February 13, 2006
CNO: Sailors may replace Marines in camp security jobs
By Christian Lowe
Times staff writer
In an effort to get more sailors into Iraq while freeing up leathernecks for combat, the Navys top commander is considering the possibility of deploying gun-toting sea warriors to Iraq for camp security duty.
The idea is still in the early stages, but after a major expansion of the Navy master-at-arms force over the last four years, the Navy is looking for ways to contribute more ground forces to a war thats seen little action at sea.
The idea is to use naval facilities guards for duty in Iraq, sending them to the war zone for short deployments.
Youve got a security force that provides for all the Navy security of Hampton Roads [in Virginia]. And not unlike ships, they get on a rotation and they rotate overseas or for security somewhere for six months, wherever that is, said Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Mullen in a Feb. 13 interview with Military Times reporters and editors. That kind of unit cohesion is very attractive to me to try to respond to these needs in Iraq.
So far, the Navy has about 6,000 troops deployed to Iraq including Seabees, SEALs and corpsmen. Mullen said that number could climb to 7,000 over the next two years.
Marines are largely responsible for security of their forward bases in Iraq a requirement that can take as much as a company-sized unit out of the action.
Mullen said that, based on his observations from Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa in Djibouti a mission for which the Navy recently assumed responsibility a company minus-sized force of master-at-arms sailors would be a workable solution to ease the Corps guard post missions overseas.
You could deploy that company for six months or for 12 months out of the security force thats doing security in Norfolk, Mullen said. Were an expeditionary force. We understand how to do that.
Since 2001, the Navy has expanded its master-at-arms force from a fledgling group of 1,000 sailors to more than 10,000 and recently established the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command to boost its anti-terrorism contribution and recognize the need of the young men and women at war on the dirt, said the commands top officer, Rear Adm. Donald Bullard, at the NECCs Jan. 13 activation ceremony.
Mullen insisted this plan was just a concept and that there are still a lot of details to be worked out before the Navy could start deploying the new guard units to Iraq.
