Los Angeles Times
SAN DIEGO — Navy Secretary Gordon England said Wednesday he has authorized the Marine Corps to add 2,400 troops to help form a brigade to fight terrorism in the United States and overseas.
England said the increase and the new brigade are needed for a war on terrorism that will be prolonged and require new strategies.
"This is not something that is going to be quick and sudden," England said during a tour of Navy and Marine Corps bases.
The troop increase, the first since the end of the Cold War for the nation’s smallest military service, is an indication of how the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are reshaping the armed services.
Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Douglas O’Dell Jr. said the 4,800-member brigade should be ready by Dec. 1. He said troops are receiving advanced training in weaponry and urban combat techniques.
The heavily armed group, O’Dell said, will bring "vigilance with an attitude and the Marine muscle to back it up."
England, a former General Dynamics executive, used his emergency powers to grant a request by Marine Commandant Gen. James Jones for the increase. After hitting a peak of 196,000 troops during the Persian Gulf War, the Marine Corps has undergone a series of reductions to the current level of 172,500.
As an immediate measure to boost the number to 174,900, England has invoked a "stop-loss" power that delays the departure of Marines who have served their enlistments. Also, several hundred reservists have been called up. A budget request will be made to Congress to increase the Marine Corps’ recruitment goal by 2,400 to make the addition permanent.
O’Dell said he anticipates that one-third of the brigade will be dedicated to protecting civilian and military installations in America, and two-thirds will be deployed to foreign assignments, including tightened defense of U.S. embassies.
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