Camp Pendleton readying 11,000 troops for Iraq assignment at year's end

By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer | Saturday, October 6, 2007 7:35 PM PDT ∞

CAMP PENDLETON -- When an estimated 11,000 Camp Pendleton troops head to Iraq soon, they'll be taking a host of new equipment with them such as lighter helmets, better flak jackets and more heavily armored vehicles.

They'll also be taking a wealth of experience from lessons learned during the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion and the multiple deployments in the nearly five years since.

That's been evident at Camp Pendleton in recent weeks, where troops from private to major attend classes and train in the field as they prepare to replace the North Carolina-based II Marine Expeditionary Force in the Anbar province west of Baghdad.

The Pentagon announced in late July that three major Camp Pendleton units would be deployed beginning late this year and continuing into early 2008.

Class themes for the troops heading to the Middle East run the gamut, from how to spot roadside bombs to how to grasp parts of Iraqi culture and language.

Officers say the training that takes place in the safety and comfort of base facilities -- especially the cultural classes -- will pay off when the troops arrive in Iraq and face much harsher conditions.

"We're better prepared now for the totality of where this war is, and that encompasses combat operations as well as civil affairs," said Lt. Col. Chris Hughes, I Marine Expeditionary Force spokesman. "If we can win an engagement by hosting a soccer tournament or through a dental team serving Iraqis, that is just as much of a success."

Leading many of the classes are corporals, battle-hardened young men who draw on as many as three previous deployments to warn their fellow Marines about what to expect.

"You're going to have a lot of restricted fields of fire," Temecula's Cpl. Nathaniel Ziobro told dozens of men and women gathered inside an old gymnasium at the base's Camp Horno area last week during a session on urban warfare.

Ziobro described how fighting inside Iraqi towns and cities requires heightened awareness in comparison to skirmishes on open land, warning that every time a Marine or sailor leaves camp -- or goes "outside the wire" -- danger awaits.

Better equipment, training, knowing what to expect and how to respond gives the Marines an edge, he said, stressing that operations conducted after the sun goes down often have a better chance of success.

"Our time is the nighttime," he told his class, citing infrared gear to spot insurgents as one distinct advantage.

Who's going
The Camp Pendleton groups going to Iraq include about 1,000 troops from the I Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group and approximately 10,000 Marines and sailors from two of the force's regimental combat teams.

Among their primary destinations, for now, are bases at Camp Fallujah, Ramadi and Al Asad air base, major U.S. strongholds in the sprawling Anbar province. There, the Marine Corps has had the primary responsibility for security, suffering its greatest losses and achieving some of its greatest successes.

As they ready their troops for the I Marine Expeditionary Force's fourth deployment to Iraq since 2003, commanders are maintaining what one officer called "operational flexibility," meaning they are ready to move major elements to areas of Iraq other than Anbar.

In recent months, the Marines have increasingly won the cooperation of tribal sheiks that dominate Anbar. Increasing numbers of Iraqi army units are also assuming responsibility for security in Anbar, removing some of that burden from U.S. troops.

Those successes have been supported by independent analysts and cited by President Bush and the U.S. commander in Iraq, Army Gen. David Petraeus, as a road map for operations in other regions.

While the impending deployment includes 11,000 area troops, several thousand others have been in Iraq throughout this year, attached as augmentation units to the II Marine Expeditionary Force or groups.

New gear
The Camp Pendleton troops will be riding in some new hardware in Iraq, including the Osprey, which takes off and lands like a helicopter, but it flies faster and like an airplane, using tilt-rotor propellers.

The first group of Ospreys, which can ferry troops to hot spots much faster than helicopters, reached Iraq last week. With a history of deadly crashes that has marred its development, the Osprey's performance will be closely watched with keen attention paid to maintenance issues and how the lightly armed aircraft is able to respond to any ground attacks.

More important for the "ground pounders" is the latest generation of heavily armored vehicles, including the new "Mine Resistant Ambush Protected" or MRAP. The Pentagon is rushing as many of the V-shaped hulled vehicles as it can into Iraq in an attempt to reduce deaths and injuries from roadside bombs to older generation Humvees.

New flak jackets, with more protective gear around the head, neck and back, have also been issued, and the helmets are much lighter than the Marines wore in their first deployments.

"There's no question the gear we're going with is better," Hughes said.

So agreed Cpl. Samuel Lott, a motor pool specialist heading to Iraq for the second time. He led an overview of the vehicles that will carry Marines around Iraq, pointing out that most have much better protection against small-arms and rocket fire as well as roadside bombs.

"I'm anxious to go back," Lott said. "Very few of the Marines in my shop have combat experience, so I'm glad I'm going to be with them."

'What can happen'
Long before they reach the deserts, villages and cities of Anbar, Pendleton troops learn on the base how to identify and disarm roadside bombs, the weapons responsible for the majority of deaths and injuries.

Despite billions of dollars spent by the Pentagon to defeat the weapon of choice against U.S. troops, more than 20,000 such attacks have been recorded throughout Iraq this year. Roadside bombs have resulted in 440 U.S. troop deaths, according to icasualties.org that closely monitors casualty reports.

As of last month, more than 1,000 Marines had been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Camp Pendleton has suffered more deaths than any other Marine base, with at least 325 troops lost. Another 24 killed in Iraq were based at San Diego's Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, according to Pentagon figures.

The numbers show, in part, why the predeployment classes are so important, Marine officials say.

"The classes change from month to month based on the reports we get of what the enemy is doing," said 1st Lt. Ted Vickers.

Besides urban warfare and roadside bomb detection, the work includes training in Iraqi culture and language, safe convoy operations, courses in lifesaving, setting up and operating temporary and long-term vehicle checkpoints.

All that work takes place around the more typical training on the shooting range and at simulated Iraqi villages on Camp Pendleton and other bases in the region.

As a grim reminder of why the classes are important, Cpl. Matthew Vyvial of Pflugerville, Texas, ended his session on conducting vehicle checkpoints last week with a slide of a funeral service for two Marines killed in Iraq.

"I show it to remind people of what can happen," said Vyvial, a veteran of the 2004 fight for the city of Fallujah, one of the major battles of the war.

Out on the firing range last week, one of the Marines headed back to Iraq for the fourth time, Sgt. Larry Johnson from Portland, Ore., said he volunteered for this assignment as a member of a "personal security detail" protecting commands and VIPs.

"Every time I go over, I see it getting better and better," said Johnson, who is Muslim and whose training and experience includes picking up much of the Iraqi Arabic dialect. "I'd rather use my skills than have to shoot people."

A machine gunner whose experience includes service in Baghdad and Anbar, Johnson said he was as ready to fight with force, however, as with his civil affairs skills.

"If I have to, I'll kick some ass to take care of my Marines."

Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.

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