SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Marines headed to the Middle East is a big increase in presence in the War with Iran.
“They're called Marine expeditionary units,” Hal Kempfer, a retired Marine Corps Intelligence Officer, said.
Kempfer told ABC 10News the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is being deployed to the Middle East, is based in Japan and is made up of roughly 2,200 Marines.
According to the unit’s website, they respond to crises anywhere in the world.
“The battalion is actually a battalion that deploys overseas; it's out of Southern California. It's out of Twentynine Palms near Palm Springs,” Kempfer said. “They're joined by a logistics element, a combat service sport element, a command element, which is also out of Japan, and then a, a, a composite squadron of aircraft that includes our tilt rotor Osprey aircraft.”
ABC 10News asked Kempfer why a unit like this would be deployed to the Middle East.
“I think we're going to provide a capability to do. Something like Maduro or something like maybe an amphibious raid to take out coastal anti-ship capabilities that the Iranians may have in the Strait of Hormuz,” Kempfer said.
ABC News is reporting that the deployment of these Marines doesn’t mean they’ll be used as ground forces in Iran. But the deployment means that resource will be available if needed.
ABC 10News reached out to the United States Marine Corps if there could be Camp Pendleton Marines deployed to the Middle East.
A Defense Department Spokesperson told ABC 10News they don’t discuss future or hypothetical troop movements due to operational security.
“When you hear the news, I mean, the, the first thing that comes to mind is always safety,” Sara Bartz said.
Bartz is a Marine Corps spouse and a social worker for a non-profit based in San Diego called Supporting the Enlisted Project. It supports the military and veterans and their families.
“There's been a lot of deployments over the years, um, that have been difficult and when you hear the possibility of, and, you know, of, of upcoming deployments, it just, it just brings that uneasy, uncertainty of, of what's to come,” Bartz said.
As we wait to see what’s next in the Middle East, Bartz has this message for the loved ones of these Marines.
“My piece of advice is find your community,” Bartz said. “Finding someone else in that situation or finding someone else to talk to, to keep yourself busy, during a deployment, because they can get long and lonely at times.
