Trenton (LPD 14) - Naval Cruise Book

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HISTORY The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit was formed in the early 1970's as the 36th Marine Amphibious Unit.. In 1976, tlae 365th MAU participated in Exercise Staffe Zugel in the Federal Republic of Germany, marking the first Marine Corp's participation 1I1 com me arms operations in Germany since World War I. The'MAU also participated in Exercise Triple Jubilee in the United Kingdom. l . h M i I ' The 36th MAU underwent a numerical redesignation to the 26th MAU 111 Sept., 1982, to reflect affiliation with t e II anne Amphibious Force. l . . . . Vklir i wg: Vi:., kk.,l.,,, .I Vk,.,,,,,,, -I , h 2 h The 26th MAU artici ated in NATO exercise Cold Winter QV4 Norway-.dtg'1I1g,MHLTQ11-11.17, 1983. FIOITI AP11120 120. May 6, I f 9 61 MAU P P f f M A tfi' I 'bbw I Straitsfof Florida and the Atlantic The exercise was designed to improve participated in Exercise Ocean Ventuteinthe Gul ol Vpyyvc s art, ippppnpp , Q ysri at g . - u the capabilities of the United States to protect the Qf 1I1 the area of operations. On October 10, 1984, the 26th MAU bQgEthi..PlEiZl11iI1glVfQfQif. Exerciser Universal lcy 1 ,lnfl-Ionduras. The 26th MAU was assigned as the Amphibious Ready Force on March,1, ,yfi A prilg16,1985,fglthe embarked tsc' abqiflld ,tli Six .to Honduras for 10mf.EXefC1s Universal Trek-85. The MAU conductedfflamphibiolusiioperations Army units .helicoptertlogistics support. During their stay m Honduras, Marines and Sailors of the,ffMAUfl5ialslogprovided food village of DOS,p.Boycas. n . After successful amphibious operahons in t',y, bnduras, the MAUjconducted Phase III of Exerc1se.Sol1d in a D-Day landing force that stormed across Onslow Beach at!,.Ca1npV.piLejfeune, N.C., May 8, for the MAU's mVfolVQII1?I1f 501141 Sh1e1d'85 wok Place Qt Marine Corps Air Station, Beaufort,iStl'C.,, a heliborne assault Nassau to secure the airstnp on May 14th. For the 26th MAU, tlus was the last in a month long held in Honduras, Canrplejeune and Beaufort, S.C. , I I . on May 17119851 the.M Vlep Lejeune and the next daywwas relieved as the ReadytForce Contingency MAU by the 28th MAU. The MAU pReagdy,Force tirptp 5 August 15, began planning and training for deployment to the MediterraneartlitSfeaf5i ritilii i'lls i 1 iyzy i'ii'rs A 1 r,,,,,r feyp yfpi QQ yteysssvrsytisttitlrncivsiti'f I pf, I l'el,l lf iei. vtvtslrt,r,l,s,tr,f .Lf ,i,'l 1 typs .5 ,Q , ' if f . During'September 1985, the participategzliwith' PHIBR Ni'fSix'infa no-notice fembarkation, deployment and employment exercise called ARFEX-85 and an evacuationefqfp noncombatants to amphibious shipping. ,ff ttlgpf y . 5 ,e In October, 1985, after intensi5s,7ei'ariipI5ibious training, and special operations evaluation,pthep26th MAUlbecamethe first Marine Corps unit of its kind to earn a Special Operations Capable designation has successfully.maintained that distinction install of its subsequent pre-deployment special operations capable requalification exercises. designationibecame of its title as it sailed in November 1985 to the Mediterranean. During this deployment, the 26th MAUifpart1cipated. from France, Spain, Italy and Portugal, using assets that were not previously irtdigenousito a Marine Arnphibitjusfllnit.'?FO1ijthe'firsttifilgfpqitdetachrnent of AV-8B Harriers were attached to the MAU and actually provided closegair support during Distant LfAnother,5aerial asset-to come under MAU control were the transportation and refueling capabilities of Refueling Squadron-25 21's 21 KC-13OiHercules aircraft. Other pssl exercises during this deployment were Sierra-del-Regin in and Distant Hammer and Galera-86, in May,1986gf 1 5 In Iuly 1986, the 26th its second pre-deployrnentatraining the Mediterranean, they were designated Mediterranean Amphibious Ready QMARG 2-871. Highlightsyofthe'depioyrnentyincludedeDragon Hammer, Sardina, Tunisia and Gaiefza-87i1EEcercise Eg:1estFrost,.,yand,for li' theffirst time in more than aflidetcadefaii exercise on of Corsica with the French Foreign Legion an renc Omman OS. 7'?3?i,l'i' raias tt'r 47154 ,i,i f siii ,islw f vttt ' iss eil? s 5 f . as The 26th MAU was renamed Unit on glfiebruary 5, 1988. This emphasized broadened expeditionary and multiple capabilities as a fonwiaiddeployed a Marine Air Ground Task Force, ratherfthanthe ifit amphibious role implied by its P1'9Vi0l1S MAU iitle- A 11101151 later, The its SOC designation and becamef-lLandingi Force Sixth Fleet 1-88. Highlights of thiS deP10Yment Were amPhlbi0uS landings at 5Pil19fMQI1i9 R0manf5,lItalyp Camp. Dei'CH,r1je1irs, France, Exercise Dragon Hammer-88 at Capo Teulada, Sardiniap Exercise Tartaruga-88 in Sardiniaj aridiexercisestat,Cape,Serrat,fTunisia Sand Bay, Sicily. On November 28, 1989, the 26th MEU made another deployrfientitofthe'Mediterranean iili'i asjlsanding Force Sixth Fleet 2-89. The 26th MEU completed its previous deployment in March 1991, afplannedsiif-imonth'deployrnent thatytwasiextended to seven months due to Operation Desert Storm. The 26th MEU, While not called upon to Operation DesertJStorm, distinguished itself by participating in Operation Sharp Edge, Conducted in Monrovia, Liberia, during that f '..t'.i ar: ritii The MEU Marines and Sailors coordinated noncombatant evacuations of Americans and foreign nationals endangered by political unrest there. In addition, it provided logistical support that kept the U5- Embassy there functional during the conflict. 2 jif 5 The MEU returned to Camp Lejeune March 3, 1991 and on Iune 21, less than four months later, redeployed as Landing Force Sixth Fleet 2-91, setting another MEU first with the shortest time between deployments for such units since they began deploying to the Mediterranean. .The Camp. Lejeune based 26th MEU.conducted an Amphibious Landing Exercise QPHIBLEXJ in Tunisia in August, where it also cross-trained with tpe Tun1s1an Army. In September its Marines and Sailors conducted small-unit exercises in Camp De Canjeurs, France, and in October, Was part o NATO Exercise- Display Determination-91 m Turkey. DD-91 involved more than 2,500 Marines and Sailors using the full range of tactical eqiupment and weaponry orgamc to a Mar1ne.Exped1t1onary Unit. On December 18,1991, the MEU returned to Camp Lejeune. Sixiler 151213 cglepgigment, the 26th MEU QSOCJ is part of Mediterranean Amphibious Ready Group Eight QMARG-81 of the Navy's Landing Force

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l attalion Landing eam 21101 Battalion 2nd Marines HISTORY The Second Battalion, 2 Marines was activated at Camp Haiten, Haiti on 1 July 1925 and assigned to the lst Brigade serving at the time with Garde d'Haiti. Second Battalion was deactivated on 1 January 1933. Second Battalion was reactivated on 14 January 1941. On 9 August 1942, the battle for Guadalcanal began with Marines landing on Tulagi Island Complex, Guadalcanal. During January 1943, 2d Battalion participated in the final assault to clear Guadalcanal of the remaining Japanese resistance. For its participation in the battle, 2d Battalion was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. As part of the 2d Marine Division, 2d Battalion, 2d Marines deployed and spearheaded the attack on Tarawa. Throughout the battle, Marines of the Battalion distinguished themselves. The Battalion was again awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its heroic assault at Tarawa. The 2d Battalion conducted during Saipan, Tinian and Okinawa Campaigns of World War II. In September 1945, the Battalion depbyedfto Nagasaki, Japan as part of the U.S. occupation forces. During June and July 1946, the Battalion relocated back to ,North Carolina as part of the post-war reduction of forces. The Battalion was deactivated on 18 November41i947.Withsthe birth of NATO, the Marine Corps was assigned a new mission, and the 2d Battalion was reactivatedjon 20 October QI949. Since its reactivation, the Battalion has seen extensive service in joint and combined operations and exercises. On 15J11ly 1958, as part of Landing Force Sixth Fleet, 2d Battalion landed in Beirut, Lebanon to securevthe Beirut International Airport. Having accomplished its mission, the Battalion re-deployed on 14 August 1958. In October 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the 2d Battalion was deployed to the waters off Cuba as part of a task force comprisedof. 40 ships and 20,000 Marines and Sailors. When the successful blockade terminated on 3 December 1962, the Battalion returned to Camp Lejeune, Service in the Mediterranean and Caribbean was routine for the 2d Battalion- during the intervening years between 1963 and 1977. Deployment to the northern flank of NATO commenced in the fall of 1978 when the,Battalion participated as Part of Regimental Landing Team-2, 4th MAB. In February 1979, elements of the Battalion QU.S. Air Alert ForceJ deployed to the Azores on standby alert to reinforce the American Embassy, Tehran, Iran. The unit was recalled when dissidents evacuated the Embassy. On 4 December 1979, in the face of terrorist attacks on United States Naval personnel at the Naval 5'fatiOI1, Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, 2d Battalion, 2d Marines deployed a force to reinforce the Marine Barracks. The Battalion deployed to Denmark for Exercise VIKING MARINE and thus became the first battalion size unit to operate independently with the Danish Army. In October 1982, the Battalion participated in Combined Arms Operation at Fort.Pickle -Meadows, California in preparation for the major NATO exercise TEAMWORK 84. Returning to Camp Lejeune 1n April 1984, preparations began for the upcoming WestPac deployment. In July, the Battalion deployed to Fort Sherman, Panama for Jungle training and in October the unit departed CONUS once more, rejoining 4th Marines on Okinawa. The Battalion returned to.Camp Lejeune in April 1985. After an intensive training period, the Battalion deployed as Battalion Landing Team 2f.2.W1th the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit fSpecial Operations Capablej. They then deployed to Southwest Asia .and participated in OPERATION DESERT SHIELD and OPERATION DESERT STORM. During its deployment the Battalion was attached to the Sixth Marine Regiment. The Battalion returned from Southwest Asia in April 1991. The 2d Battalion hasadopted the motto of the 2d Marine Division, Second to None . For its actions, the Battalion has been awarded the Presidential Unit Citation with one Bronze Star, the American Defense Service Streamer, the Asia Pacific Campaign Strl-eameri3The Ngyy Occupation Service Streamer Qwith Asia and Europe claspsj, the National Defense Service Streamer wit one ronze ar andthe Marine Corps Expeditionary Streamer with one Bronze Star. Embarked Marines 93 ,.-.....-..... ,.-,,..... ins ...--..