MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – September 8, 2015 — United States Marines and sailors, along with service members from Japan, Mexico and New Zealand, executed an amphibious landing on the beaches of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton as part of Exercise Dawn Blitz 2015, Sept. 5, 2015.
Dawn Blitz is a multinational, amphibious training exercise intended to refine the Navy and Marine Corps’ ability to effectively operate together as a cohesive crisis response force, as well as strengthen the international military relationships through crisis action planning, cooperation in amphibious operations, and command and control capabilities.
“As our Marines come back from spending the last 14 years very involved in a land war, it’s critical that we take the time to exercise together and ensure that we are good as we can be, and that all of those [amphibious] missions that our countrymen expect us to do around the world are done,” said Vice Adm. Nora Tyson, commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet.
During the amphibious landing, the Marines, sailors and coalition partners used a variety of ways to get troops and supplies ashore. Amphibious assault vehicles, combat rubber raid crafts, landing craft air cushions, CH-53E Super Stallions, MV-22B Ospreys and Japanese CH-47 Chinooks were all used during the landing.
“Amphibious operations are really complex,” said Lt. Gen. David Berger, commanding general, I Marine Expeditionary Force. “As we train today at sea and ashore, make no mistake, our men and women in uniform are motivated and eager to become the best warfighters they can be to support and defend this great Nation.”
The U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and partner nations were in communication throughout the landing to ensure that all movements were in sync.
“Dawn Blitz is a great opportunity to train with the nations we are partnered with,” said Berger. “For 2015, we are honored to have Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, Chile and Colombia working closely with us again to further enhance our combined ability to conduct complex amphibious operations. I’ve seen them first hand, working alongside coalition partners, broadening their perspective of the world and learning what it means to be an expeditionary force in readiness.”