Marine boost for Indian Ocean

Press, 18 July 1980, Page 6

Marine boost for Indian Ocean

NZPA-Reuter Washington President Carter has ordered a. new assault force amphibious assault ships into the Indian Ocean to underline the United States military presence there. Government officials said yesterday. The ships, led by the mlicopter carrier Guadalcanal, were to go through the Suez Canal from the Mediterranean, and in seven days join a battle group headed by the aircraft carrier Constellation.

The marine battalion will be the second deployed to that region. The first went from Hawaii through the Malacca. Strait on March 17 and came out on June 1. The dispatch of. the new landing force is the first significant marine rotation in the area since the unsuccessful bid in April to rescue the hostages in Teheran. Nations such as Saudi Arabia and Oman have been ambivalent about an American military presence in *Harea, not wishing to be publicly associated too c!b-:-ly wilh the United States while privately, indicating thev welcome: the display of American power. _ The Guadalcanal carries helicopters similar to those used for the attempted rescue mission into Iran. The new battalion carries not only infantry but also artillery, tanks and anti-tank units, combat engineers and support forces to make it a self-sustaining- unit for a short time.

Seven cargo ships with weapons, ammunition, and supplies for ’ a , 12,000-man Marine Corps -.brigade are sailing toward the Indian Ocean, where they wi'l be stationed, at, Diego Garcia, the island 4025 km south of the entrance to the Persian Gulf. .