Gowanda PennySaver News - July 13, 2003

Service news...

Marine Corps Cpl. Garrett A. Barton, son of Janet A. and Wayne K. Barton of Gowanda, recently completed a two-week bilateral training exercise with Albanian military forces while assigned to the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), based in Camp Lejeune, NC. The unit is currently aboard the USS Iwo Jima.      Barton is one of more than 4,000 Pacific Fleet Sailors and Marines who deployed aboard the ships of the USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group.      Drawing upon lessons learned in recent operations in Mosul, Iraq, Barton's unit sought to create a training exercise that included every element of the MEU with specific emphasis on combat service support of secure convoy procedures.      Barton's unit is an expeditionary intervention force with the ability to rapidly organize for combat operations in virtually any environment. MEUs are composed of more than 2,000 personnel and are divided into an infantry battalion, aircraft squadron, support group and command element. With this combination, Barton's unit supplies and sustains itself for either quick mission accomplishment or clearing the way for follow-on forces.      Barton is a 1999 graduate of Gowanda Central School and joined the Marine Corps in June 1999.