Marines 'stand ready' for Iraq duty, general says

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

The general in charge of more than 74,000 Marines in the Pacific and Middle East said yesterday that sending Marines back to Iraq is "under very active consideration."

"The Marines stand ready to participate in any way that we might be asked to participate," Lt. Gen. Wallace C. Gregson said. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

Gregson, who in August took over Marine Forces Pacific, whose headquarters is at Camp Smith, said future deployments to Iraq could include Hawai'i Marines.

"But I have to mention that while we have had major forces deploy to Iraq, the forces in Hawai'i have picked up a high operational tempo and deployment tempo to fill in for other forces stationed in the Western Pacific who were unable to go to the Western Pacific due to the deployments in Iraq," Gregson said.

Two battalions from the 3rd Marine Regiment at Kane'ohe Bay are deployed to such locations as Okinawa — twice the normal rotation. From there, some Marines are sent on to the Persian Gulf to provide everything from base security to shipping watches and the reloading of ships, Gregson said.

With the possibility that not enough international troops will be available next year, the Pentagon is looking at mobilizing more National Guard and reserve forces for Iraq duty and also at sending active-duty soldiers and Marines back in.

"It's basically the Army and the Marines," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Thursday. "We're looking essentially at ground forces, although we are looking at some other services' forces to assist in (support roles)."

Gregson, 57, made his comments at a media roundtable at Camp Smith. A Vietnam veteran and former commander of the III Marine Expeditionary Force and Marine Forces Japan, Gregson relieved Lt. Gen. Earl B. Hailston as head of the largest field command in the Corps.

Gregson said that few Marines remain in Iraq.

"You have to remember that we had every battalion and squadron in the Marine Corps, with only minor exceptions, deployed either to Iraq or the Western Pacific during Operation Iraqi Freedom," he said.

About 2,200 Marines from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the San Diego-based USS Peleliu recently went ashore in southern Iraq and were operating in the Gulf to halt oil smuggling.

Gregson said a new type of battle group, of which the Peleliu is part — an "Expeditionary Strike Group" with Tomahawk missile-firing ships and a submarine added to a traditional three-ship grouping — would benefit from the same forward-deployed head start that an aircraft carrier would get in Hawai'i.

The three-star general did not say if Hawai'i is being considered for one of the strike groups, with a flat-deck amphibious assault ship at its core, but did say, "I think I can accurately report that any number of force-basing options are under consideration."

He also said that one of the more than 300-foot, wave-piercing catamarans being tested by the Navy and Army would be advantageous in Hawai'i.

Gregson said he does not anticipate the United States pulling Marines out of Okinawa, where sentiment against a U.S. military presence is increasing.

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