On April 28, 2015, Marines with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit stepped back into a more direct naval defensive role when they augmented security for the mine countermeasures ship USS Sentry (MCM 3) during a transit through the Strait of Bab el Mandeb.
Maj. Tyler Holland, the 24th MEU assistant operations officer, said:
We put Marines over on the minesweeper initially for what we call a ‘proof of concept,’ The smaller ship has some self-defense capabilities, but by putting Marines over there it gives them an additional capability and helps them augment their force protection.
Considering regional issues, the integration of Marines in the Navy’s defense posture comes at a critical time as the Navy is being tasked with supporting a variety of maritime missions. Navy Lt. Paul Valcke, the Sentry’s operations officer, said the Sentry is currently part of a multi-national mine countermeasures force that is conducting mine warfare operations.
The Marines and Sailors came together to establish a more robust small caliber action team, or SCAT, than the ship is accustomed. The Strait of Bab el Mandeb is a high traffic area, used by military vessels, but also by merchant shipping companies to move a high volume of the world’s goods and oil. Because of this traffic, the demand for quality security is premium and a fluid working relationship between those providing the security is paramount to successfully executing the mission.
Overall, the mission was a success and the Sentry transited through the strait without incident.
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Image: US Marine Corps