Corps' trainers target 'ungoverned' areas of world.

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Date: 01 March 2006

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- The first element of the Marine Corps' new special-operations command already is scrambling to tackle its mission--to help prepare the soldiers of under-developed nations to defend themselves against terrorists.

The foreign military unit, as it has been dubbed, was established in October 2005, said its operations officer, Maj. Herman Glover. Ultimately, it will include 430 Marines and Navy medical corpsmen. The unit will be organized into a headquarters element, four companies built around two-dozen 11-man teams and a standards and training cadre. The companies will focus on specific regions where cultures and languages are similar, Glover said.

"We want to operate in 'Phase Zero' countries, Third-World locations where things haven't gone totally wrong yet." These include countries in Asia, Africa and South America, he said. Thus far, Glover said, 10 nations have indicated an interest.

Training foreign military personnel has been a core assignment for special operators at least since 1952, when the Army's Special Forces were founded...