Paratroopers to replace Marines at US Embassy in Baghdad

[rangerrebew]

Paratroopers to replace Marines at US Embassy in Baghdad
Kyle Rempfer



Paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team will replace about 100 Marines who were previously sent to bolster security forces at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, a U.S. Central Command spokesperson told Army Times.

Citing operational security, the official said they would not discuss the size of the force sent to the embassy or the timeline for their arrival.

The Marines, who came from the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response unit, will transition security duties at the embassy to an element of the 82nd’s Immediate Response Force brigade, the CENTCOM spokesperson said.

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2020/01/16/paratroopers-to-replace-marines-at-us-embassy-in-baghdad/

[sneakypete]

Hmmm,I wonder what is  behind that? Could it be because the Marines were from a "special purposes" unit and not equipped for a long stay or more robust defense?

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Hmmm,I wonder what is  behind that? Could it be because the Marines were from a "special purposes" unit and not equipped for a long stay or more robust defense?

The usual Marine embassy guards are still staying there.  What's being replaced is basically a fast response team, which obviously can't do its primary mission of fast response if it is stationed for a long time in one place.  So the paratroopers are going there to more permanently bolster that force, and the Marine unit will return to being a quick reaction force ready for deployment elsewhere.

[sneakypete]

The usual Marine embassy guards are still staying there.  What's being replaced is basically a fast response team, which obviously can't do its primary mission of fast response if it is stationed for a long time in one place.  So the paratroopers are going there to more permanently bolster that force, and the Marine unit will return to being a quick reaction force ready for deployment elsewhere.

@Maj. Bill Martin

Yeah,that makes sense.