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. MEUFirst Page | Prev Page | Next Page | Src Image |