El Toro, Camp Pendleton Marine Reserve Units Called to Duty : Gulf crisis: Helicopter squadrons will join troops in North Carolina. They may be deployed to the Mideast.
The crisis in the Persian Gulf is hitting home this Thanksgiving weekend for 295 more Southern California-based Marine reservists as they prepare to leave their families and report for active duty in the next nine days.
Pentagon officials said Wednesday that the new orders have been issued to members of two helicopter squadrons based at El Toro Marine Air Corps Station in Orange County and at Camp Pendleton in northern San Diego County.
The reservists will report at the two California bases and then be transferred to Camp Lejeune, N.C., according to Patricia V. Iets, a spokeswoman for the Marine Corps in Arlington, Va.
The Southern California-based reservists will join the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at the North Carolina base, Iets said. Other officials said that the reservists will either replace troops already sent to the Persian Gulf or will be deployed themselves to the region, as part of Operation Desert Shield.
Iets said the two new Southern California squadrons being called for active duty are the Marine Attack Helicopter Squadron 775, composed of 95 members and based at Camp Pendleton, and the Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 764, composed of about 200 members and based at El Toro.
“The men and women who form this unit come from all walks of life,” said Capt. Betsy Sweatt, a Marines spokeswoman at El Toro, adding that the mechanics, lawyers, sales representatives and other members of the El Toro-based squadron have until 4 p.m. on Monday to report. The Camp Pendleton-based unit must report by Dec. 1, officials said.
The call-up of the two additional Southern California units, issued on Monday, will swell to about 78,000 the number of reservists ordered to active duty since Iraq invaded Kuwait on Aug. 2, according to Army Lt. Col. Steve E. Roy. Roy said that Operation Desert Shield now includes the biggest commitment of U.S. reserve forces since the Korean War.
At El Toro, Sweatt said that the reserve squadron being called for duty is composed of 12 CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters. The helicopters, Sweatt said, are designed for transporting troops and equipment, either over land or from ships to land. At Camp Pendleton, a spokesman said the squadron of 95 reservists is trained to operate two types of helicopters--the Cobra, used for attack, and the Huey, employed for non-combat transportation of VIPs and other personnel.
Roy, speaking from the Pentagon, said the reservists are trained at least two weeks a year and are typically “highly motivated (and) very dedicated and enthusiastic about the opportunity to be called to active duty for something important.”
And although Roy said such a massive call-up of reserve members is difficult, “they’ve rehearsed their roles; they know their procedures. They’ve been integrated with the procedures for many, many years.”
And Roy said that while the call-up of reserve troops puts a strain on families and employers, the people reporting for duty truly reflect “all corners of society.”
“In a democracy,” Roy added, “a military force should represent every corner of that society.”
Also on Wednesday, 20 members of the House of Representatives, including California Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) and Rep. Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Santa Barbara), planned to depart for the Middle East on Sunday to meet with military planners. The House members “will receive an on-site briefing on the disposition of U.S. military forces in the Persian Gulf area,” said Paul Morrell, an aide to Dornan.
Staff writer Robert W. Stewart in Washington contributed to this story.
