US Navy and Marine Corps units are wrapping up two weeks of joint drills as part of exercise Pacific Blitz 2019 in and off the coast of Southern California.
The scenario-driven field-training exercise kicked off March 12 and is set to conclude on Tuesday, March 26.
The exercise involved command and control of simultaneous amphibious and maritime prepositioning forces, distributed maneuver, fires, intelligence and logistics support.
“When you consider today’s threats, it is all about maintaining a ready force that can move rapidly into congested domains,” said Lt. Gen. Joseph L. Osterman, commanding general, I MEF. “The future fight is going to require us to leverage a Marine land component as part of our larger goal of sea control. We must train to make time sensitive decisions in the face of uncertainty.”
“The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps are a team, and joint training like Pacific Blitz allow our team to improve our capability to conduct amphibious operations,” said Vice Adm. John D. Alexander, commander, 3rd Fleet. “In the current maritime environment here in the Pacific, joint partnerships and power projection are key to maintaining free and open sea lanes.”
I MEF provides the Marine Corps a globally responsive, expeditionary and fully scalable Marine Air-Ground Task Force, capable of generating, deploying and employing ready forces and formations for crisis response, forward presence, major combat operations and campaigns. I MEF is comprised of more than 50,000 Marines and Sailors who make I MEF one of the most lethal expeditionary forces in the world.
3rd Fleet leads naval forces in the Pacific and provides the realistic, relevant training necessary for an effective global Navy and constantly coordinates with U.S. 7th Fleet to plan and execute missions that promote ongoing peace, security, and stability throughout the Pacific theater of operations.