Tag Archives: U.S. Central Command

Kearsarge Returns to Norfolk After 7-Month Deployment

Kearsarge Returns to Norfolk After 7-Month Deployment

Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge returns to homeport, July 18, 2019, after the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group’s (ARG) regularly scheduled, seven-month deployment in support of maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the 5th and 6th Fleet areas of operation. Navy photo.

Amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) returned to Norfolk Thursday morning, after completing a seven-month deployment to Europe and the Middle East and having offloaded members of the embarked 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit in North Carolina earlier this week.

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VIDEO: Iran Shoots Down Navy Surveillance Drone in ‘Unprovoked Attack’

VIDEO: Iran Shoots Down Navy Surveillance Drone in ‘Unprovoked Attack’

An undated photo of RQ-4A BAMS-D flying over Maryland. Northrop Grumman photo.

This post has been updated with a statement from U.S. Air Forces Central Command and comments from President Trump.

A Navy high-altitude surveillance unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down by a surface-to-air missile in the vicinity of the Strait of Hormuz by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC announced on Thursday. Read More

Lincoln Strike Group and Kearsarge ARG Exercise Together Outside Persian Gulf

Lincoln Strike Group and Kearsarge ARG Exercise Together Outside Persian Gulf

The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group (ABECSG) and Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group (KSGARG) conduct joint operations in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations on May 17, 2019, in the Arabian Sea. The ABECSG and KSGARG, with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, are prepared to respond to contingencies and to defend U.S. forces and interests in the region. US Navy photo.

As tensions between the United States and Iran continue to rise and fall, a Navy carrier strike group and amphibious ready group exercised together in the Arabian Sea over the weekend in a somewhat rare training event. Read More

Boxer Amphibious Ready Group, 11th MEU Leave on Scheduled Pacific, Middle East Deployment

Boxer Amphibious Ready Group, 11th MEU Leave on Scheduled Pacific, Middle East Deployment

USS Boxer (LHD-4) transits the Pacific Ocean. Boxer is underway conducting routine operations as a part of USS Boxer Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) in the eastern Pacific Ocean on March 20, 2019. US Navy Photo

About 4,500 sailors and Marines left San Diego, Calif., today for a scheduled deployment to the Indo-Pacific and Central Command regions with the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group and 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Read More

U.S. Airstrike Kills Terrorist Behind USS Cole Bombing

U.S. Airstrike Kills Terrorist Behind USS Cole Bombing

MV Blue Marlin transporting USS Cole from Yemen following the 2000 attack on the ship. US Navy Photo

A U.S. military airstrike on New Year’s Day reportedly killed Jamal al-Badawi, who helped orchestrate the October 2000 bombing of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Cole (DDG-67), officials said.

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Marines See Future for Special Purpose MAGTFs Even As Ship Count Rises

Marines See Future for Special Purpose MAGTFs Even As Ship Count Rises

Landing Support Specialists with Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Africa conduct helicopter support team drills with an MV-22B Osprey at Morón Air Base, Spain, Oct. 4, 2017. SPMAGTF-CR-AF deployed to conduct limited crises-response and theatre-security operation in Europe and North Africa. US Marine Corps photo.

THE PENTAGON – The Marine Corps may have expanded its use of ground-based Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Forces (SP-MAGTFs) in response to a shortage of amphibious ships to carry Marines around the globe, but Marine Corps leadership says the service is committed to these units even as the number of available amphibious ships is rising. Read More

Marines Prepared to Use F-35Bs in Middle East Combat If Needed; No Other Naval Aviation Nearby

Marines Prepared to Use F-35Bs in Middle East Combat If Needed; No Other Naval Aviation Nearby

F-35B Lightning II, attached to the “Avengers” of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 211, sit on the flight deck of Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) on Sept. 4, 2018, while transiting the Indian Ocean with San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Anchorage (LPD 23) during a regularly scheduled deployment of Essex Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU). The Essex ARG and 13th MEU is the first U.S. Navy/Marine Corps team to deploy to U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations with the F-35B Lightning II. US Navy photo.

The Marine Corps’ F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters are the only ship-based fixed-wing aircraft in the Middle East right now, and service leaders say the new jets are ready to handle any fight in Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan they may be tasked with. Read More

Crisis Response Marines in Middle East Focused on Operations in Syria, Afghanistan

Crisis Response Marines in Middle East Focused on Operations in Syria, Afghanistan

U.S. Marines with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force – Crisis Response – Central Command train in Jordan on Feb. 26, 2018. US Marine Corps Photo

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Marine Corps’ Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Crisis Response force in U.S. Central Command is becoming increasingly distributed across the Middle East as its role evolves, but it is gaining additional aircraft and a ship it can call upon to help support its vastly spread out operations. Read More

French Amphib Participates in Alligator Dagger off Djibouti; First Year France Included in Exercise

French Amphib Participates in Alligator Dagger off Djibouti; First Year France Included in Exercise

U.S. Marines with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit and French Navy sailors offload from a French landing catamaran at Arta Beach, Djibouti, while conduction amphibious training during Alligator Dagger. US Marine Corps photo.

About 1,000 sailors and Marines from the United States and France trained together in the annual Alligator Dagger amphibious exercise, in the first time France has been brought into the unilateral exercise off the coast of Djibouti.

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Navy, Marines Ponder Alternative Platforms' Role as First ESB Now Operating in 5th Fleet

Navy, Marines Ponder Alternative Platforms’ Role as First ESB Now Operating in 5th Fleet

AH-1 Cobra and UH-1 Huey helicopters assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 161 (Reinforced) land on the flight deck of the expeditionary mobile base USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB 3) in support of Alligator Dagger 2017. Alligator Dagger is a dedicated, unilateral combat rehearsal led by Naval Amphibious Force, Task Force 51, 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade. Combined Navy and Marine Corps units of the America Amphibious Ready Group and embarked 15th Marine Expeditionary Units are to practice, rehearse and exercise integrated capabilities that are available to U.S. Central Command, both afloat and ashore. US Navy photo.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Navy and Marine Corps are committed to using alternative platforms to move Marines around at sea, but there are still decisions yet to be made about how to maximize these ships’ effectiveness and minimize risk while operating independently or as part of a strike group. Read More