AUGUST 3, 2023 – The amphibious assault ship USS America was abuzz with activity as Marines of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit prepared to make an amphibious assault from the Coral Sea in Queensland, Australia.
The America is the lead ship of the expeditionary strike group that includes the amphibious transport dock ships USS Green Bay and USS New Orleans. All are participating in Exercise Talisman Sabre 23.
Transporting Marines to shore are CH-53D helicopters and MV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. Providing close-combat air support for the landing are F-35B Lightning II aircraft and AH-1Z Viper helicopter gunships.
The Green Bay and New Orleans both have well-decks that allow landing craft air cushion hovercraft to put Marines ashore quickly.
Dozens of exercise leaders gathered in the fitness room of the America where a large, cardboard model of the landing area was on the floor showing landing zones, terrain features, objectives, enemy disposition and other key elements.
U.S. Marines and forces from Japan, Australia and Germany gathered around the terrain model for the rehearsal of concept briefing of the planned amphibious assault that included reconnaissance and surveillance, weapons disposition, intelligence, enemy force locations, logistics, medical and other aspects.
Marine Corps Col. Matthew C. Danner, commander of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, said an amphibious assault has a lot of moving parts and a lot can go wrong, which is why this briefing is so critical. In a real combat situation, it’s exactly how the planning takes place.
Commenting on the presence of allied forces on the America and on their own ships in the vicinity, Danner said the Marine Corps always operates with allies and partners, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region.
U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Christopher Stone, commander of the Task Force 76/3, said allies in this exercise are fully integrated and communicate among each other constantly so everyone has a clear picture of what’s happening or going to happen.
These allies and partner nations desire regional security, freedom of navigation and peaceful coexistence.
A lot of other activity was taking place elsewhere on the America, as well.
Marine Corps Capt. Andrew E. Wills, an Osprey pilot, was putting in flight hours. The Dallas native had high praise for his crew and mechanics.
Wills’ squadron, VMM-265 (Rein.) from Marine Corps Air Station Futenma on Okinawa, Japan, won the squadron of the year award for a great safety and maintenance record, along with a high number of flight hours, he said.
Wills’ father was a naval flight officer on a P-3 Orion, which is a turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft. As such, he said they always have a lot of naval aviation topics to talk about.
Marine Corps Sgt. Collier Zelenka, who’s from 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines was preparing his M4 carbine for the landing. Zelenka, a squad leader, showed the weapons scope, laser and flashlight attachments, as well as the camouflage paint he applied to the carbine.
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Chris Alegria, a 21-year-old machine gunner from Oakland, California, is from the same unit as Zelenka.
Deployments like this involve a lot of humping — what civilians call hiking. Service members carry heavy loads and often don’t get much sleep. “But despite being tired, you feel a sense of accomplishment,” he said.
Alegria added that there’s a lot of camaraderie in his unit. When they’re not deployed, he said there’s always unit sports going on after hours — like kickball — that everyone likes to participate in.
Marine Corps Sgt. Marygrace Barros, 25, is from Seattle. As a member of Engineer Platoon, Combat Logistics Battalion, she said her job is water support technician.
That involves providing drinking water to Marines even if there’s a lack of fresh water available. That could include purifying water or even desalination of sea water, she said.
She said deployments like this are rewarding, and it’s great to provide water sustenance for thirsty Marines.
Barros said one of her best times in the Marine Corps was providing drinking water to Afghan evacuees. She, like many others in her unit, plans to make the Marine Corps a career.
This year marks the 10th iteration of Talisman Sabre, a biennial exercise designed to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific by strengthening partnerships and interoperability among key allies. The spelling of the name — sabre vs. saber — reflects which country is leading the exercise: Talisman Sabre when Australia leads and Talisman Saber when the U.S. leads.
Over 30,000 personnel and 13 nations from Japan to Germany are participating in this year’s full exercise. This year is the largest Talisman Sabre ever in its history, since the exercises began in 2005.
By David Vergun , DOD News