speech, Gibbs spoke about some of the criticism the riverine squadron faced from the Navy and Marine Corps at the beginning on their effectiveness.
“The riverine forces proved their skeptics wrong,” Gibbs said. “By the end of their nine-month maiden deployment, they had captured more than 100 insurgents, discovered over 75 significant caches, and provided strong combat support from the water for marine operations.”
During the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom and in Operation New Dawn, the riverines trained the Iraqi Security Forces to take their place in protecting the waterways of Iraq. The unit was tasked to train the Iraqi Coastal Border Guard, which led to them training 11 different units from several service branches.
Navy Cmdr. Craig Hill, the commander of Riverine Squadron One, and Senior Chief Petty Officer Bruce Diette, an intelligence operations chief in the squadron, cased the colors in front of their sailors, marking the end of their mission in Iraq.
Diette said the Iraqi Security Forces trained by the riverines are ready to take on the mission of defending their country, which made the riverine mission a success.
“The mission was very successful,” said Diette, a Kiln, Miss., native. “We accomplished all of the tasks on time, and all the Iraqis that we have trained are ready to stand up and take that mission and support their goal.”
Hill said the mission, though successful, had unique challenges from dealing with the language barrier to the level of water in the rivers during the summer.
“But they worked together and they overcame those challenges,” said Hill, a Bowie, Md., native.
“I’m watching sailors who came out of the fleet, used to the grey hull, going out and succeeding at what some would consider the job of a ground-pounder,” Hill said. “It’s very, very rewarding.”
| Date Taken: |
10.30.2010 |
| Date Posted: |
11.02.2010 04:45 |
| Story ID: |
59264 |
| Location: |
BASRA, IQ |
| Web Views: |
508 |
| Downloads: |
2 |
PUBLIC DOMAIN
This work, After five years, mission complete for riverines, by SSG Cody Harding, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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