
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 1, 1991                   TAG: 9103010455
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Landmark News Service
DATELINE: NORFOLK                                LENGTH: Medium

`DECOY' MARINES REGRET MISSING OUT ON ACTION

Marines who never got a piece of the Gulf War because they were kept aboard amphibious ships in the Persian Gulf acting as a decoys are upset about missing the action, their commander said Thursday.

"Sure, they feel low," said Lt. Gen. Carl Mundy Jr., commanding general of the Atlantic Fleet Marine Force, which includes the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, headquartered in Norfolk.

"The regiments embarked on those ships will forever feel like we had a war and they didn't get a piece of it," Mundy said.

The 17,000 Marines who make up the 4th MEB are envious of fellow fighters who did get into the conflict.

Other elements of the 1st and 2nd Marine divisions, which had been land-based since early in the war, went from the Saudi Arabian border into Iraq and Kuwait aboard tanks, armored personnel carriers and helicopters.

But the 4th MEB, with its Amtracks, air-cushioned LCAC craft and other assault boats, stayed at sea. The only time they have been ashore in the seven months they have been deployed was when they practiced the amphibious assault they never carried out.

Yet, what the outnumbered Marines did, in tying up between 30,000 to 60,000 Iraqi troops who were waiting for them behind heavily fortified Kuwaiti beaches, was more important to the war effort than anything else they could have done, Mundy said.

The Iraqis kept waiting for a Marine amphibious landing that never came, the three-star general said. Then they were surprised by additional allied forces, sweeping into Kuwait from the south and west and routing the unsuspecting troops in a classic military maneuver.

The Iraqi military, meanwhile, was sitting in Kuwait watching the amphibious ships on the move, he said. At one point they were able to see some of the U.S. warships as they moved to the northern reaches of the gulf. Among those were the guided missile cruiser Princeton and amphibious assault ship Tripoli, both of which struck mines.

The Marine pilots flying AV-8B Harriers off the deck of the amphibious assault ship Nassau fared much better in their bid to see some action, Mundy said.

The 20 aircraft flew 60 missions on Wednesday alone, the last day of fighting.

But the other troops probably feel a bit cheated, after being aboard their ships for seven months, getting off only once or twice to maneuver in places like Oman for practice.

"Sure," said Mundy, "But there is no apology owed for them, or by them. They were rolling."

by CNB