USS Harpers Ferry, Embarked Elements of 15th MEU Return to California After Indo-Pacific Deployment

October 18, 2024 5:44 PM
U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Michael Garcia, an amphibious assault vehicle crewmember assigned to Alpha Company, Battalion Landing Team 1/5, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, reunites with his child and wife aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California Oct. 16, 2024. US Marine Corps Photo

Amphibious warship USS Harpers Ferry (LSD-49) and embarked elements of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) returned home on Wednesday, wrapping up a seven-month deployment to U.S. 7th and 3rd fleets.

The 15th MEU’s embarked elements on Harpers Ferry included Marines and sailors from the Command Element, BLT 1/5, and Combat Logistics Battalion 15, according to a Thursday Marine Corps release.

Some sailors and Marines returned to Camp Pendleton on Wednesday, while Harpers Ferry pulled into San Diego on Friday.

Harpers Ferry is part of the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group, which also includes amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD-4) and amphibious transport dock USS Somerset (LPD 25). Maintenance issues with Boxer led the ships in the ARG to deploy separately to the Indo-Pacific.

The deployment was further complicated by the grounding of all V-22 Ospreys in December following a November crash of an Air Force CV-22 and the loss of its entire crew in Japan. The grounding order lifted in early March, but at that time, it was uncertain whether the 15th MEU’s Ospreys assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 165 (Reinforced) would be certified in time for the deployment.

Somerset left for deployment in January with embarked 15th MEU elements to carry out exercises in Thailand, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines before finishing up its deployment with participation in the Rim of the Pacific 2024 exercise in Hawaii. The amphibious transport dock returned home to San Diego on Aug. 13. Somerset together with its 15th MEU elements recently participated in San Francisco’s Fleet Week from Oct. 7-14.

Boxer departed on April 1 but returned to San Diego ten days later after suffering damage to its rudder. Following repairs, it resumed the deployment on July 3. The big deck amphibious ship headed toward Hawaii, where it waited until July 23 to embark its 15th MEU elements, which completed taking part in RIMPAC 2024 and subsequently went to the Indo-Pacific. Boxer and the embarked 15th MEU elements are currently in the Philippine Sea, taking part in the U.S-Philippine exercise KAMANDAG 8.

A Marine Corps amphibious combat vehicle attached to Alpha Company, Battalion Landing Team 1/5, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, splashes off the amphibious dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry (LSD-49) during Exercise Balikatan 24 in Naval Detachment Oyster Bay, Palawan, Philippines, May 4, 2024. US Marine Corps Photo

Harpers Ferry, which deployed on March 19, marked a milestone with the first operational use of the Marine Corps’ new Amphibious Combat Vehicles, according to the release.

“The experience and insights gained by the ACV Platoon and Battalion Landing Team 1/5 during this deployment have laid the groundwork for refining tactics, logistics, and maintenance practices for future expeditionary operations,” reads the release.

During the deployment, 15th MEU forces aboard Harpers Ferry carried out three major exercises. The first was Exercise Balikatan 24 in the Philippines held from April 22 to May 10. Somerset and its embarked 15th MEU elements also participated.

“During Balikatan, the ACV Platoon conducted a live-fire waterborne gunnery exercise in Oyster Bay, marking the first overseas employment of ACVs,” the release reads. “Using their automated remote weapons systems, the ACVs engaged simulated targets afloat and on shore.”

In June, Harpers Ferry traveled to Okinawa, Japan, where “Alpha Company, BLT 1/5, and the ACV Platoon conducted a ship-to-shore movement, with the ACVs splashing into the waters off White Beach Naval Facility after Alpha Company’s Marines practiced troop egress and transfer procedures,” according to the release. “This marked the ACVs’ first time ashore in a foreign country.”

Harpers Ferry also trained with the Republic of Korea Marine Corps for the Ssang Yong 24 drill in August.

With Harpers Ferry’s return, only Boxer is left deployed in the Indo-Pacific with some of its 15th MEU rotary wing elements deployed on expeditionary support base USS Miguel Keith (ESB-5).

“The H-1 helicopter detachment, part of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 165 (Reinforced), 15th MEU, temporarily transferred to Miguel Keith from the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) on Sept. 21,” the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit said in a separate news release.
“This marked the first time a full H-1 detachment has operated from an ESB-class ship during a deployment, allowing the 15th MEU to extend its aviation operations capabilities across the Indo-Pacific.”

Dzirhan Mahadzir

Dzirhan Mahadzir

Dzirhan Mahadzir is a freelance defense journalist and analyst based in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. Among the publications he has written for and currently writes for since 1998 includes Defence Review Asia, Jane’s Defence Weekly, Navy International, International Defence Review, Asian Defence Journal, Defence Helicopter, Asian Military Review and the Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter.

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