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Forward deployed Sailors and Marines prepare for action

7th Fleet News

Release Date: 9/24/2003

Journalist 2nd Class Wes Eplen, Commander, Task Force 76 public affairs

ABOARD USS ESSEX AT SEA -- The Essex Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and embarked 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) completed their Fall 2003 Blue/Green Workups and Amphibious Ready Group Exercise (BG/ARGEX) off the coast of Subic Bay, Philippines, Sept. 21.

BG/ARGEX, a biannual joint training exercise, began Sept. 6. It was designed to familiarize ARG Sailors and MEU Marines with how their counterparts operate and then combine their efforts in support of theater contingencies, from humanitarian and disaster relief, to full combat operations.

The Essex ARG consists of USS Essex (LHD 2), USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43), USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49), and the embarked 31st MEU. The ARG is the only forward-deployed amphibious ready group, operating out of Sasebo, Japan. The Sailors and Marines conducted every aspect of amphibious operations and field maneuvers during the 13 days of training. It included launch and recovery of aircraft and amphibious landing craft, beach assaults, mass-casualty drills, explosive ordinance disposal operations and live-fire drills.

"You're always learning," said Cpl. Bradley Campbell of the 31st MEU, Radio Battalion. "It's a constant process and after each exercise you're a little better prepared. You know your equipment and how to work it a little better each time."

This year's BG/ARGEX featured additional challenges and opportunities unique to the Pacific area of operations. Ordinarily conducted off the coast of Okinawa, this year's fall exercise cycle was held in the Philippines. The new location gave the Sailors and Marines opportunities to interact with Philippine servicemembers and civilian employees, and lent elements of real-world sensitivities and pressures to the training.

Being off the coast of the P.I. gives us a chance to conduct operations in an unfamiliar environment, said Lt. Vernon Stanfield, USS Fort McHenry's first lieutenant. The Essex Amphibious Ready Group is familiar with the Okinawa area, so this training makes it more realistic.

Interoperability with the armed forces of the Philippines was also greatly improved, as elements of the 31st MEU, Naval Special Warfare Unit 7, and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit 5 trained side by side with their Filipino counterparts.

"The whole experience was great," added Campbell. "I got to see how the Filipino military works and it's a unique experience- getting to work with other countries and see just how other cultures do things."

The change of venue also afforded opportunities for U.S. servicemembers to lend a helping hand to those less fortunate.

"I went ashore to help out with the medical civil affairs project, where a bunch of doctors from the ship, MEU, and Fleet Surgical Team volunteered their time working at a clinic," said Lt. Wendy Wong, a general medical officer aboard Essex. "We treated over 1,900 patients and gave out over 4,800 prescriptions. We saw a lot of things that we would not normally see in the U.S., because they don't have the same access to medical care as we do." Members of Beachmaster Unit 1, Detachment Western Pacific, also used their skills and equipment to help where they could. These Sailors utilized a bulldozer ordinarily used to clear obstacles and prepare the beach head for an amphibious landing to rework a deteriorated road at a Filipino marine training facility.

"We saw an opportunity to help out," said BMU 1 leading petty officer, Signalman 1st Class Eddie Thomas, "and we just want to leave things a little better than we found them." Their mission accomplished, the 31st MEU re-joined the Essex ARG and departed the Philippines.

Fort McHenry has a great crew that takes pride in accomplishing a mission, Stanfield said.

This gave [the new crewmembers] a chance to experience what the mission of an amphibious ship is, and will prepare the whole ship if we are called upon to do what we do best -- put Marines on the beach.