November 25, 2009

NORFOLK, Virginia --Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Kyle A. Trapp, son of Kathy A. and Keith B. Trapp of Perryville along with sailors and Marines from the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (BATARG), Norfolk, Va., and 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), Camp Lejeune, N. C., recently departed the 5th Fleet and entered 6th Fleet's area of operations after traveling through the Suez Canal and entering the Mediterranean Sea. The BATARG is preparing to return to the U.S. as it nears the end of a six-month deployment.

The BATARG has been conducting maritime security operations while the 22nd MEU participated in several theater security cooperation engagements and exercises in 5th Fleet's area of operation. The 5th Fleet area of operations encompasses 2. 5 million square miles of water and includes the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Oman and parts of the Indian Ocean.

While deployed, Bataan launched 10 MV-22B Ospreys from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit in three waves, completing the 510 nautical-mile flight to Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, in just over two hours. The aircraft were part of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263 (Reinforced) and were attached to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261 to serve as part of 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade's aviation combat element.

The 22nd MEU was the first Marine Expeditionary Unit to conduct a ship-based deployment with the tilt rotor aircraft. VMM-263 (Rein) attached to the MEU in September 2008 and was the first squadron to deploy with the aircraft to Iraq in 2007.

The Osprey was also used to conduct multiple medical evacuations from ship to shore during the deployment and was employed to conduct logistics flights to Rota, Spain; Sigonella, Italy; Djibouti, Africa; and Bahrain.

For more than a month, the squadron supported desert training while the

MEU trained ashore in Camp Buehring, Kuwait.

During the bi-annual exercise Bright Star 2009, U.S. forces teamed with coalition forces including the Egyptian army and navy, Pakistani marines, and Kuwaiti marines to storm Egyptian beaches near Alexandria simulating an amphibious assault in October.

Twelve aircraft from the MEU, five landing craft from the Bataan ARG, two Egyptian landing craft utilities, six amphibious assault vehicles, five Egyptian amphibious tracked vehicles and a host of forces from other partner nations also participated in the bi-annual event.

Bright Star, the longest running exercise in the U.S. Central Command's area of operations, was established in 1981 as a result of the Camp David Peace Accords. The CENTCOM and Egyptian co-sponsored exercise is designed to strengthen military-to-military relationships and improve readiness and interoperability between U.S., Egyptian, and coalition forces.

ARGs usually include an amphibious squadron (PHIBRON), an amphibious assault ship (LHA/D), amphibious transport dock (LPD), dock landing ship (LSD), embarked Naval support elements and an embarked MEU.

The Bataan ARG is composed of the multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5), the amphibious transport dock USS Ponce (LPD 15), the amphibious dock landing ship USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43), Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 22, Fleet Surgical Team (FST) 6, Assault Craft Unit (ACU) 2, ACU 4 and Beach master Unit (BMU) 2. The BATARG and 22nd MEU provide the combatant commander a versatile sea-based force that can be tailored to a variety of missions, including quick reaction crisis response options in maritime, as well as littoral and inland environments in support of the Navy's Maritime Strategy.

The 22nd MEU is composed of Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 2nd

Marine Regiment; Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 263 (Reinforced);

Combat Logistics Battalion 22 and its command element. The unit is serving as the theater reserve force for U.S. Central Command.

Trapp is a 2005 graduate of Perryville High School and joined the Navy in November 2005.

For more information on Bataan, please visit www.bataan.navy.mil and

www.navy.mil/local/lhd5/