05/15/2014: U.S. Marines with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 262(VMM-262) Marine Aircraft Group 36 (MAG 36) 1st Marine Aircraft Wing (1st MAW) III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF), conducts a land survey of landing zones the first day of exercise Cobra Gold 2014, Feb. 10, 2014.
Cobra Gold is a multinational exercise that was developed to strengthen relations between Kingdom of Thailand and the United States.
Credit:III Marine Expeditionary Force Combat Camera:2/10/14
05/12/2014: Marines and Aussies Work Air Ground Assault Training with CH-53s and Tigers in assault exercise.
Air Assault from SldInfo.com on Vimeo.
Credit:MRF-D:5/8/14
MOUNT BUNDEY TRAINING AREA, Northern Territory, Australia – Marines with MRF–D participate in an air-ground bilateral exercise involving both the Marines and Australian Defence Force, here. The Australian Tiger helicopter is part of the fire support to the mission.
The rotational deployment of U.S. Marines affords an unprecedented combined training opportunity with the ADF and improves interoperability between the two forces. (U.S. Marine Corps video by Cpl. James Gulliver/RELEASED)
05/12/2014: CV-22 Images: Almost Like Paintings
[slidepress gallery=’cv-22-images’]
The credit for the first photo goes to Air Force Public Affairs Agency and is dated 5/3/14. The credit for the remaining photos goes to 3rd Combat Camera Squadron and is dated 3/8/12.
The Osprey is a system which allows overlap in USMC and USAF pilot training which is done in New River, North Carolina.
05/12/2014: The establishment of a Marine Corps Rotational Force in Australia is unfolding in a long history of the Aussie-US relationship.
Here the memory of Coral Sea is highlighted.
DARWIN, Northern Territory, Australia – Lieutenant Col. Keven Matthews, commanding officer of 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, Marine Rotational Force – Darwin, speaks at the 72nd anniversary of the Battle of Coral Sea May 9, 2014.
The Marine Corps played a key role alongside the Australian Defence Force to defeat the Japanese in 1942.
Credit: MRF-D:5/9/14
05/10/2014: Soldier from the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force conduct immediate-action drills with 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, during Exercise Iron Fist 2014 aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif., Feb. 4, 2014.
Iron Fist is an amphibious exercise that brings together Marines and sailors from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, other I Marine Expeditionary Force units, and soldiers from the JGSDF, to promote military interoperability and hone individual and small-unit skills through challenging, complex and realistic training.
Credit:15th Marine Expeditionary Unit:2/4/14
05/09/2014: Philippine and U.S. Airmen conduct visual target identification for close air support training at Basa Air Base, Floridablanca, Republic of the Philippines, during Balikatan, May 7, 2014.
Balikatan is an annual bilateral training evolution that helps maintain a high level of interoperability and enhances military-to-military relations and combined combat capabilities.
Credit: Marine Forces Pacific Combat Camera: 5/7/14
05/06/2014: Soldiers from the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force fast rope from a CH-46E Sea Knight while conducting fast-rope training with 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, during Exercise Iron Fist 2014 aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif., Feb. 5, 2014.
Iron Fist is an amphibious exercise that brings together Marines and sailors from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, other I Marine Expeditionary Force units, and soldiers from the JGSDF, to promote military interoperability and hone individual and small-unit skills through challenging, complex and realistic training. (U.S. Marine Corps video by Cpl. Emmanuel Ramos/Released)
Credit:15th Marine Expeditionary Unit:2/5/14
05/06/2014: Marines assigned to Black Sea Rotational Force 14.2 from Weapon’s Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment familiarize Romanian, Armenian and Bulgarian Militaries with BSRF-14’s crew served and personal weapon systems, 29 April 2014 aboard Babadag, Training Area, Romania.
BSRF has deployed to a number of states for exercises and training, including: Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Poland, Republic of Georgia, Finland and Israel.
http://www.marforeur.marines.mil/News/tabid/7609/Tag/12161/black-sea-rotational-force.aspx
Credit: BSRF:4/28/14
According to Wikipedia:
The Black Sea Rotational Force is a yearly program where United States Marine Corps units based in the continental United States perform rotational deployments to U.S. military bases in the Black Sea region.
The force participates in security cooperation to build military capacity, provide regional stability, and develop lasting partnerships with nations in the region.
It is an outgrowth of the previous Joint Task Force East, which was planned to be a rotational brigade-sized Army force.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sea_Rotational_Force
In an interview with Brigadier General O’Meara, commander, U.S. Marine Forces Europe, and deputy commander, U.S. Marine Forces Africa about the newly formed Special Purpose or SP MAGTF, the General discussed BSRF:
SLD: A key aspect of operating in Africa is of course shaping regional situational awareness and partnering skills. Could you talk to that important aspect of the force?
B.G. O’Meara: Indeed, this is an important part of the mission. With this template, we can send small training missions throughout the AOR with a small logistical footprint. The teams will visit for from 7-30 days to work with partner nations, as we are currently doing to prepare some African forces to work in Mali.
There are actually three SP-MAGTFs in the region. For example, there is the Black Sea Rotational Force. Again, it’s a MAGTF, with a battalion-sized company. And they’re up in the Romanian area.
The Marines are clearly expanding the kind of partnership skills necessary for a highly mobile SP-MAGTF to be effective in coalition operations. We understand the region more than I think people assume we do. We understand the eastern part of Europe and now we’re bringing the force south.
The flexibility of the force is important. It’s an AFRICOM requested force in the case of the latest SP-MAGTF, but I think we have the flexibility, if we have to, to support EUCOM if needed it for whatever event pops up. It’s, it’s well-positioned forward.
And it provides a template, which is scalable.
It is a MAGTF and as such we can add key elements to bolster capability and over time the F-35B will be added to the mix, which certainly enhances the performance of this force template.