MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII -- Marines and sailors with Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, returned from their deployment in Darwin, Australia, arriving at the 3rd Bn., 3rd Marines headquarters building Sept. 26, 2013.
Established in 2011, Marine Rotational Force Darwin deploys Marines on six-month rotations to conduct training exercises alongside the Australian Defence Force, building interoperability. Over time, the Marine Corps plans to establish a permanent rotation of a 2,500-person Marine Air Ground Task Force in Darwin, Australia.
During the deployment, Lima Company Marines partook in a number of training exercises with the ADF and the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit like Exercise Talisman Saber 2013 and Exercise Koolendong. Individual platoons from Lima were also dispatched to New Zealand and the Kingdom of Tonga to strengthen relationships between forces through training and recreational activities.
The company is returning to Hawaii ahead of the rest of the battalion.
When the Marines and sailors exited the buses outside the battalion’s armory, they were greeted by Marines of the unit’s remain behind element with purple and pink leis. A small crowd gathered and significant others scanned the area in search of their loved ones.
“This is the first deployment I’ve been through with him,” said Rachel Paul-Wilson of her husband Lance Cpl. Christopher Paul-Wilson, a rifleman with Lima Co., 3rd Bn., 3rd Marines and Beeville, Texas native. “We were a little spoiled,” said Rachel. She said her husband had internet access and some phone service wherever he went, unlike deployments to Afghanistan or Iraq, where access to communication home is known to be scarce.
This wasn’t Jessa Smoron’s first deployment with her husband, Sgt. Richard Smoron, a mortar section leader with Lima Co., 3rd Bn., 3rd Marines. Between pre-deployment training exercises and deployments on Hawaii, the longest Jessa had spent with her husband consecutively was around a month since they’ve been in Hawaii.
“In three years, this will be the first time we’ve actually lived together for an extended period of time,” said Jessa. “I have a lot to look forward too.”
The Patriot Guard Riders escorted the Lima Company Marines and sailors to MCB Hawaii. The riders are part of an all-volunteer nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring first responders, honorably discharged veterans and fallen service members.
“It’s just an honor to escort these guys home from wherever they’re coming from,” said Patriot Guard Rider Chuck Patterson, a retired Army military police officer, who escorted the returning Marines and sailors.
The crowd surrounding the white buses dissipated as family and friends linked up with their service members.
“I just dealt with it like I do with the training exercises he goes on,” said Kayla Higgason of her husband Lance Cpl. Tyler Higgason, a rifleman with Lima Co., 3rd Bn., 3rd Marines. Kayla waited eagerly at the homecoming event with her daughter Abbigail. “He missed a lot with our daughter’s first year, but we will make up for that now. We’re really excited to have him back.”
The remainder of the battalion is currently in Okinawa, Japan on the Unit Deployment Program.