WITH MARINES IN 0    TION PROVI    OMFORT                                 71


                                         Painting by Co Peter M. `Mike" Giali, USMCR
A satellite dish at the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit headquarters in 2akho, Iraq.

    Major Michael D. Boyd was the MEU logistics officer (S-4). His primary
concerns were the lack of combat service support assets, embarkation and
debarkation, maintenance management in the field, and supplying scattered units
with limited transportation. The shortage of MSSG-24 assets resulted from the
lack of shipping space. This shortage sometimes caused delays, but never
cancelled a mission. The situation got better as more joint service assets arrived
in northern Iraq. Embarkation and debarkation were always headaches for
logisticians, but because of their expeditionary nature, the Marines were well-
practiced in these arts and very proficient at loading and unloading ships and
aircraft.
   The first problem faced by Captain Charles E. Headen, the communications
officer, was that Joint Task Force Provide Comfort had no standard electronic
operating instructions. Instead, Headen relied on plans he prepared during the
transit from Sardinia. He did such a good job, that these instructions remained
almost unchanged during the entire operation. A second problem was that his
section was over-tasked to provide equipment. The MEU rated only four satellite
radios, but as the expanded 24th MEU (SOC) and its international attachments
spread across Turkey and Iraq, this number proved insufficient. Luckily, the
colnmunications section appropriated four additional sets.  This doubled the
authorized number and allowed colnmunications to continue uninterrupted.