MarSOC under new command

The special forces section of the Marine Corps will enter its fourth year under a new commander.

Retiring Maj. Gen. Mastin Robeson welcomed his successor, Maj. Gen. Paul Lefebvre, during a Friday Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MarSOC) change of command.

Lefebvre will be the third commander of MarSOC since its activation in February 2006. Since then, MarSOC’s forces have grown from a handful of Marines to more than 2,000 in the nation, including more than 600 at Stone Bay, the command headquarters in Sneads Ferry. Lefebvre comes to the post from his former position as deputy commanding general of Camp Lejeune’s II Marine Expeditionary Force.

Robeson, who marked the end of a 34-year career in the Marines on Friday, succeeded Lt. Gen. Dennis Hejlik, MarSOC’s first commander, in the position. All were present for the change-of-command ceremony, as were the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. James Amos; the commander of United States Special Operations Command, Adm. Eric Olson; and civilian leaders including Sheriff Ed Brown and councilmember Randy Thomas, as well as four generations of Robeson’s and Lefebvre’s family members.

"Today will recognize a great general of Marines, not only for his leadership in the past year and a half, but also for a lifetime," Olson said of Robeson.

It was a day for highlighting a closer and more symbiotic connection between and among all branches of the special forces, as well as for transition of power, Olson emphasized in his opening address.

"Many of you have heard me say that special operations forces were born three-quarters joined," Olson said. "This was rectified not quite four years ago with the establishment of Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, making special operations now fully joined with four service components."

In Lefebvre’s short address upon receipt of command, he praised the special forces themselves for their commitment and quality, saying he looked forward to working with them.

"In this place here, you don’t have to coach effort and commitment," Lefebvre said. "It comes with (the MarSOC troops) and they are absolutely excellent."

Olson said MarSOC had been fortunate to be assigned a succession of stellar commanders, a tradition, he said, that Lefebvre would continue.

As for Robeson, who will be returning with his family to live in Greenville, S.C., he spoke with some amazement of how quickly MarSOC’s forces had honed their skills and the command has increased its capabilities.

"I am stunned at how far, how fast they have come," Robeson said.

Robeson told the Daily News that among the MarSOC accomplishments with which he was most under his tenure is the deployment for the first time of a special operations task force to Northern and Western Afghanistan in September, which assumed command control for the area, and reaching an agreement between the Marine Corps and Special Operations Command about the proper capabilities of MarSOC.

MarSOC remains at about 80 percent of its full capability; Robeson said he hoped to see forces grow by 1,000, or about 30 percent, in the near future.

Contact Hope Hodge at 910-219-8453 or hhodge@freedomenc.com.