Isle Marines
arrive in Gulf
Nearly 1,000 Kaneohe Marines have arrived in the Persian Gulf for a seven-month deployment, but roughly another 200 may soon be on their way home after serving in Iraq since February.
Marine Corps officials on Okinawa reported that the 2,000-member 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit arrived in the Northern Persian Gulf aboard ships from the USS Essex Amphibious Ready Group last weekend. They are expected to be in the Middle East for at least seven months in support of the war in Iraq.
One of the units assigned to the 31st MEU, which left Okinawa Aug. 23, is the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, from Kaneohe Bay, with more than 900 Marines. They left Hawaii July 3 on a scheduled seven-month deployment.
Also assigned to the 31st MEU are the 70 Marines and six CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters from Kaneohe's Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463. The unit left Kaneohe Bay in April and is assigned to Okinawa's Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 265, the aviation element of the 31st MEU.
A Camp Smith spokesman last night said that there has been no official word when Marines from the 3rd Radio Battalion, who have been in Iraq for about seven months ago, will be home.
Some 260 Marines left in February for what was supposed to be a seven-month deployment. An unspecified number of the Marines returned to Kaneohe Bay earlier this summer with little fanfare.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced on Monday that 5,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division will be sent to Afghanistan to replace soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division from Schofield Barracks next year. The airborne soldiers from North Carolina will leave next spring for a year's tour as part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade from Italy.
Besides the more than 5,500 Schofield Barracks soldiers in Afghanistan, there are another than 60 Hawaii Army National Guard who belong to Bravo Company, 193rd Aviation.
In Iraq, there are more than 4,500 Schofield Barracks from the 25th Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team; 300 Army reservists from the Hawaii-based 411th Combat Engineer Battalion; and 200 Hawaii Army National Guard aviators and air crew members from Charlie Company, 193rd Aviation, which is now with the 1st Infantry Division.
Preparing for a year of combat duty in Iraq are more than 2,000 soldiers from Hawaii's 29th Infantry Brigade. They were placed on active duty on Aug. 16 and will undergo predeployment training on the mainland before leaving for Iraq in late January or early February.
www.mcbh.usmc.mil
