Posted on: Saturday, October 30, 2004

War starts soon for Kane'ohe Marines

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

An advance party of Marines from Kane'ohe Bay will leave tomorrow, most likely for Afghanistan. The main body of the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, is expected to move out soon, base officials said yesterday.

The Marines will muster at 3 p.m. to say goodbye to family and will leave shortly thereafter. About 1,000 Marines are expected to deploy to Afghanistan.

The 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, known as America's Battalion, trained in San Diego in September with special effects help from Segall Studio in San Diego, which put together a mock Afghan town.

The "town" looked, smelled and felt like a remote village in the Afghan hills, with adobe walls painted with Pashtun and Arabic phrases and Hollywood actors playing villagers, Marines said.

The Marines hiked into the Sierra Nevada mountains for three days, climbing and rappelling while carrying weapons and assault loads. They also learned how to traverse rivers and gorges using ropes.

"This is great training for where they are going," said

Sgt. Daniel Blackwell, an instructor with the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center. "Most of them haven't been exposed to anything like this."

The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., returned home in mid-September after seven months in Afghanistan. The Marines conducted numerous combat operations, killing more than 100 Taliban fighters and helping with security and stabilization ahead of the Oct. 9 presidential election.

Nearly 1,000 Hawai'i Marines with the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment recently arrived in western Iraq as part of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit.

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