Det One - Force Recon Association

More documents

Recommendations

Info

14 DET ONE Photo by Maj John P. Piedmont Col Robert J. Coates, commanding officer, MCSOCOM Det One, shown here at Camp Fallujah, Iraq, in May 2004, almost a year after the formation of the unit. When the discussions were underway at HQMC on who would be named to command this unit, LtCol Kyser said that “We discussed several names, but every time we came back to Coates.” away. This assignment, like the placement of the two intelligence officers after 9/11, was delayed until Hand received a phone call from Lieutenant General Bedard asking whether SOCom really wanted a general officer. Tired of the delays, Hand went right up the chain-of-command at Tampa and got a final, affirmative answer. 52 History Offers a Lesson During the fall of 2002, Lieutenant Colonel Kyser and his team traveled to Camp Pendleton, California, and met with senior representatives from the intelligence, fire support, and reconnaissance communities. They went through several hundred record books and selected the people they wanted for the new unit. 53 For the commanding officer they recommended Lieutenant Colonel Robert J. Coates, recent commander of 1st Force Reconnaissance Company and at the time head of I Marine Expeditionary Force’s Special Operations Training Group (SOTG). Coates had a strong, positive reputation in the Marine Corps as well as in the special operations community. He had served in El Salvador in the 1980s as an advisor and later with other government agencies. As Lieutenant Colonel Kyser noted, “We discussed five or six different names, but every time, we came back to Lieutenant Colonel Coates. . . . Nobody could question this man’s credentials. Nobody. He was exactly the right guy at exactly the right time to put in charge of this.” 54 To ensure the longevity of the unit, it needed a lineage, according to Lieutenant Colonel Kyser. With the permission of the Marine Raider Association, he decided to put the raider patch at the bottom of the detachment’s logo. Kyser saw that there was an “undeniable parallel” between the Marine Raiders of World War II and the new unit. 55 By tying his unit historically to the Marine Raiders, he sought to evoke their role as a selectively trained and equipped strike force, a unit that could hit the enemy where it lived in a way conventionally organized units could not. In order to combat the inevitable “elite within elite” argument, Kyser intended for the Marines in the unit to come from and return to the Marine operating forces in a regular rotation. The Marine Raiders had been disbanded and absorbed into conventional units, a detail that was not lost on Kyser. The Commandant Puts it in Writing By the end of 2002, the Marine Corps’ first force contribution to Special Operations Command was about to become a reality. The unit’s proponents had countered all arguments, surmounted difficulties, created a structure, identified funding, named a commander, and tied its lineage to one of the most famous units in Marine Corps history. In late October, the Commandant, General Jones, issued an executive personal communication, known as a “personal for” or “P4” message, to the leadership of Marine Corps’ operating forces and supporting establishment describing the unit being sent to SOCom, his intent for its creation and employment, and what he expected of those to whom the message was addressed. He laid out how the logistical and personnel burdens would be borne and how he wanted the unit to be set up for success in material resources and training. He linked the unit and its success to the whole range of SOCom-USMC initiatives and to the continued “primacy of the Marine Corps as the nation’s expeditionary strike force.” Jones emphasized that “the success of this unit is a priority for me,” as well as for the secretary of defense, the secretary of the Navy, and Jones’s designated successor as Commandant, Lieutenant General Michael W. Hagee. 56 Two months after General Jones’s P4 message, Marine Corps Bulletin 5400, dated 4 December 2002, formally established the Marine Corps Special Operations Command Detachment as a two-year proof-ofconcept test, in furtherance of the goals set forth by
Concept 15 the USMC/SOCom memorandum of agreement signed on 9 November 2001. The Commandant’s October message had provided the overview of how the unit was to be created. The bulletin detailed the who, what, where, and when of activating the unit. In accordance with the Commandant’s guidance, the bulletin listed 42 units from which existing structure would be “temporarily realigned” to make the detachment a reality. As might be expected, reconnaissance and intelligence units numbered about a third of those affected, but the list covered a wide swath of the Marine Corps; among other units, all three activeduty force service support groups were listed. The bulletin stated that “the purpose of this proof-of-concept test is to determine the optimal structure and equipment required to provide appropriate Marine Corps operational support to USSOCOM.” 57 Thus was born Det One. * More than a year’s worth of hard work by several dedicated Marines at Headquarters Marine Corps, Special Operations Command, and elsewhere had become reality. The year 2003 would see the new unit form up, receive millions of dollars’ worth of new equipment, and begin to train for its historic deployment overseas. * The “One” in “Det One” does not appear in the “P4” message or the 5400 bulletin; it does, however, appear on the unit’s first command chronology, covering the period 1 January–30 June 2003, and in its subsequent reports. Command chronologies and reports at Gray Research Center, Quantico, VA.
Page 1 and 2: DET ONE: U.S. MARINE CORPS U.S. SPE
Page 3 and 4: DET ONE U.S. MARINE CORPS U.S. SPEC
Page 5: Foreword The story of the Marine Co
Page 8 and 9: careers will not be known for many
Page 10: viii
Page 14 and 15: 2 DET ONE issue thoroughly and form
Page 16 and 17: 4 DET ONE * If it appears that both
Page 18 and 19: 6 DET ONE support operations; tacti
Page 20 and 21: 8 DET ONE rine Corps gives a unit t
Page 22 and 23: 10 DET ONE wanted was a uniquely Ma
Page 24 and 25: 12 DET ONE given a part of it now.
Page 28 and 29: 16 DET ONE
Page 30 and 31: 18 DET ONE Col Robert J. Coates (fa
Page 32 and 33: 20 DET ONE having been held up by t
Page 34 and 35: 22 DET ONE Photo by Maj John P. Pie
Page 36 and 37: 24 DET ONE veillance capabilities t
Page 38 and 39: 26 DET ONE vinced that the intellig
Page 40 and 41: 28 DET ONE tasks of building and ho
Page 42 and 43: 30 DET ONE
Page 44 and 45: 32 DET ONE Members of the intellige
Page 46 and 47: 34 DET ONE training twice a week, b
Page 48 and 49: 36 DET ONE GySgt John A. Dailey’s
Page 50 and 51: 38 DET ONE based tactics because of
Page 52 and 53: 40 DET ONE hide sites. Still, there
Page 54 and 55: 42 DET ONE sults of the reconnaissa
Page 56 and 57: 44 DET ONE erations-specific model
Page 58 and 59: 46 DET ONE involved. 61 By the time
Page 60 and 61: 48 DET ONE Photo courtesy of LtCol
Page 62 and 63: 50 DET ONE digested. How would a fu
Page 64 and 65: 52 DET ONE Their patience was rewar
Page 66 and 67: 54 DET ONE fied him as the target.
Page 68 and 69: 56 DET ONE The one thing missing fr
Page 70 and 71: 58 DET ONE his farm just a mile nor
Page 72 and 73: 60 DET ONE Photo courtesy of Det On
Page 74 and 75: 62 DET ONE lected Master Sergeant B
Page 76 and 77:
64 DET ONE More importantly, perhap
Page 78 and 79:
66 DET ONE The SEAL task units form
Page 80 and 81:
68 DET ONE Det One Sniper Rifles .4
Page 82 and 83:
70 DET ONE tion that pointed to a c
Page 84 and 85:
72 DET ONE Det One Weapons 5.56mm M
Page 86 and 87:
74 DET ONE several respects. For on
Page 88 and 89:
76 DET ONE was Master Sergeant Char
Page 90 and 91:
78 DET ONE Major Carter to Gunnery
Page 92 and 93:
80 DET ONE SSgt Chadwick D. Baker m
Page 94 and 95:
82 DET ONE ner emptying several rou
Page 96 and 97:
84 DET ONE That the Marines were in
Page 98 and 99:
86 DET ONE beyond the capabilities
Page 100 and 101:
88 DET ONE niesky directed that the
Page 102 and 103:
90 DET ONE
Page 104 and 105:
92 DET ONE Col Robert J. Coates and
Page 106 and 107:
94 DET ONE realm, both at the unit
Page 108 and 109:
96 DET ONE Although he was not give
Page 110 and 111:
98 DET ONE
Page 112 and 113:
100 DET ONE connaissance and counte
Page 114 and 115:
102 DET ONE Kyser IV, “Marine Sup
Page 116 and 117:
104 DET ONE 19 Ibid. 20 Daily sitre
Page 118 and 119:
106 DET ONE this unit to continue t
Page 120 and 121:
108 DET ONE Air Officer Maj Thomas
Page 122 and 123:
110 DET ONE 2004 13-16 January 2004
Page 124 and 125:
112 DET ONE
Page 126 and 127:
114 DET ONE
Page 128 and 129:
116 DET ONE
Page 130 and 131:
118 DET ONE
Page 132 and 133:
120 DET ONE
Page 134 and 135:
122 DET ONE Grupa Reagowania Operac
Page 136 and 137:
124 DET ONE
show all

Det One - Force Recon Association

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?