Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New Orleans Times-Picayune
January 20, 2008
Pg. 18
He says fleet needs Gulf Coast shipyards
By Paul Purpura, West Bank bureau
The Marine Corps' top brass was in New Orleans last week to discuss issues concerning that military branch while getting a feel for the local geography and its post-Katrina reality, the nation's top Marine said.
New Orleans is home to the Marine Forces Reserve headquarters, which was at the heart of a visit that included a bus tour of the 9th Ward, which Gen. James Conway called "tragic."
"I found myself wishing the nation would understand better and could take the bus ride I took, to be able to see how devastating it's been and how tough its going to be to recover from all of that," Conway, the Marine Corps commandant, said during an interview.
The quarterly meetings are usually held in Washington, D.C., to discuss of leadership and organizational issues, he said, "but this one was an exception, and it's because we have a couple of issues."
One, he said, is understanding New Orleans' geography, with its east bank, West Bank, the federal city plan for Algiers and the Naval Air Station-Joint Reserve Base in Belle Chasse, and its relationship to the Marine Forces Reserve headquarters.
"That's all pretty abstract to us in Washington, D.C.," Conway said. "And so we saw a need to get out and understand the whole lay of the land better for future discussions as a result of what happens with BRAC," the base realignment and closure process.
The other reason for the visit, he said, was to allow general officers to become more familiar with the amphibious shipbuilding operations on the Gulf Coast.
Northrop Grumman Shipsystems builds the San Antonio class of amphibious transport dock ships in Avondale and Pascagoula, Miss., including the USS New Orleans, which was completed last year.
Conway said the Navy and the Marine Corps, which deploy to war aboard the vessels, need more of them.
"We have been told that as a result of Katrina, the Gulf Coast shipyards weren't in a condition where they can provide that," he said.
Conway discussed ongoing operations in Iraq, an upcoming deployment of Marines to Afghanistan and how the Reserve force has helped relieve its active-duty counterparts from the stress of constant deployments.
Last week, the Defense Department announced that 3,200 Marines will be sent to Afghanistan in April, to bolster NATO-led forces because of an expected Taliban resurgence in the spring.
The call comes as Marines are still "at surge" in Iraq, he said, while the Marine Corps is trying to achieve a deployment schedule to allow his troops to be home for 14 months between seven-month deployments.
"This is going to hurt even more," Conway said of the Afghanistan deployment. "But the fact is that the nation is at war. Marines fight the nation's wars, and we're going to ask our people to endure it for a while. . . . In the meantime, we're going to ask people to stay with us, suck it up and do what has to be done to retain the gains that we've seen in Afghanistan. If the Taliban want to get frisky in the spring, we'll put a wooping on them."
Since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, and the nation-building mission that followed, Conway said the "sustained effort over time is impacting greatly the ability of an all-volunteer force to carry that fight."
Reservists fit into the equation, he said. More than 350 Marine Corps reservists based in the New Orleans area are in Iraq, most are from the 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment and Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 773, Detachment A, and a small military police unit. All are based at the Naval Air Station-Joint Reserve Base in Belle Chasse.
The squadron, whose pilots fly UH-1 Huey and AH-1 Cobra helicopters, helped relieve the tempo of an active-duty squadron based on the East Coast that was home for five months between deployments of seven months, Conway said. Such stress affects families and potentially leads pilots to leave the service, he said.
"So being able to inject our reservists in and not lose one bit of quality in what we have to do in Iraq has really been a marvelous tool that we know that we've had all along," Conway said. "But we just, again, renewed our appreciation for what our reserve community brings."
Meanwhile, he said, the Marine Corps has gotten approval to add 27,000 Marines to its ranks, growing the military branch to 202,000 members. With the growth will be organizational changes and a look at those military jobs used most frequently overseas, such as engineers, military police and some intelligence billets.
He said he thinks the war on terrorism "is going to be a long fight."
"Some say a generational struggle," Conway said. "Depends on what you call a generation, I guess. But is it going to end with Iraq and Afghanistan? I don't think so. I think those are the first battles of this long war."
January 20, 2008
Pg. 18
He says fleet needs Gulf Coast shipyards
By Paul Purpura, West Bank bureau
The Marine Corps' top brass was in New Orleans last week to discuss issues concerning that military branch while getting a feel for the local geography and its post-Katrina reality, the nation's top Marine said.
New Orleans is home to the Marine Forces Reserve headquarters, which was at the heart of a visit that included a bus tour of the 9th Ward, which Gen. James Conway called "tragic."
"I found myself wishing the nation would understand better and could take the bus ride I took, to be able to see how devastating it's been and how tough its going to be to recover from all of that," Conway, the Marine Corps commandant, said during an interview.
The quarterly meetings are usually held in Washington, D.C., to discuss of leadership and organizational issues, he said, "but this one was an exception, and it's because we have a couple of issues."
One, he said, is understanding New Orleans' geography, with its east bank, West Bank, the federal city plan for Algiers and the Naval Air Station-Joint Reserve Base in Belle Chasse, and its relationship to the Marine Forces Reserve headquarters.
"That's all pretty abstract to us in Washington, D.C.," Conway said. "And so we saw a need to get out and understand the whole lay of the land better for future discussions as a result of what happens with BRAC," the base realignment and closure process.
The other reason for the visit, he said, was to allow general officers to become more familiar with the amphibious shipbuilding operations on the Gulf Coast.
Northrop Grumman Shipsystems builds the San Antonio class of amphibious transport dock ships in Avondale and Pascagoula, Miss., including the USS New Orleans, which was completed last year.
Conway said the Navy and the Marine Corps, which deploy to war aboard the vessels, need more of them.
"We have been told that as a result of Katrina, the Gulf Coast shipyards weren't in a condition where they can provide that," he said.
Conway discussed ongoing operations in Iraq, an upcoming deployment of Marines to Afghanistan and how the Reserve force has helped relieve its active-duty counterparts from the stress of constant deployments.
Last week, the Defense Department announced that 3,200 Marines will be sent to Afghanistan in April, to bolster NATO-led forces because of an expected Taliban resurgence in the spring.
The call comes as Marines are still "at surge" in Iraq, he said, while the Marine Corps is trying to achieve a deployment schedule to allow his troops to be home for 14 months between seven-month deployments.
"This is going to hurt even more," Conway said of the Afghanistan deployment. "But the fact is that the nation is at war. Marines fight the nation's wars, and we're going to ask our people to endure it for a while. . . . In the meantime, we're going to ask people to stay with us, suck it up and do what has to be done to retain the gains that we've seen in Afghanistan. If the Taliban want to get frisky in the spring, we'll put a wooping on them."
Since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, and the nation-building mission that followed, Conway said the "sustained effort over time is impacting greatly the ability of an all-volunteer force to carry that fight."
Reservists fit into the equation, he said. More than 350 Marine Corps reservists based in the New Orleans area are in Iraq, most are from the 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment and Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 773, Detachment A, and a small military police unit. All are based at the Naval Air Station-Joint Reserve Base in Belle Chasse.
The squadron, whose pilots fly UH-1 Huey and AH-1 Cobra helicopters, helped relieve the tempo of an active-duty squadron based on the East Coast that was home for five months between deployments of seven months, Conway said. Such stress affects families and potentially leads pilots to leave the service, he said.
"So being able to inject our reservists in and not lose one bit of quality in what we have to do in Iraq has really been a marvelous tool that we know that we've had all along," Conway said. "But we just, again, renewed our appreciation for what our reserve community brings."
Meanwhile, he said, the Marine Corps has gotten approval to add 27,000 Marines to its ranks, growing the military branch to 202,000 members. With the growth will be organizational changes and a look at those military jobs used most frequently overseas, such as engineers, military police and some intelligence billets.
He said he thinks the war on terrorism "is going to be a long fight."
"Some say a generational struggle," Conway said. "Depends on what you call a generation, I guess. But is it going to end with Iraq and Afghanistan? I don't think so. I think those are the first battles of this long war."