14                             }IUMANITARiAN OPERATIONS IN NORTHERN IRAQ, 1991:

then proceed to the Turkish port of Iskenderun in the eastern Mediterranean.'3
The 24th MEU (SOC) had been ordered to support Operation Provide Comfort.
Phibron 8 was slated to remain on station just off shore. The signal to halt the
exercise was greeted with skepticism at first, but eventually the backbreaking job
of cleaning and reloading equipment began. The Marines worked through the
night and into the next morning. On 10 April 1991, MARG 1-91 set sail for
Iskenderun. A common training exercise had unexpectedly become a complex
"real world" operation. `4

                            The 24th MEU (SOC)

    Marine units are organized, trained, and equipped to provide combined arms
forces to the fleet. In order to do this best, tactical units are united to form
Marine air-ground task forces (MAGTFs). These MAGTFs are self-sufficient
combat teams that unite combat, combat support, combat service support, and
aviation  units under a    single commander.  They    are powerful,  flexible,
amphibious, expeditionary forces capable of independent (single service), joint
(multiservice), or combined (multinational) operations. They are prepared to
strike anywhere in the world, ready to fight on land, at sea, or in the air.
    In 1991, every MAGTF, regardless of size, had a common structure that
included four elements: a comn~nd element, a ground combat element, an air
combat element, and a combat service support element. The three most common
MAGTFs were the Marine expeditionary force (MEF),the Marine expeditionary
brigade (MEB), and the Marine expeditionary unit (MEU). Contingency Marine
air-ground task forces (CMAGTFs) were sometimes created to accomplish special
          15 16
missions.
    The MAGTFs most commonly deployed to forward areas were MEUs. There
were six permanent MEUs, three on the U.S. east coast and three on the west
coast. At any given time, two MEUs were forward deployed, two others were
in training, and fl~e remaining two were either standing up, standing down, or in
transit. While MEU headquarters were permanent organizations, the units
assigned to them rotated on a 15-month cycle (nine months stateside and six
months deployed). A norn~l deployment included the "work up," a six-month
training and familiarization program that welded separate MAGTF units into a
unified combat-ready force; a six-month deployment, known as a "pump"; and
the return trip which included the turnover, wash down, and homebound transit.
    The Landing Force Sixth Fleet (LF6F) in April 1991 was the 24th MEU
(SOC). The designation "Special Operations Capable" was never granted until a
unit successfully completed a special training syllabus, had been rigorously
tested, and was certified to perform 18 special missions: amphibious raids,
limited objective attacks,  non-combatant evacuations,  show of force,  rein-
forcement operations, security operations, training foreign military, civil action,
deception operations, fire support coordination,   counter-intelligence, initial
terminal guidance,  signal intelligence-electronic warfare, tactical recovery