"I firmly
believe that this is the right thing to do for
the country at this time," said Marine
Brig. Gen. Dennis J. Hejlik, commander of Marine
Corps Special Operations Command. "This
irregular warfare is here to stay. If we don't
start to go that way, where the force is more
joint and more capable across the spectrum,
that's not a good thing."
The Marine Corps
Special Operations Command, or MARSOC, will
formally stand up its headquarters Feb. 24 at
Camp Lejeune, N.C. In addition to the headquarters,
Camp Lejeune will be home to the Marine Special
Operations Support Group, several foreign military
training units, a Marine special operations
battalion, and the Marine Special Operations
School, Hejlik said. Another Marine special
operations battalion will be stationed at Camp
Pendleton, Calif., he said.
Over the next five
years, MARSOC will grow to an end strength of
2,600 people, Hejlik said. This will include
24 foreign military training units that will
deploy worldwide in support of U.S. Special
Operations Command and the various combatant
commanders, he said. MARSOC already has three
FMTUs that will deploy in 2006 and 2007, he
said.
The Marine special
operations battalion will include four Marine
special operations companies, each with 97 to
118 people, depending on mission requirements,
Hejlik said. The core of these companies will
be experienced force reconnaissance Marines
taken from the mainstream Marine Corps, he said.
"There's a
lot of capability there, because they're a little
bit older; they're a little bit more mature,"
he said.
The Marine special
operations companies will deploy with Marine
expeditionary units, Hejlik said. Once deployed,
the companies will under operational control
of the special operations commander in theater,
but be available to support the MEU if needed,
he said.
"The intent
is not just to rip the guts out of the MEU,"
he said. "We like to say that they're not
separate, but separable."
The focus of MARSOC
at the beginning will be the foreign military
training units and their missions, Hejlik said.
These units will complement the work being done
by similar units in other special operations
forces and will fill gaps that have arisen due
to the recent high demand on special operations,
he said. The Marine FMTUs will support all five
geographic combatant commanders, with the first
scheduled to carry out a mission for U.S. European
Command, he said.
The first Marine
special operations company will not be formed
until May 2006 at Camp Lejeune, Hejlik said.
Marines will only
spend three to five years in MARSOC and then
will be rotated back into the regular Marine
Corps, Hejlik said. This rotation will benefit
the entire force, because young Marines will
be trained to a higher standard in MARSOC and
will bring those skills to other units, he said.
It will also prevent Marines from becoming stagnant
in one unit and give them opportunities for
advancement and education, he said.
"If you take
a quality Marine and you bring him up to a little
higher standard using (special operations forces)
standards, and you give him the right equipment,
he is unbeatable," he said.
