-Caveat Lector- Friday, October 5, 2001
Marine Corps creates new brigade to fight terrorism at home, abroad By Sandra Jontz Stars and Stripes Washington bureau WASHINGTON - The U.S. Marine Corps created a new brigade Thursday to fight terrorism at home and abroad, and will give it the tools to fight. "Vigilance with an attitude, and with the Marine muscle to back it up," is how Brig. Gen. Douglas O'Dell Jr. described the brigade, which combines three existing anti-terrorism units. O'Dell now commands the Chemical, Biological Incident Response Force, or CBIRF, which has been combined with the Marine Security Force Battalion and Marine Security Guard Battalion. In all, 4,800 Marines and sailors will make up the brigade, with plans to boost its end-strength over the next year by another 2,400, he said. For now, it will be headquartered at Camp Lejuene, N.C., but might eventually move to Norfolk, Va., he said. "Right now, headquarters is me and my notebook," O'Dell quipped during a morning briefing with reporters at the Pentagon. The brigade now broadens and deepens the capabilities of units that have long been inherent to Marine Corps capabilities worldwide, O'Dell said. The brigade will focus on anti-terrorism efforts in defensive methods, O'Dell said. It is not a counter-terrorism entity that will work to snuff out terrorists. So far, the brigade is costing the Marine Corps $21 million. It will be about 80 percent mission-ready and capable for deployment by Oct. 10, and fully capable by Dec. 1. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will have to request, through the Joint Forces Command, the brigade's services for homeland disasters. Aid rendered abroad will fall under the commandant. The brigade will provide its own force protection for any missions overseas, and will rely on local police and national guardsman for homeland missions, he said. Marines and sailors of the CBIRF are trained to respond to disasters of chemical, nuclear and biological warfare to decontaminate areas and assist victims, "hopefully turning victims into patients," he said. It was activated in 1996 following the Sarin gas attack on a Tokyo subway in 1995. The CBIRF team can be to a scene within the United States within 5 hours and anywhere in the world within 12. The rest of the brigade can be deployed worldwide within 72 hours. The Marine Security Force Battalion's main mission is to detect, deter and defend against threats, focusing on anti-terrorism. Marines are trained in countersurveillance, physical security operations and urban combat techniques. The Marine Security Guard Battalion's main mission is to provide security services to selected State Department missions, such as U.S. embassies. The Marine Fleet Antiterrorism Security Teams, which evolved in the late 1980s to respond quickly to threats against specific targets, also make up the brigade. O'Dell said he briefed both Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Navy Secretary Gordon England, both of whom "think highly of the brigade." ================================================================ Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT FROM THE DESK OF: *Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends ================================================================ <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om