11th Marines OIF I
Homeward Bound
20 APR 2003 - The Cannon Cockers depart Baghdad and move south to AD Diwaniyah
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On April 20, 2003 the 11th Marines completed the turnover of their Civil Military Operations responsibilities in Eastern Baghdad to elements of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division and 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment. In the early morning hours of the 20th, the Cannon Cockers started on the long road home with a Regimental road march south to the designated Division Assembly Area at a former Iraqi Army facility at Ad Diwaniyah.
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The Regiment would move south over the same highways, 6 and 27, that two weeks earlier had been used for the rapid advance to Baghdad. The Regimental S-3 planned the movement with the same attention to detail that had been critical in the Cannon Cocker’s successful combat operations.
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The Regiment’s departure times, sequence of movement, and planned movement times were issued in Regimental FragO 38-03:
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11th Marines Convoy Movement Table
9 MAY 2003 – The Cannon Cockers of OIF I gather for the final time at LSA Matilda in Kuwait
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On 7 May 2003 the 11th Marines began a regimental movement from Ad Diwaniyah back to Logistics Support Area LSA Matilda in Kuwait. After spending the night of 7 May at a laager site along Highway 1, the Regiment arrived back at LSA Matilda on 8 May.
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Elements of the Division Fire Support Coordination Center and MTVR drivers required to support remaining 1st Marine Division infantry battalions in post combat stability operations would remain in Iraq through the summer and later redeploy by air back to California.
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On 9 May the 11th Marine Regiment and its attachments gathered for a final formation and then prepared for the redeployment home.
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I 3/10, R 5/10, and the 10th Marines Target Acquisition Platoon personnel were released from Regimental control and prepared for their redeployment to Camp Lejeune. F 2/11 and M 3/11 were scheduled for redeployment by air in order to allow them some time at home before rotating to Okinawa as part of the Unit Deployment Program. The Army’s 1st Field Artillery Detachment was released for redeployment back to the XVII Airborne Corps Artillery at Fort Bragg.
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The bulk of the Regiment was slated for redeployment on the seven ships of Amphibious Task Force West. Following the Regimental formation on the 9th, Advance Parties moved to the Kuwaiti Naval Base south of Kuwait City to prepare for agricultural washdowns of equipment slated for amphibious movement. Simultaneously, the Regiment began the process of preparing to turn in the equipment that had been drawn from Maritime Prepositioned Ships.
The 11th Marines Regimental Formation at Logistics Support Area Matilda on 9 May 2003.
The Army’s 1st Field Artillery Detachment (FAD), XVII Airborne Corps from Fort Bragg, NC showing one of the two Q-37 Firefinder Radars that they brought to the fight. The Q-37s provided the Cannon Cockers and the Blue Diamond with a critical long range acquisition capability optimized to locate enemy artillery and rockets.
1st FAD personnel were authorized to proudly wear the 1st Marine Division Blue Diamond on the right sleeve of their uniforms as their combat patch signifying their combat service with the 11th Marines and 1st Marine Division.
Arabian Gulf, May 24, 2003 - Amphibious Task Force-West (ATF-West), comprised of USS Bon Homme Richard (LHD-6), USS Boxer (LHD-4), USS Dubuque (LPD-8), USS Comstock (LSD-45), USS Anchorage (LSD-36), USS Pearl Harbor (LSD-52) and USS Cleveland (LPD-7), steam in formation with Military Sealift Command oiler USNS Guadalupe (T-AO 200). Following this photo op, the USS Comstock and USS Anchorage with 1/11 embarked began the transit out of the Arabian Gulf enroute to California via Pearl Harbor. The remaining ships of the Task Force with Headquarters, 11th Marines; 2/11; 3/11; and 5/11 embarked would make port calls in Australia, Tonga (2/11), and Pearl Harbor before arriving back at Camp Pendleton at the end of July.
20 June 2003 - The Cannon Cockers return Down Under for the first time in 60 years.
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On Washington’s Birthday in 1943 the 1st Marine Division paraded through the center of Melbourne. Australia. The Division had arrived in Melbourne and the surrounding area for rest and refit in late December 1942 following its brutal four-month campaign on Guadalcanal. The parade route was packed with spectators. To the Marines it seemed that the whole population of Melbourne lined the route, waving small Australian and American flags. When the Division departed Australia in September and October 1943, it would be the last contact that the Division would have with civilization for the rest of the Pacific campaign.
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Sixty years later, the 11th Marines became the only 1st Marine Division Regiment to return to Australia since World War II when it arrived in Sydney on its way home from Iraq with the Regimental Headquarters, 2/11, 3/11, and 5/11 embarked on the ships of Amphibious Task Force West.
The 1st Marine Division parades down Swanston Street in Melbourne on Washington's Birthday, February 22, 1943. When the Division Band broke into "Waltzing Matilda" the thunderous roar from the spectators rattled the glass in downtown Melbourne. To this day, "Waltzing Matilda" remains the Division Song of the 1st Marine Division.
June 20, 2003 – Marines and sailors man the rails as USS Bon Homme Richard, part of Amphibious Task Force West, passes Bradleys Head in Sydney Harbor enroute to her berth at Garden Island.
June 21, 2003 - The Sydney Morning Herald Reported on ATF-West's arrival in Sydney.
The Sydney Morning Herald
Sailors, sailors everywhere, and water's not their drink
June 21, 2003 — 10.00am
Thousands of United States marines and sailors have taken a detour on their way home from the Iraqi war, arriving in Sydney with a far simpler mission than finding weapons of mass destruction - to drink the town dry.
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Five US Navy amphibious assault ships - USS Boxer, USS Bonhomme Richard, USS Pearl Harbor, USS Dubuque and USS Cleveland - docked at Garden Island yesterday to give the 6500 personnel four days of rest and relaxation before they head home to San Diego, California.
It was their first time on land since January, after conducting operations in the Gulf in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which they lost five marines.
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Captain Richard Wilson, 25, said he just wanted "to find a bar stool and sit on it".
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Captain Casey Harsh had already booked a game of golf over the internet. He said others had planned to climb the Harbour Bridge, visit the Blue Mountains and go on a wine tasting tour in the Hunter Valley. "I personally will try to drink your town dry Friday and Saturday night, so watch for that," Captain Harsh said.
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US Navy Commanding Officer Kenny Golden, who made the decision to come to Australia, said Sydney was like "a favourite cousin" he had always wanted to visit.
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"Look at the sunshine - there's not a better place in the whole world to come than Sydney."
Major Bob Strong, 37, who was flown here a week ago to do a "reconnaissance" of the nightlife, said The Rocks was his top pick. "I've been up till two or three in the morning, visiting the pubs, doing my research . . .
"Oxford Street is a great place, even though it's got the, um, alternative lifestyles."
Major Strong organised entry and drink discounts with a couple of strip clubs in Kings Cross, the traditional domain of sailors on liberty, and at bars in the city and Darlinghurst. He will also stick up posters around town for Dial-A-Sailor, an impromptu make-a-friend service. "But we have a strict policy with our buddy system and so you'll get a two-for-one deal," Major Strong said. He said some crew would stay on board, but many had booked into the Holiday Inn, Sydney Harbour Marriott and the Inter-Continental hotels.
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A teary Lieutenant Commander Terence Nealer, 40, the only Australian on board, was greeted by his family, who travelled from their hometown of Maitland. However, his dog, Max, in a boat with a friend on the harbour, got into a spot of trouble. "The police stopped them five times - they thought that he was a terrorist and the dog had explosives strapped to him because he was wearing a life vest," said Lieutenant Nealer's mother, Marie Ho. Lieutenant Nealer is on a two-year exchange with the US Navy.