Hawai'i ships joining new military strike force

By Tony Perry
Los Angeles Times

SAN DIEGO — In another sign of what military officials call the "transformation" of the U.S. military, seven Navy ships are set to depart today for the Western Pacific carrying 2,200 combat Marines, more than 100 Tomahawk missiles, and a squadron of helicopters and vertical-lift Harrier attack planes.

While the U.S. routinely deploys task forces of troops, missiles and planes around the globe, what is being called Expeditionary Strike Group One combines ships, troops and weaponry in a way that breaks with recent Navy and Marine Corps tradition. More such groups are planned for both the Pacific and Atlantic fleets.

Much of the "strike" part of the force will come from Hawai'i: the cruiser Port Royal and attack submarine Greeneville; both carry Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Officials previously said a new one-of-a-kind minisubmarine designed to transport Navy SEALs also could deploy with the group. The 65-foot Advanced SEAL Delivery System, based out of Pearl City Peninsula, can only be carried by the Greeneville and USS Charlotte, another Hawai'i-based submarine.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has made "transformation" a top priority, with the goal of deploying U.S. forces closer to potential international hotspots and with sufficient flexibility, firepower and troop strength to intimidate potential enemies or defeat them in combat.

For security reasons, military officials declined to pinpoint the destination of the strike group. But they noted that the Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf and Iraq are within the group's "area of responsibility."

The deployment is set to last eight months, two months longer than the average overseas deployment for Marines and sailors. Officials said the longer deployment is meant to compensate for forces spread thin by the Iraq war.

Included in the strike group are troop-carrying ships, a cruiser, a destroyer, a frigate and an attack submarine. The amphibious assault ship Peleliu will serve as the joint operations center.

In the past, the Navy has generally deployed its ships either in a three-ship task force carrying Marines or an aircraft carrier battle group of seven to nine ships.

The expeditionary strike group is seen as combining the strengths of both approaches: the missiles from fast-moving ships that normally accompany an aircraft carrier, and the Marines and planes that would otherwise deploy as part of a slower-moving three-ship force.

Navy Cmdr. Louis Meier, battle group training coordinator for the San Diego-based Third Fleet, said the strike group concept is meant to enhance the "composite warfare system," which is military jargon for having different military branches work more in tandem.

But for the approach to work, officials note, it will take a degree of cooperation among the services that is often difficult to obtain. The first strike group will be commanded by a Navy admiral, the next group may be headed by a Marine general.

For strike group No. 1, the Marines are from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. The ships come from San Diego as well as Pearl Harbor. In all, more than 5,000 Marines and sailors will deploy.

Among the possible advantages to the strike-group configuration is getting a Marine force to a combat location faster by having Marines transfer to the faster-moving ships. Amphibious assault ships, the Marines' normal mode of transit, are not known for speed.

"This is a big step for the Navy and Marine Corps," said Marine Capt. Bill Pelletier, spokesman for the Marine unit. "We've had great success (with other configurations) but we want to experiment to see if we can do things better."

The assignment of an attack submarine — the Greeneville — is an indication that despite the fact the U.S. submarine fleet no longer faces a major "blue-water" adversary, Navy officials believe submarines are necessary both to launch Tomahawk missiles and to defend against submarines operated by Third World countries in coastal regions.

The Greeneville is best known as the submarine that crashed into a Japanese fisheries training vessel in 2001 off O'ahu, killing nine.

Advertiser Staff Writer William Cole contributed to this report.