JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: About 4,000 marines and sailors are also set to sail from San Diego. They're on a six-month voyage that will put them within striking distance of Iraq. CNN's Frank Buckley was on hand for the deployment.</s>FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well it was very emotional here at Pier 13 in San Diego as the Tarawa Amphibious Ready Group got underway. That's three ships, the USS Tarawa, the Duluth and the Rushmore. Aboard those three ships, 4,000 sailors and marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit at Camp Pendleton. This is a previously scheduled deployment, but the emotion we saw here at pier side gave us a sense of the anything but routine nature of this deployment. Given the events in Iraq, families we spoke with said that given the events it was particularly difficult.</s>JESSICA GRAMLICH, NAVY WIFE: Now it's a lot scarier. Makes me so much more worried and it's a lot harder.</s>BUCKLEY: The Tarawa Amphibious Ready Group is expected to be at sea for six months. That's the scheduled deployment period. Of course that could change if they are called into action. I'm Frank Buckley in San Diego. Back to you.</s>CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Frank. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
San Diego Troops Persian Gulf Bound