On 19 September 2017, category 5 Hurricane Maria struck the Eastern Caribbean island of Dominica. Winds tore off rooftops, residential areas flooded, landslides caused structures to collapse, paved roads crumbled away, even the dense rainforests that cover the rugged island were beaten from a rich emerald green into a muddy brown. This hurricane was the biggest disaster in the island nation’s history causing $1.37 billion in damage, or 226% of its gross domestic product in the previous year.[i] Yet, this was only a preview of things to come.
In the summer of 2020, the island was decimated again when back to back category 5 hurricanes Orville and Pablo wreaked havoc within weeks of each other. The devastation wrought by nature’s wrath dwarfed that of Maria three years before. When the winds died down and the water subsided the tiny island nation, still recuperating from the previous mega storm, turned to the daunting task of rebuilding. Many wondered if the island’s tiny economy could ever recover on its own.
Into this space came business representatives from the People’s Republic of China. They offered loans to help quickly restore Dominica’s basic infrastructure, specifically electricity and water. Soon the Chinese made deals with the island’s leadership to rebuild the roads. After two years of reconstruction, life in Dominica seemed to be getting back to normal. Not only had the island weathered the physical storm but was successfully riding out its aftermath.
Amid this steady wave of confidence and good feelings building up across the island, came a populist politician. Lincoln Joseph had negotiated reconstruction contracts with Chinese businesses and had demonstrated marked success. His contracts routinely reached conclusion ahead of schedule and under budget. However, his greatest achievement was acceptance of his provision that the laborers of these projects must be the people of Dominica. This was quite an impressive victory, as in other countries where the Chinese sponsored projects they imported their own workers. Joseph was seen as a champion of getting people back to work in an economy that had been thoroughly wrecked. Lincoln Joseph was instantly recognized as one who could make a much bigger difference in an official governmental capacity. He was inspired to create his own party, the New Revolutionary Party or NRP, and run for public office. In the national elections of 2022, Joseph’s party surged from out of nowhere to capture a clear majority with 13 out of 21 seats in Dominica’s House of Assembly, making him Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Joseph immediately set to work doing what he gained prominence for—making deals with outside agencies, but particularly firms owned by the Chinese state. In his first year in office he passed a flurry of Chinese sponsored projects, everything from upgrading Dominica’s electrical grid to widening its roads, all of his initiatives effectively rubber stamped by his party’s majority. As the projects were completed and the laborers faced unemployment, Joseph simply agreed to more projects. His Chinese partners were happy to oblige. As the amount of debt piled higher and higher, people on the street in Dominica began to take notice, and voice reservations. The island was recovering from the storms but it now seemed that Joseph was making deals that Dominica did not need. It seemed to a growing number of people that Joseph was biting off more than his tiny country could chew.
Furthermore, it had now been a decade since China had embarked on its Belt and Road Initiative and people around the world, but especially in Dominica, had taken notice as the Chinese used similar loans to build or improve infrastructure projects in other nations. The loans seemed generous at first but gradually became more than a country could pay off. Eventually when the country could no longer pay back the loans the Chinese would seize the country’s assets in question and use them in line with China’s national interests. It was in this way that China had been able to establish a network of military bases across South Asia and Africa. Many people began to wonder if the Chinese were seeking one in the Americas as well.
The answer became clear when Joseph signed an agreement with a Chinese firm to expand the runway at Douglas-Charles Airport, in the North East part of the island. The runway was to be lengthened to accommodate bigger aircraft. This project would be very expensive, because to do so, hills would have to be reduced to make room for the addition. Many people in Dominica questioned why their island needed a longer runway at such an expense, but Prime Minister Joseph forced the agreement through regardless of their protests.
Joseph further alienated his position among the people when he created a small army for Dominica. As a member of the Regional Security System (RSS), an alliance of seven Caribbean states, Dominica hadn’t had an army since 1981.[ii] This alarmed both the other members of the RSS the citizens of Dominica, who regarded it as a thinly veiled attempt by Joseph to create his own private security arm, the classic trappings of a dictator. The force was only a small battalion composed of two rifle companies and he appointed a Major Lawrence Houston as its commander. Few were surprised when Joseph’s government announced the new Dominica National Guard (DNG) would be outfitted exclusively with Chinese weapons and equipment.
In 2026, the Douglas-Charles Airport issue came to a head. This project was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The bevy of Chinese sponsored infrastructure deals overwhelmed the small economy’s ability to keep up with the interest on them. As Dominica came closer to defaulting, the people grew uneasy. Finally, on 12 March, the government of Prime Minister Lincoln Joseph announced that Dominica had defaulted on its loan, and a Chinese company was taking ownership of the Douglas-Charles Airport for 99 years.
Dominica’s citizens were outraged. They immediately turned to the streets of the island’s capital of Roseau and marched on the House of Assembly demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Joseph. With the protests steadily devolving into riots, Joseph recognized his failure to his country and dutifully announced to his inner circle that he would indeed resign. It was at this point that Major Houston made an unexpected grab for power. He ordered the DNG to arrest Prime Minister Joseph and had the Prime Minister immediately executed. In an effort to win over the angry masses, Houston appeared on national television and announced that Prime Minister Joseph had been arrested and executed for betraying the nation’s sovereignty. He explained that he had assumed the authority and duties of the Prime Minister under the current national emergency to restore order and national sovereignty. He then called on the crowd to disperse and for the protestors to return to their homes and businesses.
Instead of instantly becoming the national hero that he imagined this act would make him, Houston was shocked when the crowd reacted with horror and rejection of his act. They wanted Joseph to step down, not face a firing squad. The crowd soon began to call for Houston’s downfall. But Houston would not give up so easily. He ordered the DNG to disperse the crowd angrily trying to force their way into the House of Assembly. DNG soldiers opened fire on the protesters, killing 42 and wounding more than a hundred. The streets ran red with blood. The crowd dispersed as people fled to their homes. Major Houston returned to the airwaves to announce that he had placed the island under martial law for a duration of time yet to be determined.
In the age of instant communication, shocking images of the carnage and mayhem were live-streamed in real time to the rest of the world. “We’ve seen this before,” Grunted the National Security Advisor to the President of the United States, “But we know how to respond.” The National Security Advisor then recommended to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that the military begin planning for some sort of contingency.
Within hours, the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU)—consisting of the 3rd Battalion 8th Marine Regiment, Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 365, and Combat Logistics Battalion 24—embarked aboard the ships USS Iwo Jima, New York, and Gunston Hall changed course for the Caribbean Sea, after receiving new orders. The MEU was in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean days away from returning from a successful deployment conducting multiple ports of call in the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and the Persian Gulf. Instead of returning home, the MEU was ordered to make for Dominica. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Battle Group, also on its way back from the Mediterranean joined the MEU. Two thousand Marines and a small fleet of warships steamed for warm Caribbean waters.
Concurrently, a rush of diplomatic efforts were at work. The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) held an emergency meeting in Castries, St. Lucia on 21 March to confront the emergency in Dominica. The session produced a resolution requesting Barbados, Jamaica, and the United States to deploy a multinational peacekeeping force to restore order in Dominica. These diplomatic efforts were strengthened when the Dominiquais Ambassador to the OECS requested the OECS free his country from Major Houston’s “repugnant and illegal regime.” The next day the President held a meeting in the White House Situation Room. The President directed that in light of the multinational calls for the United States to intervene, it was necessary to plan a military expedition to liberate Dominica from the current regime.
U.S. intelligence agencies assessed that Major Houston’s grip on power was weak, and not more than a sharp nudge would be required to topple him. The people of Dominica despised him and he was supported only by the terror unleashed by the DNG. Major Houston was regarded as a thug with little knowledge of military operations. The DNG was seen as his own private army that would remain loyal to him barring no great threat their own existence. As a relatively young organization, the relative combat power of the DNG was compared to that of a militia. Very inexperienced, poorly trained, poorly led, with very little unit cohesion, though moderately equipped. The DNG was regarded as little more than a gang in new uniforms. The most professional armed force on Dominica was in fact the police. This institution had a solid and non-partisan foundation going back generations. However, it was not as well armed as the DNG which suggested why they did not resist Major Houston’s coup. Furthermore, it was the DNG’s demonstrated willingness to use its weapons in the streets that convinced the island’s police forces to give their uneasy allegiance to the new regime. Despite this, American intelligence assets suggested that if the DNG were eliminated, the traditional police force would not resist the regime’s overthrow and may even support the ouster.
Though the island of Dominica was almost 300 square miles, much of this area would not be contested by Major Houston’s forces. With only a nonproficient battalion reduced sized force and without firm loyalty of the police force, Major Houston clearly did not have the means to defend across the breadth of the island’s rugged terrain and wilds. Furthermore, he needed his army deployed to where they could keep the population and police forces under control while he consolidated his power. Therefore, the DNG would be positioned in Dominica’s populated areas. In light of these calculations, the US national intelligence apparatus recommended responding with overwhelming combat power though exercised judiciously so as not to inflict unnecessary collateral damage.
Within minutes of receiving orders to head for Dominica, the staff of Colonel Adams, commander of the 24th MEU, set to work devising plans for how the MEU would liberate Dominica. The mission was simple: Seize Douglas-Charles Airport to enable the arrival of follow on forces for further operations. The 24th MEU would be crucial to set the conditions that would liberate the country. After seizing the Douglas-Charles Airport, an entire U.S. Army brigade combat team from the 82d Airborne Division would land at the airport and push into the interior of the island and onto the capitol in Roseau. However, the MEU had to seize the airport quickly because these follow-on forces would be airborne waiting to land as soon as possible.
D-Day was 25 March, though reconnaissance assets and Scout Snipers had been inserted days before and quietly gathered intelligence on the defending forces’ dispositions. Douglas-Charles Airport, the main objective of the MEU, appeared quiet and abandoned. Colonel Adams’ plan was to seize the airport in a pre-dawn air assault by one rifle company flown in on MV-22 Ospreys. After depositing the first rifle company in a landing zone a few hundred meters from the airport, the Ospreys would return to the ships and load a second rifle company aboard to be brought in as reinforcements to secure the airport. Once the airport was seized, the MEU would begin bringing supplies and support troops into the airport. Within hours the army brigade combat team would arrive and take charge. One rifle company would be standing by in assault amphibious vehicles (AAV’s) ready to go ashore the old-fashioned way if anything went wrong with the air assault.
A few hours before sunrise on 25 March, the flight of Ospreys, escorted by AH1Z Viper attack helicopters, approached the shore of Dominica. The land below was calm and quiet, with the only sounds in the darkness being early morning breeze rustling the green foliage and the pounding surf on the island’s coast. Immediately this serenity was overthrown by the roar of the massive engines and the heavy chopping sound of the huge propellers. Tall grass blades were forced to lay down when the Ospreys began their descent into the landing zone, the Vipers prowled the vicinity searching for any ground threat to the landing. Suddenly the threat they hunted for revealed itself, and a fusillade of thick green tracers exploded from a nearby hilltop into the Ospreys. The Vipers quickly silenced this outburst with rockets and 20mm canon of their own, but simultaneously, another enemy position opened up sending an even heavier salvo into the vulnerable Ospreys as they touched down. The Vipers could do nothing to this second enemy position as it was too close to the Marines that struggled to disembark the Ospreys. Chaos ensued in the landing zone as two Ospreys immediately aborted the landing and lifted off with green tracers chasing them away. Two other Ospreys remained in the landing zone until all of their infantry had gotten off, then these too made their escape with enemy fire nipping between them.
On the ground, Second Lieutenant Johnny Nguyen immediately sized up the situation. He was the senior Marine in the company on the deck, the Osprey with his company commander was one of the two that aborted. In the LZ with him was his own platoon, part of another, and some machine gunners who had instinctively established a base of fire and were sending a heavy volume of red tracers into the source of the green ones. They appeared to be effective as the green tracer fire began to slow and become less accurate. Lt Nguyen instantly came up with a plan, his platoon would close on the enemy position under the suppression of the Marine machine guns and take the enemy position from the flank. He quickly briefed his squad leaders and found that few words were necessary as his Marines instantly recognized, as he did, what needed to be done. As his Marines maneuvered on the enemy position, it seemed natural to him, almost smooth. His platoon flowed up the hill like a surging tide and the further they pushed the less resistance they faced. Soon his Marines were clearing out crude fighting holes, some occupied by dead, wounded, or surrendering enemy but most empty as the enemy fled when the Marines closed to within 100 meters. Lt Nguyen had to pull back on the reins and stop his Marines from chasing the fleeing enemy into the jungle. As soon as the shooting stopped, he moved to consolidate his position and treat his casualties.
The United States’ best intelligence was wrong. Major Houston apparently did not husband all of his forces in the capitol but in fact did attempt to defend the airport. It was pure luck that the Marines, unknowingly, attempted to land directly adjacent to the one DNG platoon in the area. Rather than hide or flee, the DNG platoon decided to fight and displayed better judgement than they were believed to possess by holding their fire until the Marines began to emerge from the Ospreys on the deck. Their surprising discipline almost created a disastrous situation for the Americans but the Marines, through their own discipline, grit, and previous training, were able to overcome. Despite their initial advantage, their discipline expired as soon as the Marines began to close on them and many of the remaining DNG soldiers lost their nerve. U.S. intelligence was correct in assessing the DNG would not fight long.
Back on the ships, Colonel Adams received the situation in LZ Albatross in real time and immediately ordered the company standing by in AAV’s to land on the beach. The AAV’s launched into the sea and sparred with the tide. By now the sun was beginning to rise to reveal a surreal and paradoxical scene. From the East a fleet of ships hung in the distance while a group of crocodile like machines churned towards the shore. As the sun broke over the red horizon, the landing craft climbed out of the surf and crawled ashore onto a picturesque beach with beach houses overlooking the water and palms swaying in the breeze. The setting looked like one seen on a postcard until the Marines began to charge out of their vehicles and storm onto the beach. As the roaring amphibians came ashore and Marine infantrymen maneuvered through micro terrain beyond the beach, locals came out to see what all the noise was about. They recognized that Major Houston’s reign was beginning the countdown to its end, and they cheered the American Marines. Many civilians approached the Marines to ask if they could be of any help. “Which way is the airport?” replied the Marines.
Back at LZ Albatross, Lieutenant Nguyen’s platoon had secured the vicinity and the remainder of the company landed. Casualties were evacuated back to the ships and the company moved to isolate the airport. Once in position, the second company landed and shortly thereafter, the airport was secured. The MEU began bringing supplies, equipment, and support troops ashore. Within hours, the company that conducted the amphibious landing in AAV’s had linked up at the airport. More and more Marines, equipment, and supplies were brought in from the ships. Before long, the Marines began to expand their perimeter to create some depth from the airport.
By late afternoon, both of 3/8’s Combined Anti-Armor Team (CAAT) Platoons were ashore and pushing away from the airport on the main road that circled the island’s edge. Each platoon had been ordered to establish blocking positions in order to prevent the DNG from counterattacking the airport. As CAAT 1, under 1st Lt Jones pushed North to establish a blocking position facing West towards the town of Thibaud, they encountered friendly civilians that invited them to come further West.
CAAT 2, under 1st Lt Smith, on the other hand, pushed South to block a key intersection where the outer road that encircled the periphery of the island met a road that cut directly across the island’s interior from the capitol of Roseau on the Western shore. As the platoon approached the intersection where they were to establish their blocking position they encountered a DNG blocking position on the same key terrain, and took fire from the DNG forces waiting for them. The DNG blocking position consisted of a dismounted infantry dug in into fighting positions on either side of the road and on the higher ground that overlooked it. Lt Smith’s point vehicle took a hail of enemy fire and drove off the road into a ditch, as the driver instinctively reacted and tried to get his vehicle out of the path of the oncoming tracers. This was the Marine Corps’ baptism of fire for the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), and it came through well. Though the Marines inside the point vehicle were banged up from the crash, not one was injured. Their JLTV took the impacts from enemy bullets and the hard landing into the ditch on the side of the road well enough, and every Marine inside walked away with minor injuries.
Meanwhile, the following vehicles in CAAT 2 immediately returned fire with their heavy machine guns, spraying the DNG fighting holes on each side of the road with .50 caliber while pumping the hillside positions with 40mm high explosive grenades from their MK-19’s. The engagement was short lived, as the DNG platoon quickly realized they were outgunned and fled into the interior of the island towards Roseau. After consolidating the minor casualties from his point vehicle, Lieutenant Smith decided to pursue the broken enemy and posted his Platoon Sergeant, Gunnery Sergeant Kimbro with one section to block the road leading South while he took the other section West. About two miles down the road, Lt Smith encountered some civilian trucks loaded with uniformed DNG soldiers heading in his direction, to reinforce the blocking position his platoon had just overrun. Rounding a bend in the road, both vehicle columns instantly halted upon first sight of each other but before the DNG troops could dismount, the .50-caliber machine gunner in the turret of Lieutenant Smith’s lead JLTV had his weapon trained on the enemy point vehicle. The DNG platoon surrendered without firing a shot.
As the sun set on D-Day of Operation Express Rage, the MEU was rapidly building up its lodgment at the airport. A steady stream of helicopters and landing craft brought Marines and equipment into the airport. All three rifle companies, and the weapons company from 3/8 were ashore, as well as a growing contingent from the headquarters and services company. Rifle platoons had pushed out from the airport and began patrolling the hills surrounding it in search of the DNG. The Marines found multiple abandoned hastily dug fighting positions with discarded weapons, ammunition, and equipment. They also found uniforms that the DNG troops left behind as they attempted to blend into the local population. The MEU’s artillery battery was now ashore, preparing to execute its first fire missions. They prepared to fire illumination rounds over the islands cities to demonstrate to the DNG that they were in range of 155mm artillery. Large U.S. Air Force transport planes were beginning to land, bringing in the first troops from the Army brigade combat team that would soon take charge and move against the Western part of Dominica. All the while, a coordinated information operations campaign broadcasted these developments across the island to reassure the civilians and intimidate the DNG. It already showed signs of success.
The weight of all of these efforts took a toll on Major Houston’s strength, and his power began to crumble. By the end of the first day, the DNG had lost two platoons in combat against the Marines while other platoons disintegrated to go hide amongst the civilians. He commanded an increasingly shrinking force and crowds were building outside of his headquarters. The word was spreading that the Americans were rapidly gaining control of the island and the DNG was falling apart. The constant flow of aircraft landing at the airport made the inevitability of the collapse of his short regime seem more and more likely with each hour. Houston soon found out that a U.S. Army brigade combat team was being brought in and would soon close in on Roseau. As Houston contemplated whether he should fight to his death, surrender, or try to escape his thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the head of police of the island of Dominica. He had come to arrest Major Houston.
Houston’s short rule was over. Knowing there was no escape and not wanting to die for Houston, the DNG unit that guarded his headquarters decided to surrender to the police. Houston was in custody and the head of police invited Colonel Adams to enter Roseau. The Army brigade combat team was still not all in place, nor ready to begin operations. But the MEU was firmly ashore and conducting operations. Colonel Adams accepted the head of police’s invitation and sent one rifle company mounted in AAV’s into Roseau the following morning. As the large landing craft clattered into the city, civilians cheered their arrival. Marines began joint patrols with the Dominiquais police force, and things quickly started to settle back down to normal. Despite this, the MEU still executed a contingency plan to conduct humanitarian assistance operations in the event that significant infrastructure would be destroyed while Marines seized control of the island. As it turned out, almost no infrastructure was damaged and there was little requirement for Marines to rebuild. Nonetheless, the Marines brought in food and water for displaced people, and though no one was displaced, the local citizens approved of the forethought and preparations made in their interests.
Almost as quickly as the Marines landed, did they start returning to their ships. By D+2 the U.S. Army brigade combat team was fully in place and ready to conduct operations. American soldiers soon pushed out from Douglas-Charles Airport to relieve the Marines and keep order on the island until the Jamaican and Barbadian contingent of the multi-national force was able to relieve the U.S. Army. As soon as reliefs were conducted between soldiers and Marines, the Marines withdrew back to the airport and from there back to their ships. This process took several days with the infantry and artillery moving back to the ships first while the logistics and support units continued with support to the operation with an ever-shrinking footprint. After a few days, these units had also re-embarked and the 24th MEU’s involvement in Operation Express Rage had concluded. The group set sail for Norfolk, Virginia, where they received a hero’s welcome from a proud nation.
The swift liberation of Dominica from a brutal regime reaffirmed decisive American military power at a time when other states sought to challenge the United States in multiple corners of the world. Chinese involvement in the region was set back significantly with the toppling of their client and security in the Caribbean restored to a familiar place. Some nations in the region complained of the return of historic gunboat diplomacy from the United States while others expressed gratitude for the displacement of a subverting prospective overlord and the return to a more stable order. Operation Express Rage and the events that preceded it inevitably set back the Belt and Road Initiative in the Americas considerably. This was especially the case when other nations of the region saw that not only would the United States not tolerate this kind of foreign subversion in its near abroad, but had the means in addition to the will to act against it.
Operation Express Rage marked a new page in Marine Corps history as well. After years of combat operations far ashore in landlocked environments, the Corps had returned to its naval roots to launch an attack from the sea. Despite preparing for a naval campaign where long range missiles would keep the amphibious ready group far away, such weapons did not exist in the enemy’ inventory which allowed the ships to operate offshore. Using both air and amphibious assault to seize a lodgment ashore, the 24th MEU demonstrated that the Marine Corps isn’t bound to a single method of getting troops ashore from a group of ships. Furthermore, when the first wave of Ospreys was not able to land according to plan the MEU committed its reserve, displaying operational flexibility. Lastly, the operation validated the role of amphibious assault as a viable method of getting Marines ashore, and a capability that must be maintained as not every enemy may have the means to oppose a landing on a beach.
After years of conducting operations as a second land army in counterinsurgency and security force assistance missions, the Marine Corps proved its unique relevance once again by providing America’s elected national leadership with options to react to an overseas emergency. An expeditionary force with a formidable complement of organic combat power that was trained and ready to respond, the 24th MEU was the most capable of all the units at the President’s disposal. Not only was this force on scene and ready to respond within days, once committed to action, it accomplished its mission within days giving the President and the American people quick results in an efficient manner.
As had happened multiple times throughout its history, some people questioned aloud if the Marine Corps had passed its prime in a new era of warfare. However, Operation Express Rage verified the utility of the Marine Corps as a forward deployed amphibious force in readiness for crisis response in the 21st century. When America’s elected leadership called for immediate action, it was a Marine Expeditionary Unit that answered the call. With the National Defense Strategy of 2018, the U.S. military reoriented its focus against near peer opponents. The Marine Corps, along with the other branches of American military, changed its focus on how it trained, equipped, and employed Marines to meet this challenge. However, this was not the opponent that Marines faced in Operation Express Rage. Indeed, the DNG were far from it. Instead of a motivated, disciplined, seasoned adversary of similar capabilities Marines faced a second-rate proxy force militia that gave up shortly after Marines established fire superiority. Undoubtedly, training for a fight against troops of matching quality better prepared the Marines of Operation Express Rage.
The short campaign also validated classic Marine Corps fundamentals, which did not change despite the shift to near peer competition. Timeless Marine Corps values such as small unit leadership, mission command, decentralized decision making, having a bias for action, and a strong determination for mission accomplishment manifested themselves in the actions of 2d Lt Nguyen and 1st Lt Smith in the challenges they faced. The initiative these two young officers displayed and the decisions they made highlighted the best weapon that the Marine Corps possesses, which is the awesome potential of disciplined and proficient Marines under the guidance of clever and aggressive leaders. Yet just as quickly as Marines showed they were ready to fight in Operation Express Rage, they also showed the world that they were just as ready to provide humanitarian assistance after the fight had ended. As had said been years before when General James Mattis challenged his Marines to be, “no better friend, no worse enemy,” it was this quality that the world took notice of in Dominica.
Endnotes
[i] Suliman, Adela. “Hurricane-hit Dominica hurries to prepare for next storm season”. ReliefWeb. Thomson Reuters Foundation. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
[ii] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_Dominica
