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CAMP LEMONIER, Djibouti --- Marines from 2d Reconnaissance Battalion,
2d Marine Division recently returned to Marine Corps Base Camp
Lejeune, N.C., after more than a month in Yemen sharing their
maritime-based counter-terrorism knowledge with members of the
Yemeni Special Operations Forces (YSOF).
The Middle Eastern country is part of the area Combined Joint
Task Force - Horn of Africa operates in as the coalition force
headquarters supporting the Global War on Terrorism across the
region. The remainder of the operations area is defined as the
airspace, coastal waters and territories of Djibouti, Somalia,
Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Kenya.
According to Brig. Gen. Mastin M. Robeson, CJTF-HOA commander,
five of the seven countries, including Yemen, have "made bold,
public commitments to eradicate terrorism from their borders,
and to work together with us to create a safe and secure environment
within the Horn."
To assist the YSOF, Robeson sought help from a team of highly
trained Marines from 2d Recon Battalion.
"The trip to Yemen was not a normal thing for us," said Gunnery
Sgt. Kevin R. Helms, assistant team leader.
"Since most of the
Arabic special operations forces were called away to help in Iraq,
they (YSOF) needed someone else to come train them."
During the 40-day trip, the Marines taught small boat operations,
engine repair and insertion/extraction techniques.
Helms added, "Because Yemen is surrounded by water, they wanted
to learn how to conduct amphibious operations from the sea in
order to support their anti-terrorist operations."
Although 2d Recon Battalion is not specifically assigned the combating
terrorism (CBT) mission, the Division`s reconnaissance Marines
are well versed in a variety of CBT activities including ant-terrorism
and counter-terrorism tactics, techniques and procedures.
Also, as this operational deployment to Yemen demonstrates, 2d
Recon Battalion is capable of handling portions of the foreign
internal defense mission. The mission can be defined as participation
by civilian and military agencies of one government in any of
the programs taken by another government to free and protect its
society from subversion, lawlessness and insurgency.
Foreign internal defense is principally a Special Operations Force
mission involving inter-agency activity to organize, train, advise
and assist host nation military and paramilitary forces.
In this case, 2d Recon Battalion capably addressed elements of
the foreign internal defense mission involving tactical maritime
skills training and weapons system and employment training.
Yemeni and 2d Recon Battalion forces also participated in two
live-fire exercises and two amphibious exercises, the last of
which highlighted YSOF`s enhanced ability to launch small boats
from a large craft.
"They (YSOF) had the proper gear, and they knew how to put the
boats together," explained Helms.
"They just needed to learn a
few of the basics like how to take care of their equipment, how
to use it properly, how to make boat teams and how to employ the
boats when they need to."
He praised the members of YSOF for their hard work during the
training.
"We learned that on the soldier-level, they are extremely eager
to battle terrorists. They are really good guys who want to learn
as much as they can."
Although the intense heat in Yemen made training difficult, Helms
admitted he would like to do this type of mission again.
He stated, "Everything went really well, and I think we were able
to teach the YSOF a lot of stuff they might not have known to
combat terrorists, especially from the sea." |
