Peacekeeping
East Timor Peacekeeping (INTERFET)
When East Timor's vote for independence touched off a wave of militia violence, an Australian-led coalition moved in to restore order, and the United States came along to provide the muscle behind the scenes.
The Marines did not lead the charge here. Their value lay in what they brought that few others could: the logistics, the communications, the intelligence reach, and the quiet menace of an expeditionary unit waiting offshore, ready to come ashore if the situation turned. That combination of enablers and presence gave the intervention its backbone and helped it succeed without a major fight. The militias melted away, the violence subsided, and East Timor moved toward independence. It was a supporting role, played out of the spotlight while a close ally took the lead, but it was the kind of behind-the-curtain contribution that lets a coalition operation work, the unglamorous weight that tips the balance.
Record no. 27