MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- Marines and Sailors with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit are currently offloading from the ships of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group and returning to homecomings in and around Camp Lejeune, N.C., after a nine-month deployment.
The 24th MEU made the ship-to-shore transit from the USS Iwo Jima, USS New York and USS Gunston Hall using amphibious assault vehicles, Navy hovercraft, aircraft which included MV-22B Ospreys and CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters, and the Morehead City Port facility.
The 24th MEU departed the coast of North Carolina last March and spent the rest of the year sailing around the U.S. Navy's 5th and 6th Fleet areas of responsibility as an expeditionary crisis response force. The MEU/ARG team maintained continuous presence and a robust alert status as America's 9-1-1 force throughout U.S. Central, European and Africa Commands, conducting significant training operations in Morocco, Jordan, Kuwait and Djibouti, Africa.
The offload began the morning of Dec. 16 and is scheduled to conclude Dec. 18.