Pacific Perspective - Combat Power:Marine Rotational Force - Darwin Deploys to Northern Territory

According to MRF - D,a new group of about 2,000 U.S. Marines and Sailors in the form of a Marine Air - Ground Task Force has arrived in Australia's Northern Territory for the 13th iteration of the deployment.The arrangement was signed by Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2011.It has another 12 years remaining.Each year,the deployment has grown in scale and complexity,enhancing our Alliance's capability and ability to work together and improving our combined capacity to respond to crises and contingencies in the Indo-Pacific Region.MRF - D remains an important touchpoint of the Australian/U.S. security Alliance,said MRF - D.*Said U.S. Marine Corps COL Brian T. Mulvihill,commanding officer of MRF - D 24.3:Our strong Alliance contributes to stability in the region and enables the readiness of our forces to respond to any crisis or contingency that arises.*Participants will conduct operations across a full spectrum of missions,including expeditionary operations;geographically distributed communications;non-combatant evacuation operations;embassy reinforcements;humaitarian assistance and disaster relief;and rapid projection of combat power.So the Alliance intends to deter our adversaries,and,if necessary,defend the rules-based international order.*The Marines are based at RAAF Darwin and,in concert with the Australian Defence Force,will carry out training throughout the region unitil the end of MRF - D 24.3's deployment in October.*MRF - D is a unit of I Marine Expeditionary Force.The motto of I MEF is "Ready.Engaged.Faithful".I MEF provides the Marine Corps with a globally responsive,expeditionary,and fully scalable Marine Air - Ground Task Force (MAGTF,pronounced MAGTAF),capable of generating,deploying,and employing ready forces and formations for crisis response;forward presence;major combat operations;and campaigns.*Leadership:I MEF is led by LTG Michael S. Cederholm,Commanding General,and MG Robert C. Fulford,Deputy Commanding General.A graduate of Weslyan University,LTG Cederholm,a Marine Corps Aviator,is a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Operation Iraqi Freedom.He is a graduate of the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN);the National War College (MS in National Security Strategy);and is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Seminar XXI Fellow.*MG Fulford was commissioned in 1992 after graduating from the United States Naval Academy.He is a career infantry officer and veteran of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM 1.MG Fulford is a graduate of the U.S. Army Infantry Officer Advanced Course;the Marine Corps Command and Staff College;and the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.*A Marine Air - Ground Task Force is the principal organisation for all missions across the range of military operations.MAGTF's are a balanced,air-ground,combined arms task organisation of Marine Corps forces under a single commander that is structured to accomplish a specific mission.The four elements of a MAGTF are:1.Command Element (CE);2.Ground Combat Element (GCE);3.Air Combat Element (ACE);and 4.Logistics Combat Element (LCE).*The MAGTF was formalised by the publication of Marine Corps Order 3120.3,"The Marine Corps in the National Defense,MCDP 1-0".

Pacific Perspective:1st MARDIV Certifies for Australia Deployment

Marines and Sailors of 1st Marine Division and Expeditionary Strike Group 3 recently concluded Exercise Steel Knight 23.It certified the participants for deployment with the upcoming Marine Rotational Force-Darwin (MRF-D) in Australia's Northern Territory as I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF).Thousands of Marines and Sailors enhanced naval integration,joint planning and expeditionary advanced base operations.The drills took place in two phases:a command post exercise (CPX) and a mission rehearsal exercise (MRX).In the CRX,each subordinate command was tested to collect intelligence on enemy forces;coordinate joint fires;and simulate strikes while sustaining the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) with supplies across dispersed locations.CPX also enabled all-domain operations including cyber,space and information operations to complement kinetic operations in the operational environment.* MRX involved manoeuvring warships,Marine aviation squadrons and staging amphibious landings.Marines and Sailors responded to simulated crises and contingency scenarios in a contested environment.Said USN Rear Admiral James Kirk,commander,Expeditionary Strike Group 3:Simulated combat operations are ongoing to execute sea denial operations so that the joint force can then control and have freedom of movement,and can manoeuvre in a combat scenario to refine operational capabilities and tactics,techniques and procedures (TTPs).* Marines and Sailors also rehearsed the EABO (Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations),meaning employing forces in isolated environments and contested maritime areas.They tested their ability to plan,communicate and operate on small island chains;sea lanes;and aboard ships scattered across vast areas while still synchronised with one another.This took place across multiple locales in Southern and Central California.It's about working together to gain an advantage over a very challenging adversary (such as China,Russia or North Korea) while outpacing an enemy and achieving sea control,according to USMC Major General Benjamin Watson,commanding general of 1st MARDIV,I MEF and Rear Admiral Kirk.* In the course of the exercise,America-class Amphibious Assault Ship USS Tripoli (LHA 7) played a significant role,as did Marine Aircraft Group 3,3rd Marine Aircraft Wing,which conducted an air assault on San Clemente island,California.A US Navy landing craft air cushion with Assault Craft Unit 5 carried an AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task-Oriented Radar.* The Tripoli allows the operation of both the MV-22 Osprey and F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.The warship is armed with 2 Rolling Airframe Missile launchers;2 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile launchers;2x20mm Phalanx CIWS mounts;and 7 x twin .50 BMG machine guns.It also carries electronic warfare devices such as 2 Mk53 Nulka decoy launchers.The Tripoli's complement is 102 officers;1102 enlisted;and 1687 Marines (plus 184 surge).It is the second America-class AAS,commissioned in July 2020.Its homeport is San Diego.*

Honors

Marine Pfc.Dawid Pietrek,24,of Bensenville,Illinois,was one of four U.S. Marines killed in action in Farah Province,Afghanistan on 14 June.A Polish immigrant,he was granted posthumous U.S. citizenship and interred in Arlington National Cemetery.He was a member of I Marine Expeditionary Force,based in Twentynine Palms,California.