Legacy of Benghazi: Marine Force Stays Ready for Quick Africa Deployment by Martin Egnash - Stars & Stripes
The U.S. Marines here sprint the Spanish hills daily, charging past palm trees and through lush fields in a regimen built all around being ready for the absolute worst in some of the world’s most dangerous places.
If a sudden crisis happens in Africa, they’re likely the first to go.
It’s an important mission, said Sgt. Joseph Czajkowski, a joint fires observer with the Marine Corps’ ultra-ready task force in southern Europe.
“If coalition forces get into a tight bind in Africa, we would be able to support them. Or an aircraft goes down, we can go get them,” Czajkowski said. “The more support for this region, the better.”
The task force was developed in the wake of the 2012 Benghazi attacks on U.S. diplomatic buildings in Libya, which resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including U.S. ambassador Christopher Stevens. It was a wake-up call for U.S. Africa Command, which lacked its own forces at the ready to send in an emergency…