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CO: Riverines must stay close to Marines

The long-term success of riverine warfare in the Navy will depend on it staying close to the Marine Corps — and its ability to be accepted by the blue-water Navy.

That’s the opinion of Capt. Mike Jordan, first commander of Riverine Group 1, who will give up command Monday, nearly two years after establishing the force that brought brown-water operations back into the Navy. Marines have held that responsibility in recent years.

“I will say that for the long-term health of riverine, we need to stay tied to the United States Marine Corps,” Jordan said. “Having that marriage to the Marine Corps is pretty crucial to our future.”

Right now, he said, there are a few Marines attached to the Navy riverine squadrons, but only on temporary duty when they deploy. That relationship needs to be “institutionalized,” Jordan said, adding that he hopes to get as many as seven permanent Marine Corps billets funded as regular unit members in the near future.

“From a combat-skills-training piece, they’re still the gold standard for that,” he said “That kind of training is such a critical piece for us and the Marines play a crucial role.”

In addition, since the Navy’s riverine forces deploy with the Marines, the Corps’ expertise is needed in tactical communications to help, for example, “de-conflict” weapons fire in the field. Riverine sailors in Iraq have caught insurgents running for the river to escape Marine urban operations.

Though he’s hopeful to get these initial billets approved soon, Jordan also would like to see the Corps’ role in Navy riverine warfare continue to grow.

“I think eventually if we are not focusing [only] on Iraq, having more Marines embedded in our organization is the way we should go,” he said.

More exercises with the Corps are being planned to provide training on the insertion and extraction of Marines; eventually, that could involve working with the Marines in Central and South America, training with riverine forces of other countries.

“We could learn as much from them as we could teach them,” Jordan said. “Down, there, river forces are mostly made up of Marines, too.”

But working with his own fleet back home also is a priority for Jordan, who says the initial work in Iraq has been a success. Now that his sailors have proven themselves in the rivers of Iraq, it’s time to start working with the blue-water Navy.

“I think to be accepted by the mainstream Navy, the fleet must begin to see the capabilities these forces bring to the table,” Jordan said. “They need to see us as a regular and available capability.”

This summer, squadrons are expected to begin exercising with amphibious ships. That could involve operating river craft from well decks, something they have yet to do.

That fleet integration will be helped by the introduction of their new riverine command boat, the first of which will be delivered to the group in the next few months.

“These are very capable craft and if we’re going to operate with the larger ships, we need the command and control capabilities these boats have,” Jordan said.

The to-do list

One thing still left to be done after Jordan leaves is the modernization of the crew-served weapons used on the boats.

“We are still operating with Vietnam-era weapons that need to be modernized,” he said, adding that he’d like to see new, high-tech crew-served weapons and possibly even small missiles capable of being launched from the boats.

Also an area of concern is the use of small, unmanned aerial vehicles in the operation. Riverine forces use the Silver Fox UAV when operating in theater. He’d like to see more sailors learn how to use them.

“We have a few folks trained to use them, but we need to get better at that,” Jordan said. “It’s a key asset we need to be utilizing better.”

One capability the squadrons don’t have yet, and aren’t likely to see in the future, is a reserve component. Originally planned as part of the organization, reserve billets and equipment remain unfunded, though requests have been sent up the chain of command the last two years.

“It’s gone up twice and not been approved, so there’s not much traction on getting that idea funded,” Jordan said. “I think that means that to meet the current requirement they feel we have sufficient forces to do that.”

But the rest of the personnel picture is shaping up. A review of the manning of the squadrons and the breakdown of billets and ratings involved was done last year by the Navy Manpower Analysis Center in Millington, Tenn., and the results are expected to be approved soon.

“You might see a few shifts in the numbers and types of skills needed, but nothing major,” he said.

But the manpower center also is expected to approve two new Navy enlisted classifications specific to the community to encourage sailors to return to riverine or other similar Navy Expeditionary Combat Command units and reuse their skills.

“That’s kind of where we’re going with this,” he said. “We’re not going to close loop, we do want to have some natural recirculation back into the community and these NECs make that possible to get those guys back here and make use of their training and experience.”

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