Elements of 24th MEU to Relieve Marines from 26th MEU in Puerto Rico

October 13, 2017 12:55 PM
A U.S. Marine with Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), uses a chainsaw to cut a tree blocking a road as part of Hurricane Maria relief efforts in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, Sept. 27, 2017. US Marine Corps Photo

Elements of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit are in the process of traveling to Puerto Rico, to provide disaster relief in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

Ultimately, more than 300 Marines from the 24th MEU will embark on USS Kearsarge (LHD-3), relieving elements of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit which has been providing in the region for six weeks. The swap in place is occurring over the course of several days, ensuring the ongoing relief efforts in Puerto Rico are not interrupted.

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Austin C. Morgan, an assaultman with Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), uses an axe to clear debris at a local fire station that was affected by Hurricane Irma in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, Sept. 17, 2017. US Marine Corps Photo

Marines from the 26th MEU departed with the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group when it left Norfolk on August 31. USS Oak Hill (LSD-51) has also been in the region with Kearsarge since leaving August.

At the time, the ARG was headed to the Gulf of Mexico to provide logistical and medical assistance, if requested, to the Texas coast after Hurricane Harvey made landfall. When two more Hurricanes – Irma and Maria – made landfall in the U.S. and Caribbean, the Kearsarge ARG’s help was requested elsewhere, but the mission remained the same – providing disaster relief following deadly and destructive storms.

In Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Marines from the 26th MEU, along with Navy Seabees from Amphibious Construction Battalion 2 and Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 202, cleared main roads to ease the flow of emergency personnel, food, supplies, and fuel, according to a statement released by the Marine Corps.

Marines and sailors also set up a staging base for supplies delivery and medical evacuations at Roosevelt Roads, the former Navy base now operated as a civilian airport, according to U.S. Northern Command.

U.S. Navy sailors with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), partner with U.S. Marines with Battalion Landing Team, 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 26th MEU, to clear debris from roadways for communities affected by Hurricane Irma in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Sept. 14, 2017. US Marine Corps Photo

Since arriving in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Marines from the 26th MEU, delivered more than 750,000 pounds of aid, cleared more than 60 miles of road, flew approximately 350 flight hours, assessed 43 hospitals of the Puerto Rico’s 69 hospitals, and delivered 326 pallets of food and water, according to a statement released by the Marine Corps.

Marines from the 24th MEU will continue this work, as part of the 7,000 service members the Department of Defense has focused on providing logistical support, distributing food and supplies, and continuing to bring more of Puerto Rico’s hospitals back online, according to a statement released by the Marine Corps.

As of Thursday, U.S. Northern Command reported the Department of Defense had delivered more than 7.8 million meals, 6.4 million liters of water, and 271 generators to Puerto Rico in support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s relief efforts.

Ben Werner

Ben Werner

Ben Werner is a staff writer for USNI News. He has worked as a freelance writer in Busan, South Korea, and as a staff writer covering education and publicly traded companies for The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va., The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C., Savannah Morning News in Savannah, Ga., and Baltimore Business Journal. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree from New York University.

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