Hinting that an invasion of Iran’s ‘oil hub”, Kharg Island, couldn’t be far away, the US Navy’s Amphibious Assault Group led by USS Boxer set sail for the Middle East after loading Marines and helicopters from Camp Pendleton in San Diego. The amphibious assault ship, accompanied by the dock-landing ship USS Comstock and amphibious transport dock USS Portland, left San Diego on Wednesday.
The assault group also carries the 11th MEU with roughly 2,500 personnel, besides the air and ground components. This comes as America class amphibious assault ship, USS Tripoli and its elements, with over 2000 Marines of the 31st MEU, is set to reach the Middle East waters by mid-week. The ship was last spotted crossing the Malacca Strait and will be there on Tuesday or Wednesday.
The deployment of USS Boxer has set tongues wagging about the potential invasion of Kharg Island, considering that the amphibious group is designed to bring marines and their equipment to shore on deployment and support them on their mission.
USS Boxer seen loading Marines and helicopters at Camp Pendleton, carrying elements of the 11th MEU (~2,200–2,500 Marines) as it deploys toward the Middle East. pic.twitter.com/82f7rg6yLQ
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Hal Kempfer, a former Marine intelligence officer, said the USS Boxer is basically a mini-aircraft carrier. “But, it also has a well deck. So, what it can do is it can launch these vehicles or amphibious vehicles that are on it. They can be launched directly into the water,” Kempfer was quoted by San Diego-based 10 News.
He added that this allows rapid ship-to-shore movement back and forth, which means that it's not just putting the Marines ashore but also fast. “But it's how fast, fast we can build up combat power ashore to push in and to uh go in and take more territory faster and quicker,” he added.
He says the Amphibious Ready Group doubles the amount of ground force capability and is a complete air-ground package. “It comes with a composite squadron,” Kempfer said. “They can do a variety of things, attack, airlift, a lot of different things, very robust combat service support element, a very capable command element with a lot of things that they can do, which really is a force multiplier in terms of the actual forces that are out there,” he added.
Though it is not clear whether the USS Boxer ARG would be replacing the USS Tripoli in Okinawa or would aid in the invasion. The White House has not confirmed a physical invasion or occupation of Iran’s Kharg Island. Reports indicate that the U.S. has considered a military takeover or blockade of the key oil terminal as a means to step up pressure on the regime in Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz.
