Camp Lejeune Marines To LibyaBy Shumuriel Ratliff / Reporter
March 23, 2011
ONSLOW COUNTY -- We've seen Camp Lejuene Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan
and now they are joining the fight against Libya.
About 2,200 Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, or 26th MEU will
take part. Their mission is to help end the violence directed at the Libyan people.
"In Libya right now they are doing exactly what we need them to do. They are doing
what they are told and right now that's protecting Libyan people against Qadhafi forces,"
said Captain Timothy Patrick, a Marine with the 26th MEU.
UPDATE: Conditions set forth by the U.N. Security Council towards resolving the unrest in
Libya included the removal of Libyan Leader Muammar al-Qadhafi?s forces from Ajdubiyah.
These latest strikes by the MEU aimed at preserving the sanctity of the city and the safety
of the civilians within it. In an effort to safeguard the Libyan populace and infrastructure in
and around the city of Ajdabiyah from further attacks by regime forces, 26th MEU, as part
of Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn, launched a second round of strikes by AV-8B Harrier
jump jets.
?Our primary concern was ensuring the people inside Ajdubiyah were safe from Qadhafi?s
artillery and tanks,? said Col. Mark J. Desens, commanding officer of 26th MEU.
?Everything we are seeing following these strikes indicates that his forces are
now less capable of threatening the town than before.?
Patrick says that marines from the 26th MEU are coming on the end of their deployment.
They will be replaced with marines from the 22nd MEU.
A press release from the 26th MEU reads, in part:
"Protecting the innocent and conducting combined operations are what we are designed
to do, our forces are doing both as part of the U.S commitment to protect Libyan citizens."
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