VIDEO: Marines Train to Thwart Maritime Piracy Overseas

The air thumped with the repetitious chop of rotor blades as attack helicopters with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit led a mock assault on the SS Cape Isabel, which sat docked at the Port of Long Beach on Tuesday. 

The exercise was part of a series of training sessions conducted by the 11th MEU to prepare for its overseas deployment sometime in the fall. Because of operations security, the unit is not disclosing its exact departure date.

“[The training is] an integration of both our Aviation-Combat Element (ACE), along with our maritime raid force,” said Sgt. Maj. Scott Pile, 11th MEU senior enlisted Marine. “Our capability is of taking back a ship from either a hostile force or someone who has taken this ship from those people that were just simply transiting through a water space.”

Just last year U.S. Marines disarmed Somali pirates and recaptured a German-owned merchant ship, the Magellan Star, without firing a shot. In February, Somali pirates during a skirmish with the U.S. military.

"I was told by one pirate that the Americans were the 'nicest' of all the international forces hunting them (though that perception may have changed with the storming of the Quest in February)," wrote journalist and author Jay Bahadur in an email to Patch.

In his latest book, The Pirates of Somalia, Bahadur chronicles the time he spent living with and studying the Somali pirates.

"Killing hostages is not a logical decision for pirates, but many are young, jittery, and prone to panicking," Bahadur wrote. "On the Quest, the decision to kill the hostages was made by two members of the gang acting on their own, who panicked when they saw U.S. forces loading into attack boats."

Also, Bahadur wrote, most shipping companies wouldn't want a rescue operation to be attempted, even if U.S. forces were ready and willing.

"Unless American citizens are involved, there's no reason why Marine teams wouldn't defer to the wishes of the shipowners."

In previous training exercises, the 11th MEU conducted mock raids on an and a , exercises that prepare the Marines for terrorism and wars in locations like Afghanistan.

But the training is also taking into account other dangers, such as the threat of Somali piracy.

"This is a real-world mission that we’re preparing for,” said 11th MEU operations Marine Maj. Brian Juaire. “If you look most recently [at the incident with] the Magellan Star, that shows exactly what the purpose is behind the training and the reason why we’re working towards being able to conduct this type of mission.”

The 11th MEU’s Tuesday training session was reminiscent of the Magellan Star raid.

Two AH-1Z Cobra attack helicopters pretend-pummeled the Cape Isabel, whizzing by in a grand show of force that shook the air and sent debris flying around the dock parking lot. Next, a CH-46E Frog helicopter flew in to unload the Marines who would conduct a search of the ship. The Marines fast-roped from the aircraft, which hovered about 20 feet off the deck of the Cape Isabel.

As soon as the last Marine was on the ship’s deck, the Frog radioed another CH-46 and flew off.

Because of security, Camp Pendleton Patch was asked not to publish the exact Marine procedure for searching a boarded vessel, but it involves the Marines splitting into teams. 

As the Marines conducted their search, two UH-1Y Hueys hovered near the forward and aft sections of the ship, one providing sniper cover and the other serving as the Command & Control Aircraft.

The C&C provides visual support and intelligence for the Marines below.

“The second Huey is going to be positioning itself in a position where it can be mutually supportive of the Marines inserting, as well as protect the Frogs, the CH-46’s,” said Capt. Ryan Colameo, of the 11th MEU ACE.

Juaire thanked local government agencies for their help in conducting the training.

“One of the things that the military lacks is civilian-equivalent vessels that we may encounter while we’re deployed,” Juaire told Patch.

The city of Long Beach and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department stepped in, providing, for example, a sheriff's department boat. Divers in wet suits stood ready aboard on the craft in the event that a Marine fell into the water during the training.

"The L.A. County Sheriff's Department provides maritime tactical support and security to the Port of Long Beach," said Lt. Patrick Bearse, the operations lieutenant for the department's Special Enforcement Bureau, in an interview with Patch. 

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