INDOPACOM Deployment Snapshot

From January-November 2024, elements of the 15th MEU (Marine Expeditionary Unit) and ships of the USS Boxer Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) completed a staggered deployment to US IndoPacific (INDOPAC) area of responsibility and, by extension, US Third and Seventh Fleets. Under this construct, MEU elements and their host ships, incrementally deployed to the AOR, as opposed to the traditional “group sail” model.

Deployment details were summarized at a virtual media roundtable hosted by US Marine Corps this 4 February and in a supplemental fact sheet.

At the strategic level, the Navy-Marine Corps team’s deployment supported the Biden administration’s strategy to maintain a US military presence in the vast AOR. At the operational level the two services completed more than 80 operations, activities and investments (OAIs) in support of theatre commanders.

Expanding the Multi-lateral Training Envelope

One attention-getter from the briefing was the scope of the sea services’ bi- and multilateral training construct –with an array of other military and government partners. Of note, several participating exercise partners were from nations outside the INDOPAC AOR – Germany, Israel and the United Kingdom, supporting their nations governments’ forward presence missions. A fact sheet noted, “During the deployment, the 15th MEU trained with more than 20 multinational partners (Australia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, and the United Kingdom), USAID, and other entities, demonstrating US commitment to our allies and partners.”

One representative exercise during the MEU/ARG deployment was Ssang Yong with Republic of Korea Navy and Marine Corps elements completing amphibious assault events with their US counterparts. Elsewhere during the deployment Indian and US forces focused on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations in port and the waters adjacent to India during Exercise Tiger Triumph.

Numerous other missions trained to by the MEU/ARG and their allied and partner counterparts during the staggered deployment included urban operations, UAS operations, live-fire and others.

Inclusive Weapons Platform Mix

Beyond the diverse and eclectic mission sets trained to, the staffs ensured the inclusion of diverse weapons platforms from the services’ inventories to support high-fidelity exercises and events.

In one case, F-35Bs were strategically relocated from home base at Yuma, Arizona into the region. Elsewhere the first full detachment of H-1 helicopters operated from an expeditionary sea base ship (USS Miguel Keith (ESB-5)).

The Sea Services Have our Attention

The recently concluded 15th MEU/Boxer ARG provided a number of lessons learned and impressions on how the two services will train to meet evolving threats in the INDOPAC.

MS&T will be following and commenting on other major developments in Navy-Marine Corps training activities in and beyond the INDOPAC AOR.