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Seasoned Vet
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Issue Date: July 07, 2003
SpecOps Marines to train with Navy SEALs
By Gidget Fuentes
Special to the Times
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — It’s official. The Marine Corps’ special-operations force is ready to begin training.
Known as “Marine Corps Detachment 1,” the unit was activated in a June 20 ceremony here, marking the start of a test that eventually could make Marines a permanent part of the elite world of U.S. special operations.
Though they will work with Navy SEAL commandos for the time being, the unit will be attached to the U.S. Special Operations Command, the unified command that also is home to the Army’s Special Forces, Army Rangers and Air Force special-operations teams.
The Marine detachment in October will join the SEALs of Naval Special Warfare Squadron 1 at Coronado Naval Base, Calif., where they will train alongside their Navy counterparts before the joint unit deploys overseas in April.
The Marine Corps’ top officer in the Pacific region, Lt. Gen. Earl B. Hailston, presided over the activation ceremony, held at a small parade ground framed by a trio of temporary buildings and surrounded by a security fence.
The commander of Marine Forces Pacific said the detachment “takes the first step” in developing a newly forged relationship between the Marine Corps and the special-ops command “by providing a light, fast and more mobile, ready-to-deploy-with-enhanced-capability force than we’ve had in the past.”
As the concept for a Marine special-ops detachment began taking shape in late 2001, Marines already were working with special operators in Afghanistan, where Task Force 58 scoured Southern Afghanistan for al-Qaida terrorists and Taliban militia.
As a test unit that ultimately could lead to a larger Marine presence at Special Operations Command, “this unit will be closely watched every step of the way,” Hailston said.
“The Marines and sailors in this detachment understand that in this profession, there are no points for second place,” Hailston said, later telling the men: “Good hunting.”
Lt. Col. Robert J. Coates, a colonel-select, will command the unit. Coates’ men will hit the ground running, first training at their team and platoon levels before joining the Navy SEALs and naval special-warfare crews this fall for joint training.
About 200 people attended the activation ceremony, including Michael A. Westphal, a former Marine serving as deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations and combating terrorism; Rear Adm. Bert Calland, the top Navy SEAL and commander of Naval Special Warfare Command; and former Marine Commandant Gen. P.X. Kelley.
Lt. Col. Giles Kyser, who was the point man in developing the concept, said assessment of the detachment’s progress will decide “what it will turn into.” Kyser is with the Marine Air Ground Task Force special-operations section of the plans, policy and operations branch of Marine Corps headquarters in Washington.
The unit has more than 21 “core capabilities,” including deep ground reconnaissance, human-intelligence exploitation, underwater and parachute operations, counterintelligence and imagery collection.
One veteran saw Detachment 1 as a link between the Corps’ original commando force and the new unit.
“I’m ecstatic to see that we are now returning the Marine Raiders,” said Chuck Meacham of Sequim, Wash., who was the only former Raider at the ceremony.
The unit’s spiritual link to the Marine Raiders is evident in the detachment emblem, which was designed by Gunnery Sgt. Anthony Siciliano, who is assigned to Special Operations Command. The Raiders’ emblem — five stars and a skull on a blue background — is included along with the gold Marine Corps parachutist wings, gold Marine combatant diver insignia, a lightning bolt and the Fairbairn Sykes stiletto knife used by the Raiders and other commandos
------------------------------------------------------------ Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. ------------------------------------------ 
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Seasoned Vet
 
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Last Login: 10/2/2005 10:13 PM
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Maybe a Raider Bn WILL be raised.
Go with God, but make Him walk the point.
If you load a mudfoot down with a lot of gadgets he has to watch somebody a lot more simply equipped - say with a stone axe - will sneak up and bash his head in while he is trying to read a Vernier. - Robert Heinlein
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