Marines provided bats and balls, along with soft drinks, pastries and
small gifts. ... Seeing a 12-year-old playing ball for the first time in his
life was priceless.
which is home to many foreign embassies, residences and a neighborhood where
mothers walk with their children.
News stories reported 31 deaths and
scores injured in what was called the
deadliest attack in Algiers in more than a
year. No Americans were killed, but among
the dead were students, policemen and 11
United Nations staff members.
An American diplomat’s wife was home
in Hydra at the time of the bombings. As in
the case of other approved American residences, the placement of Mylar on window glass prevented shattering, but debris
from the building fell around the house—
it was time to go.
A driver and armed escort were dispatched to transport her to the embassy.
Fearing a cell phone-triggered bombing
was imminent, cell phone usage was shut
down. This did not prevent text messaging.
The diplomat sent his wife a text message
telling her not to leave the house until the
driver of an armored van arrived to take her
to the embassy. Descriptions of the driver
and armed escort were given. However,
the driver arrived before the text message
was ever received. Initially, the diplomat’s
wife refused to accompany the driver.
Eventually, the driver returned with the
diplomat’s slightly embarrassed but cautious and alive wife.
By 1500 the first day, a degree of normalcy returned to the embassy. Some FSN
and American personnel chose to spend
the night. The Marines returned their
REACT gear to its storage areas and took
a breather. Tomorrow would be another day,
but a high security alert would remain.
MSG Replacements
MSG watchstanders serve 36 months
divided into three one-year posts. Sgt
Brent B. Chittum was ending his first
tour in Manila, the Philippines, when he
heard about the Algiers bombing on CNN.
“I only got to see the pictures on television. I feel I’m an action-oriented person. I don’t know what my reaction would
have been, but I’d like to know.”
Despite three overseas experiences in
Okinawa, Thailand and Korea, this 23-
year-old Marine from South Dakota has
put in for duty in Iraq on several occasions. Chittum said he wasn’t much of a
student in high school. But with a Marine
career in mind and an eye toward Turkmenistan, Peru or Finland as his next MSG
post, and a new-found enjoyment in reading history and visiting battle sites, he believes he will learn more about Algiers on
his own than he ever imagined possible.
The day before my departure, I met Sgt
Calixte Defay, who arrived to replace Sgt
Lassiter as assistant detachment commander. A tank refueler with deployments
to Iraq and Syria, Algiers is Defay’s third
MSG post and third time serving as assistant detachment commander. The first
and second were at the American embassies in Brasilia, Brazil, and Kyrgyzstan.
Defay is proficient in French, which will
be important in a country where French
is the second language after Arabic.
So You Want to Go to Embassy Duty!
Basic criteria for MSG application:
• PFCs through sergeant must remain single for entire program
• Staff sergeants through master gunnery sergeant can be married with four
total dependents
• Staff sergeants must have one-year time in grade
• Master gunnery sergeants must be within time in service limits
• Meet Marine Corps body-composition standards
• Capable of receiving a Top Secret clearance (U.S. citizen)
• GT 90, minimum
• No excessive tattoos
Refer to MCO 1326.6D, Chapter 4, Selecting, Screening, and Preparing Enlisted Marines for
Special Duty Assignments and Independent Duties (Short Title: SDAMAN); visit the Marine
Corps Embassy Security Group Web site at https://www.msgbn.usmc.mil; or see your career planner.
—Ed Vasgerdsian
