Three U.S. Navy warships and a contingent of U.S. Marines departed Monday on a seven-month mission to rescue Americans trapped by violent rioting in the Middle East and Western Pacific.
The Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group, led by the assault ship USS Peleliu, is under the command of Capt. Mark Sakaguchi. KGTV reports that it includes some 4,000 Marines and sailors.
The deployment is in response to the ongoing violence that began on Sept. 11, 2012 storming of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, and the well-organized attack in Libya that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and former Navy SEALS Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods.
Other American embassies across the region have since been subjected to threats and rioting.
The sailors and Marines in the Peleliu Ready Group recently finished nine months of training scheduled long before the current Middle East violence escalated.