Timothy Birdnow

An interesting development in Iraq. The Marines guarding the U.S. embassy are being replaced by the 82nd Airborn.

What is interesting is that Marines normally guard embassies. Bringing in the 82nd suggests they expect to do some serious fighting in the near future. Now, the Marines are entirely capable of doing serious fighting, but the 82nd is an Army unit and as such is designed for long term fighting - and can be reinforced from the air. 

According to the article:

Paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team will replace about 100 Marineswho were previously sent to bolster security forces at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson told Army Times.

Citing operational security, the official said they would not discuss the size of the force sent to the embassy or the timeline for their arrival.

The Marines, who came from the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response unit, will transition security duties at the embassy to an element of the 82nd’s Immediate Response Force brigade, the CENTCOM spokesperson said.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 10:17 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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