Throughout ESF operations, we mixed the usNimitz (CVN 68), Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Decatur (DDG 73), USS Chung Hoon (DDG 93), USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 9, and the squadrons of embarked Provider Air Wing (CVW) 17 with the amphibious capabilities of the usMakin Island (LHD 8), USS Anchorage (LPD 23), USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26), and embarked thirteenth MEU. The Nimitz Expeditionary Strike Group performed simulated maritime area strikes, integrating Marine F-35B’s with Navy F/A-18’s, an amphibious assault, and built-in ship formations. The combination of naval fight energy and amphibious capabilities demonstrated high-end conflict preventing functionality, maritime superiority and next-level naval integration.
“The Nimitz Expeditionary Strike Drive operations reinforce our built-in joint drive capabilities,” mentioned Rear Adm. Christopher Sweeney, commander, Provider Strike Group (CSG) 11. “Combining the capabilities of CSG 11 with the ARG/MEU, we broaden the choices this blue-green crew gives the joint drive commander, and enhance our skill to create theater-wide results in assist of a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
Combining the separate and sophisticated operations of CSG 11 and the ARG/MEU crew begins with integrating every day battle rhythms. A community of liaison personnel, cross-pollinated between the usMakin Island and the usNimitz, additional enabled the commander to orchestrate the amphibious upgrades to CSG 11. The distinct coronary heart beats of 9 ships grow to be one, because the Expeditionary Strike Group fuses capabilities and synchronizes operations. “This integration demonstrated what it means within the Indo-Pacific theater to mix the preventing energy of the ARG and CSG, making a drive that may function over land and sea,” mentioned Lt. Cmdr. Simone Mims, plans and ways officer, USS Makin Island. “We are able to speak about what we expect ESF is or appears like, however after we truly function collectively, we unlock potentialities that assist redefine what it means for US forces to function from sea.”
The Nimitz ESG executed division ways, maneuvering ships and plane into formation, symbolizing the visceral integration of the Makin Island ARG/thirteenth MEU crew and CSG 11. Plane from the usMakin Island and USS Nimitz joined the formation, as a symphony of rotary-wing and jet noise echoed by way of the South China Sea. Plane included P-8A’s and F/A-18’s off the usNimitz and MV-22B’s, MH-60’s and F-35B’s off the usMakin Island.
“The CSG has a lot to supply the thirteenth MEU’s embarked Aviation Command Component, similar to air-to-air refueling, airborne command and management, Electromagnetic Assault (EA), and weapons that the F-35B can’t carry,” mentioned Capt. Murphy Mosley, F-35B pilot, Marine Fighter Assault Squadron (VMFA) 122, thirteenth MEU. “Our F-35B’s supply a way more superior sensor suite and low-observable functionality. We provide the flexibility to fly right into a contested atmosphere, one which might not be permissive to 4th Technology plane, and create a permissive atmosphere for follow-on tasking.” The mixture of those complimentary plane gives a strategic benefit when tackling various duties, the ARG/MEU could also be referred to as to reply to because the Division of Protection’s premier crisis-response drive.
The distinctive amphibious capabilities of the Makin Island ARG/thirteenth MEU had been employed through the amphibious assault train, launching Marine Corps light-armored reconnaissance automobiles (LAV’s) aboard touchdown craft, air cushion (LCAC’s) from ship to a notional shore. MV-22B Osprey’s flew above the LCAC’s, simulating projecting an organization of Marines ashore. The train displayed the ship-to-shore capabilities of the ARG/MEU crew, highlighting the distinctive amphibious enhancements the ARG/MEU brings to ESF operations.
An adaptable blue-green crew that enhances the joint drive, amphibious ships and embarked Marines, convey an afloat Marine Air-Floor Activity Drive anyplace on this planet. All through ESF operations, we demonstrated the worth the ARG/MEU brings to a Provider Strike Group. “The thirteenth MEU brings the complete capabilities of an afloat Marine Air-Floor Activity Drive,” mentioned Col. Samuel Meyer, commanding officer, thirteenth MEU. “Synchronizing all warfighting capabilities from amphibious ships allows the mobility, sustainability and adaptability to reply to emergent threats and crises anyplace required.”
The ARG/MEU crew mixed with the expansive capabilities of a CSG deters malign exercise, guaranteeing a free and open Indo-Pacific. ESF operations had been performed by the Nimitz CSG, Makin Island ARG and 13th MEU to reveal the U.S. dedication to sustaining freedom of the seas and upholding peace and stability within the area.
