The Rescuer

Brig. Gen. Carl B. Jensen reflects on the rescue of thousands from Beirut

Marine Brig. Gen. Carl B. Jensen heads the newly established expeditionary strike group (ESG) staff permanently attached to U.S. Fifth Fleet in U.S. Central Command, and in July and August handled the evacuation of Americans from Beirut. An ESG comprises a Marine Expeditionary Unit, amphibious warfare ships, destroyers, frigates and, often, a submarine.

The new staff setup, Navy officials said, will foster greater flexibility on the part of the Navy and Central Command to respond to emergency contingencies, such as chemical or nuclear events, tsunamis, earthquakes, wars and other natural or manmade catastrophes.

A few weeks after Jensen assumed command, the flexibility of the new staff configuration was put to test when he was charged with overseeing the evacuation of U.S. citizens from Lebanon during the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Jensen arrived with no ships available to begin the evacuation. The Pentagon contracted for transport with the cruise ship Orient Queen, and the Iwo Jima ESG arrived several days later. Jensen said U.S. Navy ships were not immediately available for the task because “you can’t be everywhere simultaneously.”

Jensen officially handed over responsibility for the Lebanon mission to Sixth Fleet Aug. 23 and will return to his duties with Central Command.

Before taking command of the ESG, Jensen, a naval aviator, served as commander, Marine Corps Air Bases Western Area, and also as commanding general, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif. Prior to that, he was assigned as the deputy director for Operations, J-3, Joint Staff, in the National Military Command Center.

During the evacuation, U.S. Marines were operating in Lebanon for the first time since the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, which took the lives of more than 200 Marines.

During an interview with Associate Editor Matt Hilburn, Jensen said the site “is a sacred spot for the Marine Corps.” Excerpts follow.

What can you tell us about the evacuation?

JENSEN: We started the operation on July 16, but we actually got here on the 15th of July, and overnight we moved 21 Americans via helicopter. We had a couple Air Force MH-53 Pave Low helicopters and started moving Americans out immediately. That ramped up pretty quickly as assets flowed into the theater on July 21. On that day alone, we moved nearly 3,900 Americans. The total by the 21st amounted to over 7,500 Americans. That was the day when we broke the back of the movement out of Lebanon. After that, the number of American citizens desiring to depart decreased rather dramatically. As of Aug. 11, we have moved over 14,500 American citizens.

What resources did you have available for the evacuation?

JENSEN: Quite a few. When we first got here, we didn’t have anything except me and my flag staff. I had zero ships. The following day we used the helicopters to begin moving Americans from the embassy to safe havens in Cyprus.

On the 19th of July we began using a contracted civil carrier called the Orient Queen. It was a cruise ship that the Transportation Command had contracted on short notice to help in the movement of Americans, and on that day, we moved in excess of 1,200 citizens by ship and helicopter.

On the 20th, the Iwo Jima strike group came into the theater. They [came at] speed through the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean. Iwo Jima ESG consisted of the Iwo Jima, the flagship, the Nashville, the Whidbey Island, and they also had from the European command the Trenton, the Berry and the Gonzales. For a while they also had the Mount Whitney, which was in the area of responsibility.

So beginning on the 20th, I had quite a few ships at my disposal and used them immediately, the amphibs in particular. The Nashville and the Whidbey Island were close to shore and conducted [Landing Craft Utility] operations moving American citizens from the beach out to the ship. We were able to transport thousands a day.

So the cruise ship was the closest thing that could be obtained on such short notice?

JENSEN: [ Cyprus] is a great spot, and we have the capability to land fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. But the first ship that I could use showed up on the 19th, and that was Orient Queen.

Was it a problem that there were no U.S. Navy assets within range for the immediate response?

JENSEN: I don’t know if I’d characterize it as a problem. The assets were being used elsewhere. They happened to be in the Central Command area of responsibility, and you can’t be everywhere simultaneously. It just doesn’t work that way. When the decision was made to move them, they proceeded with alacrity, and when they got here they oved thousands of Americans immediately.

During the evacuation you also provided some humanitarian assistance, correct?

JENSEN: Absolutely. Quite frankly, the entire movement of Americans I think you could call a massive humanitarian assistance operation. We’ve also moved humanitarian assistance supplies for USAID [Agency for International Development], and I have a member of USAID on my staff here advising what needs to be done and how we can help with the greater humanitarian effort here.

What was the impact of the July 14 cruise missile attack on the Israeli corvette on your operations?

JENSEN: Well, as you’d expect, we always honor the threat no matter what the threat is. And we were immediately made aware that the incident had occurred, and we took appropriate precautionary measures.

Were you surprised that a guerrilla group employed such a weapon?

JENSEN: Yes, I was surprised.

What are the greatest challenges of operating an ESG?

JENSEN: The first is operationalizing the concept. It’s one thing to draft verbiage on how an outfit like an ESG would work, and it’s another thing to actually take it out and exercise it and put it in an operational scenario where it has to perform. And I’d say that was the main goal here. And I think we’ve done that fairly well.

The West Coast ESGs have all done some things they really didn’t plan on doing. Rear Adm. Michael A. LeFever used his ESG to good effect in Pakistan during the relief efforts there. It did some remarkable things. Rear Adm. [Christopher C.] Ames’ ESG was responsible for the tsunami relief. And it all speaks toward operationalizing the unique capabilities an expeditionary strike group brings to the fight.

What are the primary benefits of having the ESG flag staff permanently in Central Command?

JENSEN: One of the principal benefits is it gives my boss an opportunity to have a fly-away command staff that can be pushed into various contingencies, and that’s what I’m doing right now. When we came ashore in Bahrain, I started working for NAVCENT [U.S. Naval Forces Central Command] and assumed a new hat: commander of Task Force 59. In that capacity I became a fly-away headquarters for Vice Adm. Patrick W. Walsh, who reports to Central Command. I didn’t have that job for more than three or four weeks before the crisis in Lebanon developed, and Army Gen. [John] Abizaid said he needed a commander and a command staff to oversee the evacuation of American citizens. So a couple days later the staff and I found ourselves in charge of that massive movement of Americans from Lebanon.

Why was Task Force 59 set up?

JENSEN: My understanding was that the Navy Central Command was very interested in increasing the tempo of operations in the area of responsibility and to have a fly-away staff capable of responding to crises in the area. The chief of naval operations and commandant of the Marine Corps decided that this would be a good opportunity to do that with Expeditionary Strike Group 3, sailing into the Arabian Gulf.

Will having the permanent ESG staff in Central Command increase the continuity and the ability for the Navy to react to different contingencies? Is that the idea?

JENSEN: Certainly there is some measure of continuity, although my staff and I will only be in NAVCENT until February of 2007. Then we will be replaced with another ESG staff, so the continuity is just for NAVCENT. I really think the overarching benefit of it is its flexibility.

How did it feel to lead Marines in Lebanon, given the Corps’ history there?

JENSEN: There is no way you cannot have memories that come flooding into your mind that it’s a sacred spot for the Marine Corps and always shall be thus.