15th MEU gets orders to Iraq
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — About 2,200 members of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit soon will set boots in Iraq to boost security in Anbar province, officials confirmed Wednesday.
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By Gidget Fuentes
Staff writer
Nov. 15, 2006
The Camp Pendleton-based MEU “was given orders to go to al-Anbar district to help in the security,” said Lt. Cmdr. Scott Miller, a U.S. Central Command spokesman in Tampa, Fla.
No details were available on the timeline for the unit’s arrival in Iraq.
The MEU recently wrapped up two weeks of multinational training exercises with Indian and regional naval forces off the southwest coast of India.
The 15th MEU, led by Col. Brian Beaudreault, deployed in September as part of the San Diego-based Boxer Expeditionary Strike Group. It includes Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines; Combat Logistics Battalion 15; and Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 165 as the MEU’s composite helicopter squadron.
The Marines are deployed on the amphibious assault ship Boxer, dock landing ship Comstock and transport dock Dubuque.
This will be the MEU’s third deployment to Iraq. The unit participated in the 2003 invasion and returned to the country last year. In November 2001, the 15th MEU was part of the Marine task force that landed in Afghanistan.