Sunday, March 18, 2007

Happy Birthday MarSOC

Just the other day, members of the 1,400-strong Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command celebrated its first anniversary during a ceremony at Camp Lejeune.

Maj. Gen. Dennis Hejlik, MarSOC commander, attached the National Defense and Global War on Terrorism service streamers to the MarSOC battle color. “This is a big day for the United States Marine Corps,” he said afterward. “We are almost at 60 percent of our total force.” The command also has about 50 percent of its required equipment, he said. The plan is to send a total of 2,600 Marines to MarSOC.

The command’s first year included the activation of the first of two planned Foreign Military Training Unit teams, as well as activations of the 1st and 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalions. Four FMTU teams have returned from deployments and the first Marine special operations company deployed with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit in January.

“We have a lot of work to do,” Hejlik said. “We have a long way to go.”

MarSOC is expected to reach full operational capability by October 2008.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday MarSOC :) (my hubby is in FMTU)

Major General Creedon said...

Next time you speak to him, thank him for his service.
I'm glad that real Marines are teaching the more disadvantaged militaries which end of the gun the bullets come out of.

Semper Fi!

Anonymous said...

So Lt.Col, you've signed up for lessons then?