State's most elite Marines in Reserve

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

Although the Marines don't like to differentiate when it comes to their capabilities, there's one group that goes far beyond the motto "Every Marine a rifleman."

Marines from the 4th Marine Force Reconnaissance Company, made up of reservists, train at the Marine Corps Training Area at Bellows. Photo by Staff Sgt. Robert Carlson

Force Reconnaissance is to the Marines what the Green Berets are to the Army, or SEALs are to the Navy: special operations forces.

But there's a big difference with the 4th Force Reconnaissance Company at Kane'ohe Bay, elements of which were recently sent to the Middle East. They're also Honolulu police, firefighters, teachers, college students and bus drivers most of the time.

The force reconnaissance company is one of just four in the Corps, and one of two companies made up of part-time Marines.

That doesn't mean they're any less capable. The Kane'ohe reservists are trained to parachute in from high or low altitude, scuba dive in from the depths, and stay hidden in six-member teams for 10 days or more once they get there.

"They're surrounded by people that aren't very friendly," said Maj. Mark House, an active-duty Marine and inspector instructor for the reconnaissance company. "If they do their jobs, the enemy should never know they are there."

The company's 23 force recon Marines deployed Feb. 9 to the Middle East with about seven support personnel and 10 recon counterparts from a company detachment out of Reno, Nev.

Michael Pavkovic, director of the diplomacy and military studies program at Hawai'i Pacific University, expects the Marines to be in the thick of things as war plans come down to the wire in Iraq.

"I imagine they'll be front-line — or behind-lines — troops along with the regular (Marine) recon companies," Pavkovic said.

Rowena Legaspi of 'Ewa Beach, whose husband, Cpl. Ryan Legaspi, is with the unit, got a call from him about two weeks ago saying he had made it safely. "He said it's very hot during the day and it gets very cold at night," she said. "That's basically all he told me."

The Hawai'i Marines are augmenting the 1st Force Reconnaissance Company out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., which saw duty in Afghanistan.

After leaving Hawai'i in August 2001, a 1st Force platoon maneuvered to within 6 miles of enemy armor units, and months later was assigned to intercept Taliban or al-Qaida forces fleeing from Kandahar to Lashkar-Gar.

"Between Reno and here, we're providing (1st Force) with essentially a third of their assets (for this deployment)," House said.

About 250 Kane'ohe Bay Marines from the 1st Radio Battalion, an active-duty unit that provides communications support for

Marine Corps intelligence organizations, also deployed to the U.S. Central Command area.

Honolulu firefighters and police snipers are among those that walk the line between civilian life and maintaining readiness as Reserve force recon Marines.

"One half of all force reconnaissance assets come from Reserves. We meet the same standards and requirements that (active-duty elements) do," said Gunnery Sgt. Jimmy Lagunero, 37, operations chief for a support branch of the company. "It's difficult not doing it 24/7, but that's why many of our Marines come in on their own time. They spend a lot of time preparing and being ready physically, mentally."

All the force recon-trained Marines from Hawai'i deployed to the Middle East. Lagunero, a Kaimuki High graduate and University of Hawai'i security guard who was activated Jan. 14 to fill in for those who deployed, said force reconnaissance Marines are "head and shoulders above the rest."

"A reconnaissance Marine is the epitome of a Marine's Marine, and what we are, are support — making sure they can do the mission," Lagunero said.

The support Marines who deployed from the 80- to 100-member company work in fields such as communications, motor transport and as Corpsmen.

House said the Reserve force reconnaissance units allow the Marine Corps, the smallest of the armed services at about 175,000 members, to retain special operations skills after a Marine goes off active duty.

"It's the most economical means of getting a return on our investment," he said.

HPU's Pavkovic said the force recon reservists might be police officers, but "these are the guys who, as police officers, are running all the time (to stay in shape)." That means much more of a commitment than the one weekend a month and two weeks a year normally required in the Reserves.

Rowena Legaspi said her 26-year-old husband, who joined the company right out of boot camp in 1998, works out a few days a week, and gets together with other recon Marines on Sundays to run and swim.

Ryan Legaspi teaches anti-terrorism and firearms instruction for a Navy contractor on Ford Island — skills he learned as a recon Marine. His bosses also have been flexible about allowing him to get additional training, his wife said. Last year, he went to four force reconnaissance schools.

"With his job, they've been pretty understanding with him being gone for three weeks to a month at a time," she said. "They allow him to go because the other instructors were former Marines and former military. They pretty much understand."

In late November, recon Marines practiced low-level static line jumps 1,500 feet above Schofield Barracks' East Range, as well as parachuting from 10,000 feet. The company tries to practice the insertion skills at least once a month.

Recon Marines go through Combat Dive School in Panama City, Fla., where they learn dive physics, scuba, and how to treat a dive casualty. Patrol practice is scheduled once a month.

"They'll go into the Kahukus and patrol for a full weekend sometimes," House said, "or maybe do a dive mission into a site and patrol up, sit down, report back, practice communications."

House said a substantial amount of time is spent keeping up with new gear.

"A few years ago, you'd get a new radio once every 10 years," he said. "Now, as computers and the technology increases, I've seen three different radio systems come in."

Marines from the force recon unit, which moved from the Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Center to Kane'ohe Bay in 1996, also deployed to the Middle East during the first Gulf War, although they did not end up playing a significant role.

Legaspi said her husband has been able to maintain a balance between family and military service.

"It didn't change him. You know how they say Marines become fanatics?" she said. "He's not like that. But he's very disciplined now, he's very focused. This was his dream. He really loves it."

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.