Coastal Warfare becomes "Maritime Expeditionary Security Group"

Noted here:

Capt. Dave McDuffie is commodore of Naval Coastal Warfare Group 2, which, under an Oct. 1 realignment, will become Maritime Expeditionary Security Group 2. He said the training has involved about 1,000 sailors — with surges of reservists bumping the numbers higher — at Cheatham Annex, Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek and Fort Pickett, all in Virginia.

A major element has been establishing command and control of the disparate units and testing new unmanned aerial vehicles such as the hand-held, 10-ounce Wasp, which is launched with a slingshot.

Under the realignment to an expeditionary security group, McDuffie said, the coastal warfare squadrons will be merged with maritime security squadrons, which means decommissioning two Reserve boat squadrons.

“We had to reorganize the billets, and some people had to move,” he said.

Another potential change in the works could mean an assignment to these expeditionary combat units will become a “closed loop,” where sailors stay rather than go back to the fleet after a tour.