WITIl MARINES IN OPERATION PROVIDE CO  - RT                             57


                                                P~'inting by C()l Peter M. Gish, USMCR
                     BLT 2/8 withdrawal from Zakho, Iraq

   The major topic in MSSG-24's future was the 24th MEU (SOC)'s departure
and reembarkation on board the ships of Phibron 8. This did not promise to be
an easy task. More than 2,200 Marines had to be moved from northern Iraq to
Silopi and then to Iskenderun. At the same time, MSSG-24 had to continue
normal  supply  and  maintenance     operations in the  forward area. The
accomplishment of these multiple tasks required detailed platming, careful use of
resources, and use of outside materials.
   During its deployment to Turkey and northern Iraq, MSSG-24 had notable
achievements. Foremost, the efforts of MSSO-24 Marines helped to save the
lives of nearly three-quarters of a million refugees. In the process, its trucks
drove 42,426 miles, hauled 998.2 tons of cargo, delivered 297 pallets of food,
transported 8,628 passengers, and spent 8,109 hours on the road. Its engineers
produced more than 150,000 gallons of purified water, dispensed almost 3.5
million gallons of water to displaced civilians at Zakho, set up more than 1,000
tents, and destroyed approximately 45,000 ordnance items.   Tragically, one
MSSG-24 Marine was killed in a motor vehicle accident.
   Despite being designed to support the tactical employment of a single Marine
expeditionary unit for 15 days, MSSG-24 provided the lion's share of service
support to an almost division-size joint task force for almost a month. MEU