MSRON 10 Sailors Prepare to Deploy

By Lt. Cmdr. Randy Hokaj, Navy Expeditionary Combat Command Public Affairs

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (NNS) -- Sailors from Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron (MSRON) 10 will conduct pre-deployment training in Cape Canaveral March 2-7.

The training is designed to prepare MSRON 10 Sailors for their upcoming mission in the 5th Fleet Area of Responsibility (AOR) in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

During the field training exercise, MSRON 10 will establish a base camp and operation centers on the Naval Ordnance Test Unit (NOTU) property at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Security personnel will exercise controlling access to their campsite and respond to security threats in a training environment. This training evolution will involve the use of blank ammunition by security teams. "The use of blanks enhances the value of our training because it increases realism and stresses a Sailor's critical decision-making by requiring them to draw and discharge their weapon," explained Lt. Cmdr. Zac Staples, MSRON 10 chief staff officer.

During the March training exercise, only shore security and command and control personnel will be present in Cape Canaveral while the squadron's security boats will be operating simultaneously out of Navy Weapons Station Charleston, S.C. Future training at Cape Canaveral will also involve the squadron's security boats.

MSRON 10 is a Reserve Squadron with units in Jacksonville, Tampa, Miami and Orlando, Fla., Gulfport, Miss., and Charleston, S.C. They are part of Maritime Expeditionary Security Group (MESG) 2, headquartered in Portsmouth, Va.

The squadron is one of the Navy's premier anti-terrorism/force protection units and is part of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, a force of 40,000 expeditionary Sailors. The role of Expeditionary Security is to provide force protection and security for designated assets such as ships, aircraft or facilities in places where there is no permanent Navy infrastructure or where the security capabilities are insufficient or unknown.