Into brown waters: Navy riverine force to report for Iraq duty in 2007.

• Author: Jean, Grace
• Position: Marine Corps

The Navy expects to deploy three riverine squadrons in 2007. The units will relieve Marines who currently are conducting maritime security operations in the ports and inland waterways of Iraq.

According to preliminary plans presented at a conference in Panama City, Fla., the force would have a fleet of 36 armed and armored combatant craft, with 12 boats per squadron, and would be able to transport the equivalent of one Marine Corps rifle company. Two crews would be assigned to each craft for round-the-clock operations.

Though the force would be deployed to Iraq initially, the idea is that these river commandos could be employed around the world, in hotspots where terrorists have developed niches along inland waterways--places such as the Niger delta, Colombia, Indonesia and the Philippines, said Rear Adm. Donald K. Bullard, commander of the Naval Expeditionary Combat Command.

The organization and training of these units will fall under the purview of the NECC.

The riverine crews' missions will include interdiction of arms or terrorist smugglers, barricade operations to stop inflow to a certain area, training other countries' law enforcement and visual and electronic surveillance of particular enemy activities, said Bullard.

"It's not any different if you take a look at what we do in the littoral," said Bullard. "We're just extending those normal, long-time naval capabilities out from the littoral and into the inland waterway."

The three units will be manned by 700 sailors drawn from across the entire Navy.

"We understand boats," he said. "Currently, we don't have a riverine force, but we operate, in the Navy, 38 different types of boats." For example, special operations forces operate high-speed craft and sailors also operate port security boats.

These riverine forces will train alongside the Marines using the Corps' current equipment, which includes the 38-foot small unit riverine craft and the 38-foot riverine assault craft.

"Right now, the equipment that the Marines have, as we relieve them, is sufficient for the Iraq mission," said Bullard.

The Navy will study options for possibly buying new boats in the future.

"It may be not a single boat," he said. Riverine missions may require a variety of boats. A high-speed craft, for instance, would be needed for security and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance interdiction functions. Another type of boat may be needed to move a rifle company.

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