* Air Boss/Department Plan--The head of Wasp's Air Department, Commander Frank Verhofstadt (also known as the "Air Boss"), laid out the air department plan for the following day. This included the side numbers of the primary and bump aircraft, as well as the spotting plan for the flight deck during various phases during the day.
* Logistics Plan--The MEU (SOC) S-4, Major Arinello, quickly briefed logistical support for the armored force already on the beach, as well as describing the loads of rations, ammunition, water, and other supplies the individual Marines, or "PAX" as they are called, would be carrying.
* Air Mission Commander (AMC) Plan--The AMC laid out the air plan, showing which units would be loaded aboard which aircraft, and then how the flights to and from the beach would go in in the morning. In particular, safety and divert plans were covered.
* MEU (SOC) S-6 (Communications) Plan--The detailed communications plan for the ARG and MEU (SOC) was laid out and checked for compatibility with the plan of the GCE.
* TRAP Commander Plan-Though no TRAP mission was yet required or anticipated, a platoon-sized TRAP team with two CH-46E Sea Knights would stand by just in case. Also, the contingency plans for the Sparrowhawk and Bald Eagle units were quickly covered.
* MEU (SOC) Medical Plan--The MEU (SOC) medical officer laid out his plans for handling the members of the evacuee unit, as well as any Marine/Navy casualties that might occur as a result of the NEO mission.
* ARG/LHD Surgeon Plan--The head of Wasp's medical department ran down the status of his facilities, including available bed space, as well as the condition of the various operating theaters. As expected, all were ready and primed, with only minor bed cases currently residing aboard.
The entire briefing was finished in less than forty-five minutes, with the briefers only speaking if there had been a change from standing procedures. The speakers each spent an average of less than ninety seconds over their viewgraph slides. Finally, Colonel Battaglini and Captain Buchanan stood up to re-emphasize that this was an exercise and that safety was paramount. H-Hour for the security force to hit their LZs was set for 0900 the following morning, and then the briefing broke up.
At 2300 hours, Lights Out was sounded over the 1 MC system, and Wasp took on a nocturnal air. I decided to join some of the MEU (SOC) and ARG staff for "mid-rats." You can tell a lot about a ship from the kind of mid-rats that they serve, and Wasp is pretty good. Some nights it's leftovers from dinner; other nights it's cold cuts and chips. But on nights when something special is in the wind, Captain Greenawalt usually orders up something special like "sliders" (really good cheeseburgers) and fries.
Following a short discussion over the mid-rats, I adjourned to a bunkroom for a few hours sleep. The motion of a ship at sea is quite soothing, and since flight operations were fairly light this evening, there was a minimum of noise from the flight deck just a few feet/meters above my head. Despite the killing heat outside, the temperature in the CPS citadel was almost too chilly. In the background were the noises that you hear aboard a warship at sea--the occasional low announcements from the 1MC system, the hum of generators and the air-conditioning/CPS system, and personnel walking through the passageways.
Aboard USS Wasp (LHD-1) in Onslow Bay, 0600 Hours, June 14th, 1995
Reveille came over the 1MC at 0600 (6:00 A.M.) that morning. Within seconds, there was a bustle of activity in the passageways. Having traveled light for this visit, I only had to freshen up and head to breakfast in the officers' mess to start the day. By 0800 hours, Wasp had gone to Flight Quarters, and had the stern gate down to launch the LCACs that had been loaded in the wee hours of the morning. Since we were only about 15 nm/27.4 km off Onslow Beach, the LCACs did not have to launch until about 0830. As they backed out of the well deck, flight operations on the deck above were temporarily suspended, so that the jet wash from the LCACs would not interfere with the helicopters taking off and landing just a few yards/meters above. Once clear of the ship, the three LCACs formed up and headed for Onslow Beach and the armored unit that was already there to escort them into Combat Town. I was slated to go in shortly with the helicopters.
The day was heating up rapidly, but the deck crews were kind enough to let me stroll about the flight deck for a few minutes before the helicopters started engines. Then, it was time to board the choppers for the ride to the LZ near Combat Town. Donning my helmet and life preserver, I strapped in and we lifted off. It was a beautiful summer day, and as we passed over Whidbey Island and Shreveport, I could see the LCACs making their runs into the beach. Then we were over the beach and the sand pines of the North Carolina coast. The chopper I was in, which was running about fifteen minutes ahead of the security force helos, landed in a quiet clearing. There I was greeted by PAOs from Camp Lejeune and driven in a van into Combat Town.
Combat Town, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, 0900 Hours, June 14th, 1995
As I arrived in Combat Town, the PAOs warned me to stay in a nearby grove of pines, and to quietly observe what was happening. Precisely at 0900, I heard the distinctive sound of twin-rotor CH-46Es landing in a LZ about a thousand yards/meters away. Within a few minutes, the first scouts for the security force were moving forward to find the evacuee unit. The security force unit was built around "G" or Golf Company of BLT 2/6, which is commanded by Captain Andrew "Andy" Kennedy. As the security force formed a perimeter around Combat Town, Captain Kennedy made contact with the members of the evacuee unit, then made arrangements to get them on the trucks and back to the beach and safety. Around the perimeter, an opposing force (OPFOR), played by Marines from the 2nd Marine Division, harassed the security force. They even fired an occasional blank round to keep things interesting. Meanwhile, the security force commander had finished his coordination with the commander of the evacuee unit (also played by 2nd Marine Division personnel) on the procedures for the move. By this time, Lieutenant Colonel Allen had arrived with his headquarters detachment and set up a satellite communications relay back to Colonel Battaglini in the LFOC on Wasp. Overhead, a pair of Cobra attack helicopters prowled and watched. Soon the trucks and HMMWVs arrived, loaded up, and began to move out to the beach where the LCACs would take them back to the Shreveport. So far, everything had gone according to plan, and seemed to be proceeding well.
The command group of BLT 2/6 led by Lieutenant Colonel Allen (kneeling, second from left) confers with simulated evacuees in the "Combat Town" complex at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
JOHN D. GRESHAM
A pair of HMM-264 CH-46E Sea Knights land in a meadow at Camp Lejeune, N.C., to pick up simulated casualties during a 1995 exercise.
JOHN D. GRESHAM
Then, a message came through that something was wrong in a nearby meadow. Quickly jumping into a van, the PAOs and I headed there to have a look at what was happening. The folks from the SOTG like things lively in training exercises. So they always throw in a few surprises--to imitate Clausewitz's "friction." What they had done was to orchestrate some "friction" in the meadow for the Marines of BLT 2/6. When I arrived, I saw that SOTG had arranged for one of the 5-ton trucks of the evacuation force to "suffer" an accident. The passengers were spread around the ground nearby, with prosthesis and makeup to make them appear severely injured. With the SOTG judges watching, things began to happen.
Within a few minutes, the first Marines from the security unit arrived. They instantly called into Lieutenant Colonel Allen that an emergency situation had developed, that personnel were "down" and suffering severe trauma, and that personnel from the MEU (SOC) medical team were needed at the site immediately. Since medical evacuation to the Wasp would be required, with at least three CH-46s needed to carry the load, John Allen quickly relayed the request to Colonel Battaglini in the LFOC, and the helicopters were airborne within minutes. In the meantime, the Marines of Golf Battery (the unit of M198 155mm howitzers, already ashore from a previous mission) formed a security perimeter and applied first aid to the accident victims. A few minutes later Navy corpsmen arrived in a HMMWV
, and things began to look up for the "injured."
Less than half hour after the first call from Lieutenant Colonel Allen, the three Sea Knights arrived in the meadow, escorted by a pair of AH-1Ws. As the Cobras moved to an overwatch position, the three transport choppers landed and made ready to take aboard their cargo of injured evacuees. That was when when a SOTG observer strode out to one of the CH-46Es and declared it "down" with a mechanical failure. Lieutenant Colonel Allen made another call back to Wasp LFOC, this time to ask for the TRAP team on Alert status, as well as a spare CH-46E to finish the evacuation of the injured.
While the new flight of Sea Knights flew in from the sea, the injured were triaged according to the severity of their injuries. The worst cases were loaded onto the two "good" CH-46s, and the choppers lifted off to take them to Wasp's trauma center. Meanwhile, the Cobras continued to patrol over the meadow and keep the occasional OPFOR patrol away from the meadow HLZ. When the two new helicopters arrive the TRAP team and their mechanics leapt out, surrounded the "downed" bird, and got to work. Within half an hour, the "problem" would be "fixed" to the satisfaction of the SOTG observers, and the wounded bird would be allowed to return to the Wasp.
While this was going on, the remaining "injured" personnel were loaded onto the replacement medical evacuation chopper and flown out of the LZ. With the last of the SOTG-inflicted "friction" dealt with, Lieutenant Colonel Allen began to pull his forces together and withdraw them back to the safety of the sea and the ARG. After the trucks and HMMWVs were loaded onto the landing craft, together with the armored vehicles of the security force, all that was left was to get Golf Company aboard their helicopters and back to the Wasp. With the ever-present Cobras overhead, Captain Kennedy and his men returned to their LZ, boarded the helicopters, and headed home. One of the last units out was Lieutenant Colonel Allen and his command team, careful to make sure that nobody was left behind. It had been a good day.
The SOCEX final examination came the following month.
Final Exam: The SOCEX
The second week of July 1995 was terribly hot and muggy. It was the kind of heat designed to break men--and even Marines. Hot or not, for the members of the 26th MEU (SOC) and PHIBRON 4, it was final examination time. I didn't have a chance to observe this exercise, but word filtered back that they had performed "superbly" and were now ready to head out to relieve Marty Berndt and his 24th MEU (SOC) from their vigil in the Adriatic. But before that, they had one more hurdle to clear--an exercise tacked onto the end of their SOCEX called Joint Task Force Exercise 1995 (JTFEX-95).
Extra Credit: JTFEX-95
JTFEX-95 is a series of joint service exercises designed to try out operational warfighting concepts in contingency and expeditionary situations. The JTFEX-SERIES was initiated in the fall of 1994, and the 26th MEU (SOC) and PHIBRON 4 were to be some of the key players in this edition. Unlike the NEO I observed in June, the 26th would not be working alone; it would be part of a larger joint service force, simulating an operation that could easily take place at the start to the kind of military deployment that we ran in the Persian Gulf in 1990.
JTFEX-95: The Scenario
The JTFEX-series exercises are run through the U.S. Atlantic Command (USACOM), which is headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia: Component units from each of the services are assembled in a joint task force (JTF), which is commanded by the 2nd/Atlantic Fleet battle staff aboard their command ship Mount Whitney (LCC-20). Component commanders are drawn from around USACOM to provide community leadership, and then a mission is assigned. For our JTFEX, the Navy would supply the America CVBG and PHIBRON 4, the Marines contributed the 26th MEU (SOC), the Army donated the 1st Battalion of the 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment (1/325th) from the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and the Air Force kicked in units from a variety of different bases, including F-15s from the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley AFB, Virginia; F-16s, A-10s, and C-130s from the 23rd Wing at Pope AFB, North Carolina, and even a couple of cells of B-1B bombers from Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota. This force would play out a hypothetical war game with an opposing (Red) force. They would have a specified period of time to achieve their objectives.
The scenario to be played out involved an invasion of an imaginary small country ("Kartuna") by a larger, more powerful neighbor ("Koronan"). In many details, it resembled the invasion of Kuwait....but with several additional challenges for the U.S. (Blue) forces--now known as Joint Task Force Eleven (JTF-11). For one thing, other than local land-based air support, there were no nearby bases for the Blue force to use. All the ground forces involved would either come from the sea or be flown in during the airdrop of the 1/325th. Next, the Red ("Koronan") forces were going to be anything but the automatons that the Iraqis had been during Desert Storm.
The Red forces were drawn from Marine, Air Force, and Navy units along the coast of the Southeastern United States, and they intended to fight like hell to keep the Blue forces out at sea. The OPFOR included a Marine regimental headquarters, a BLT (a sister unit of Lieutenant Colonel Allen's) heavily reinforced with additional armor, several squadrons of Marine F-18s out of MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina (simulating Mirage F-1 fighter bombers equipped with AM-39 Exocet anti-ship missiles), several squadrons of helicopters (acting the part of Super Pumas loaded with Exocets), and an assortment of small frigates, submarines, and patrol craft from the naval base at Norfolk, Virginia. JTF-11's object was to liberate the Kartunan homeland and destroy the ability of the Koronans to threaten their neighbors.
The area for this matchup was a region bounded by the Camp Lejeune reservation and some other parts of coastal North Carolina. This was both good and bad for the Blue forces. On the one hand, it meant that everyone on both sides knew the ins and outs of the planned battlespace well. On the other hand, it was an extremely small place to fight a war; there weren't many maneuver possibilities for the 26th MEU (SOC) and the 1/325th. Also, the Koronan forces knew they were coming, and would consequently be alert. The exercise would start on July 18th, 1995, and run some four days.
PHIBRON 4, off the Virginia Capes, Tuesday, July 18th, 1995
The day started for me on the steaming ramp at NAS Norfolk, Virginia, boarding an HC-6 UH-46D for the ride out to PHIBRON 4 and the Wasp. As I rode out over the Virginia Capes, I talked with some personnel from the 26th MEU (SOC) command group who gave me some background on the coming exercise and the challenges the unit was facing. The 26th had only just finished up their SOCEX a couple of days earlier, and their biggest challenge was that they were jumping into JTFEX-95 before they could take a breather. Because of the round-the-clock planning schedule, the command group was showing fatigue from almost two weeks of continuous operation. In addition, there'd been almost no opportunity following the SOCEX to pull maintenance on equipment, vehicles, and aircraft. Maintenance crews were working frantically to make their machines ready. The operations were to start that evening.
As we entered the landing pattern of the Wasp, she was already steaming south for the waters of Onslow Bay, with Whidbey Island and Shreveport in a tactical (triangle) formation. The force was doing over 20 kt/36.6 kph with a bone in their teeth. A few miles ahead, JTF-11 had already started the air campaign against the Koronan forces, with strikes by CVW-1 off the America and various Air Force units against air and naval targets, including some "SCUD" sites in the Koronan "homeland." The air units would have to work smart and fast, for the invasion of the Kartunan homeland was scheduled for the morning of the 21st.
After the helicopter thumped down on the deck, I was met by the friendly faces of Major Arinello and Gunnery Sergeant Shearer and escorted to my stateroom on the 02 Level. As I stowed my gear, they explained that I would have full run of the ship, and would be able to go almost anywhere, and do almost anything I might desire. I intended to make the most of the opportunity. After a break for lunch, the first major event was the confirmation briefing for the 26th's initial mission of the JTFEX-insertion of their reconnaissance and surveillance (
R&S) elements into Camp Lejeune. The 26th needed to develop an intelligence picture of what the Koronan ground forces were up to.
Compared with my earlier experience, this briefing was leisurely; it ran over a period of about two hours. Here is a short version: Using three CH-53E Super Stallions from HMM-264, the MEU (SOC) was going to covertly insert fifty-two PAX in ten different teams around the Camp Lejeune reservation that evening. A couple of problems were foreseen: For one, the weather was looking marginal. Tropical Storm Chantal had been beating the hell out of the Atlantic, and was still a threat to our north. Chantal was forcing a cold front down on top of our planned launch position that evening, and weather conditions might get dicey as a result. There was also the matter of the Red (Koronan) forces. The Koronan ground component was composed of a BLT from the 6th Marines, heavily reinforced with armor and artillery. Though the OPFOR had no organic helicopters, their armor overmatch was about two-to-one compared to what Lieutenant Colonel Allen and BLT 2/6 could bring to bear. In addition, the Koronan ground force was commanded by a Marine lieutenant colonel who was reputedly smart and aggressive. To counter all of that, Colonel Battaglini and Lieutenant Colonel Allen had given their personnel carte blanche to their own forces to conduct deception operations and generally screw with the minds of their opponents.