The U.S. Marine Corps and South Korea joined for Train Ssang Yong 24 on Monday alongside the coastal space of Songra-myeon, Pohang, South Korea with 4 big-deck amphibious ships — two U.S. and two Korean.
The train, held from Aug. 26 – Sept. 7, concerned greater than 13,000 personnel from South Korea and the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, in addition to the U.Ok. Commando Pressure, which is collaborating for a second consecutive yr, a Monday U.S. Marine Corps launch reads.
The main focus of the train is perfecting combined-joint forcible entry operations. Within the state of affairs, coalition forces will neutralize key enemy amenities to finish a hypothetical battle. The Navy and Marine Corps of each international locations held joint amphibious workouts adopted by land-based operations to rehearse eliminating enemy forces.
The amphibious touchdown drill concerned a division-sized touchdown drive. South Korea deployed Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) amphibious assault ships ROK Dokdo (LPH-6111) and ROKS Marado (LPH-1112) together with 20 different ROKN ships, whereas the U.S. deployed amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD-4) and amphibious assault provider USS America (LHA-6) for the drill. Thirty plane, such because the Republic of Korea (ROK) Marine Corps’ MUH-1 “Marineon” helicopters, U.S. F-35B Lightning II fighter plane and ROK Military CH-47 Chinook helicopters additionally took half within the drill. Amphibious dock touchdown ship USS Harpers Ferry (LSD-49), a part of the Boxer ARG, can be collaborating in Ssang Yong 24, although the discharge didn’t point out if it participated within the amphibious touchdown.
The train additionally included the primary deployment of a mixed South Korea-U.S. battle employees, which commanded amphibious operations from Marado. The mixed battle employees is assessing command-and-control capabilities and creating classes for future operations, in keeping with the discharge.
The amphibious touchdown drill included simultaneous amphibious and airborne simulated assaults, with reconnaissance models from the ROK Drone Operations Command offering real-time intelligence, whereas reconnaissance forces from the ROK, U.S. Marines and Royal Marines infiltrated the target space by way of sea and air to conduct surveillance and information precision strike rehearsals.
This was adopted by shut air help offered by Marine Corps F-35Bs and AH-1Z Viper helicopters launched from land and sea. Amphibious forces subsequently stormed the seashores in ROK assault amphibious automobiles and U.S. amphibious fight automobiles (ACVs) to determine a beachhead, adopted by the deployment of armored automobiles by way of U.S. Navy and ROKN touchdown craft together with touchdown craft, air cushion hovercraft and tank touchdown ships. The airborne assault concerned a tactical airdrop from ROK Air Pressure C-130 transport plane, whereas the U.S. Marine Corps’ MV-22 Osprey, ROK Marine Corps’ MUH-1, ROK Military CH-47 Chinooks and ROKN UH-60 helicopters rehearsed air assaults maneuvers.
Following the amphibious assault, the ROK Marine Corps’ logistics models established a division-level fight service help space on the seashore to maintain land operations with the touchdown forces then transitioning to land-based operations. “Rehearsing this sort of mixed joint forcible entry coaching with an amphibious touchdown, then follow-on operations, is essential due to how advanced they’re. The protection of the Korean Peninsula depends upon our ROK-U.S. forces to constantly work collectively, shoulder-to-shoulder, together with this Ssang Yong and into the longer term,” stated Lt. Col. Gabriel Tiggs, government officer of the thirty first MEU, within the launch.
The train additionally marked the primary time the ACV has been deployed in South Korea., “Considerably, Ssang Yong 24 is the primary time the U.S. Marine Corps’ next-generation Amphibious Fight Car is employed in an train on the Korean Peninsula, conducting joint amphibious operations with the ROK Marine Corps. Moreover, the ROK Marine Corps’ MUH-1 helicopters have undergone deck-landing {qualifications} on U.S. vessels for the primary time,” learn the discharge.
Ssang Yong 24 is a uncommon event when the lead big-deck ships of two U.S Navy ARGs and their embarked respective MEUs participated collectively in an train within the Indo-Pacific, particularly Boxer with the embarked fifteenth MEU of the Boxer ARG and America with its embarked thirty first MEU of the America ARG. Issues with the present state of the Navy’s amphibious ships and the lack of USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) to a ship fireplace in July 2020 have restricted ARG deployments from the West Coast to the Indo-Pacific alongside the forward-deployed America ARG. Boxer needed to delay its deployment earlier this yr, leaving San Diego in April however returning again due to engineering issues, solely resuming its deployment in July. The Boxer ARG solely consists of Boxer and Harpers Ferry, as amphibious transport dock USS Somerset (LPD-25), the third ship of the Boxer ARG, deployed in January. Somerset wrapped up its deployment on Aug. 13 when it returned to San Diego. Amphibious transport dock USS Inexperienced Bay (LPD-20) and its embarked thirty first MEU parts of the America ARG is at the moment within the Java Sea, collaborating within the U.S.-Indonesia train Tremendous Garuda Protect 2024.
