THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 8, 1996 TAG: 9606080263
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 23 lines
More than 1,100 sailors and Marines will leave Hampton Roads Monday for the coast of Liberia, where they will safeguard American interests in the country devastated by civil war.
The amphibious transport dock Ponce will relieve the amphibious assault ship Guam and the dock landing ship Portland, which have been off the African coast since April.
Those ships, with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard, were operating near Bosnia when the Liberian crisis prompted their reassignment.
More than 700 Marines drawn from bases in North Carolina will be aboard the 570-foot Ponce.
Equipped with helicopters and amphibious assault vehicles, this Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force is designed to provide security to the American Embassy in Monrovia.
KEYWORDS: DEPLOYMENT by CNB