NECC confirms plan for 4th riverine squadron - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

NECC confirms plan for 4th riverine squadron

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Navy plans to increase its riverine force, Rear Adm. Carol Pottenger, commander of Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, told hundreds of military and industry leaders Tuesday at the fourth annual Naval Expeditionary Forces Symposium and Expo.

The increase, which is included in the Quadrennial Defense Review, would boost the force from three to four squadrons. Each squadron has 224 sailors and officers. Pottenger said she would expect to see the manning boost in fiscal 2011, but said the specific ways the sailors would be used is under review.

Though the riverine force represents only 2.5 percent of NECC’s operating forces, it remains in high demand. It is exclusively used in Iraq, where it provides maritime security and interdiction along 3,700 miles of brown and green waterways, and has trained 778 Iraqi security forces personnel to do the same. The squadrons have conducted 2,300 missions in the past 2½ years. Typically, one squadron is deployed while one prepares for deployment and another stands down from deployment.

Though the planned withdrawal from Iraq will bring this mission to a close, all other combatant commanders already have standing requests with the riverine force to meet needs in their respective regions, Pottenger said.