As uncertainty continues to plague the Middle East, Marines in Barstow, California have begun undergoing training to prepare for a a second round of deployments this spring into the war-ravaged region. In light of the recent closure of several U.S. embassies in countries such as Yemen, these “crisis-response capability” troops could be ordered to assist with evacuating embassies that have come under siege in the same way.
“We have to remain flexible and be trained across as many mission sets as possible,” said Lt. Col. Kevin Duffy to the Los Angeles Times. Duffy is the executive officer overseeing a second group of Marines assigned to “crisis response” duty from the Twentynine Palms-based 3rd Battalion, 7th Regiment. They will reportedly be replacing an earlier unit, from the same basae, which deployed this past fall.
Duffy told the Times that training the Marines to rescue Americans without loss of life “can be complex.”
The embassies are seen by radical Islamists as prime targets for headline-grabbing in the international media.
While officials decline to provide specifics about the locations of Marine deployments or their missions, they have confirmed that several hundred are in Iraq and training the Iraqi army, notes the Times.
Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter @AdelleNaz
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