Blue-Green operations

Pimp My Ride: Afghanistan Edition

By Hope Hodge Seck on May 28, 2014 Afghanistan, Blue-Green operations, Embedded journalism, Training, Vehicles

During my last few days in Afghanistan, I got a behind-the-scenes look at a “dress rehearsal” for a large-scale training exercise the Afghan National Army’s 215th Corps was planning at Camp Shorabak in Helmand province to showcase the Corps’ military training and enhance interoperability. The scale of the exercise was pretty impressive: it involved hundreds of Afghan soldiers, two of the 215th Corps’ Mi-17 helicopters, and over a dozen M1117 armored vehicles, plus Humvees and trucks. The M1117, used by the U.S. Army’s military police corps and the Army National Guard, has less armored protection than the Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle,…

This new Marine Corps project looks like a cross between a tank and a giant paddle boat

By Hope Hodge Seck on February 27, 2014 Battle Rattle, Blue-Green operations, Boat operations, Life at sea

Meet the Ultra Heavy-lift Amphibious Connector, or UHAC, currently being developed by the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab as a potential replacement for the Navy’s current ship-to-shore hovercraft. The photo above is just a half-scale model: a full-scale version will sit some 34 feet high and 84 feet long. The secret behind this machine is foam tracks with captive air cells, which allow it to propel itself through the water at up to 20 knots, and then move onto land. Because it has a very low ground pressure footprint–about one pound per square inch–it can cross marsh land and mud flats…

U.S. Marines cast long shadow near Syrian fighting

By Dan Lamothe on June 11, 2013 26th MEU, Blue-Green operations, Reconnaissance

The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit landed in Jordan recently, putting the bulk of its 2,400 personnel on land to participate in Exercise Eager Lion. It’s an annual event designed to improve security in the region and relationships between the two militaries. As MEUs frequently do, however, the unit has cast a long shadow across the region. Ongoing fighting in Syria between government forces and rebels has gripped the region, leading to some foreign media reports questioning whether the Marines have been stationed along the Syria-Jordan border for the sake of security. Take this one: A large American military force disembarked…

26th MEU set to deploy

By Gidget Fuentes on March 5, 2013 26th MEU, Blue-Green operations, budget, Camp Lejeune, Deployments, Marines, MEU operations

[Updated: High winds and strong seas churned by that winter storm the National Weather Service dubbed Saturn has pushed the deployment start by several days, the Navy announced. The three ships of the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group will depart the Norfolk, Va., area on Monday, March 11, according to U.S. Fleet Forces Command. That will give a few extra days at home for the sailors and Marines before they take their final equipment aboard and begin the scheduled deployment with, hopefully, smoother seas and calmer stomachs.] The federal budget crisis has put a halt to some ship deployments, but the 2,200…

Almost home: 24th MEU packed and ready to get feet dry

By Gidget Fuentes on December 14, 2012 24th MEU, Blue-Green operations, Camp Lejeune, Deployments, Marines

The first of 2,300 Marines and sailors will be streaming home starting Sunday as the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit closes out an overseas shipboard deployment that’s stretched eight-and-a-half months. On Sunday, crews aboard dock landing ship Gunston Hall and transport dock New York, which is wrapping up its maiden deployment, will offload Marines and their vehicles and equipment at the port in Morehead City, not far from the 24th MEU’s home in Jacksonville at Camp Lejeune, N.C., officials announced today. The Marines will load buses and head over to the base later in the afternoon to reunite with their family and friends. On…

Staten Island residents desperate for Marines’ help

By Gina Harkins on November 5, 2012 Battle Rattle, Blue-Green operations, Life at sea, Marines, MEU operations

NEW YORK – Mounds of garbage and debris are piled along the streets in Staten Island, pick-up being just one of the many services residents haven’t had access to in Hurricane Sandy’s aftermath. Evidence of people living normal lives just a week ago now lines the curbsides of the New York borough devastated by last week’s superstorm. Appliances, furniture, children’s toys and other everyday items are just dumped at the edge of the streets, since residents ran out of garbage bags to pack them into days ago. The smell of rotting trash lingers in the air. Power lines hang down…

At sea, 31st MEU and 15th MEU ready to help

By Gidget Fuentes on October 5, 2012 Allies and training, Blue-Green operations, MEU operations, The Pacific

Natural disasters like typhoons and heavy storms that lead to mudslides are no stranger to the Asia-Pacific region, including the Philippines, which sees almost annual devastation from Mother Nature from heavy rains and winds. When that happens, the Marine Corps and the Navy sometimes get the call to respond and help in what’s been a long-running relationship well predating the so-called “pivot” to the Pacific. Starting Oct. 8, Marines and sailors with the Okinawa, Japan-based 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, currently aboard amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard, will join with Philippine military forces for a two-week bilateral exercise in the Philippines…

15th MEU ready to roll, but it’ll be final call for Battle Phrogs

By Gidget Fuentes on September 14, 2012 Aviation, Blue-Green operations, Camp Pendleton, Life at sea, MEU operations, Pacific issues

When the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit sets sail aboard three Navy ships from San Diego, Calif., on Monday, its departure will mark the start of the final stateside MEU deployment for the Marine Corps’ fleet of CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters. The tandem rotor helicopter, nicknamed the Battle Phrog for its quirky silhouette, is getting replaced by the MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor, and the Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based 15th MEU will be the last stateside MEU to deploy with the Phrogs as part of its aviation combat element. The next unit that follows, the 13th MEU, is slated to have an Osprey squadron…

A little dessert goes a long way

By Gidget Fuentes on April 27, 2012 Blue-Green operations, Food, Life at sea

You have to wonder how quickly these Marines devoured that ice cream. Amphibious assault ship Makin Island held an ice cream social for Marines and sailors aboard the San Diego-based ship, which has been deployed in the Arabian Sea region with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit and a three-ship amphibious ready group. As these junior Marines are learning, sweets like ice cream, cakes and cookies are often readily available aboard many if not all ships at sea, yet they still are familiar, comforting. Besides, you can’t really ruin ice cream, or most any dessert for that matter. Ice cream is…

Takedown! 15th MEU steps out for diverse missions

By Gidget Fuentes on April 20, 2012 Anti-piracy, Blue-Green operations, Maritime Raid Force, MEU operations

It’s a big ocean out there. The Marine Corps’ push to return to its maritime roots and get more leathernecks out to sea on Navy ships means a brighter spotlight on some of those missions that haven’t routinely been done by units more attuned to the sandbox of combat. While the public might be more aware of operations to track and capture gun-toting hijackers and pirates or terrorists at sea, such visit-board-search-seize training (above photo) aren’t the only high-speed training Marines are getting to do. Just this month, after some training in San Diego, Calif., members of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit headed north to Ventura…

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