CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- In remote parts of this sprawling
base, Marines and sailors are training to fight on a different kind of
battlefield -- an urban area where the enemy is more likely to be armed
with a chemical agent or a bomb strapped to his chest than an
AK-47.
In America's war on terrorism, the 4,800 members of the 4th
Marine Expeditionary Brigade, reactivated Monday as an anti-terrorism
unit, will be on the front line of homeland security. Wearing camouflage
and gas masks, they can creep through alleys undetected, scale walls of
high-rise buildings under siege and engage in combat on crowded
streets.
Faced with threats of terrorism in the U.S. and abroad,
all branches of the military have had to re-evaluate strategies and
develop non-traditional tactics for fighting a war not just on foreign
soil but in America's back yard. The formation of the Marine Corps' new
anti-terrorism brigade is an example of how the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks
have reshaped the U.S. military.
Assignments not
set
The Marine Corps combined its three existing security
guard and anti-terrorism battalions under one brigade, added an infantry
unit and beefed up the brigade with an additional 2,400 personnel, the
first increase of the Marines since the end of the Cold War. Though the
brigade's assignments have not been decided, Brigadier Gen. Douglas O'Dell
Jr., commander of the new unit at Camp Lejeune, said one-third of the
brigade could be used to protect military and civilian installations in
the U.S. and the remainder deployed overseas, including to American
embassies and consulates.
"The world has changed since September
... and some of our training now is a little out of the ordinary," said
O'Dell. The unit's training will focus on enhanced marksmanship skills and
defense skills against nuclear, biological, and chemical threats, he said,
as well as special training for operations in urban areas.
"It's
designed to bring better deterrence, greater defense and greater detection
capabilities to the Marines who are already deployed at these posts and to
get them reinforcement rapidly," he said.
According to O'Dell,
Marines protect 120 to 130 State Department sites around the world.
Another 130 sites, mainly in locations that have been considered less
vulnerable to attack, remained uncovered, he said. Now with every site
under heightened alert, it is necessary to increase Marine Corps presence.
In addition, the brigade could be used in case of another terrorist attack
in the U.S., the general said.
Using civilian and military
aircraft, rather than slower moving ships, the brigade can deploy within
six hours of notification and secure a site within 72 hours, O'Dell said.
The unit is scheduled to be fully operational by Dec.
1.
Troops in training
Meanwhile, 1,000
troops are undergoing six weeks of rigorous training at Camp Lejeune,
combining combat skills with new techniques similar to those used by
police in riot situations. In one drill, Marines wearing protective
coverings rescued a mock victim from a building where sarin gas had been
released. In another exercise, instructors sprayed pepper spray in the
faces of infantrymen, so they could learn how to work during a chemical
attack.
As the military has had to adjust to changing times, it
also has had to adapt to changes abroad, according to
O'Dell.
"There has been a tremendous migration worldwide from the
country to the cities, particularly in coastal areas," said O'Dell.
"Oftentimes those sites are located in the vicinity of airfields and port
facilities that may prove useful to us as the campaign goes
on."
Armed with M-16s and A-2 service rifles, Marines have been
training to take control in highly populated areas where terrorists could
pose the most serious threat. At the same time, the Marines are learning
how to negotiate without violence and use nonlethal weapons such as foam
bullets, beanbags and rubber torpedoes.
"In an urban environment,
they [attacks] can come from any direction. We train them as best we can,
using whatever we have, so that when they do hit, they will be as prepared
as possible," said a sergeant from the 4th Marine Brigade. "It's important
not to overpower a situation, to know when it is more appropriate to read
a subject from their expression and talk them down if you can."
The
brigade includes the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines at Camp Lejeune, whose
sister battalion was bombed in Beirut in 1983, killing 241 Americans. It
also includes the Marine Security Guard Battalion, headquartered in
Quantico, Va., which guards embassies and consulates around the world; the
Marine Security Forces Battalion, based in Norfolk, Va., responsible for
protecting Navy installations and ships; and the Chemical Biological
Emergency Response Team of Indian Head, Md., a unit of 400 Marines trained
to treat victims exposed to contamination. That unit, formed after the
1995 sarin gas attack on a Tokyo subway, has been involved in efforts to
bring the anthrax contamination under control in Washington.
The
Marines, the military's smallest service, dropped in numbers from 196,000
at its peak during the Persian Gulf war to a current 172,000 men and
women. The secretary of the Navy has issued orders to delay the discharge
of Marines who have served their enlistments. Several hundred reservists
also have been called up. The initial added cost of the brigade is about
$21 million, officials said.
`New actions'
required
The new brigade is an indication of the Marine
Corps' flexibility and culture, according to Marine commandant Gen. James
Jones, who has had a long-term goal of creating the umbrella
unit.
"As of last month, we are faced with a new reality that
requires new actions on our part," Jones said during the reactivation
ceremony Monday. "Our response to the asymmetrical warfare ... in this
first war of the 21st Century is multifold. Part of our response to terror
is standing up the 4th MEB."