76                           HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS IN NORTHERN IRAQ, 199 1:

    The 24th MEU (SOC) Command Element included a detacnment from 2d
ANGLICO, but the demands of Operation Provide Comfort required additional
ANGL!CO support. On 7 May 1991, 2d ANGLICO at Camp Lejeune was
ordered to send four firepower control teams (FCT) to Turkey. These teams
departed Cherry Point and arrived at Incirlik on 12 May. They were in the field
with Joint Task Force Bravo on 15 May 1991.91 Six firepower control teams
were used in northern Iraq: FCT-1 was attached to the British 40th Commando,
Royal Marines; FCT-2 was with the French 8th Marine Parachute Infantry
Regiment; FCT-3 worked wiil~ the Italian Folgore Parachute Brigade; FCT-4 was
with the British 45th Commando; FCT-5 was with the Dutch 1st Amphibious
Combat Group; and FCT-6 joined the U.S. Army's 3-325th Airborne Combat
Team 92 These ANGLICO Marine participated in combined tactical exercises,
made    parad~te   jumps,  and  conducted  fire support   demonstrations.
Unfortunately,  several ANGLICO Marines were injured during a training
accident on 4 July and had to be hospitalized. Luckily, no one was killed when
the "Slide for Life" rope parted and the Marines crashed onto the rocky ground
below .93
    In a very short time, all was going well in northern Iraq. The Marines had
settled in, were assisting refugees as they arrived, had cleared the Iraqis out of
Zakho, and were working smoothly with allied forces. However, there was one
gigantic hitch. Many Kurds refused to return to northern Iraq unless the city of
Dohuk was liberated, the security zone expanded, and political issues resolved.
In early May, the decision to expand the security zone, coupled with a concerted
effort to move the Kurds out of Turkey, was announced and named "Gallant
Provider.

                      Launching Gallant Prnvider:
                      Expanding the &cuflty Zone

    The next phase of Operation Provide Comfort was Gallant Provider. Despite
its initial success, Provide Comfort had not achieved its ultimate goal. Most of
the Kurds still refused to come down from the mountains. News about the
liberation of Zakho reached the mountains and some Kurds began moving back
into Iraq, but many continued to cling to the dubious shelter of their mountain
hideouts. This was a troubling prospect for General Shalikashvili because the
warm weather was about to dry up the mountain streams and make life there
even more difficult.
    To try to encourage more Kurds to leave the mountains General Shalikashvili
decided to expand the security area in northern Iraq. New orders were passed to
Generals Potter and Garner. Joint Task Force Alpha was to close down the
mountain camps, open a series of way stations on the route out of Turkey, and
begin an intense campaign to convince the Kurds to return to Iraq. Joint Task
Force Bravo was ordered to expand its area of operations east and south.
    On 29  April,  Colonel Jones relinquished tactical control of the 45th
Comn~ndo, the 29th Commando Regiment, and the 1St ACG when these units