Marine Corps Forces Central Command, which is in control of the service’s operations in an more and more unstable Center East at the moment roiled by final month’s shock Hamas assault on Israel, introduced Wednesday that it could be canceling its annual Marine Corps ball because of “unexpected operational commitments and the character of our present mission.”
A spokesperson for the command, also called MARCENT, instructed Navy.com after the announcement that the cancellation of the ball was a “prudent measure,” given the state of affairs unfolding out of Israel.
The service at the moment has a fast response pressure within the area, the twenty sixth Marine Expeditionary Unit, or twenty sixth MEU. As of final month, that unit had not been tasked with a selected mission, and the MARCENT spokesperson, Capt. Joe Wright, stated that the command’s posture within the Center East has not modified.
Learn Subsequent: What the Pentagon Has, Hasn’t and Might Do to Cease Veterans and Troops from Becoming a member of Extremist Teams
“Regretfully and with a robust sense of obligation, I write to tell you of a call that I needed to make relating to the Marine Corps 248th Ball, scheduled for 16 November 2023,” Maj. Gen. Christopher McPhillips, the commander of MARCENT, wrote Wednesday.
“Because of unexpected operation commitments and the character of our present mission, it’s with nice remorse that we should cancel this yr’s occasion,” he stated.
The MARCENT X account, on the social media web site previously referred to as Twitter, deleted the letter inside minutes of posting. Wright stated that the message was “pulled on Twitter as a result of Twitter does not have the meant viewers that we’re making an attempt to achieve there.”
Wright additionally stated that the letter, unchanged, could be posted on Fb as an alternative in a while Wednesday, including that “we simply received forward of ourselves.” The letter was dated Oct. 31.
“The intent of the letter from the outset was to tell of us that had been planning on going to the ball to allow them to know, regrettably, it isn’t going to occur this yr,” Wright instructed Navy.com. “And simply to offer them discover, properly forward of time, in order that they will recoup the cash that they could have dedicated to the planning or reservations.”
The Center East, an space that has seen greater than two dozen assaults on U.S. personnel in the previous few weeks in Iraq and Syria, has Marine Corps forces on alert as Israel has begun a floor incursion into Gaza following the Oct. 7 Hamas assault. Final week, the Pentagon stated that it launched airstrikes at targets in jap Syria linked to the Iranian army.
Wright confirmed that the ball cancellation was made because of the state of affairs in Israel and the ensuing uncertainty within the area, however added that there have been “no main operational adjustments or adjustments in pressure posture.”
Other than being a prudent measure, Wright stated, the transfer was meant to unencumber planning employees within the occasion the state of affairs within the Center East adjustments.
“It is only a matter of creating certain that the employees maintains an alert mindset,” he stated.
— Drew F. Lawrence could be reached at drew.lawrence@army.com. Comply with him on X @df_lawrence.
Associated: 300 Extra Troops Head to Center East Amid Fixed Drone and Rocket Assaults
