20 El Toro Marines in Air Squadron to Head for Bosnia

An air squadron will leave for Bosnia next week to support U.S. peacekeeping troops, officials said Thursday.

The squadron will become the first full Marine Corps unit assigned to the region that was formerly part of Yugoslavia, officials said.

About 180 men and women of the 1st Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron (VMU-1) are scheduled to begin deploying on Wednesday, said Sgt. Chris O’Leary, spokesman for the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. The squadron operates seven remote-controlled aircraft that provide field commanders with television images of hostile areas.

Officials said that 20 of the Marines scheduled for duty in Bosnia are from the El Toro base. The others are assigned to Marine bases at Twentynine Palms, Yuma and Camp Pendleton. The unit will be based near Tuzla, O’Leary said.

Marine officials were not clear why the squadron is being deployed and declined to comment when asked if the pilotless drones were being sent to Bosnia because of increased threats against U.S. troops.

“They’re being sent because the U.S. commander [in Yugoslavia] asked for them,” O’Leary said. He added that the Marines have not received special training for their Bosnia deployment, but are “trained to do their job.”

U.S. troops in Yugoslavia are organized under Task Force Eagle, which is part of NATO’s military mission in the war-torn area. El Toro officials said the squadron is expected to remain in Bosnia for about six months.

The unit is one of two used by the Marines to monitor the battlefield from above with reconnaissance cameras. The aircraft operated by the squadron can fly over the battlefield for up to six hours.

The Marine Corps began experimenting with the aircraft in 1985 and used them during the Persian Gulf War to observe Iraqi troop movements and positions.

Although VMU-1 will be the first full Marine unit stationed in Yugoslavia, other Marine squadrons have flown combat missions in support of the U.S. troops there. Those flights took off from an air base in Italy.

In addition, members of a Marine Expeditionary Unit assigned to a Navy ship in the Adriatic Sea rescued Air Force Capt. Scott F. O’Grady on June 8, 1995, six days after he was shot down over Bosnia.