THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 3, 1995 TAG: 9506030330
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: ABOARD THE KEARSARGE LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
If President Clinton gives the order to bail out U.N. troops from Bosnia, 2,000 Marines bobbing in the Adriatic would help blaze the path.
Six hours after such an order was given, the amphibious battalions of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit could land in the former Yugoslav republic, the unit's commander, Col. Martin Berndt, told reporters visiting the amphibious assault ship Kearsarge, which is based in Norfolk.
``We're here to provide a visible presence,'' Berndt said, adding that the force had ``some capability'' to rescue the U.N. troops being held hostage by Bosnian Serbs in the latest confrontation with the United Nations.
Berndt would not acknowledge plans to evacuate the peacekeepers, but a number of Navy and Marine personnel interviewed made clear that they were prepared for such a contingency.
``We're going to provide safe passage to get the U.N. troops out,'' said Marine Sgt. John Elliott, from Gardner, N.D. ``If anybody shoots, we fight back.
``We're trained to go in and snatch them out,'' he said.
The unit's two dozen helicopters, as well as landing vehicles, could ferry out scores of people at a time. Many could be billeted in the Kearsarge's 600-bed hospital.
Named for a mountain in New Hampshire, the Kearsarge, along withits sister ships, the Pensacola and the Nashville, were diverted from routine duty in the Mediterranean and arrived Monday in the Adriatic.
The Pensacola, a dock landing ship, is based at Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base. The Nashville, an amphibious transport dock, is based at Norfolk Naval Shipyard.
The expeditionary unit is outfitted with light arms, mortars, howitzers, missiles, armored vehicles, tractors, forklifts and bulldozers. With its transport and attack helicopters, the Kearsarge holds six Harrier jet fighters.
Earlier in the year, the unit helped in the evacuation of U.N. troops from Somalia and took part in the U.S.-led military intervention in Haiti.
On a calm, sunny day in the Adriatic, the Kearsarge command was mostly concerned with avoiding fishing boats. A row of helicopters, their rotors folded, sat on the deck.
Many of the enlisted men seemed to be wrestling with the mind-numbing complexity of Bosnia's war and politics.
``We just know they have hostages, and we're here to show force,'' said Lance Cpl. Jason Smith, 21, of Athens, Ohio.
``There's three or four groups of people there who have been at each's other's throats for 1,000 years,'' summed up Warrant Officer Shelton Mackey, a 31-year-old Navy intelligence officer from Dawson, Ga. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Marines from Camp Lejeune jog on the Kearsarge in the Adriatic off
Bosnia Friday. Their commander, Col. Martin Berndt, would not
acknowledge plans to rescue U.N. troops, but Navy and Marine
personnel made clear that they were prepared.
by CNB