Tag Archives: 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit

Nimitz Strike Group, Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group Drill in South China Sea

Nimitz Strike Group, Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group Drill in South China Sea

An MV-22 Osprey from the “Ugly Angels” of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 362 flies by the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) in the South China Sea on Feb. 11, 2023. U.S. Navy Photo

A United States Navy carrier strike group and amphibious ready group are drilling in the South China Sea in the service’s latest effort to test how the formations can operate together with their respective platforms. Read More

Makin Island ARG, Marines Drill with Indonesian Forces in the Java Sea

Makin Island ARG, Marines Drill with Indonesian Forces in the Java Sea

Indonesian Navy Rear Adm. Rachmad Jayadi deputy commander, Indonesian Navy Education and Training Doctrine Development Command, and U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Joaquin Martinez, vice commander, U.S. 7th Fleet, walk down the center aisle to being the opening ceremony for Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training 2022, Dec. 7. US Navy Photo

The Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group with the embarked 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit is now operating in the Java Sea with Indonesian forces for the next two weeks as part of the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Indonesia 2022. Read More

Sailors Get Experience with Marine MV-22s Before Operating First Navy Ospreys

Sailors Get Experience with Marine MV-22s Before Operating First Navy Ospreys

A CMV-22B Osprey, attached to the Blackjack of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Two One (HX-21), flies near the amphibious transport dock ship USS New York (LPD-21) on July 18, 2020. US Navy Photo

An overseas deployment with Marines is giving some of the Navy’s first crews that will operate its new cargo-delivery fleet of CMV-22B Osprey aircraft hands-on experience with tiltrotor technology and operations. Read More

Top Stories 2019: Marine Corps Operations

Top Stories 2019: Marine Corps Operations

A Marine with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, assigned to the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force – Crisis Response – Central Command (SPMAGTF-CR-CC) 19.2, participates in a tactical vehicle driving course in Kuwait on Dec. 21, 2019. US Marine Corps Photo

This post is part of a series of review stories looking back at the top naval news from 2019.

The Marine Corps put into practice the concepts it has been writing and wargaming in recent years, showing what its Expeditionary Advance Base Operations (EABO) might look like in a modern-day island-hopping campaign. Read More

F-35B Allowed Essex ARG to Flex New Blue-Water Capabilities in Absence of Carrier Nearby

F-35B Allowed Essex ARG to Flex New Blue-Water Capabilities in Absence of Carrier Nearby

Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD-2) transits the Gulf of Aden during a vertical replenishment while on a regularly scheduled deployment of Essex Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU). US Navy Photo

ARLINGTON, Virginia – The F-35B Joint Strike Fighter is not only changing the way Marine forces conduct their missions, it is also changing the way the amphibious navy can do its work in the absence of an aircraft carrier, leaders from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit and Essex Amphibious Ready Group said. Read More

13th MEU, Essex ARG Return Home, Ending First F-35B Combat Deployment

13th MEU, Essex ARG Return Home, Ending First F-35B Combat Deployment

An F-35B Lightning II assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 211, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), moves into position to land aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2), Jan. 9, 2019. US Marine Corps photo.

This post has been updated to include a statement from U.S. 3rd Fleet.

Marines and sailors with the Essex Amphibious Ready Group and 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit flowed off their ships and back home on Thursday, ending an eight-month deployment that included the first-ever combat strikes by the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter. Read More

First Marine F-35B Combat Deployment Hints at New Roles for Amphibious Ready Group

First Marine F-35B Combat Deployment Hints at New Roles for Amphibious Ready Group

An F-35B Lightning II with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), prepares to land aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2), while another F-35B Lightning II flies over on Dec. 4, 2018. US Marine Corps Photo

After eight months at sea with a squadron of F-35B Lighting II Joint Strike Fighters, the Marines and the Navy are seeing how the next-generation aircraft will expand the effectiveness of U.S. amphibious forces. Read More