Nassau ARG, 24th MEU, tapped for Haiti - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Nassau ARG, 24th MEU, tapped for Haiti

The Nassau Amphibious Ready Group, carrying the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, is being diverted from its scheduled deployment to the Middle East and is instead heading to Haiti for relief operations, the Navy said Wednesday morning.

The amphibious assault ship Nassau, amphibious transport dock Mesa Verde and dock landing ship Ashland were expected to sail Thursday from Onslow Bay, N.C., having brought aboard the Marines and their gear from Camp Lejeune. The ships left Norfolk, Va., on Monday.

Navy spokesman Lt. Tommy Buck said the ships were expected to arrive off Port-au-Prince within a week.

The Navy did not have more information about how the diversion to Haiti would affect the schedule of the ARG’s original mission — Nassau and its companions were originally scheduled to take the place of the San Diego-based amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard. It wasn’t clear whether that meant Bonhomme Richard’s deployment would be extended to make up for the Nassau ARG’s stop in Haiti.

Buck said Nassau’s ARG still would likely go to the Persian Gulf when it finished work in Haiti, although officials don’t yet know when. On Wednesday, the ships were taking aboard equipment for use in the Central Command area of operations as well as humanitarian assistance supplies and gear, Buck said.

Also unclear was whether the MV-22 Ospreys of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 162, the “Golden Eagles” — which trained up with Nassau in December in preparation for this deployment — would be flying over Haiti when the ARG arrived. It would be the first time the Osprey has been used in a major humanitarian assistance operation. Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway said Jan. 14 that the Corps had no plans to send the Osprey at that time, although the Marines would be “ready and willing” to send Ospreys if asked.

The ships will be joining the Bataan ARG, which arrived off Haiti Monday, along with the carrier Carl Vinson and other ships.

More coverage on the relief effort in Haiti