Well thank god for that. On Fri, Sep 14, 2012 at 3:52 PM, Judah McAuley <[email protected]> wrote:
> > Right-wing rumor that Marines guarding the US Embassy had been > forbidden live ammo turns out, as suspected, to be total crap. Here's > the run down from the Marine Liaison Office: > > From: Cross, Alex Maj OLA, LA-41B > Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2012 4:55 PM > To: Cross, Alex Maj OLA, LA-41B > Subject: Marines in Libya and Egypt > > > Ladies and Gentlemen- > > The following information is provided regarding Marine involvement in > the recent actions in Egypt and Libya: > > Egypt: > -The Ambassador did not impose restrictions on weapons or weapons > status on the Marine Corps Embassy Security Group (MCESG) detachment. > The MCESG Marines in Cairo were allowed to have live ammunition in > their weapons. The Ambassador and Regional Security Officer have been > completely and appropriately engaged with the security situation. > Reports of Marines not being able to have their weapons loaded per > direction from the Ambassador are not accurate. > - The Marine Corps does not establish Rules of Engagement (ROE). > Nonetheless, ROE is classified and release of that information would > jeopardize the Marines and U.S. interests. Any further inquiry should > be directed to the State Department, since Marine security guards > report to the ambassador not to a military commander. > -As reported in open sources, approximately 2000 personnel were > protesting outside the U.S. Embassy and six individuals entered > Embassy grounds. The Marines quickly took control of these six > individuals and subsequently turned them over to local security > officials. > -There were no Marines injured in this, or other actions in Cairo. > -There are no Marine dependents in Cairo. > > Libya: > -Contrary to open source reporting, there are no Marines currently > stationed at the Embassy in Tripoli, or the Consulate in Benghazi. > -There were no Marines killed in the attack on the Consulate in Benghazi. > > Yemen: > -The American Embassy in Sana'a, Yemen has a MCESG reinforced with a > Marine security force. Due to operational security, we are not at > liberty to provide additional details at this time. > > Marine Corps Embassy Security Guards (MCESG): > Embassy security in Tripoli and the consulate in Benghazi fall under > the Regional Security Officer with the State Department. The U.S. > maintains over 285 diplomatic facilities worldwide. MCESG provides > 152 security detachments provide internal security at designated U.S. > diplomatic and consular facilities in order to prevent the compromise > of classified material vital to the national security of the United > States. Perimeter security is the responsibility of the host nation > police/security forces. AMEMB Tripoli does not have a MCESG > detachment. Typically, when a new embassy is established, it takes > time to grow a new MCESG detachment. In coordination with the State > Department, there was discussion about establishing a detachment in > Tripoli sometime in the next five years. Overall, the plan is to grow > the number of MCESG detachments worldwide to 173. The size of a MCESG > detachment depends on the size of the Embassy and the security > situation on the ground. They normally range anywhere from 5-20+ > Marines in size. MCESG can, and have, provided security at Consulates > as well as Embassies. For example, Marines guard the US Consulate in > Hong Kong and, in the past, have guarded the US Consulate in addition > to the Embassy in Haiti. The decision as to which consulates receive > this augmented security lies with the State Department. State > identifies its requirements and DOD/Marines work to provide it. A > U.S. Ambassador serving in an unstable region can/will normally have a > security detail provided by the State Departments Diplomatic Security > Corps. State has agents specially trained to provide personal > security details (similar to the Secret Service). Stephanie Hoostal at > the State Liaison Office (B-330) can be reached at 6-4542 if you have > questions specific to the State Dept. > > Fleet Anti-Terrorism Support Team (FAST): > A FAST platoon deployed to Libya yesterday (12 Sep 12) to provide > security for the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli. Established in 1987, FAST > platoons provide a limited-duration, expeditionary security force to > protect vital naval and national assets. FAST companies maintain > forward-deployed platoons at various naval commands around the globe > and possess U.S.-based alert forces capable of rapidly responding to > unforeseen contingencies worldwide. FAST is not designed to provide a > permanent security force for installations. FAST platoons are > primarily designed to conduct defensive combat operations, military > security operations, and rear area security operations in response to > approved requests in support of geographic combatant and fleet > commanders. When deployed to reinforce embassies with existing MCESG > detachments, FAST platoons will customarily provide an outer cordon of > security inside the embassy compound, while MCESG Marines maintain > security of the chancery proper, and host nation police/security > forces provide an outer cordon of security beyond embassy grounds. > > NOTE: Although a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) has traditionally > been forward deployed to the Mediterranean (2.5 MEU forward > deployment-1 x east coast MEU to the Med, 1 x west coast MEU to the > Pacific, and the 31st MEU forward based out of Okinawa, Japan), there > is currently no MEU presence in the Mediterranean. The Marine Corps > currently maintains a 1.5 MEU presence forward deployed. We currently > have the 24th MEU from the east coast deployed to the Persian Gulf, a > west coast MEU is conducting work-ups for deployment, and the 31st MEU > is operating from Okinawa. > > Please see the attachments for more information on FAST or MCESG. If > you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your Marine > Corps Liaison Office in RHOB-B324. > > Respectfully, > Alex Cross, Maj USMC > Deputy Director, Marine Liaison Office > U.S. House of Representatives > B-324 Rayburn > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:355058 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
