Boxer ARG, 13th MEU leave on deployment - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Boxer ARG, 13th MEU leave on deployment

SAN DIEGO – Under clear blue skies, more than 4,000 sailors and Marines manned the rails and took their three amphibious ships out to sea Tuesday morning on a course for the Western Pacific and Persian Gulf regions.

Amphibious assault ship Boxer, the flagship for Amphibious Squadron 1 and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, left its berth at Pier 13 at Naval Base San Diego to lead a three-ship amphibious ready group for the scheduled seven-month deployment.

The 1,800 sailors and 2,200 Marines left home as the region awoke to news of a devastating earthquake in New Zealand and the tragic deaths of four Americans captured by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden.

Top commanders said the force is prepared to operate for a wide range of missions — from humanitarian aid to counter-piracy operations and even combat.

“You have to be ready for anything,” said Capt. Frank Michael, Boxer’s commanding officer and a veteran helicopter pilot. “We need to be completely prepared for any mission.”

Boxer later joined up with dock landing ship Green Bay and transport dock Comstock, which left their piers at the San Diego base Tuesday morning. The three ships are expected to join in scheduled training in India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, said Capt. Curtis Shaub, commodore and commander of Amphibious Squadron.

The ships left home with a full combat load of Marines, including AV-8B Harrier jets, helicopters, M1A1 Abrams tanks, amphibious vehicles, Humvees and other combat and support equipment. The 13th MEU, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif., and led by Col. David Coffman, is also augmented with a Navy boat detachment for his maritime raid force, which gives commanders the ability to conduct VBSS, or visit-board-search-seize, missions if needed.

The naval force also has a ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicle, which makes Boxer ARG the first amphibious force to deploy with the drone capability. Shaub said ScanEagle, whose onboard camera system takes and relays imagery via links to ships, aircraft and ground stations, will expand the options for Navy and Marine Corps commanders.

“It’s going to support both of us,” he said.

The naval force takes along extra supplies that might be needed for short-notice missions such as disaster relief, but is also ready if regional theater commanders require boots on the ground in places such as Afghanistan, where elements of the East Coast-based 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit are operating. But there’s no word whether that will happen with 13th MEU.

“That is a part of the flexibility that we offer to the theater commander,” Shaub said. As far as Afghanistan goes, he added, “we don’t know.”

Deploying as part of the Boxer ARG are: Fleet Surgical Team 3; Tactical Air Control Squadron 11; Detachment 5 of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 23; Detachment C of Assault Craft Unit 1; Detachment C of Assault Craft Unit 5; and Detachment E of Beach Master Unit 1. The 13th MEU includes Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 1st Marines; Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (Reinforced) 163; and Combat Logistics Battalion 13.