Our grandson just got out of the Marines. He was deployed to Afghanistan for about 8 months, but the story I'm about to tell you is when he was stationed on a carrier off the coast of Libya. During the Benghazi fiasco Andrew's ship was in Libyan waters just off the coast. (I'm not good at military terminology so forgive me if I get this part wrong). Andrew's "squad" was about 128 men, divided into "platoons" of about a dozen men each, he was in charge of his platoon.
When it became known that the consulate was under siege, the entire squad was given combat ready orders. They were stationed, guns in hand, (his words) and sleeping at the foot of helicopters whose engines were running slowly (they do this so that the copter can move out more quickly) waiting to be deployed. If word had been given, they could have been in Benghazi in under 20 minutes….10 to board the helicopter, 10 to fly in!
They could see Tripoli from the ship! Their mission: to secure the consulate…which means go in and remove all foreigners! He said there was no question that 128 Marines could have saved the lives of those 4 Americans, including an ambassador.