(left to right) Maj. Tobin Lewis, 37, Capt. Eleanor LeBeau, 29, Cpl. Spencer Collart, 21
THE PENTAGON – Marine Corps officials identified the three service members who were killed in the Sunday crash of an MV-22B off the coast of Darwin, Australia. Read More
A U.S. Marine with India Co., 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment (Reinforced), Marine Rotational Force – Darwin 23 provides security during Exercise Talisman Sabre 23 at Lakeside Airpark, Queensland, Australia, July 28, 2023. US Marine Corps Photo
What began with 250 American Marines and sailors at Australia’s “Top End” 12 years ago has grown into a Marine air-ground task force of 2,500 that spends its seven-month rotation spread across Australia and the western Pacific. Read More
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Austin McBain, a fire support specialist with 1st Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, I Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) Information Group, monitors a radio during exercise Summer Fury 20 in Yuma, Ariz., on July 14, 2020. US Marine Corps Photo
This post is part of a series of stories looking back at the top naval news from 2020.
2020 was a turning-point year for the Marine Corps. After previewing changes to come in his Commandant’s Planning Guidance released last year, Commandant Gen. David Berger released a Force Design 2030 document this year outlining major changes in how the service would operate and equip itself. No longer would the Marine Corps be a service schlepping around tanks for sustained ground operations; rather, it would be light and mobile, using small ships to maneuver around islands and shorelines to attack an adversary from all angles and challenge their ability to track and target the small and on-the-move units. Read More
Guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG-104) steams in the Persian Gulf on Sept. 29, 2020. US Navy Photo
The 21st century is again the time to show off the “power of naval diplomacy” — from ship visits to officer exchanges — to counter China’s global maritime ambitions, two security experts said last week. Read More
U.S. Marines with Marine Rotational Force – Darwin receive COVID-19 test at Royal Australian Air Force Base Darwin in NT, Australia on June 18, 2020. US Marine Photo
A Marine assigned to the rotational force in Northern Australia has tested positive for COVID-19, the service announced early Friday. Read More
U.S. Marines with Marine Rotational Force – Darwin receive COVID-19 test at Royal Australian Air Force Base Darwin in NT, Australia on June 18, 2020. US Marine Corps Photo
This year’s deployment to Darwin, in Australia’s Northern Territory, hasn’t gone as initially planned. Travel restrictions and quarantining requirements due to the novel coronavirus drove the Marine Corps to send a smaller, 1,200-member force for the rotational deployment program, now in its ninth year. That’s less than half the size that deployed in 2019, the first time Marine Rotational Force-Darwin reached its 2,500-personnel maximum. Read More
Marines with Marine Rotational Force – Darwin arrive at RAAF Base Darwin in Darwin, NT, Australia, June 2, 2020. US Marine Corps Photo
Marines are on the move this week, with the latest contingent arriving in Australia for the resumption this summer of the rotational forces to Darwin and the command element of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit taking the helm of a Middle East-based response force. Read More
U.S. Marines with Marine Rotational Force – Darwin (MRF-D), arrive as part of the force enhancement for the 2019 rotation at RAAF Base Darwin, Australia, on July 17, 2019. Marine Corps Photo
U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific will resume its annual deployment to Australia, after the U.S. and Australian governments previously announced a delay due to COVID-19-related travel restrictions. Read More
U.S. Marines with Marine Rotational Force – Darwin (MRF-D), arrive as part of the force enhancement for the 2019 rotation at RAAF Base Darwin, Australia, on July 17, 2019. Marine Corps Photo
The deployment of a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) platoon to Australia has helped the Marine Corps reach the 2,500-Marine presence in Darwin that U.S. and Australian leaders promised in 2011. Read More
