4th MEB Anti terrorism Battalion

[roninsthao85]

Greetings Comrades,

I served with Anti terrorism Battalion from 2004-2008. The unit changed leadership various times. At first it was 4th MEB ATBN then, 2nd Marine Division ATBN, & then 4th Marine Division, but I was already out of the Corps by that time when it became 4th Marine Division. The reason I'm on here is to ask you guys if any of you knew anything about my unit. I've been out a while now & wanted to learn about why my unit was created & what purpose we severed. Were we really in the Special Operations Capable section? As you all know, the battalion was disbanded in 2007 which makes finding out information about the battalion even more difficult since there is no official website. Our training consisted primary of EMP, MOUT, and BUST. I might be missing a few things, so if any of the AT guys are out there, don't slam me to hard if I missed listing a few things. I was lucky enough to get to train in Israel learning their style or method of room clearing, style of engagements, the history of terrorist attacks against their military & law enforcement, & some rappelling. A few of our guys got to practice extraction from helicopters & some of us had the privilege of instruction from Blackwaters. We had a few fire teams be selected to complete in the Fleet Anti terrorism Completions to see who had the best fire teams out there. A couple of our guys got to attend a Pathfinder Course. Some of our platoons got to do PSD for VIPs. We got to do a few raids overseas, patrols along the Tigris river, ambushes, surveillance, and reconnaissance, etc. We had a few FAST Company guys, & a very few Recon guys get assigned in our unit once their time expired with their previous outfits. Of course knowledge was passed down to us on how to be better warriors & so on, but it was never explained to us why we existed. So my question to you guys is, why were we created? What purpose did we server? Were we in ever way in support of any SOC, SOF, & Spec Ops? Why did the Marine Corps disband our unit? Any information would be helpful. Thanks guys!

- Edge

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

Uhhhhh, ah do wut?

How can you have served in a unit and not know what your unit mission, capabilities and strategic purpose was?

I'm sorry man that post is probably one of the worst I've seen in a long time.

"I did some shit, not really sure what, probably forgot a bunch, don't be made b/c I can't remember, what did my unit do and why did it even exist, am I SOF"

WTF? Dude did you hit your head or something?

WOW!

 

[roninsthao85]

As a matter of fact... yes, I really did hit my head on something. : D

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

Did some quick Googlefu and it appears your unit was a force protection antiterrorism capability to plus up where probable terror attacks may occur, as well as act as a response force to a terror attack.

In other words you guys were a infantry unit with some extra training that was specific for FP/AT. I didn't find anything about it being Special Ops Capable (SOC) or any designate as a SOF unit. Why it was developed? I'm guessing the USMC got some extra funds for a new unit with antiterrorism in the title/mission statement. Why it was disbanded? Probably b/c the capability already existed in FAST, RECON and now MARSOC.

But I could be wrong as I'm not a Marine...

 

[roninsthao85]

Thanks for the info! From my understanding the unit was considered a SOC outfit due to us being 4th MEB AT. We had Security Reg, FAST Co, Chemical Bio Teams, Foreign Military Training Teams in our unit, etc... but I needed to confirm it with a few SOC guys. We were trained & held to the same standards if not slightly lower. If that is the case & we don't rate SOC then ShadowSpear should to take off AT Battalion unit under SOC. However, the atmosphere or demeanor the guys had was that we were always a cut above normal line units, but it might of just be our leadership brainwashing us. Regardless, its doesn't really matter. I just wanted to get some insight about the outfit from some SOC, Spec Ops, SOF guys who may of worked with my unit. I knew that my unit had some major administrative issues which lead to other problems, but I can't pin point to the down fall of the outfit.

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

Maybe one of the SOF Marines on here can clarify for you.

 

[roninsthao85]

I hope so, but regardless, it doesn't matter.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

One thing the Marine Corps loves more than itself, is history about itself.

The concept of being a Marine and not knowing anything about the inception, purpose, mission, etc. of my unit makes all my WTF sensors go batshit. Cripe, I can only envision the PowerPoints about the unit that you must have seen.

I'll leave it to my Marine brothers who are SOF to decide whether to officially call "bullshit", but even your "thank you" to @JAB is odd. Thanks for what? Googling the unit you say you were in?

 

[roninsthao85]

I apologize brother if I've offended you. I just need to get vetted & it should sort itself out. Still waiting on the moderators to read & answer my messages. Is there a way of sending private messages?

 

[Ooh-Rah]

I apologize brother if I've offended you. I just need to get vetted & it should sort itself out. Still waiting on the moderators to read & answer my messages. Is there a way of sending private messages?

Just confused by the nature of your question; it reminded me of the beginning of a Dolph Lundgrin flick!

 

[roninsthao85]

I was always told I was a little bit of a goofy guy & a bit slow too. However, I always got the job done regardless if it was standing duty nco at the barracks. Boy did I hate that. Field days was a nightmare too. Moving your wall locker out of your room into the hallway & then having to move it back before inspection. What got on my nerves the most was having leadership who couldn't separate themselves from the drill field. It was by the number. I hated garrison life & loved overseas life. I just wished I had attended more schools & courses when I was offered. That is the number one thing I regret the most.

 

[Kheenbish]

Greetings Comrades,

I served with Anti terrorism Battalion from 2004-2008. The unit changed leadership various times. At first it was 4th MEB ATBN then, 2nd Marine Division ATBN, & then 4th Marine Division, but I was already out of the Corps by that time when it became 4th Marine Division. The reason I'm on here is to ask you guys if any of you knew anything about my unit. I've been out a while now & wanted to learn about why my unit was created & what purpose we severed. Were we really in the Special Operations Capable section? As you all know, the battalion was disbanded in 2007 which makes finding out information about the battalion even more difficult since there is no official website. Our training consisted primary of EMP, MOUT, and BUST. I might be missing a few things, so if any of the AT guys are out there, don't slam me to hard if I missed listing a few things. I was lucky enough to get to train in Israel learning their style or method of room clearing, style of engagements, the history of terrorist attacks against their military & law enforcement, & some rappelling. A few of our guys got to practice extraction from helicopters & some of us had the privilege of instruction from Blackwaters. We had a few fire teams be selected to complete in the Fleet Anti terrorism Completions to see who had the best fire teams out there. A couple of our guys got to attend a Pathfinder Course. Some of our platoons got to do PSD for VIPs. We got to do a few raids overseas, patrols along the Tigris river, ambushes, surveillance, and reconnaissance, etc. We had a few FAST Company guys, & a very few Recon guys get assigned in our unit once their time expired with their previous outfits. Of course knowledge was passed down to us on how to be better warriors & so on, but it was never explained to us why we existed. So my question to you guys is, why were we created? What purpose did we server? Were we in ever way in support of any SOC, SOF, & Spec Ops? Why did the Marine Corps disband our unit? Any information would be helpful. Thanks guys!

- Edge

Sorry, but this post kinda reads like the facts were pulled straight out of Wikipedia in the same order and you don't sound to confident for being one of the few who have served in this unit. Hope you get vetted and prove me wrong though.

Various schooling, in-house training, & courses attended 2004-2007

• Urban Assault Climber Course
• Enhanced Marksmanship Program Shooting (EMP) 2004
• Basic Urban Skills Training (BUST) 2004
• Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT)
• Close Quarters Combat (CQB) 2004
• Israeli Mout Training and Shooting courses 2005
• Blackwater Defensive Driving
• Pathfinder Course 2007
• Scout Sniper School
• Designated Marksman Courses 2005
• Combat Marksmanship Course/ MOS 0933
• Combat Lifesaver Courses 2005
• Non-Lethal Weapons & Tactics Course 2005 (Special Operations Training Group II MEF)
• Blackwater N.C. Foreign Weapons group (2011 BSRF) Pre-deployment
• FLEET ANTI-TERRORISM COMPETITION 2006
• The Special Patrol Insertion/Extraction (SPIE) 2007
• FAST Rope 2004
• Machine Gunners Course 2004-2007

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Terrorism_Battalion

 

[devilbones]

Plus I dont know any Marine that refers to a unit as 'Outfit'. Just me though.

 

[TLDR20]

How do you have questions about somewhere you were?

 

[roninsthao85]

As always, there are skeptics. I'll get vetted soon enough gents, so chill out. Let me get this out of the way, so these wolves can run back into their corners. I did not come on this claiming that I was Special Forces or Special Operations (go read the original messages & chill out)! I came here to confirm a few things with those who severed in my unit or who had knowledge of it. I also wanted to know if my unit was SOC & if its not SOC then it needs to be removed from SOC on ShadowSpear. Also, my education did not end when I ended my time in the Corps. I kept educating myself about various subjects. I ended up attending some civilian schools & met some great folks & had some great mentors, who I still keep in touch with. If anything, I've improved myself, not remained the same kid I was years ago. The language changed due to the environment & people I was surrounded by. As for training, EMP, MOUT, BUST, these are all required basic courses for Marines in that unit. Things may of changed when I was discharged out of the Corps. We have a facebook page where some of us AT guys shoot the sh*t & keep in touch. Wiki was a combined effort on many of us guys from the unit to keep updated & corrected. There is nothing on that page that is false & no crazy ninja kung fu crap either. Also, since we are on this subject, I did not do anything special. ATBN was a group of guys who stood post watch high threat bases & being the QRF incase something happened. Once in a while we were tasked out with some missions, but it was not to common. There it is guys, so chill out. The mission sucked, but the training was good or at least I thought. TLDR20, the SOF guys like yourself are the guys that we really looked up to & wanted to learn from every chance we could. Also, all the elite guys always treated us lower class guys equal & it meant a lot to us. I didn't have any questions where I was, but I did have questions about why my unit was created? Why the switched commands so many times? Why we were disbanded? Just a few things I wondered about years later.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

The occasional new paragraph is your friend, just feedback if you decide to stick around. Those are a lot of words strung together, give our poor phone screens a break and offer the occasional spacing.

Hope you find what you are looking for.

 

[roninsthao85]

Kheenbish, they called being humble & knowing my place.

Will do! Thanks Ooh-Rah1069!

 

[Teufel]

Let me clear this up. 4th MEB was not a SOF unit (they did some cool anti-terrorism stuff though) but did serve as the nucleus for MARSOC's headquarters element when MARSOC was stood up. You had a lot of conventional guys randomly assigned leadership billets in a SOF unit. Yes that is as retarded as it sounds. 1st and 2nd Force served as the nucleus for 1st and 2nd MSOB, Foreign Military Training Unit served as the nucleus for 3d MSOB and they used 4th MEB's structure and personnel to create MARSOC HQ and the regiment. This caused a whole host of issues since no one from 4th MEB was really qualified to sit at SOCOM's table. You had a lot of conventional LtCols and Majors running around the halls of SOCOM and MARSOC talking SOF and causing problems.

 

[roninsthao85]

Yes! That is what I wanted to know! Thank you!

: D

Why couldn't they just of assigned a regular line unit to the mission?

 

[Teufel]

Why couldn't they just of assigned a regular line unit to the mission?

4th MEB was an experiment. They wanted to develop a new anti-terrorism unit and played around with it in the form of 4th MEB. They decided that such a unit was not needed and killed two birds with one stone by using it to form MARSOC's HQ.