Source: Reference Military
The reference news network reported on February 22 that the US "Army Times" website published a report entitled "US Marine Corps and Army Conduct Confrontation Exercise in Hawaii" on February 20, saying that in the exercise code-named "Steel Lava" led by the US Army, the US Marine Corps and the US Army must both confront each other and fight side by side in the island crossing operation against fictitious countries. The full text is excerpted below:
At one point, 20 U.S. Marines and 20 U.S. Army soldiers dropped their artillery and began to "fight each other."
No, it's not a game battle, nor is it a late-night bar fight. This happened in a simulated town at the U.S. Military Kahuku Training Area on the Hawaiian island of Oahu as part of the "Steel Lava" exercise. In this exercise, led by the U.S. Army, the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Army will both confront and fight side by side in an island crossing operation against a fictional country.
Both participating units are equipped with electronic sensors that can record when Marines or Army soldiers were shot.
U.S. Marine Corps Second Lieutenant Reilly Rolls Birdsan said in a video posted on the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service website: "It's a bit like a capture the flag game, we set up a defensive position in a building and the Army came to attack it... After that, we exchanged places. The Army is responsible for the defense, and the Marine Corps is responsible for the offense. ”
By the final round, Rawls Birdsan said, Marines and Army soldiers were "mixed together" in order to learn from each other.
Lt. Col. John Gwynn, commander of the U.S. Army Artillery Battalion, told the Marine Corps Times: "In the end, the Marines won. ”
Major Kurt Starr, a spokesman for the U.S. Marine Corps Third Division, told The Marine Corps Times that in addition to being a flaunted capital after the inter-service contest, the purpose of the exercise was to "strengthen joint and coordinated combat capabilities and continue to develop tactics, technologies, and distributed combat procedures."
"The real training goal we can achieve is for the Marines and the Army to live in harmony and work better together." Rawls Birdsan said.
During the exercise, after the U.S. Army units were attacked by the imaginary enemy, the U.S. Marine Corps entered the battlefield to provide support. U.S. Marine Corps CH-53e helicopters suspended M777 howitzers into combat. With the support of artillery fire, the U.S. Marine Corps successfully repelled the "enemy."
From Jan. 18 to 31, the two-week exercise, held in Hawaii, was reminiscent of the World War II strategy that established the reputation of the U.S. Marine Corps' combat units. Marines participating in the exercise included an artillery company from Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, and a third battalion of the Seventh Field Artillery Regiment stationed at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii.
"This exercise allows us to continue to promote our joint partnership at the tactical level while improving our lethality and readiness," Gwen said. ”
File photo: U.S. Marine Corps CH-53E helicopter hoisting the M777 howitzer into the exercise area. (Army Times website)
【Extended reading】Japanese media: Japan, the United States and France will hold the first island seizure training to contain China
On December 7, the reference news network reported that Japan's Sankei Shimbun published a report entitled "Japan, the United States and France will hold the first landing training on outlying islands" on December 6, saying that the reporter learned on December 5 that the Japanese Self-Defense Forces will carry out joint amphibious training in Japan for the first time in May next year related to the recapture of China's Diaoyu Islands and its affiliated islands. At that time, the ships and land forces of Japan, the United States, and France will be assembled to carry out landing training on uninhabited islands in the southwest direction. The full text is excerpted below:
The training will send a positive signal to China, which is carrying out maritime activities in the East and South China Seas in a high-pressure posture, and the addition of French troops from Europe also has the purpose of showing that the encirclement network against China is getting bigger and stronger.
The French naval fleet plans to send a training fleet to dock in Japanese ports next May, when it will be visited by helicopter amphibious ships and frigates carrying alternate cadets of the French Navy. The fleet docked twice at Sasebo Port in 2015 and 2017.
During the docking at Sasebo Port in 2015, under the framework of the Japan-US-France joint training mechanism, the three countries conducted joint training in Japan for the first time, and the ships of the Navies of the United States and France conducted aircraft take-off and landing training in the western waters of Kyushu. In May 2017, the Ground Self-Defense Forces and the British Army joined in to conduct training in the waters surrounding Japan, including the departure and recovery of reconnaissance boats.
The joint training in May next year is nominally aimed at humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, but most of the same courses, including landing training for take-off and landing aircraft on uninhabited islands and landing training courses for amphibious vehicles and ships, are mostly the same as those for outlying island defense and recapture operations. The participation of French troops from Europe in the landing training of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea will send a strong signal and have the effect of containing China. The Sea Carrier, the Land-Based Maneuver Regiment, U.S. Navy ships and marines, French naval vessels, and Army units stationed in French Polynesia are expected to participate in the training.
The Japanese government attaches great importance to strengthening cooperation with the French military in the field of security, and has placed this cooperation at the height of Japan and France joining the "Five Eyes Alliance" and building a 5+2 mechanism. The French military is also involved in the surveillance of North Korea's alleged "ship-to-ship transfer" of maritime smuggling, and in addition to Japan, the Five Eyes countries are also involved in this operation, which means that a 5+2 mechanism has been established in this area. The Japanese government's idea is that this mechanism can also be used to contain China.
（2020-12-07 16:21:47）
【Extended reading】US media: The US Marine Corps rehearsed the "Pacific War" island seizure operation
Reference News Network reported on September 29 that the US "Forbes" biweekly website published a report titled "U.S. Marine Corps Throw Cruise Missiles - Preview of the Pacific War" on September 27, and it is well known that the Pentagon has a new plan to seize the island. The plan could help it counter China. On September 20, the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy's Brave Shield 2020 exercise practiced related tactics. Excerpts from the relevant content are as follows:
On September 20, the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy demonstrated a tactic that could be crucial to the program. U.S. Marines quietly landed on an uninhabited island near Guam. They selected a target in a military bombing range and transmitted the coordinates to a U.S. Navy guided-missile cruiser.
A few minutes later, a Tomahawk cruise missile fired at the range.
The live-fire exercise was part of The Shield of Courage 2020, a 12-day naval exercise near Guam. At least 11 warships, including the U.S. Navy's USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and USS American (LHA-6) amphibious assault ship, as well as more than 100 military aircraft, including the U.S. Air Force F-22 stealth fighter and B-1B strategic bomber, participated in the exercise.
The culmination of the exercise was the sinking of the retired US Navy frigate USS Coates. The 5th Carrier Air Wing on the usable aircraft carrier REA, as well as the guided-missile cruisers USS Antitan, the GUIDS Charlotte and the nuclear submarine USS Chicago, jointly sank the frigate.
The next day, the cruiser Antitan's fire control system targeted the island of Medinilia, a 3-square-mile (7.77 square kilometer) U.S. island that is part of the U.S. Confederation's Northern Mariana Islands.
U.S. Marines from the 5th Air Sea Fire Liaison Company in Japan landed on the island of Medinilia, found a (preset) target, and teleported its coordinate position to the Antitan, whose crew fired a Tomahawk against the land-attack cruise missile at the target.
Russell Caldwell, captain of the cruiser USS Antitan, said: "As part of the Shield of Courage 2020 exercise, this Tomahawk cruise missile strike drill provides an opportunity for the entire USS Reagan carrier battle group to practice key combat skills. ”
File photo: During the exercise, the guided-missile cruiser Antitan fired a Tomahawk against a land attack cruise missile. (Forbes Biweekly website)
The combination of U.S. Marine Corps, battleships and cruise missiles will become even more important. U.S. Marine Corps Commander Admiral David Berger is reorganizing marine expeditionary forces to make them lighter, more survivable, and better suited for island takeover operations.
The U.S. Marine Corps will eliminate all law enforcement battalions, tank battalions, and bridge companies. The Marine Corps will also disband 3 of the 24 infantry battalions, 16 of the 21 artillery companies, and 2 of the 4 amphibious tank companies.
Four Marine Squadrons faced downsizings, including two squadrons of attack helicopters, a squadron of tiltrotors and a squadron of heavy helicopters. The U.S. Marine Corps also wants to squeeze some F-35B short-hanging stealth fighter squadrons, reducing the current F-35B fighter establishment from 16 to 10.
Using the thousands of vacated barracks, Berger will form three "Marine Corps Littoral Regiments," all of which are in the Pacific. The first regiment would include about 2,000 Marines, some of whom were drawn from an infantry battalion currently stationed in Hawaii.
The US Marine Corps Littoral Regiment is an island-grabbing combat unit equipped with missiles. In the future, these "Littoral Regiments" will cross the Pacific Ocean on the new amphibious assault ships being developed by the US Navy, and then land on the islands in "Joint Light Tactical Vehicles" (equipped with "Naval Attack Missiles" with a range of 100 miles (about 160 kilometers)) and "Haimas" high-mobility wheeled multi-tube long-range fires, which the "Littoral Regiment" can use to launch land-based anti-ship missiles. The regiments can also use land-based Tomahawk cruise missiles.
But severe logistical constraints at long distances and oceans may limit the number of heavy missiles that a Littoral Regiment can deploy on the beach. That's why it's important for the U.S. Marine Corps to provide target data to naval warships.
（2020-09-29 20:47:42）