Marines assigned to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) embarked aboard Whidbey-Island class amphibious dock-landing ship USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44), March 28, as an augmentation to the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group (ARG).
In addition to scheduled theater security cooperation engagements with several U.S. partner nations while deployed, the ship and her crew are multi-faceted to respond to the call of any mission, ranging from maritime security operations to emergent crisis response.
“The amphibious Navy has never been just about the Navy,” said Capt. Andy Loiselle , commanding officer of Gunston Hall. “ It has always been about the Navy and Marine Corps team.”
“We are all about the ‘Blue-Green’ team and we’re excited to be here working side-by-side with all these Sailors,” said 1st Lt. Cameron Wolf , assistant operations officer for Combat Logistics Battalion 24.
“There are a lot of things going on in the world today, and I think it’s a good opportunity for us to go out there and see how we handle what we’ve been training and preparing for,” continued Wolf.
USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), USS New York (LPD 21) and Gunston Hall make up part of the Iwo Jima ARG/24th MEU, and consists of approximately 4,000 Sailors and Marines.
“Our combat deployment can take us just about anywhere,” said Loiselle. “It is our Navy and Marine Corps team that will get the job done.”
Gunston Hall deployed as part of the Iwo Jima ARG/24th MEU in support of Maritime Security Operations and Theater Security Cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet areas of responsibility.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff , April 04, 2012; Image: navy