.Second RCT headquarters in Afghanistan soon
The Marine Corps is preparing to set up a second regimental combat team in southern Afghanistan, a decision that could signal a realignment of units downrange and the ability to patrol new areas.
About 300 Marines and sailors with the headquarters group of Regimental Combat Team 2, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., are expected to deploy this week, said 1st Lt. Barry Morris, a unit spokesman. The Marines began deploying early Tuesday, with a second wave expected to leave Thursday. They likely will arrive at Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan’s headquarters within a week and begin developing an RCT headquarters west of Camp Leatherneck, based in Helmand province.
“We’ll fall directly underneath the MEB, and you’ll have the other regiment operating in Helmand in the northern part while we operate in the southwestern part of Afghanistan,” said Morris, declining to say in which town RCT-2 will be based.
Since the Corps began deploying infantry units to Afghanistan in 2008, it has gradually increased its footprint, launching a full RCT with numerous ground units when the MEB took over last spring. Pentagon officials said in January that a second RCT would deploy to augment RCT-7, currently downrange.
Morris declined to say what districts and towns the new RCT, commanded by Col. Paul Kennedy, would oversee, but the deployment raises questions about whether Marine forces may place an increased emphasis on patrolling nearby Nimroz and Farah provinces this spring and summer.
Marines have been concentrated in volatile Helmand province during the last year, but they also conduct operations in Farah and Nimroz. Forces from 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif., man Marine installations in towns like Delaram, in the northeast corner of Nimroz, and Bakwa and Golestan, in southeastern Farah. The three towns are all within 50 miles of Camp Leatherneck.
RCT-2, overseen by Lejeune’s 2nd Marine Regiment, eventually will oversee several battalions, including 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, which is expected to deploy this spring from Lejeune. It also will oversee troops from Afghanistan, the eastern European nation of Georgia and possibly 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, which deployed recently to Afghanistan from North Carolina, Morris said.
Brig. Gen. David Berger, director of operations at Marine Corps headquarters, said departure of the RCT-2 headquarters group marks the next major step in the Corps’ buildup in Afghanistan. Another infantry battalion will deploy soon, he said, declining to identify which one.
I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., is expected to take over for MEB leadership in April, Berger said. Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, the current commander of Marine forces in Afghanistan, will be replaced by Maj. Gen. Richard Mills, currently the commander of Camp Pendleton’s 1st Marine Division.
MarinesTimes
About 300 Marines and sailors with the headquarters group of Regimental Combat Team 2, out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., are expected to deploy this week, said 1st Lt. Barry Morris, a unit spokesman. The Marines began deploying early Tuesday, with a second wave expected to leave Thursday. They likely will arrive at Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan’s headquarters within a week and begin developing an RCT headquarters west of Camp Leatherneck, based in Helmand province.
“We’ll fall directly underneath the MEB, and you’ll have the other regiment operating in Helmand in the northern part while we operate in the southwestern part of Afghanistan,” said Morris, declining to say in which town RCT-2 will be based.
Since the Corps began deploying infantry units to Afghanistan in 2008, it has gradually increased its footprint, launching a full RCT with numerous ground units when the MEB took over last spring. Pentagon officials said in January that a second RCT would deploy to augment RCT-7, currently downrange.
Morris declined to say what districts and towns the new RCT, commanded by Col. Paul Kennedy, would oversee, but the deployment raises questions about whether Marine forces may place an increased emphasis on patrolling nearby Nimroz and Farah provinces this spring and summer.
Marines have been concentrated in volatile Helmand province during the last year, but they also conduct operations in Farah and Nimroz. Forces from 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, out of Twentynine Palms, Calif., man Marine installations in towns like Delaram, in the northeast corner of Nimroz, and Bakwa and Golestan, in southeastern Farah. The three towns are all within 50 miles of Camp Leatherneck.
RCT-2, overseen by Lejeune’s 2nd Marine Regiment, eventually will oversee several battalions, including 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, which is expected to deploy this spring from Lejeune. It also will oversee troops from Afghanistan, the eastern European nation of Georgia and possibly 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, which deployed recently to Afghanistan from North Carolina, Morris said.
Brig. Gen. David Berger, director of operations at Marine Corps headquarters, said departure of the RCT-2 headquarters group marks the next major step in the Corps’ buildup in Afghanistan. Another infantry battalion will deploy soon, he said, declining to identify which one.
I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., is expected to take over for MEB leadership in April, Berger said. Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, the current commander of Marine forces in Afghanistan, will be replaced by Maj. Gen. Richard Mills, currently the commander of Camp Pendleton’s 1st Marine Division.
MarinesTimes
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