Unit designed for quick response

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

More than 4,000 sailors and Marines from the San Diego-based USS Belleau Wood Expeditionary Strike Group are in Hawai'i for training — and one day of fun — before facing the uncertainties of Iraq and an undetermined return date.

Marines in full gear run from a CH-47 helicopter after touching down in Schofield Barracks. The strike group, off the USS Belleau Wood, will train in the Islands before deploying to Iraq — and an uncertain return date. Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

The amphibious ship Denver and dock landing ship Comstock also are part of the strike group, and the Pearl Harbor-based destroyer Hopper and submarine Charlotte will deploy later this month.

As part of the Fleet Response Plan — a new flexibility the Navy is pursuing to deploy when needed, rather than according to a set schedule — the three San Diego-based ships left three weeks earlier than planned.

And although six months out was the norm, Fleet Response and a shortage of fresh troops for Iraq and Afghanistan mean the strike group could be out longer.

For Marines on the Belleau Wood — about half of whom have been to Iraq before — the open-ended deployment comes on top of an assignment to the region generally south of Baghdad including Karbala, but also including Najaf and Fallujah, areas of recent heavy fighting.

For a lot of service members, the added unpredictability just comes with the job. But for families, it's a new strain.

The 2,200 Marines of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit are conducting a training tune-up at Schofield Barracks, Hickam Air Force Base and at the Marine Corps base in Kane'ohe Bay, and have Sunday off before the strike group pulls out of port on Monday.

Lance Cpl. Ryan Gracey, 21, from Casper, Wyo., is on his second deployment in a year. The first was to Kuwait last year before the start of the war in Iraq.

"It's more money for me. I don't mind," said Gracey, who works on Harrier jets.

But the previous six-month deployment strained his marriage.

"She couldn't handle me being gone," Gracey said. "I told her six months, but expect a year."

Not having a firm return date "makes it harder to plan your life," he added. "Granted, we are the military and are expected to protect the country 24 hours a day, seven days a week. But we still do have some difficult times."

The strike group concept, relatively new, beefs up a traditional amphibious ready group of Marines and three ships with greater surface, undersea and air firepower, including a submarine, cruiser, destroyer, frigate and sometimes a P-3 Orion reconnaissance aircraft.

The Belleau Wood carries 12 Ch-46E Sea Knight helicopters, six Harrier jets, and four CH-53E, four Cobra and three Huey helicopters.

For the first time, a strike group has a Marine Corps rather than a Navy commander: Brig. Gen. Joseph Medina.

The heart of the Fleet Response Plan is to deploy for a specific mission "rather than just train, train, train and it's time to deploy, so we deploy," Medina said.

"The Fleet Response Plan tells you that you need to be ready much more often than we had to be in the past."

In theory, the approach means ships will be deployed less in the long run because they will be sent out when there is a real need — not just to fulfill deployment cycles, Medina said.

"The key is trying to put predictability into that for some of the families, and we handle that through the leadership that we have trying to keep the families informed whenever possible," Medina said.

Marines from the strike group, which also includes the cruiser Mobile Bay and destroyer Preble, were assigned by the Pentagon along with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and a brigade of the 10th Mountain Division, to the area generally south of Baghdad held by the Army's 1st Armored Division and 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment.

Waiting for a helicopter trip yesterday from the Belleau Wood to O'ahu for training, 1st Lt. James Madrinan, 32, said the new mission area will be a challenge.

Madrinan was in nearby Hillah from April to October of last year, and although there were a couple of firefights, the city was largely peaceful, the scout sniper platoon leader said.

Violence in cities like Fallujah "is like a wave. It goes up and down. Nothing you can do about it until you get your mission," the San Antonio man said. "It's hard to tell (what will happen in the area). Everything changes on a day-to-day basis."

Gunnery Sgt. Rudolph Arreola, 37, a 1984 Wai'anae High School grad, is on his third trip to the Persian Gulf. The first was for Desert Storm in 1990; the second in 2002.

"My personal thoughts on the violence and everything — overall, it's like any other place that we go. You have to overcome and adapt to the situation as it occurs," said Arreola, who works in quality assurance and has a 7-year-old daughter.

Marine Cpl. Micah Machida, 22, said deploying three weeks early was difficult. His wife is six months pregnant, and on Wednesday he found out she's having a boy.

Machida, who runs a data network, deployed in November of 2002 to Kuwait, and was extended to eight months out instead of six.

"I'm used to that. You just have to adapt to it. The main thing is keeping the family calm," said Machida, whose grandfather is part of the Kahauanu Lake Trio band.

His wife also is a Marine and was supposed to go to Iraq in February. Instead, she's in San Diego and expected to give birth on Sept. 20.

"It's hard because missing your child's birth is something you'll never get back," Machida said. "She understands. It's still hard for her. But it's just something we'll have to get through."

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