U.S. Marines Joint Partners Test Networked EABO
by U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Nicholas Royer March 29,
2021
U.S. Marine Corps exercises have, historically, featured hundreds
of Marines storming ashore under cover of aircraft, with Navy ships
looming ominously on the horizon, and the roar of gunfire, smoke and
shouted commands permeating every aspect of a forced landing en
masse. By contrast, the most recent operations led by 3d Marine
Division looked and sounded like nothing ... then the shooting
began.
During March 2021, U.S. Marines in Japan and Hawaii
teamed up with joint partners to execute networked Expeditionary
Advanced Base Operations (EABO) spanning five separate islands in a
complex display of modern littoral warfare. Exercises Castaway 21.1
in Japan and Spartan Fury 21.1 in Hawaii demonstrated the ability of
the Marine Corps to integrate with the joint force to seize and
defend key maritime terrain, provide low-signature sustainment, and
execute long-range precision fires in support of naval operations
from expeditionary advanced bases.
“These operations can be replicated on any island in the
Indo-Pacific, and working with our joint partners allows us to
refine the tactics, techniques, and procedures to do this in a
real-world situation,” said Lt. Col. Roe Lemons, commanding officer
of 3d Battalion, 12th Marines, whose forces were responsible for
planning and executing much of Castaway 21.1 in Japan. “We are
coming in with stealth, extending the reach of our long-range fires,
and working on our ability to sustain that as long as the maritime
force needs us to control an access point to the sea lines of
communication.”
U.S. Marines with 3d Reconnaissance Battalion, 3d Marine Division reconnoiter their area of operations after conducting a military freefall infiltration during Castaway 21.1 on Ie Shima, Okinawa, Japan, March 9, 2021. The exercise demonstrated the Marine Corps’ ability to integrate with the joint force to seize and defend key maritime terrain, provide low-signature sustainment, and execute long-range precision fires in support of naval operations from an expeditionary advanced base. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Scott Aubuchon)
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Before the introduction of persistent
long-range fires capabilities at the EAB on Ie Shima, Marines with
3d Reconnaissance Battalion and members of the Army Special Forces
and Air Force special operations combined to execute a stealthy
insertion through a daring series of multi-mode infiltrations into
the island via the air and sea. A military freefall infiltration
from an MV-22B Osprey, coupled with an amphibious infiltration under
the cover of darkness, enabled the Marines and their joint
counterparts to thoroughly survey the area for enemy forces and
ensure the suitability of the airfield.
Several F-35Bs from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 soon
joined the battle. Not long after, numerous MV-22B Ospreys and
CH-53E Super Stallions with 1st Marine Aircraft Wing delivered
hundreds of infantrymen with 3d Battalion, 8th Marines who secured
the island, established formidable defenses, and paved the way for
an enduring EAB with responsive long-range fires.
With
hidden firing points dotting islands and a web of fleeting, stealthy
connections facilitating a common operational picture across
multiple domains, Marines charged ahead into mastering new ways to
enable freedom of maneuver for the U.S. Navy and allied forces.
Although dispersed, they were not alone. Leading these complex joint
operations, 12th Marine Regiment was supported by a host of
capabilities within III Marine Expeditionary Force and across the
joint force to include the Navy’s USS Halsey (DDG 97); Air Force
C-17 Globemaster III transports and combat controllers; the Army’s I
Corps Multi-Domain Task Force, 25th Infantry Division, 1st Air
Defense Artillery Regiment, 8th Theater Sustainment Command, and 1st
Special Forces Group (Airborne); and the Space Force.
“We
recognize that our operating environment is changing … the biggest
difference is that we will need to address problems and
opportunities with a joint approach,” said Col. Michael Roach,
commanding officer of 12th Marines. “In this exercise, rather this
competition operation, you saw a networked and distributed force
executing concepts that would be critical to support any future
distributed maritime operation.”
Meanwhile during Spartan
Fury 21.1, 1st Battalion, 12th Marines expanded its ability to
strike targets across the entire Hawaiian Island chain, deploying
High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers from
aircraft and conducting various forms of expeditionary resupply to
include utilizing Army Landing Support Vessels. Moving into
concealed positions via air and sea transport, the mobile launchers
received firing data from both manned and unmanned systems across
multiple domains as Marines operating M777A2 Howitzers spread across
numerous positions to engage targets with live munitions.
U.S. Marines attached to Bravo Battery, 1st Battalion, 12th Marines, stand by with their M777A2 Howitzer during the Spartan Fury 21.1 training exercise, Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii, March 3, 2021. Exercise Spartan Fury demonstrates our ability to conduct distributed operations inside an adversary’s sensors and weapons engagement zone, attain and defend key maritime terrain, and conduct sea denial in support of fleet operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by
Lance Cpl. Brandon Aultman)
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New approaches to the employment and sustainment of these
distributed forces were tested with Marines spread across hundreds
of miles of islands and ocean, working closely with Air Force and
Navy counterparts to achieve outsize effects and remain
undetectable. While naval integration with the Marine Corps is often
viewed in terms of amphibious shipping, this operation featured
Marines working directly with a U.S. Navy Destroyer.
“We are
using the ship’s sensors to extend our range and share information
across the island chain,” said Lt. Cmdr. Jacob Zercher, naval
gunfire liaison officer with 1st Battalion, 12th Marines. “We are
able to broaden what we can see and shoot, as well create a better
shared awareness of the battlespace.”
Numerous exercises in
the past have featured what is known as a HIMARS rapid infiltration,
or HIRAIN, during which a launcher is quickly brought to an
airfield, fires, and leaves. However, the realistic expeditionary
sustainment of an enduring long-range fires capabilities on EABs was
a key focus during these latest operations with the utilization of
mobile surface vessels, aerial delivery facilitated by both Marine
Corps and joint assets, and low-signature ground convoys emplacing
concealed supply caches throughout the area of operations by 1st
Transportation Support Battalion.
“We are validating what we
need to remain in a place like this for an enduring period of time,”
said Maj. Jacob Burton, commander of a HIMARS battery with 3/12
operating on Ie Shima during Castaway 21.1. “We are getting a lot
out of this operation.”
Concurrently, infantrymen with 3d
Battalion, 3d Marines employed a wide-ranging coastal defense around
Okinawa, using highly mobile forces both on land and in quick,
low-profile boats to locate and strike targets at sea. The Joint
Light Tactical Vehicle, already used by Marines with 3d Marine
Division to coordinate distributed air assaults during Forest Light
in 2020, took on a new role by allowing a small group of
missile-armed Marines to detect and strike targets on the move.
U.S. Marines with 3d Battalion, 3d Marines
in a joint light tactical vehicle conduct experimentation in littoral defense operations during Castaway 21.1 around Okinawa, Japan, March 18, 2021. Castaway 21.1 demonstrated the Marine Corps’ ability to integrate with the joint force to seize and defend key maritime terrain, provide low-signature sustainment, and execute long-range precision fires in support of naval operations from an expeditionary advanced base. 3/3 is part of 3d Marine Division, forward-deployed in the Indo-Pacific. (U.S Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Joshua Brittenham)
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“Nothing is off-limits when it comes to learning and
innovating,” said Capt. Jonathan Kohler, a company commander with
3/3 who led the littoral defense operations.
Many aspects of
EABO are nothing new to the Marines of 3d Marine Division. This
storied unit has a long tradition of innovation, development, and
building interoperability with both the joint force and U.S. allies
in the Indo-Pacific region. During 2020 alone, lessons learned from
notable exercises such as Forest Light and Keen Sword, which
featured U.S. and Japanese troops seizing and defending islands and
establishing EABs, were on the minds of many of the Marines along
with the realization that a future fight against a peer adversary
would be a joint endeavor.
“Castaway was an important step
toward enhancing joint interoperability to ensure lethal, ready, and
responsive forces for crises and contingencies with our partners
throughout the Indo-Pacific region,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Erik
Davis, commanding officer of 1st Battalion, 1st SFG (A). “This event
illustrated how Special Operations Forces capabilities can support
the rapid deployment of 3d Marine Division’s long-range precision
fires platforms into austere or remote locations.”
Facilitating this joint integration is a natural fit for the Marine
Corps because the timeless traits of adaptability and teamwork are
cultivated beginning with entry-level training, according to Roach.
“I see our service as being the linchpin to bringing a successful
joint operation together … like we showed this week in Okinawa and
Hawaii.”
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