It's been a little over two months since we departed Eastern North Carolina for Operations in the Central Command (CENTCOM) Area of Operations (AO) and, as most of you probably know, the preponderance of the ACE is now in Kuwait.
Over the past couple of weeks the Rotary Wing Marines of the ACE have been operating from the Udairi Training Area while our Fixed Wing and Intermediate Maintenance Level Marines continue to support operations from aboard the USS Kearsarge....it's all part of distributed operations...more on that later.
While at the Udairi Range we continue to train and enhance our desert operational proficiency. We've been able to take advantage of some excellent live fire ranges here with both Rotary Wing from the land, and Fixed Wing from the sea.
Additionally, the living conditions at both locations are not too bad either. Life on the boat has been made more comfortable because our "feet-wet" Marines and equipment can stretch out a bit due to their squadron mates and ground mates being "feet-dry".....more space...shorter lines...better living. Those of us on the beach can't complain either.
We're living in tents but there's air-conditioning to ward off the daily 110-degree temperatures and the dining facility stocks Baskin Robbins ice cream, which the Marines tell me is only being consumed to regulate their core body temperatures. There's also a coffee shop, a fast-food restaurant, and even a PX...small, but it offers some of the things the Marines & Sailors miss from home...so life at Udairi is not too bad either.
As the CENTCOM Theatre Reserve, the 26th MEU remains on-call for any mission within the AO. That means we will continue to conduct sea-based operations from the USS Kearsarge for the foreseeable future. The ACE has conducted operations in Iraq over the past week and will likely continue to do so in the weeks ahead. However, as the Theatre Reserve we remain ready to depart our current location on a moments notice to answer the call for assistance anywhere from Afghanistan to the Horn of Africa.
The MEU and ACE are very flexible organizations that are designed to conduct operations from one location, or we can task organize and conduct missions from separate locations...."distributed operations". It is likely some of your Marines and Sailors will have the opportunity to go forward with elements of the MEU to conduct distributed operations as part of a military to military engagement program our government has with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Others will remain aboard USS Kearsarge to either stand ready as the Theatre Reserve, or continue to conduct operations within Iraq.
Your Marines & Sailors will have the opportunity to work from various locations both "feet-wet" and "feet-dry". We all will participate in bringing the awesome capabilities of the combined Marine Expeditionary Unit and Expeditionary Strike Group to bear within the CENTCOM AO. Your Marines and Sailors stand ready for the challenges they will face shortly. They are trained, equipped, and continue to function as a tightly organized team...each member more concerned with the well-being and success of the Marine or Sailor on his left or right...then for themselves.
Be proud of them...they do great things for the right reasons. As always, take care of one another & know you are always in our hearts and minds.
Semper Fi,
LtCol Kurt "BIG" Diehl