MARCENT staff returns from Bahrain deployment 

About 65 members of the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central Command staff based here recently returned from a month-long deployment to Bahrain.  The MARCENT staff, comprised of Marines, Sailors and civilian contractors, departed in mid-February and returned in mid-March.

As the U.S. Marine Corps service component to U.S. Central Command, MARCENT ensures that Marine forces in the CENTCOM Area of Responsibility are continuously prepared to support the Commander, U.S. Central Command.

With the rotation of II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) units out of Iraq, and the rotation of I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) units into Iraq this spring, it became important for the MARCENT staff to be able to meet with their respective counterparts throughout the CENTCOM AOR. 

The staff deployed to the MARCENT (Fwd) headquarters at Naval Support Activity, Bahrain.  NSA Bahrain is home to Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command as well as the headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet.   The MARCENT Coordination Element, a small staff led by a Marine colonel, ensures the spaces and communications connections are ready year-round for scheduled or emergency forward deployment of the MARCENT staff.

During the deployment, key staff members visited their counterparts at higher and adjacent headquarters in Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq and Afghanistan.  Although staff members typically work on different issues by telephone, email and video teleconference from their headquarters here, the deployment enabled them to make short trips throughout the AOR and conduct face-to-face meetings and attend conferences that otherwise would have required a week or more of travel from Tampa. 

An additional benefit of forward deploying to Bahrain is that emerging issues can be worked in “real time,” compared to dealing with the challenges of being at least eight time zones away in Tampa. 

 A number of key issues were worked during the deployment.  Among them were providing higher headquarters oversight to logistics support for Marine Corps forces rotating in and out of Iraq, and bringing Marine equipment back out of Afghanistan. 

MARCENT personnel staff refined procedures for tracking Marine Corps casualties evacuated from the CENTCOM AOR. 

MARCENT planners capitalized on their time away from the day-to-day distractions of working in Tampa to sequester themselves and focus on developing long-term plans for MARCENT support to CENTCOM.  Additionally, they were able to leverage video teleconference technology to collaborate on planning efforts with the rear party MARCENT staff in Tampa, who stayed tied-in with their CENTCOM counterparts.

The operations section exercised its ability to provide its normal functions of providing situational awareness for the commander, MARCENT of Marine Corps forces deployed in the CENTCOM AOR, while forward deployed.  They also exercised the transfer of functions of the Current Operations Center in Tampa to Bahrain and back again. 

The forward presence of the Staff Judge Advocate considerably expedited coordination of working legal issues surrounding the tragic crash on Feb. 17 of two Marine Corps CH-53E helicopters that were flying in support of Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa.
 
Co-location with Headquarters, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command during the deployment also enabled the MARCENT and NAVCENT staffs to conduct planning for the eventual transition of authority of Camp Lemonier, Djibouti from the Marine Corps to the Navy.

In addition, the deployment tested the ability of the staff to rapidly move to Bahrain in the event of operations that would require MARCENT coordination of Marine Corps forces in the CENTCOM AOR.  Existing communications architecture was tested and validated, with improvements planned that will enable the MARCENT staff to work in Bahrain with virtually no difference from their workstations at their headquarters here.

MARCENT is commanded by Lt. Gen. John F. Sattler.  He is “dual-hatted” as the commanding general of I Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton, Calif., where he maintains his headquarters.   The MARCENT headquarters here is led by Brig. Gen. Anthony L. Jackson, deputy commander, MARCENT, Chief of Staff Col. Gary Supnick and Senior Enlisted Advisor Master Gunnery Sergeant Guy Sutula.

In offering his view of the Bahrain deployment, Brig. Gen. Jackson said, “The key events for me was visiting the Marines, Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen in diverse places, such as Bahrain, Djibouti, Kuwait and Afghanistan as they carry out their missions in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.”

“It gave me more ground truth about the operational environment and will help me be of more use to them,” the general said.  “After I visited them, I felt honored to have been in their company.  They were inspiring.”