 The "Fighting 13th’s" thirteenth deployment began six weeks early when it departed 1 December 2001, in response to Operation Enduring Freedom being conducted in Afghanistan.Aircraft from HMM-165 (Rein) played an integral part in the air war conducted during Operation Enduring Freedom and provided the primary air support during Operation Anaconda in the early months of 2002.In addition to the 13th MEU (SOC)’s role in Operations Enduring Freedom and Anaconda, the MEU conducted humanitarian assistance operations in Kenya.